Head down, Move forward!!

"Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe

Imagine how many amazing and tremendous things in our world resulted from someone NOT giving up on a goal or project!!!

So many breakthroughs and inventions may have never seen the light of day if the person had not given it one more shot!!!!

Do not give up ...do not quit!!! 

Ever!!

Keep your eye on the goal and do not waver from it, no matter how many setbacks or failures we experience in the meantime!!

Success will come if we just put our heads down and move forward!!! 

Do not get discouraged!! 

Setbacks are inevitable and should be embraced, it just means you are getting closer to the goal!!

Stay Strong!!

Fresh Start .... What will we do with it...

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."
  - Eleanor Roosevelt

What is better than getting a brand new fresh start every Single morning???

We get that every single day .... A do-over and a new chance to pursue whatever it is we want go do....!!!!

Do not squander it!!

Life moves quickly, so take advantage of the daily clean slate opportunities and go after those dreams!

Do not let fear stop you!!!!  Fear cannot stop you!!

Go get it!!!  We are all behind you!!!

Start this very day!!!

Stay Strong!!!

Shed the old....start anew......!!!

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come."
   - Joseph Campbell

We can change our lives at any given moment. 

We can make a decision this very second and alter the entire direction and scope of our lives!!

The beautiful part of this fact is that we control it...it is up to us and us alone to take that action!!!

So what are we waiting for anyway?

Declare today that the past is dead and today is the first day of our new chapter!!!

People struggling with substance abuse can change their lives with a declaration, faith and commitment to that change!

If they can overcome their challenges and constant battle against their troubles, we can surely change our perspective and reinvent our lives!

We can do it of we declare it, believe it, and follow it!!!

Make that declaration right now!!!

Shed the old skin and let your next amazing phase start today!!!!

I believe in you!!!

Stay Strong!!

Gratitude

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, Thank you, that would suffice."

- Meister Eckhart

Count your blessings!! 

Do not take for granted a single day!! 

Give thanks for the blessings each day provides and find the positives in your life!!

If you search and find only one positive or blessing, and we all have at least one, then focus on that one alone!!!!

As Garrison Keillor once said,

"Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive US if we do not love it enough."

Stay Strong!!!

The Secret of Prayer

"Don't let your prayer be a fight against reality. And the first reality you've got is yourself, and that's where prayer begins.

It begins with you and you don't have to go from you to God, because God is in you.

All you've got to do is to stay where you are.

You don't have to get out of this "base, earthly being" which you are and climb Jacob's ladder and get way up in heaven where God is, because if you do that, you'll never pray.

You couldn't pray.

You have to start where you are and stay with it, because God is in you as you are, and doesn't expect you to be any other than you are, except that there is a change that
God is going to make in your life.

But you have to learn how to get together with God in your life so that this change can be made.

-—Thomas Merton transcribed from a talk he gave on a spring morning in 1963 to the novices at Loretto motherhouse. Taken from from "Hidden in the Same Mystery - Thomas Merton and Loretto," p. 25 from the Talk of Father Louis to Novices and Postulants, May 15, 1963

Special Thanks to Parabola

Endure!!!!

"Every calamity is to be overcome by endurance."
     - Virgil

It is so true!!!  And oh so simple when you think of it.

We all have our own battles going on as we speak.

We all have a reason in our minds to stay in bed every morning and give up the good fight!!

That would be very easy to do and many people choose this route at times!

However, we all MUST fight off that feeling of being overwhelmed and despair and keep an eye on the big picture goal here.

If we can just remind ourselves daily that life here is so much more than our own little issues and challenges and that we have a purpose and a mission to fulfill, we would be able to rise off the mat and get back on our feet easily!!!

The only goal when life knocks you down or hits you with a haymaker is to gather yourself, get back on your feet and ENDURE!!!!

Persevere!!!!

Like Sly Stallone in Rocky, the secret to success is to just put your head down and keep moving forward!!!! 

Take the punches with a smile and have FAITH that you will get through any and every battle!!

Do not quit..do not despair....do not give in to the easy temptation to just roll over and let the waves wash you away!!

You may not know it, but every one of us have many people pulling for us - people who need us in that good fight!!! 

We need you in that battle!!!

So meet the bell, shake off the feeling of defeat and get back into the fray with the rest of us!!!!

Endurance and Perseverance are within our control ...and ALL we need to succeed!!!!!!

So soldier on!!!  Success, peace and joy are imminent - they are right around the corner!!!

Stay Strong!!!

Happy Independence Day!!!

"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word:

Freedom, Justice, Honor, Duty, Mercy, Hope."
  
   - Winston Churchill

Freedom is one inalienable right that we in this still great but struggling country take for granted every day.

Pause today and give thanks to those brave and determined souls who brought this right to us, and died to gain it for a nation.

And say a prayer at some point today for those brave and courageous souls who today still put their very lives on the line for all of us to preserve that right as we barbeque and enjoy our loved ones under the very blanket of freedom that they provide to us.

Let us remember these special and selfless men and wowen - past and present - as the fireworks illuminate the sky and we celebrate that indefinable spirit of life, liberty and freedom today!!

God save and preserve our wonderful country!!!

Stay Strong - Stay Free!!!