Your own Path....

"As Schopenhauer says, when you look back on your life, it looks as though it were a plot, but when you are into it, it's a mess: just one surprise after another.

Then, later, you see it was perfect.

So I have a theory that if you are on your own path great things are going to come to you.

Since it's your own path, and no one has ever been on it before, there's no precedent, so everything that happens is a surprise and is timely."

—Joseph Campbell, from A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living, edited by Robert Walter, conceived by Diane K. Osbon (Joseph Campbell Foundation, 1991)

Be very careful with what you choose to use as your "measuring stick" for success, happiness, and satisfaction!

I urge you to step back and define what it is you WANT in this short life ..and be leery of comparing your life, your experiences, your relationships, your careers, etc to anyone else's life and experiences!!

We are all on our own paths and we are not here to match and mimic anyone else's path!!

You are unique and whether you know it or not you have a special purpose and reason for being on this earth.

Do not choose your path without thinking of where you WANT that path to lead. 

At least in the right direction!!

STOP beating yourself up over your current, temporary life challenges, your perceived shortcomings, your past, your mistakes, your present state, etc.

Perhaps you are SUPPOSED to be in the midst of these trials and struggles for a good reason..a reason we may not yet understand!

Accept the path we are on!  Own it and make the best of it!!! 

But KEEP MOVING down the path - YOUR OWN path....with faith and hope and trust that it is leading you to the place you are MEANT to be!!!!

Believe it.....embrace it....and savor each unique and special challenge and eventual victory and joy that surely awaits you along your path l!!

There will surely be some bumps on that path, but life would be pretty unsatisfying without the joy of overcoming them!!!

Stay Strong!!!!

Greet this day

I will greet this day with love in my heart.
And how will I do this?
Henceforth will I look on all things with love and be born again.
I will love the sun for it warms my bones; yet I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit.
I will love the light for it shows me the way; yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars.
I will welcome happiness as it enlarges my heart; yet I will endure sadness for it opens my soul.
I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due; yet I will welcome obstacles for they are my challenge.
  - Og Mandino

Regardless of what your daily challenges may be, approach each day with Faith and Trust that they are only temporary.

Because they are!!!

There are always two sides to every situation and what truly matters is how we look at it!

Just as rain has a purpose and necessity to our lives, trials and challenges are a critical part of our growth and as painful as they can be, we must accept them, embrace them, and focus on the solution.

Nothing lasts forever and our trials will not last forever either!!

Stay Strong!!

Shift!!!

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have."
   - Frederick Koenig

When is the last time you sat down, took a pad and paper, and literally wrote down all of the many blessings we all have in our lives?

We all too easily reflect, ruminate, and torture ourselves over the life we don't have today instead of giving Thanks for the abundance of amazing gifts we have in our lives!!!!

Sometimes what it takes for us to truly realize just how lucky and blessed ALL of us are is to commit them all to paper!!!

Try it and you will be amazed at all of the things we take for granted every single day - and choose to beat ourselves up instead over the car, the house the job, the lifestyle, the life we see others having and we wish we had!! 

How silly is that??  And it is an impossible loop we put ourselves in that we will NEVER escape!!!

Escape is impossible as you will never get ahead - there are always going to be people with "more".

Get out the pen and paper right now and CHOOSE to focus on these amazing blessings we have at this very moment!!

Start your day giving thanks for these gifts and you will see an immediate change!!

Gratitude will alter your attitude!! (Feel free to use that..lol)

And Happiness is the inevitable byproduct!

Stay Strong!!!!

Fear not Fear...

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

There is no harder decision for humans than to undertake that which we fear to do.

However, the good news is that there is no GREATER feeling in life once we have conquered that FEAR and own it!!

The sheer knowledge that the euphoria, confidence, and joy we will immediately experience will FAR OUTSTRIP any worry or anxiety emotions once we take that step we fear to take should be more than enough to get us moving!!

What do you fear to do right now?? 

What hurdle have you been staring at, avoiding, dodging, and fearing?

You can take that  first step to banish that fear today??

Take it slow if you must but take that step!

The end result is not to be missed and it will change your life!!

Stay Strong!!

September 11 - Remember and Pray

On September 10, 2001, two American Airline pilots who had never met each other made separate decisions and their fates were forever entwined!!!

Say a prayer today for all those who were lost that horrific day, for all those left behind here without them, and  pray for those so consumed in hatred that they can conceive and carry out such evil deeds!!!  May their hearts be changed.

For those still struggling even after all of these years with the "Why" of the event:

"Matthew teaches the meaning of our Lord's passion by referring to the Bible's depiction of the suffering just person. Like the suffering of the just, Jesus' pain is also salvific.

Meditating on our Lord's passion and death and referring it to our own pain and frustrations, we should not insist on "why"?  Often there is no answer but Faith in God, who has designed this life as a transition to a better one to come.

PRAY for strength to accept life and it's frustrations as Jesus has done.

"Your will be done." (MT 36:39)

See the video of the pilot's story below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLj4akmncsA

Stay Strong

Move on!!! Permission granted!!

