You may not be famous, but you have a dream, chase it. Your friends and family may laugh at you. You have a dream, chase it. You wake up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, doubts rush at you like an F5 tornado. You have a dream, chase it. Maybe you’ll catch it; maybe you won’t, but you’ll never know unless you chase it.
Giving up is easy. It throws away hope. It doesn’t give the heart a chance to rise to the occasion. Be stouthearted. Be courageous. Be strong. Perhaps only you will know what you had to endure. Perhaps only you will know how many times you wanted to quit, but a voice deep inside screamed, “Don’t quit. Don’t you dare to quit.” The following YouTube video is a short trailer for Ernest Shackleton’s Antartica Odessey. Get inspired. Don’t Quit.
Challenges surround us, problems overwhelm us. At times we may wonder if they’ll ever end; if we’ll ever have the strength, wisdom, and courage to overcome them. The answer is YES. A resounding YES. Things may not turn out the way we want, but if we give it our best and let our Creator do the rest, something good will come from our actions. Never quit. Never give up. Give it your best.
A grateful attitude is a pathway to happiness, joy, and love. When I view life through my heart’s lens, I see all life as a gift I have no time for sorrow, no time for envy, no time to crawl inside a personal prison. I jump for joy, for each moment is Christmas – it is all gift. Please enjoy this powerful YouTube video about gratitude.
When I first saw this YouTube video, I showed it to my students at The Ohio State University as a model for teamwork. I’ve watched it many times. The more I watch it, the more I see how it represents our need to compliment each other. Your strength compliments my weakness. My strength compliments your weakness. We make it work when we learn to trust each other at a deep level. It takes courage to let go and rely on another.
Fearful Of Trying Something New? Take heart from a young girls courage to conquer her fears.
Every day is a great day. “What a minute, Ray. You don’t a bad day? Are you on work release from a rehab center?”
“What a minute, Ray. You don’t have a bad day? Are you on work release from a rehab center?”
“I’m serious, every day is a great day. Every day you can find to give you a bit joy, a touch of happiness, a hint of love. Put it together and you had a great day.”
“What about when everything goes wrong. I mean everything goes wrong.
“I see I’m dealing with a cynic. I’m dealing with a dude who’s bent over, cramped up, looks like he waiting curbside for the mortuary van. “Come on, let me see the edges turn up. When was the last time you smiled? Sing it buster.”
“There’s nothing to smile about. You watch the news? You read the online blogs? You follow politics, terror, crime.”
“I know the problem. If I know the problem. I can suggest an antidote. Don’t delay, your life hangs in the balance.”
“Hey tone it down a bit. I can hear you.”
“You kidding me. It’s a great day and tomorrow has all the making of an even better day. And, I’m FDA approved.”
“Are you dangerous? Or, simple minded?”
“I’m neither depressed dude. Here’s the deal. It’s your diet. Plan and simple. I’m putting you on a one month diet. It’s rough. You’re going cold turkey. Actually, cold turkey is better than turkey left out on the cabinet for a week.”
“I’m suffering enough. How much longer do I have to listen to you?”
“I’m doing the writing, so you’ll have to hang around as long as I want you to hang around.”
“Let’s get it over so I can rest.”
“No listening to cable news shows. No listening to the talking heads who think they have every answer. Watch the comedy channel. Read inspiring books. Take extended walks in nature. Meet every one of your neighbors. And, most importantly, do two kind acts a day. Do it all for a month and you’ll be The dude, not a depressed dude.”
“Do I have to?”
“Afraid so. If you don’t, I’ll bring you back in the next blog.”
“I’m on it.”
The third-grade boy walked nearly a mile to school each day. He barely lived outside the school bus boundary. Each day he walked across the railroad tracks almost adjacent to the tenement building where he lived in a four-room flat with his brother and parents. He wore the only pair of pants and shoes he had. His mother washed his pants each night and hung them by the stove to dry.
He had no idea what he’d become. His mom and dad worked in nearby shoe factories. His favorite uncle was a career soldier in the army. Another uncle a mechanic. And, another a truck driver. His thoughts didn’t travel far beyond the limitations of his immediate experience. Until …
It all changed for him when he went to third grade. The school he attended had two third grade teachers. All second graders knew the best teacher was Miss Pope. She was young and pretty. The other teacher was Miss Thompson. She old, really old, maybe as old as the school as one boy put it. Worse, she was mean. Mean to the core. She didn’t know how to smile another of the third-grade boy’s buddies added.
During his final week in second-grade, he prayed he’d get Miss Pope. He prayed as hard as he prayed for anything. When he was handed his second-grade report card, his heart sunk. His final second-grade report card gave him the good news and bad news. The good news, he was promoted to third grade. The bad news, his third-grade teacher was Miss Thompson. The mean, unsmiling, old, really old Miss Thompson.
Miss Thompson stood by the doorway each morning and in her no-nonsense way, welcomed each child by name. The boy tried hard in her class, after all, she was the meanest teacher in school. No sense making an enemy right away. It was near October when Miss Thompson stopped the boy on his way into class. She grabbed hold of him by his shoulders. He looked at her wide-eyed. His mind racing to a small fight on the playground after school. He hoped no one ratted him out. Miss Thompson bent over and looked into his eyes and said, “From today on, I’m going to say to you, ‘Good morning governor, because I believe one day, you’ll become governor of our state. Now, work hard and you’ll do it.”
The boy went to his desk and he worked hard for Miss Thompson. He was determined to become governor. Well, Miss Thompson retired ten years later and died a few years after she retired. But, the third-grade boy remembered her lesson. He didn’t become governor, but he worked hard, and he believed. He discovered hard work, determination, and a belief he was capable of doing something special made it all come true.
You never know when you touch a person. Encouraging a young person to dream the impossible, often turns the impossible into the possible. I know. I was the third-grade boy.
Lately I’ve been runnin on faith. What else can a poor boy do?
– Jerry Lynn Williams
When everything you’ve learned doesn’t work. When everything you’ve tried ends up failing. When life knocks you flat on your back, you have no choice but to look up when you open your eyes.
Faith is trusting a loving God, no matter the odds, no matter the challenge, you and I will find the strength to rise to one knee, take a deep breath, stand up, and move on.
Faith is facing the challenge head on that knocked us down.
Faith is you and me saying, “I won’t quit. I won’t give in. I won’t give up.”
Faith discovers strength from deep within.
Faith stirs our will to shout, “You Will Get Through.”
Faith is available to all of us. It’s a wonderful, awesome gift.
Maybe I don’t understand faith as well as others. I know I find courage, strength, and confidence when give my YES to fight on, do my best and trust God to do the rest.
In times when life knocks me down, I will give a resounding YES to fight on. I hope you do as well. We can do it.
What you are thinking, what shape your mind is in, is what makes the biggest difference of all. ~ Willie Mays
You and I experience tough times. You and I have the stuff to make it through tough times. We were created with an inner toughness to get up after being knocked down.
Tough times don’t keep tough people down for long. They get up, shake the dust, and get going again. It’s what they do. They reach down and find they still have a bit more they give. They don’t save it. They summon it up and give it their all. That’s what they do.
This week. Let’s give it our all.
This week. Let’s stick our face in the wind and bring our best.
This week. Let’s shake the dust, get up, and get going again.
