Chapter 4, Page 25, Book 17

Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once with beauty and courage.  Perhaps everything that frightens us, in the deepest essence, is something helpless that wants our love.

Rainer Maria Rilke

from one of my morning devotionals

Be ready to don your armor...

Old maps would often indicate the end of the known world with the phrase:  There be dragons there.   It was a way of saying, It’s probably not a good idea to go there.

In the legend of Saint George, he did not shy away from doing battle with a dragon.  Not only did he kill this menacing animal, but saved a princess, preached to the grateful people, distributed his reward money to the poor, and went on his way.  Not a bad day’s work for sure.

Dragons in stories are usually about people overcoming fantastic odds.

Fairy tales are more than true:  not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be be beaten.

Neil Gaiman

We all have dragons in our life.   Dragons can be small diversions that often seem like short cuts or nagging things like self doubt.  They at different for every one and only you know what your dragons are.

Dragons are the things that hold us back , a fear or a challenging experience that we’ve faced.  They will always be a part of life.

When faced with a dragon, we can prepare for battle and don our armor, or simply run away and hide. Our greatest weapon of choice is our next thought.  How we react or respond to the intimidating roar of our dragon.

Never laugh at live dragons.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Chapter 4, Page 24, Book 18

Welcome every morning with a smile.  Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday.  Be a self starter.  Let your first hour set the theme for success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day.  Today will never happen again.  Don’t wasted it with a false start or no start at all.  You were not born to fail.

Og Mandino

The biggest trap is making comparisons.  The biggest mistake is looking for perfection. The best place to start is today and even a little is more than enough .

Start where you are.  Use what you have.  Do what you can.

Arthur Ashe

Chapter 4, Page 23, Book 18

Love lights more fires

than hate extinguishes.

Ella Wilcox

There is nothing that love cannot do

We can judge others or we can love -

but we can’t do both at the same time.

Author Unknown

With love we have peace, joy, content, serenity and forgiveness.  When there is love, fear cannot survive. 

Love is choice and it’s up to us.We can either choose fear or we can choose love.   When we choose love, fear no longer has its place in our lives.  That which is feared cannot be loved.  That which is loved cannot be feared.

Happiness is a choice, peace of mind is a choice, and that choice is love.

What a grand thing to be loved!

What a grander thing still, to love !

Victor Hugo

Love is the one thing that can never hurt anyone, although it may cost dearly. The paradox of love is that is is supremely free yet attaches us with bonds stronger than death.  It cannot be bought or sold.  There is nothing it cannot face.  Love is life greatest blessing.

Hatred stirs up dissension, 

but love covers over all wrongs.

Proverbs 10:12

Chapter 4, Page 22, Book 18

Learn to enjoy every minute of your life.  Be happy now.

Don’t wait for something outside yourself to make you

happy in the future.  Think how precious is the time

you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family.

Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.

Earl Nightingale

Enjoy yourself it’s later than you think...

Those who do not get fun and enjoyment out of every day need to reorganized their lives.

George Matthew Adams

Life is more than just getting by, we are meant to have fun and enjoy it. Most people settle for getting through the day.  Buts its much more rewarding to get from the day. Life is too precious to see it flash by your eyes.

When we discover what we can get from each day, our attention tends to focus on what good there is to find.  Each day gives us new possibilities, new hope and a chance to enjoy life.

We already have everything we need to enjoy life,  its o question of determining what is really important.  And if we try to have fun and be happy there is a good chance that we are going to enjoy ourselves. 

Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think

Enjoy yourself while you’re still in the pink

The years go by, as quickly as a wink

Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think

Music by Carl Sigman and lyrics by Herb Madison. Made popular by Guy Lombardo

Chapter 4, Page 21, Book 18

My Wish For You

I wish for you

Comfort on difficult days,

Smiles when sadness intrudes,

Rainbows to follow the clouds,

Laughter to kiss your lips,

Sunsets to warm your heart,

Gentle hugs when spirits sag,

Friendships to brighten your being,

Beauty for your eyes to see,

Confidence for when you doubt,

Faith so you can believe,

Courage to know yourself,

Patience to accept the truth,

And LOVE to complete your life.

Author Unknown

Good wishes are one of the most generous ways we can share our heartfelt love for others. Good wishes cost nothing and do so much.  The idea that what comes around goes around always has a basis in reality.

Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes.