"Never look back unless you are planning to go that way."
     - Henry David Thoreau

There are 3 things that are a complete waste of time for all of us as human beings:

Worry!  Worry is a proven waste of time and energy!  Don't cave into it. Move away from worry when you identify it and shift to asking yourself ''what is the worst that will come from the current issue?". The answer is usually manageable and not worth the worry.  Focus on the solution and take action in confidence and banish worry!

Anger!  There is nothing more damaging and wasteful than harboring anger toward someone or some circumstance!  The only person that suffers from anger is the person who cannot move past it and cannot forgive.YOU!!!! Shame on us if we foolishly let anger fester inside us and waste valuable time in that state.  Forgive right now and move on!!!  Otherwise you are doubly damaged and rooted in your current state!

The Past!  I don't care what you did yesterday!!  And neither should you!  So you made mistakes and made some poor choices,  decisions, or actions. Bad and unfair things happened to you!  So what?  What can we do about it now?

Zero!!!
 
The beauty of this very short life is that we can change our course and path in an instant IF we use our minds and forget the past! 

We cannot change it BUT we can take corrective action today and alter our present and future!!!

We as humans can rehash and torture ourselves for decades on an event or decision that lasted 2 minutes 20 years ago!!!!! 

Think about that!! 

Why????

We can sincerely change our direction and path in life this very instant but we have to declare it and have the discipline to stick to it!!!

Let the past go!!!  It is foolish to waste another second on the past!!

You are forgiven and have permission to re-start over again!!!

NOW is all that matters and we control it!!!

What is your choice going to be today?

STAY STRONG!!

Believe!!!

"A true friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself."

- Anonymous

Never give up on anyone.

It is terrific and valuable advice.

Throw a rock and you will hit someone who is doubting themselves, struggling with their own lives, facing their own challenges, someone in need of some bolstering, some uplifting and some support!

Be on alert and seek out those in our lives who may be in desperate need of someone to remind them of their unique and true value!

It is not enough to just think it..we must let these people know how important and valuable they are to us and to the entire world!!!

Start now and you will be amazed at how much greater your own life becomes as a result!

It is a fact!!! 

If you are receiving this email, it is because I BELIEVE that you are special, unique and the world would not be the same wonderful experience without you in it!!!

It is your turn to BELIEVE it now!!!

Stay Strong!!!

Fwd: Stay Strong - Daily Inspiration

Wow....spreading the message!!

Check out the terrific daily inspirational blog below!!!!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Jonathan Lockwood Huie" <sail7@sail7.com>
Date: Sep 5, 2012 1:02 AM
Subject: Stay Strong -

See www.quotes-daily.com/p/help.html for Help with Daily Inspiration email.
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Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote ... Jonathan Lockwood Huie

September 5, 2012

Insights for living with joy and purpose

One can never consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar.
- Helen Keller

You have to accept whatever comes
and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage
and with the best that you have to give.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Courage is doing what you're afraid to do.
There can be no courage unless you're scared.
- Eddie Rickenbacker

Men are not prisoners of fate,
but only prisoners of their own minds.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Further reading: (Please share the pages you like with your friends on Facebook, Google Plus, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, and Twitter.)

Daily Renewal

Coping with the Impossible

How to Deal with Rejection

Stay Strong Quotes

Inner Strength Quotes

Never Give Up Quotes

Never Look Back Quotes

Encouraging Quotes for Hard Times

Quotes of Encouragement
________________________________

May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan

Jonathan Lockwood Huie
jlh @ sail7 .com
Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote

________________________________

See all 1000+ Daily Inspirations with pictures and links at www.quotes-daily.com
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Jonathan Lockwood Huie, 104 Sands Point Dr., Tierra Verde, FL 33715, United States

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Don't ask "Why me?", ask for "More please" - only through hard lessons do we grow closer to our potential and our reward...

It has been granted to you... to suffer for Him. (Philippians 1:29)

"God runs a costly school, for many of His lessons are learned through tears. Richard Baxter, the seventeenth-century Puritan preacher, once said, "O God, I thank You for the discipline I have endured in this body for fifty-eight years." And he certainly is not the only person who has turned trouble into triumph.

Soon the school of our heavenly Father will close for us, for the end of the school term is closer every day.

May we never run from a difficult lesson or flinch from the rod of discipline. Richer will be our crown, and sweeter will heaven be, if we cheerfully endure to the end. Then we will graduate in glory. Theodore L. Cuyler

The world's finest china is fired in ovens at least three times, and some many more. Dresden china is always fired three times. Why is it forced to endure such intense heat? Shouldn't once or twice be enough? No, it is necessary to fire the china three times so the gold, crimson, and other colors are brighter, more beautiful, and permanently attached.

We are fashioned after the same principle!!!

The human trials of life are burned into us numerous times, and through God's grace, beautiful colors are formed in us and made to shine forever."

Cortland Myers

From Streams in the Desert

Stay Strong.....this too shall pass!!!!

Nuff said........

"The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up."             - Mark Twain

"The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves."                          - Helen Keller

Give it a shot today......what do you have to lose?

Stay Strong