For you do not yet know the strengths of your hearts, and you cannot foresee what each may meet on the road. ~ J. R. R. Tolkien
toughness
Today’s Thought: Yes, It is Possible!
Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve. ~ J. K. Rowling
NOTE: When things go bad it’s easy to visit that dark space where there is no light. When we turn our back to the dark space, give ourselves a kick in the butt, and light a fire under us, we engage with the world. If we’re trying and refuse to quit, we may fool everyone and succeed beyond our wildest dreams. What have you got to lose? Go for it.
Today’s Word: Endurance
Endurance: Endurance refers to the ability to withstand hardship or adversity, especially the capacity to continue exerting oneself despite fatigue or stress. It can also pertain to the ability of an object to withstand wear, pressure, or damage.
NOTE: Everyone experiences tough times. Tough times happen periodically throughout our lives. Acquiring the ability to endure tough times and to have the courage to push through them makes us stronger and more resilient. Acquiring endurance is a lot like exercising. The more we exercise, the stronger we become. The more we endure tough times and emerge whole, the more endurance capital we collect. Each time we endure a tough time we train our mind to not quit. We train our minds to acknowledge that we are tougher than the tough times we are currently experiencing.
Still I Rise: A Poem by Maya Angelou
Still I Rise
Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
A Month of Happiness: A Poem by Robert Bly
A Month of Happiness
Robert Bly
A blind horse stands among cherry trees.
And bones shine from cool earth.
The heart leaps
Almost up to the sky! But laments
And filaments pull us back into the dark.
Night takes us. But
A paw
Comes out of the dark
To light the road. I’ll be all right.
I follow my own fiery traces through the night.
Today’s Inspiring Quote: Never Quit
“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” ― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
Good Luck and Bad: A Poem by Grantland Rice
Good Luck and Bad
Grantland Rice
GOOD Luck is like a down hill tide
That helps to make an easy start,
Where one may paddle, drift or glide
Without much effort on his part;
But though it takes you to the goal
And brings you in the world’s acclaim,
It builds no fibre for your soul
Nor molds you for the rougher game.
Bad Luck is like an uphill sweep,
The test of courage and of class,
Where troubles grow and shadows creep
And none except the valiant pass ;
Where through raw gales that blow but ill
The entry clings to this lone dream :
The stalwart only stalks the hill
The gamefish only swims up stream.
If your main wish is but to win
Let Good Luck help to pull you through,
To know the cheering and the din
That go where laurel sprigs are due ;
But if you wish to build a heart
That scorns the fickle whims of Fate,
Take Hard Luck for the journey’s start
With rugged Trouble for a mate.
Today’s Motivating Quote
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
― Albert Camus
Today’s Inspiring Photo: Your Destiny Awaits
Your Destiny is On the Other Side – Start Climbing!
Today’s Inspiring Quote: You Have an Inner Strength, Stay Strong, Never Quit
Be calm and strong and patient. Meet failure and disappointment with courage. Rise superior to the trials of life, and never give in to hopelessness or despair. In danger, in adversity, cling to your principles and ideals.