Mary Martin

Our thoughts and actions will always have some kind of consequences.  Everything we do or say leaves its mark.  So above all wish for good things for the people around you. 

Where there is great love there is always wishes

Willa Cather

Chapter 4, Page 20, Book 18

Just for today, I’ll make sure to look at the life all around me...

Look long and hard at life 

Look at life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.

Patti LaBelle

Becoming more aware is being mindful of the present moment.  It means noticing the sights, smells sounds and tastes you experience as well as the thoughts and feelings that occur from one moment to the next.

There are so many things we can miss out on when we don’t take the time to look around us.  And far too often we overlook life’s small joys while searching for the big ones.

The difference between living and half living is seeing well, looking for associations between thing, seeking the connections, being aware of scale and proportion.

Alexandra Stoddard

A lot of times we get so focused on our goals and dreams that we forget to enjoy life.   There is a huge difference between looking and seeing.  When we take notice, accept and appreciate every thing around us, our happiness increases.  

Life is too short to merely coast through it.

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

Chapter 4, Page 19, Book 18

The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but schedule your priorities.

Steven R. Covey

Live your priorities..

The Principal of Priority states

a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important and 

b) you must do what is important first.

Steven Pressfield

My priorities are my family, my friends and my faith.  They are the most important things in my life and when I put these 3 first, everything else falls into place.

Remember your priorities aren’t what you say, they are what you do.  Priorities help you identify what is important and valuable to you   To often we say we want X and fill our lives up with Y.  It’s way to easy to forget just what really matters.

When it seems that are too many things in your life, when 24 hours in a day never seems to be enough, remember the Pot of Jam and Coffee story:

There once was a professor of philosophy, who stood in front of his Class, took a large empty pot of jam and without saying a word, began to fill it with golf balls.

Then he asked his students if the jar was full. The Students replied: YES.

The professor then took a box full of marbles and poured the marbles into the pot of jam. The marbles filled the gaps in between the Golf balls. The Professor asked the students again if the jar was full. Again, they replied: YES .

At that point, the professor took a bag of sand and poured it into the pot of jam. Of course, the sand filled all the remaining gaps and the professor asked again if the jar was full. The Students unanimously answered: YES.

The professor then added two cups of coffee to the contents of the jar thus filling the small gaps between the grains of sand. The students started laughing. After they stopped, the professor said: I want you to realize that the pot of jam represents Life.

The golf balls are the very important things in Life such as family, children, health, everything you are passionate about. Our lives would still be full even if we'd lost everything else and these were the only things that remained.

The marbles are the other things that count in our lives such as work, house, car, etc ...

The sand represents everything else, all the small things in life.

If we had first poured sand into the pot of jam, there wouldn't have been any room left for anything else such as the marbles or the golf balls.

It's the same thing in Life. If we put all our energy and all our time into the small things, we will never have any time/space left for the things that really matter.

Pay attention to the things that are really important to your happiness. Play with your children, take time to go to the doctor, have dinner with your spouse/partner, exercise or take time to enjoy your favorite pass times.

There will always be time to do the cleaning and fix the taps on the kitchen sink ...

Take care of the golf balls first, of the things that really matter. Choose your priorities, the rest is just sand.

One of the students then raised a hand and asked what the coffee meant.

The professor smiled and said: It's good that you ask. I only added coffee to show that although your lives may seem full and busy, there is always room for a cup of coffee with a friend. Good day to all …

Author Unknown

Keep your priorities straight

Chapter 4, Page 18, Book 18

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.

Anthony J. D'Angelo

No matter the weather we must make our own sunshine

Laughter is a sunbeam of the soul.

Thomas Mann

Sometime when we feel gloomy and sad we have to be our own sunshine.  Happiness is a choice and totally depends on you to make yourself happy and stay happy.  Happiness is nothing more than a decision we make.  It’s deciding to focus on the good, and not the bad.

I like to look at silver linings, the positive side of things and of course the funny side too.  I don’t have to let the weather affect how I feel.

 I’m fighting a bad case of cabin fever here and let me tell you it’s not easy.  I want to be outside enjoying the sunshine, but just yesterday we had another round of snow.

If you want to see the sunshine, you have to whether the storm.

Frank Lane

The fact is that we need to sing or dance and enjoy life no matter what the weather.  Maybe it isn’t the most fun thing to do, but feeling productive is a great cabin fever killer.  For me it’s a great time to get things done that I’ve been putting off.

