Today’s Quote & Question For 10/22/09

Today’s Quote: “Smiles reach the hard-to-reach places.” – Steve Wilson

Today’s Question: Why aren’t you smiling?

My Thoughts: A warm and friendly smile is one of the most powerful weapons you have in your arsenal against dread and despair. Putting a smile on your face will instantly lift your own spirits, and since they are more contiguous than the common cold, a smile will spread through a room of grumps with ease, infecting all except those who are keeping up the struggle to be ‘opposed to smiling.’ Wait, you’re one of the non-smilers? Why?

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/21/09

Today’s Quote: “Fall down. Make a mess. Break something occasionally. Know that your mistakes are your own unique way of getting to where you need to be. And remember that the story is never over.” –
Conan O’Brien

Today’s Question: Do you dread making mistakes?

My Thoughts: Why are mistakes not a part of your basic learning process? You can only truly learn what will work when you figure out what doesn’t work, and you can only truly learn what doesn’t work by doing things that don’t work to find out. There is only so much wisdom that you can gain from past knowledge. You’ve got to test some things and face some failures yourself. And that is just to handle and appreciate the blessings that come from success.

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/20/09

Today’s Quote: “Humor is a rubber sword – it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.” – Mary Hirsch

Today’s Question: How healthy is your sense of humor?

My Thoughts: Laughter is by far one of the cheapest medicines you can find, and particularly hard to overdose on. But the intent of laugher isn’t completely harmless. Sometimes the sharpest daggers one can throw are hidden in the punch line of a funny story. But a good dose of laughter can usually help to jump start whatever fix that needs to be applied to anything. First, do a self check of just how healthy your personal sense of humor is. Then make a note of how you actually use it. Does your sense of humor typically save you from your day or just gets you into more trouble?

Answers Reminder #24: History Is History

Where is your mind focused? Are you planning for the future? Are you living in the moment? Despite good intentions, chances are you just dwelling in the past. A lot of people use the past as a gauge of who they are, which is fine, as long as you don’t get to wrapped up in who you used to be and how things used to go down. For those stuck in a rut of past reflections, living in the here and now will change your life beyond recognition.

THIS WEEK’S TIP: History cannot be managed. Good or bad, it’s already happened. When you aren’t focused on what’s happening right now, how much of yourself is really available at that moment? Learn from the past, but get rid of all the unwanted junk that does nothing but clutter your head and cloud your judgment.

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/19/09

Today’s Quote: “I envy people who drink. At least they have something to blame everything on.” – Oscar Levant

Today’s Question: Who or what is really to blame?

My Thoughts: You are ultimately responsible for a lot of the situations you have put yourself in, and all of the reactions you have given to every single life crossroad you have faced. But it is not fair to say that every stumble and blunder you have seen in your life is entirely your fault. Today, you get a free shot at putting the blame on someone else for some of the things that have gone wrong in the past–but with one caveat. Once you declare who or what was truly at fault, you have to declare this is the moment you let go of the hatred and animosity surrounding the incident, and move on from here. Are you ready?

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/18/09

Today’s Quote: “There are few nudities so objectionable as the naked truth.” – Agnes Repplier

Today’s Question: How well do you handle the truth when faced with it?

My Thoughts: This question is poorly paraphrased from the famous and powerful Jack Nicholson movie quote, “You can’t handle the truth!” In the movie ‘A Few Good Men,’ Nicholson played a Marine officer who dropped a bombshell before his peers, telling them that they may not like the way people like him go about the business of defending the United States, but without people like him, no one would be able to properly defend the United States. You are often faced with similar scenarios–hopefully much less dramatic–that allow you to come face to face with some raw truth that can shake the foundations of your beliefs. Once you get over the initial shock of the truth coming to light, and then realize that it is in fact the truth, it is up to you to deal with it, and move on with your life from this new vantage point. And how you handle your new truth says a lot about you.

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/17/09

Today’s Quote: “The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.” – Edith Sitwell

Today’s Question: What makes you accept what you know as truth?

My Thoughts: Today’s question isn’t a knock on faith. I have given up on explaining the basis of my faith to those who don’t share it and look to pigeon hole me because of it. This is a question about the universal truths that you have learned to accept over the years. From the mundane actions (the order of the processes for filing paper work), to the emotional driven (the right way to follow your grandmother’s recipe), to the whimsical (the not so universally defined or understood rules of dating), every process and procedure you learn through your life becomes a living truth as to how it ought to be done. Can you pinpoint the moment when you came to accept some of the more controlling truths in your life?

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/16/09

Today’s Quote: “Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.” – Jules Renard

Today’s Question: Are you being forced to produce mediocre work?

My Thoughts: No, today’s question is not a trick question. If you have ever been in a situation when your supposed peers truly weren’t operating at the same level as you were, you would have faced this issue often. These are the same situations that has given us musicians, artists, scientist, and thinkers that ended up being classified as ‘ahead of their time’ because their work was not understood or well received by their peers at the time, but had their hidden genius appreciated by later generations who were more open to the ideas of their elders. They decided doing it their way was more important that doing it ‘the way it is done,’ despite the consequences. You think you have superior thoughts that can achieve superior procedures and products. Do you choose not to rock the boat and produce the mediocre ‘normal’ products instead?

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/15/09

Today’s Quote: “Maps encourage boldness. They’re like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible.” – Mark Jenkins

Today’s Question: If you could have the directions for success in one area, what would it be?

My Thoughts: If a magical map were put in your hands, giving you the directions to the greatest treasure you could ever imagine, ultimate success in any one endeavor of your choosing, what would you choose? What if maps like these actually existed, and were scatted across the world, but well within your reach? The maps come in the form of people who have gone before you down the same paths of life you have chosen. The experience that they have gained in all their failures and successes is just as good as any road map or GPS system to help you find your way. All you have to do is ask someone who’s been where you are trying to go. They would love to share the path with you.

Today’s Quote & Question For 10/14/09

Today’s Quote: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.” – Miss Piggy

Today’s Question: How do you handle your challengers?

My Thoughts: While you may not have a evil nemesis to do battle with, chances are you do have a few detractors who do an excellent job of sending ill will in your direction. They may be verbally-stated enemies of your cause, or truly innocent bystanders who just happen to disagree with you. But they are there. And to get past them and move beyond whatever obstacles they are placing in your way, you’re going to have to find some way to face them. Directly (preferred and most honorable), indirectly (if an intermediary on your behalf does exist), or by a flat out sneak attack (obviously not the best or most mature way to handle business, but with the potential to be a lot more fun if you can pull it off), until you can deal with your detractors, you will always live and work with a nervous twitch that someone will eventually knock you down off your place.