Spread Your Wings and SOAR

 

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

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.
Small people always do that, but the really great
make you feel that you, too, can become great.
- Mark Twain

There is an eagle in me that wants to soar,
and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.
- Carl Sandburg

If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable...
we must be content to creep along the ground,
and never soar.
- John Henry Newman

Why settle for less?
If you do not yet feel your wings spreading,
look for the chains tethering you to your history.
You were born wild and free. What happened?
Are you willing to break free of your past?
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Spread Your Wings

Life Lived to the Edge

The Edge

Let Your Heart Soar
    

Don't Just Complain, TAKE ACTION!

 

We cannot change anything until we accept it.
Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.
- Carl Jung

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain,
and most fools do.
- Benjamin Franklin

Never ascribe to malice that which is
adequately explained by incompetence.
- Napoleon

When they are disappointed, most people react by assigning blame,
and finding someone to criticize.
What if we accepted that our disappointments
are seldom the result of malice on the part of anyone,
and worked together to make life better for all.
Don't Complain, Take Action Instead.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am,
then I can change.
- Carl Rogers

Further reading: Restraint

Condemn None

Stand Beyond Criticism

Judge Not
      

Continually Expand Your Perspectives

I'm not afraid of storms for I'm learning how to sail my ship.
- Louisa May Alcott

Develop a passion for learning.
If you do, you will never cease to grow.
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

If you put yourself in a position where
you have to stretch outside your comfort zone,
then you are forced to expand your consciousness.
- Les Brown

Intellectual growth should commence at birth
and cease only at death.
- Albert Einstein

Cultivate a 'learning consciousness,'
in which your experiences, knowledge,
and attitudes expand over time;
in contrast to a 'fixed consciousness,'
in which one stagnates and fails to progress.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Lifelong Learning

How We Learn

How Life Teaches

Learning From History

Renewing Yourself

Question Your Questions
    

 

Do Not be Seduced by the Illusion of Knowledge

To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -
it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Daniel J. Boorstin

Beware of false knowledge;
it is more dangerous than ignorance.
- George Bernard Shaw

We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you have a very strong FEELING that something is true, often it isn't.
WANTING something to be true doesn't make it true.
Likewise, being AFRAID that something is true doesn't make it true either.

Further reading: Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

The Danger of Assumptions

Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind
    

Regret is Not Helpful, Learn from the Past and Move On

 

Write your Sad times in Sand,
Write your Good times in Stone.
- George Bernard Shaw

Instead of dwelling on negative thoughts,
cause your mind to dwell on peace and joy.
- Ernest Holmes

If only the people who worry about their liabilities
would think about the riches they do possess,
they would stop worrying.
- Dale Carnegie

He who spends time regretting the past,
loses the present and risks the future.
- Quevedo

Further reading: 12 Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

Feeling Depressed?

When It's Darkest

Count Your Blessings - Not Your Troubles

Overcoming Anxiety

Five Questions to Ask Yourself When You Feel Sad for No Apparent Reason
    

Some thoughts as we enter the New Year of 2026...

 

Some thoughts as we enter a New Year:

Good Endings precede Good Beginnings.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Stop holding on to the past.
Release your regrets about whatever you may have done
or failed to do that turned out poorly.
Forgive others for whatever they may have done
or failed to do that cause you harm.
Declare today to be a new beginning.
Let go of the past and move on with creating
a joyful new future for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

New Year's Day 2026

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best.
- William Arthur Ward

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.
- Oprah Winfrey

Don't Wait!
Start on your dreams, your impulses,
your longings, your special occasions today.
Because this is your moment.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Another Sunrise, Another New Beginning.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
- C. S. Lewis

Further Reading: Have a Happy New Year - All Year Long

The Main Thing

The First Day