Thoughts

Today’s Thought: Two Videos to Watch

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Today’s Thought reflection is taken from Paulo Coelho’s  work, Maktub: An Inspirational Companion to the Alchemist

“If we only watch the video of our failures, we will become paralyzed and unable to act. If we only watch the video of our success, we will end up thinking we are much wiser than we really are. We need both videos.”

NOTE: Wise people learn from their mistakes. When we view ourselves as perfect and incapable of making a mistake we condemn ourselves to failure. Wise people also recognize that the recollection of successes builds and breeds confidence. We use our past successes as a foundation that gives us confidence to Iake on greater challenges.

Today’s Thought: Question, Question, Question

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Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~ George Bernard Shaw

The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life. ~ Confucius

NOTE: I chose these two quotations because they fit together. Social media pours out false knowledge as if were validated truth. Those who refuse to question it sacrifice their freedom. They allow the lie to control them. When we ask questions we to seek discover deeper meaning and the veracity of what another is saying. Lies and the perpetration of lies do not rest on a strong foundation and crumple in the light of truth.

Today’s Thought: Stronger Than You Realize

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You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice. ~ Bob Marley

NOTE: The real test of human strength isn’t in how much weight one can lift over one’s head. Our strength is measured when we’re faced with a choice to either stand up and do what’s right, no matter the personal cost, or to slink away and hope no one notices. History is replete with people who faced these types of choices and took a stand. Some became martyrs. Some saints. Some heroes. History doesn’t mention ordinary people like the man or woman who works two jobs to feed his or her family. It doesn’t mention the man or woman who takes their parenting role seriously. It doesn’t mention the stranger who stops on the highway to help a person injured in an accident. We are stronger than we realize and we are using our strength in ordinary ways to make a difference.

Today’s Thought: Do You Have the Right Stuff?

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If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. ~ Frederick Douglass

NOTE: Ninety-nine percent of the current world population of 8.04 billion people know what Frederick Douglas was speaking about when he said, “no struggle, no progress.” It’s how life teaches us. Life requires us to learn and evolve (change, adapt). If we seek a life without struggle, we are seeking an illusion. Once we master something, the next challenge appears as if it was waiting for us. It’s asking us if we’re up to the challenge. The struggle is not so much with the challenge we face, the struggle is with ourselves. At each step we have to ask ourselves if we’re willing to sacrifice, focus, and commit our energy to the task with which we are engaged. Life asks us every day if we have the right stuff.

Today’s Thought:

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Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song. ~ Pope John Paul II

NOTE: Look up. Smile. Raise your arms in celebratory joy. We do not despair or relegate ourselves to hopelessness. Shine On! Cast Off the Darkness. Happy Easter

Today’s Thought:

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You can never be free as long as you have an ego to defend. ~ Anthony De Mello

NOTE: I spent most of my career in academia. Another way of saying it, I spent most of my career surrounded by people with gigantic egos. I sat in meetings and observed heated battles between egos. Those battling weren’t listening, they were concerned with scoring points. Discussions frequently changed from solving problems to taking center stage. The problem isn’t solely in the domain of academia. It resides in each of us. When we free ourselves from the burden of having all the answers or demonstrating our intelligence or superiority we become open to learning from and working with others.

Today’s Thought: Moving On

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One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters – whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished. ~ Paulo Coelho

NOTE: Knowing when some part of our lives is ending and it’s time to move on takes wisdom. Sometimes it’s dramatic and we’re forced to move on whether we like or not. The death of a spouse, losing a job, a divorce or break up, or a health issue. We know we have to move on to survive. There are other times when it’s not so obvious. We may feel bored at work. We might think it’s time to downsize. Intuitively, I think one knows when it’s time to end a stage and move on. It’s almost as if there is an inner voice telling us to leave what were doing and move on. The inner voice may present itself in a feeling or uneasiness, or a strong pull toward something different from one is presently doing, Moving on requires change on our part. We have to adapt. Things won’t be the same. How well we adapt will go a long way toward our personal level of happiness.

Today’s Thought:

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Everyone who got where he is has had to begin where he was. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

NOTE: We all don’t have the same starting line. Some people are born with a head start. Others are born handicapped. That’s the way it is. Let the race begin. I’ve seen it over and again, it’s not talent so much as toughness that comes out ahead. The kind of toughness that refuses to quit. The kind of toughness that locks its sight on the prize. The kind of toughness that says ‘bring it on.’ With this type of toughness and tenacity the person who won’t quit, who won’t stop believing, and who has an undying faith that he/she will be successful can achieve any goal.

Today’s Thought: There is a Time to Speak Up

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I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. ~ Elie Wiesel

NOTE: We become busy with our work, families, and all the other external forces that knock at our door. In our busyness we often lose sight of those who suffer. The suffering is not only what we see in the nightly news or read on digital media, it happens all around us. It’s as if those who suffer are contagious and if they get too close to us we’ll catch whatever they have. In the 1989 movie, Romero, which portrayed the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, he says, “The ones who have a voice must speak for those who are voiceless.” That’s a challenge to each of us. Maybe it’s time to speak up for a neighbor, a family member, or a friend.

Today’s Thought:

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The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. ~ Helen Keller

NOTE: When we turn inward we lose sight of all that is around us. When we only listen to our voice, we lose our ability to hear the many voices around us. When we fail to test our truths we let fear rule our hearts. The more we isolate ourselves and our thinking the more we become blind to the reality in which we live. Never fear opposing thoughts. They may contain the truth. Stay open to learning and growing.

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