It’s time to smile, to dance and sing!  

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.  These are but trifles to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.

 Joseph Addison

Chapter 4, Page 17, Book 18

Plans get you into things but you must work your way out.

Will Rogers

I’ve tried to live by the motto:  Plan your work and then work the plan.  But we all procrastinate from time to time.  Sometimes it’s this mundane things like sorting through old files, reconciling accounts or tidying up the linen closet.  But it is the big things that require more time and commitment that put us at more risk for falling behind.

I found this guide when looking for ways to stop procrastination:

Guide to Getting Rid of Procrastination

Create a to do list with specific deadlines

Break bigger projects into manageable chunks

Set aside time and space for work

Remove distractions

Tackle hard stuff first

Do one thing at a time

Reward yourself with breaks

Try the 2  Minute Rule

There are two parts to the 2 minute rule.  

Part 1.  If it takes less that two minutes, then do it now

Part 2.  When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.

Obviously all our goals cannot be accomplished in less than 2 minutes, but every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less and that is the purpose behind this rule.

You may delay, but time will not.

Benjamin Franklin

There have been many times I’ve found myself in the procrastination trap.  The truth is all I really needed to do was to set some goals and make a start. Nothing is going to happen if we do nothing.  Keeping focused and prioritizing tasks will help keep us moving forward.  

The best way to get something done is to begin

Author Unknown

Chapter 4, Page 16, Book 18

Since you get more joy out giving joy to others,

you should put a good deal of thought

into the happiness that you are able to give.

Eleanor Roosevelt

 Giving Joy…

The joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you.  

John Greenleaf Whittier

Joy is meant to be shared with others.  In fact our joy becomes complete when it is shared with others. 

Giving to others can be as simple as a single kind word, smile or a thoughtful gesture.  It can include giving time, care, skills, thought or attention.  Sometimes these mean as much if not more that financial gifts.

How to Spread JOY

1.  Find something that brings you JOY

2.  Do that thing as much as possible

3.  Share it with others.

There are so many things we can offer to those around us and many of these things are free. When you make someone laugh, when they see the humor in what you’re saying, their laughter become a gift freely and joyfully given.

Joy is a choice.  It’s not something done once and forgotten.  We can choose to see beyond our circumstances and be joyful. Joy breeds joy.  It spreads when you give it away.  

There is joy all around us, we just have to take a moment to experience it and share it.  By spreading joy we receive joy.  

The greatest Joy 

is giving Joy

to Others

Chapter 4, Page 15, Book 17

There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.

Alexander Woollcott

Celebrate life every day !

The miracle of your existence calls for celebration every day.

Oprah Winfrey

For me every day is an important one and worth celebrating in it’s own way.  Everyday is an opportunity to learn something new.  Everyday is a blessing and a new chance to appreciate being alive.  

Celebrating life is easy when you look for the extraordinary in the everyday.  We don’t have to wait to accomplish something monumental to to celebrate. 

The very fact that we are alive and live in a wondrous world and have special people in our lives is cause for celebrating. 

Rejoice and be happy !

 

Life is a happy thing, a festival to be enjoyed rather than a drudgery to be endured. 

Luci Swindoll

Chapter 4, Page 14, Book 18

Life is worth living as long

as there’s a laugh in it.

L.M. Montgomery,

‘Anne of Green Gables’

Life is worth living now.

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

William James

There are truly many things that make life worth living. Love is one of the fundamental reasons for living.  A life lived without love is lonely and meaningless.  

For others, it simply having a long and healthy life.  After all life is meaningless without good health  Health is wealth.  Wealth is happiness.

A life worth living is a life lived to the fullest.  A life filled with trials and tribulations.  A life filled with obstacles and challenges.  A life filled with sorrow and happiness.  A live filled with dreams and aspirations

Like happiness, we all want a life filled with meaning, a life worth living. Human life is meant to be lived, so never waste an opportunity to discover new things. It is the small things that fill each day that improve our lives in little ways every day  and that cheer us up and give us something to look forward to.

The Ingredients of a life worth living

Someone to love

Something to do

Something to hope for

My life is good, it is worth living!  I have many people in my life to love,  I have so much to do that I’ll never be done and I’m a very hopeful person. Without hope, life is meaning less.

One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.

Eleanor Roosevelt