Living It With Lisa

What we do today, right now,
will have an accumulated effect
on all of our tomorrows.

ALEXANDRA STODDARD

I came across this poem recently.  Many of us can relate to the experience of waking up and searching for our own voice and belief in ourselves when the going is tough.

THE JOURNEY

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the
old tug at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations—
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life that you could save.

– Mary Oliver

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.  You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.  You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.   You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.  You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.  You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.  You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

Abraham Lincoln

If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day — go fishing.
If you want happiness for a month – get married.
If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.

Chinese Proverb

You never change things by fighting the existing reality.  To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

R. Buckminster Fuller

1895-1983, Architect, Author and Inventor

How far you go in life depends

George Washington Carver

Opportunity dances with those who are ready on the dance floor.

H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Chris Wideners Action Point:
While I believe that most opportunities are those that we make for ourselves, I also know that many opportunities simply “arrive” in front of us, asking, “Would you care to dance?” The question is whether or not we are ready to dance with Opportunity. Or must we say, “I don’t know how to dance. I haven’t prepared.” Or, “First let me prepare myself.” Either way, Opportunity says, “That’s okay. I will find someone else. I may be back again, and perhaps you will be ready then.” What would you say today if Opportunity arrived and asked you to dance? Action Point: Get your dance shoes. Take your dance lessons. Get your dance clothes. All of these are analogies for doing today what you can to be prepared for when Opportunity offers you its hand to dance. Be ready!

I was worthless, until I decided to be worth more.

Kim Jeffery
Career Woman