Today’s Quote & Question For 10/31/09

Today’s Quote: “The closing years of life are like the end of a masquerade party when the masks are dropped.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

Today’s Question: What masks are you wearing?

My Thoughts: Today is Halloween, and I’m sure you have prepared for the arrival of dozens of masked youngsters at your doorstep on the search for candy. But what about the masks you see people wearing every single day? People wear mask they create as a false image that they present to the world in hopes of fooling everyone that sees them. This is mostly to seem better than they really are, but it can be used as a defense for those who fear being exposed. Do you wear masks daily? What masks do you wear and why?

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/30/09

Today’s Quote: “What worries you masters you.” – Haddon W. Robinson

Today’s Question: Are you letting your fears drive your life?

My Thoughts: When we get stuck in a rut and are confronted with a constant stream of negative influences, it becomes much easier for the negatives of your life to drown out the positives. Without an intervention of good things to keep you focused, the bad things will seem to grow, and fear of the bad will become your driving force. And pure fear rarely drives one forward in life. How do you keep your fears at bay in order to continue making forward momentum when the times seem to get tough?

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/29/09

Today’s Quote: “You must pray that the way be long, full of adventures and experiences.” – Constantine Peter Cavafy

Today’s Question: Are you enjoying the ride?

My Thoughts: While you are hopefully keeping a map and travel plan of your personal experiences, your life itself is a trip with no real planned destination. Because once you get to ‘there,’ the trip, as in your life, is over. That makes life an experience where getting there has to be the fun part. Happiness and heartbreak, sadness and solace, are just various rest stops and tourist traps along the way. And since we only get one life (that any of us really know of) you might as well enjoy the ride you’re on now.

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/28/09

Today’s Quote: “He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met.” – Abraham Lincoln

Today’s Question: Do you have a tendency to run your mouth without thinking?

My Thoughts: Do you always think before you speak? Some of us have a habit of letting some words loose into the world that we instantly wish we could magically take back. And some of us are just suffering from severe cases of diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the brain. If you are a person with a constant tendency to run your mouth without thinking, do you notice if other people notice? Do they seem to care? Do you even care?

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/27/09

Today’s Quote: “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” – Thomas A. Edison

Today’s Question: How much are you willing to work for it?

My Thoughts: This is a very famous quote that gets repeated over and over–often by people who don’t really live its principles. Just about everything worth going after will take work, and usually a lot more work than will be ever known and seen by the general public once you have made it. Are you willing to put in the work to make whatever you want happen, even if you don’t have a guarantee that it will actually happen?

Answers Reminder #25: Create A Dream Book

In order to create a crystal clear, easy to comprehend view of your dreams and ideals, you can create a dream book. There is nothing mystical or sappy about this dream book. This book will be come a reference in pictures of what your life goals and dreams are at this period of time. Whenever you need a reminder of what it is you are working for in life and what ideals you hold dear, you pick up your dream book and remind yourself.

THIS WEEK’S TIP: Buy a binder, some transparent pages, a few sheets of printer/copier paper, and get you hands on some old magazines and newspapers. Go through and cut out every picture that puts a smile on your face or gives you a positive feeling. It can be a woman in a bikini, a tough guy on a motorcycle, a large house, a game of pick up basketball, whatever. Now go through the pictures more carefully, focusing on a word or phrase that come to mind when you look at that particular picture. Cut the paper into strips and write down on each strip what you come up with. Slide the picture into the transparent page with that word on top.

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/26/09

Today’s Quote: “Character is what you have left when you’ve lost everything you can lose.” – Evan Esar

Today’s Question: Are people near you drawn to you or put off because of your character?

My Thoughts: Character building is something that you start very young. This is pretty unfair, as you have young people who should be working hard to build character well before they really understand what character is. The building of our character isn’t tough, but it takes some time and effort. The destruction of your good character is fairly easy to destroy, sometimes by little fault of your own. Be sure that you know what people see as your sense of character. The right people should be drawn to you because of it. The wrong people should be repelled by it. It’s important to know which people are the right people and which people are the wrong people.

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/25/09

Today’s Quote: “You don’t just luck into things as much as you’d like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it’s friendships or opportunities.” – Barbara Bush

Today’s Question: How well do you build yourself up before taking on a challenge?

My Thoughts: Even if you get the idea to climb a mountain in an instant, chances are you will not be ready to just go climb a mountain ten minutes later. You will probably not even be ten minutes away from any mountains worth climbing. Planning and preparation are the keys to accomplishing just about everything. Are you a master of building yourself up for an upcoming challenge?

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/24/09

Today’s Quote: “You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” – Indira Gandhi

Today’s Question: Can you put set side your animosity for the sake of making peace?

My Thoughts: We all hold grudges. Most of us are better at holding grudges that we probably should be. But there comes a time when all grudges should be set aside and peace needs to be declared. All wars must come to an end. Do you have the strength to step up and make peace with your enemies when the time comes? Do you even have the strength to step up and make peace with yourself?

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/23/09

Today’s Quote: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Today’s Question: Do your friends have you back?

My Thoughts: We all have made friends over the years that are will to go the distance with you despite the pain and suffering that they may have withstand in the process. But we don’t usually make that many of them, because the commitment to that level of camaraderie is pretty intense. You know you don’t want to have to put out that much energy for just anyone. Are you putting in that energy for the people who are putting in just as much for you?