Quote of the Day

  “Love is stronger than death even though it can't stop death from happening, but no matter how hard death tries it can't separate people from love. It can't take away our memories either. In the end, life is stronger than death.”    -Unknown

I don't think about death much. After all, it's another part of life. But here I am, still feeling all sorts of ways about the passing of my grandfather this weekend. On one hand, it's terribly painful knowing that I won't get to see him again, hear some of his stories or be teased about getting fat. On the other, I'm glad that he isn't in pain and is at rest. And I'm proud to be a descendant of such a wonderful person. They say the good die young; I say the great outlive most. He died just a month shy of his 102nd birthday. RIP Robert Davis, Sr. You will live forever in our memories.

 

Quote of the Day

(Quotes, actually.)

At work we're reading a short book called Habits Die Hard: 10 Steps to Building Successful Habits. It's full of tips and quotes and ways to overcome bad habits and turn them into positive habits, which can be applied professionally and in your personal life. My chapter is "Assess the Risk" (arguably the most boring chapter I could get, considering that it instantly put me in the mind of some of my business classes). Although the info in this chapter was pretty basic, it did have some quotes that I like, and they do apply to some aspects of my life now. Since I felt like they were good little bits of inspiration for me, I had to share them with y'all.

"It's not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It's because we dare not venture that they are difficult." - Seneca

"Fear is a powerful de-motivator. It limits us. It entangles us in the status quo."

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." -  Thomas Edison

Quote of the Day

Let emotions subside before you decide.

                                 - Joyce Myer

 

I am catching up with my daily devotional reading since I've been very lax on that lately. This morning I read Friday's devotional, titled "Let the Storm Subside." In it, Joyce Myer talks about different "storms" that we face in life, and what she has learned about them. One of the biggest things you can realize is that when your thoughts and feelings are running wild (like during a crisis), that's not the best time to make big decisions. That isn't a new concept really. That's one reason wills are created and final resting arrangements are made up front: so that family members won't have to worry about making the "right" decisions while emotions are high.

Another statement she makes is something that I've been hearing all of my life, but I've only recently begun to accept it as truth:

"[God] makes sure everything that needs to happen in our lives happens at the right time, moves at the appropriate speed, and causes us to arrive safely at the destinations He has planned for us."

During this time that I've designated as "reset mode" (a period where the focus is on getting right spiritually and focusing on myself and what makes me truly happy) I am trying to keep that in mind. Patience isn't my strong point, but my desire is to not make a move before it's time and not make decisions based purely on emotions.

Quote of the Day

This is first and foremost to myself. It's not "OMG I've never thought about that; my life is forever changed" type stuff. Just a reminder of what I already know. Sometimes we all need a little push to do what may be outside of our comfort zone and make things happen.

Quote of the Day

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

 

 For the past few weeks I've been putting off a big decision because I'm scared to make the wrong choice. Some of my business ideas remain simply ideas out of fear that they will either fail or be too successful.

Self-doubt is a monster, but it is not unconquerable. Look back on past victories that initially seemed out of reach. Draw strength and encouragement from the fact that you have overcome odds and done "the impossible" before, and you can do it again. Know that even if you make a mistake, you haven't failed; you've simply found out how not to achieve your goal.

Yes, I am preaching to myself this morning, but hopefully these few words will encourage someone else as well.

Quote of the Day

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Albert Einstein

 So here we are, facing a brand new year. No doubt many of you have made resolutions and have big plans for the year. I certainly have some things up my sleeves; I need 2012 to be a breakout year for me (and my businesses)! Now the question is not what we want to do, but how do we plan to do it? Go back and evaluate what you have done in the past to move towards your goal. If it's still a goal and not an accomplishment that you can cross off, then something can be done differently. Maybe there is a need for a complete 180 in your strategy. You could simply need to adjust the level of activity needed to make your dream a reality. Or perhaps you just need to just get off of that "I wish" and start doing!

Objectively review your goals to find the changes that can be made. Not getting a clear direction of how you should go? Enlist the help of a mentor or an honest, knowledgeable friend. Just don't go through this year doing the same thing you did last year and expecting different results.

Quote of the Day

Like many people, I have been following the #OccupyWallstreet and subsequent Occupy movements. While I am in support of the movement and the idea behind it, I have some conflicting thoughts about it. (More on that to come in another post. I swear.) But these protests, along with uprisings all over the world and those in Catching Fire which I am sooo into right now, give me hope. They show that many are not willing to be sheeple. They want their voices heard. They want their rights realized. They want a fair chance from those who have been elected to look out for them. Many of the people taking part in these movements have little or nothing to lose. Do you know what this means? It means the powers that be are losing their grip and their control. After all:

“You only have power over people so long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power - he's free again.”   -Aleksander Solzhenitsyn

RIP Steve

Just a few days ago I was proclaiming my love for Apple. The first computer I learned to use was an Apple: my aunt & uncle's computer with the green pixellated screen. Today I have a MacBook for my heavy-duty work, I read on my iPad and my iPhone never leaves my side. I've even got my mom addicted to her iPad.

All of these things were a part of Steve Jobs' vision. Crazy & far-fetched as some of his ideas seemed, he brought them to reality and literally changed the world. It's amazing that he was able to do so much in such a short life. His drive, vision, talent and genius were to be admired. Although most of us did not know him personally, he will be missed, as he has touched so many lives. Below are three of my favorite quotes from Mr. Jobs.

"Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

Quote of the Day: "Tips for the Trip"

Usually on fourth Sundays, I kinda zone out during the sermon. The preacher is one that I would rather not hear (we have different preachers every Sunday of the month). But yesterday was a little different, probably because the sermon related to what I'm currently dealing with. He talked about the Israelites leaving Egypt & how God didn't take them the shortest way so they could avoid danger. (Somehow in all my years of churchgoing I've never heard that, but anyway...) The preacher gave four points, or "Tips for the Trip" as the sermon was titled, but the first two are what really stuck out to me.

1. The shortest way is not always the surest way 

2. It's not the speed of the pace, it's the success of the race

I could've broken down crying at both of these. At times--a lot more recently--it seems like everyone is ahead of me. I look around and everyone is moving, buying houses, getting married, working in the career they want. Meanwhile, I seem stuck in a rut and hearing the same old cliché, "Your time is coming." It's been tempting to just jump out there and try to make something happen on my own, especially with the house issue. But I can't look at what others are doing and think I need to be doing the same (or better) because I don't know what they are facing or what they did to get where they are.

We all have a reason for being where we are now, and a season to come into all that we are meant to be, do, and have. It's a struggle to be patient, but important not to move in such a hurry that we are blind to the pitfalls. Remember the tips for the trip and listen to that little voice inside of you. It won't lead you wrong.

Quote of the Day

I have read and heard a lot of discussion lately about love, marriage and divorce that have caused me to re-evaluate how I look at relationships. The brouhaha over Will and Jada's rumored separation yesterday was the icing on the cake. Many people seemed to think that there was no more hope for black love/black marriage/the black family. "If Will & Jada can't make it, how can weeee?" they wondered. But I was fortunate to read several comments on different sites that proved everyone hadn't lost it. My favorite basically said that all marriages end, whether by divorce or by death. People change, and sometimes those changes result in the end of a relationship. The commenter said that if his marriage ended, it wouldn't be a failed marriage, just one that had come to an end. That statement made me think of this quote, one of my favorites about love and relationships:

“We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.”
 - Somerset Maugham

I hope and pray that when I marry, it is forever and that we can "continue to love a changed person." But I understand that it may not work out that way. The growth and evolution that each of us undergoes throughout life may eventually take us down different paths. I'd still put in work to make the marriage last, of course; there's no excuse not to do that. But if it doesn't work out, it's okay, even though I'm sure it would still hurt like hell.

What are your thoughts on this quote or the words of the commenter?

Quote of the Day

“All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”
- George Orwell

Mr. Orwell gets me...

Quote of the Day

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.”

 Washington Irving, American writer

Quote of the Day

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely...”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote(s) of the Day

It's only Wednesday, but this has been one of the roughest, most trying weeks I can ever recall. My stress level is at an all-time high (matched only by my last semester in grad school when I wasn't sure I'd pass my final class) and I've cried more times than I care to recall.

It ain't looking good for the kid.

So since there's no one here to pat me on the back and "woo woo woo" me, I have to encourage myself. Or let the words of others do it for me:

Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but morning comes. Keep hope alive. Don't you surrender! Suffering breeds character, character breeds faith. In the end faith will not disappoint.
- Jesse Jackson

You are on the eve of a complete victory. You can't go wrong. The world is behind you.
- Josephine Baker

Thanks Jesse. Thanks Josephine. Y'all don't know how much I needed that.

Quote of the Day

“There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout:
This is me dayum it! I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel the way I feel, love the way I love! I am a whole complex package. Take me... or leave me. Accept me - or walk away! Do not try to make me feel like less of a person, just because I don't fit your idea of who I should be and don't try to change me to fit your mold. If I need to change, I alone will make that decision.
When you are strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad - you will be amazed at the opportunities that life presents you.”

- Stacey Charter

Quote of the Day

“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you."

T. Alan Armstrong

Who taught you to hate?

“Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t want to be around each other? ... you should ask yourself who taught you to hate being what God made you.” 

 

(Malcolm X – May 22, 1962, Los Angeles)

Quotes of the Day: On Adversity

Today some developments came up that have me reconsidering the direction I want my career to follow, and whether I want to remain with the real estate company I'm with or go for broke & work strictly for myself once I get my broker's license next year. Until I can think a bit clearer to write a post that actually makes sense, I'm trying to lift myself up with some quotes instead...

“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” Arthur Golden

“Things that were hard to bear are sweet to remember” Seneca

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” Henry Ford

“Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth.” Susan Taylor

“There is in every true woman's heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.” Washington Irving

“Opposition is a natural part of life. Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition - such as lifting weights - we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.” Stephen R. Covey

“Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with.” Thomas Carlyle

(all quotes courtesy of thinkexist.com)

Quote of the Day

“Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can't love and respect yourself - no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are - completely; the good and the bad - and make changes as you see fit - not because you think someone else wants you to be different.”

 

Stacey Charter

Quote of the Day

Don't let me loose in a bookstore, y'all. Regardless of what kind of bookstore it is, I'm bound to find something I want. Even if it's just a store with a little book section, keep me away from it! The other day my mom wanted to stop at the Christian bookstore, and of course I came out with a bag. So now I'm reading The Me I Want To Be: Becoming God's Best Version of You by John Ortberg and wanted to share a paragraph that kinda hit me like "dayum."

Only God knows your full potential, and he is guiding you toward that best version of yourself all the time. He has many tools and is never in a hurry. That can be frustrating for us, but even in our frustration, God is at work to produce patience in us. He never gets discouraged by how long it takes, and he delights every time you grow. Only God can see the best version of you, and he is more concerned with you reaching your full potential than you are.