“Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down into the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.” - Muhammad Ali
 
Are you able to reach into your soul and give the extra effort when the match is on the line?  

We used to take grace and civility for granted. Now, as we progress - is that the right word? We find it so rare, so elusive, so precious, that when it presents itself, we are startled. What does this say about us? Why have we given ourselves permission to dismiss others?
Civility might have died when our lives reached warp speed, maybe when we sat down at the computer and ponded the desk because downloading something from the Internet took three seconds instead of 0.3 seconds. I know I grow testy when it takes me ten whole minutes  to do genealogical research on the Internet even though it would have taken me six months by mail.
Is it that we don't have the time to treat one another as human beings? Or our we just too absorbed with our own problems? We worry about money. We worry about being downsized into oblivion. We worry about health. We worry about our children. We worry if we're going to die in peace or by some lunatic's bullet.
Maybe we're so worried that we've forgotten the common decency our parents taught us. Or maybe we've rejected it.
Here's a promise from me to me. Either I promise to buy a faster modem for my computer or I stop pounding the desk. I've started following the advice of a woman who wrote to my column saying that she makes it a point to let someone in ahead of her on the highway everyday. Great idea.

by Jeffrey Page cited in the Bergen Record and published in Leadership...with a common touch, November 16, 1999, Pages 18-19 

“Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.” - Jim Rohn
 
Are you consistently sticking to the beliefs and values that will get you to your goals?

"Sam Holden, writing in his associations magazine, The Rotarian, suggests that every group like his is made up of four kinds of bones:
1. The WISH BONES who spend their time wishing someone else would do the work.
2. The JAW BONES who do all the talking, but very little else.
3. The KNUCKLE BONES who knock everything that anyone else is trying to do.
4. The BACK BONES who get under the load and do the work.

From: Leadership...with a human touch, November 16, 1999, Page 10

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” - Saint Francis de Sales
 
How would you go about showing your strength?  

“Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to the time we have.” - John C. Maxwell
 
How are you prioritizing your time?  

“Our strengths are the shadows of our weaknesses.” - Erwin Raphael McManus
 
How can you turn your weaknesses into strengths?

“To endure is greater than to dare. To tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it – who can say this is not greatness.” - William Makepeace Thackeray
 
How do you keep going in the face of overwhelming odds?  

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” - Amelia Earhart
 
Have you committed to the decision to act?  

Everyone is Important
 
 During Mark's first month of college, the professor gave his students a pop quiz. He was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until he read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. He had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would he know her name? He handed in his paper, leaving the last question blank.
Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward the quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They each deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello'". Mark never forgot that lesson. He also learned her name was Dorothy.
 
 
www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/stories.

“Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” - Farrah Gray
 
Whose dreams are you building?

“Loneliness is the central and inevitable experience of every person.” - Thomas Wolfe
 
Can you sit with your loneliness and like the company you keep? 

“Habit is stronger than reason.” - George Santayana
 
Are your habits leading you toward your goals? 

“If you’re not responsible for a problem, you don’t have the power to fix it. You cannot own the moment if you do not take ownership.” - Erwin Raphael McManus
 
Are you owning the ability to fix the problem?

1. Have A Hobby: Acquire pursuits which absorb your interest; sports and "nature" are bst.
2. Develop A Philosophy: Adapt yourself to social and spiritual surroundings.
3. Share Your Thoughts: Cultivate companionship in thought and in feeling. Confide, confess and consult.
4. Face Your Fears: Analyze them; daylight dismisses ghosts.
5. Balance Fantasy With Fact: Dream but also do; wish but build; imagine but face reality.
6. Beware of Alluring Escapes: Alcohol and drugs will prove faithless friends.
7. Exercise: Walk, swim, golf - muscles need activity.
8. Love, But Love Wisely: Sex is a flame which uncontrolled may scorch; properly guided, it will light the torch of eternity.
9. Don't Become Engulfed In A Whirlpool Of Worries: Get help early.
10. Trust In Time: Be patient and hopeful, time is a great therapist.

By Dr. Joseph Fetterman