It does matter who you have around yourself.
Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you’re in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in your life. Everyone else is just passing through.
Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.
Edmund Lee
Here is a great quote from Nelson Mandela
I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.
Nelson Mandela
This is a description that fits well on personal development. There’s always another hill to climb. An important lesson in life is that we shall enjoy and celebrate what we have achieved. Nelson Mandela put it well, “I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come.”
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
Michelangelo
The goals we set should be high enough to require an effort, even take us outside our comfort zone, and be worth achieving.
I’ve seen this quote before, today it turned up in “The Element – How finding your passion changes everything” by Sir Ken Robinson. That’s a great book.
Jenn Shallvey, @JennShallvey posts her Reflect comments at @reflect2see. It’s a great collection of thoughts and things to reflect on. Here are some of them, go check the Twitter profile for more. And while you’re there, follow it so you get the new ones.
Reflect: What pushes your buttons? Ever wonder why?
Reflect: Building a tribe is not about building your ego. If you can’t separate the two then you have false followers.
Reflect: Changing the outside appearance of what is on offer does not change the source. Always go to the source and be true.
Reflect: What you really truly desire in your life will come to you, but not necessarily in the way you think. Pay attention.
Reflect: On what terms are your relationships with others? Conditional or unconditional? Free or at a price?
Reflect: The places you go may be the same but you change each time you go there.
Reflect: How do you get in your own way?
Reflect: How many times do you need a life lesson before you get it?
Reflect: Many wise and wonderful souls may help you on your journey but ultimately the choice to heal is yours.
Reflect: What matters most in your life right now? How much attention and time go to this priority?
The last one goes nicely with the following two quotes that I have in front of me.
What’s the No. 1 thing you KNOW you should be doing that you’re not currently doing? Plant the seeds. Now.
Is the way you’re living your life today a foundation for the future you hope to build?
Jenn runs Reflect 2 See which is reclections with photos, very nice.
This was originally posted at Bengt’s Notes, another blog of mine.
I am sorting through papers and found this quote.
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticpate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
Buddha
Worrying keeps the mind busy and zaps energy but it does not change anything.
Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere. ~ Glenn Turner
Worrying in itself does not make the future better.
Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy. ~ Leo Buscaglia
Worrying stops you from doing things.
You can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time. ~ Pat Schroeder
Worrying can cause physical problems.
Heavy thoughts bring on physical maladies; when the soul is oppressed so is the body. ~ Martin Luther
Worrying is often about things that will never happen.
Most things I worry about never happen anyway. Tom Petty
Worrying about something is like paying interest on a debt you don’t even know if you owe. Mark Twain
Since worrying does not get you anywhere, do something about it instead. Take one worry at a time, either solve it or drop it. It is a waste of time and energy to let worries continue to spin.
“Worry a little every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.”
This was originally posted at Forty Plus Two, another blog of mine.
I came across this quote which has a message worth considering:
When you’re lying on your death bed, you won’t wish you spent more hours in the office.
Robin Sharma
This was originally posted at Forty Plus Two, another blog of mine.
This question turned up in my Daily Forwards Step. There was also this quote:
The greatest discovery of my lifetime was that a person can change the circumstances of his life by changing his thoughts.
William James
Change is an important issue, both on a personal level and for society and our world. It brings another quote to my mind:
Change comes from within.
What did YOU learn today that could empower you in future?
This quote turned up in my Daily Forwards Step:
That’s the risk you take if you change: that people you’ve been involved with won’t like the new you. But other people who do will come along.
Lisa Alther
It is true that when you change not everyone around you like the new you. But I find changing myself is worth that price as long as I consider the change to be for the better.
This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.
This question turned up in my Daily Forwards Step. There was also this quote:
Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out – it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.
Robert Service
Question: If you knew that in one year you would leave the planet, what would you do today?