Tag Archives: goals

Quote Yourself

Deep Thoughts and Musings, , , , , , , ,

I love to happen on to quotes by wise and successful people.  I see them on t-shirts, bookmarks, billboards, plaques on walls, etc, everywhere I go.  Some resonate with my own thinking so much that I find myself repeating them to everyone I talk with for days.  They just keep coming up in conversation.

If you remember a few of the key words and want to find the complete quote or who said it, all you need to do is do a search on the internet.  Alakazam!  So much information pops up to surprise and delight you that you can spend days reading about the context in which it was given, the period of time, the stage of life and mind of the author…..and whether or not he actually said it or who else is given credit for the same quote.

For instance, Henry David Thoreau and Zig Ziglar are credited with the same quote as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:  “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as who you become by achieving your goals.”  It’s an inspirational quote no matter who actually said it.  The influence these men and numberless others have on our world continues regardless of who gets the credit.

So, I have to believe that sharing these snippets of wisdom and witticism adds to self-empowering contemplation and humor that benefits mass consciousness.  We are all more powerful and influential than we know.

Occasionally, I hear someone say something that I think is profound and succinct and that warrants memorializing .  But, quickly, I forget…..most of the time what was said and even what it was about.  I’ll have a fleeting thought:  what was that again?

So I’m carrying a small notebook around with me now to record the deep thoughts that cross my path and my own musings.  It is, afterall, the flashes of inspiration and feelings of intuition, that move me the most.  Hummmm…..  Don’t be surprised if I abandon quoting others and start quoting myself!

 

Happy Life

Deep Thoughts and Musings, , , , ,

Have you ever been with someone who’s happy most of the time?  The only person that meets that criteria in my life just turned one year old.  She’s like a puppy and wriggles and giggles when she sees me until I just have to pick her up.  When I put her down, she giggles at someone else.  She’s just intrinsically happy.

There are others who are happy a lot of the time and I have noticed a few things about them that are interesting.

They have a passion and think about it all of the time.   In some cases, they are mothers and are thriving on being with their children.   In others,  they are in love with their occupations.  One is a student.  Another is an entrepreneur.  They seem to get so much enjoyment out of what they’re doing that they often hum, sometimes sing and occasionally  dance about in a light hearted sort of way.  They  all smile a lot.  They are all very independent and fun to be around.

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So, my question is:  “Do these people live in an alternate reality?”  Or…..have they just developed habits that let them see life through rose colored glasses?   Have they decided not to give the petty little issues in daily life any attention?  It does make sense that it you don’t spend time on things that make you feel bad, you’ll have more time to focus on the things that make you happy.

Or…..could it be that happiness is a multi-dimensional word meaning a state-of- being, an emotion and a goal?  It’s a subject worth a little thought, you think?

What Do You Want?

Deep Thoughts and Musings, , , , ,

I was thinking this morning how grateful I am for the people in my life that helped me see what I want.  That sounds pitiful I know.  Who doesn’t know what they want?

I was guided through a thought process that helped me look at what I’ve enjoyed doing all of my life and which talents I have.  That doesn’t sound so life changing, does it?  But, I was in such a dark place.  I kept thinking the same negative thoughts, over and over, and couldn’t find my way out.  So for me, it was life changing …..even life saving.

In an effort to get me to focus on something positive, I was given a challenge:  to start painting again and to start blogging.  I was resistant at first.  I hadn’t done any painting for years.  I was  totally computer illiterate.  But over a period of 12 days I was helped to let go of some guilt and encouraged (at first gently and then gradually pretty forcefully) to get out the paints and get the help I needed to overcome the computer problem.

As I began to share my experience with the people in my life, family, neighbors, gym friends, the dry cleaner lady,  I was hit with an unexpected response.  Many of them looked fine to me, some even happy.  But the more we talked, the more they shared, they didn’t know what they wanted.  They were busy having kids, raising kids, and working to pay bills and earn a living.  They were looking forward to movies and eating out on the weekends and a vacation sometime this year.  But, what did they want?  I had discovered a cavernous mystery.

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Once again I came up against it:  we appear on the outside to be very different: but, on the inside we are very much alike.

Mark Twain said:   “I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life.  The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.”  I didn’t actually hear him say this, but it is attributed to him on the internet…..so it must be true???  My own small survey does bear out the second part.

Do you ever tell yourself to forget what your parents, your friends, or  your spouse wants from you or for you.  Forget what you think is expected of you.  What do you want?  It’s time to take a good look at your life and think about what you want…..what makes you happy.  What makes you smile and your whole being light up when you think about it?

What do you want?