Nothing is beautiful until it is looked at

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In these times of health, political, social, and economic challenge,
it is our task to generate beauty and happiness for ourselves
rather than hoping to "find" them.
...
The beauty does not live out there; the beauty's in my eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The sculptor produces the beautiful statue
by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed -
it is a process of elimination.
- Elbert Hubbard

Perspective. Point-of-view. Is something ugly, or beautiful?
Noble or insensitive? There are six billion ways of seeing life.
Trust your own inner eye for beauty.

Outer show is a poor substitute for inner worth.
- Aesop

Further reading: How to Build Self Esteem

How to Love Yourself

How to Feel Good About Yourself 
         

If you can't crash through an obstacle or leap over it, walk around it

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles
possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.
- Albert Schweitzer

Real obstacles don't take you in circles. They can be overcome.
Invented ones are like a maze.
- Barbara Sher

Obstacles are like wild animals.
They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can.
If they see you are afraid of them...
they are liable to spring upon you;
but if you look them squarely in the eye,
they will slink out of sight.
- Orison Swett Marden

Press on.
Obstacles are seldom the same size tomorrow as they are today.
- Robert H. Schuller

Further reading: Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Later is Never

Learn to Motivate Yourself
       

Focus on Solutions Rather Than Blame

All the world is full of suffering.
It is also full of overcoming.
- Helen Keller

When you are offended at any man's fault,
turn to yourself and study your own failings.
Then you will forget your anger.
- Epictetus

It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out;
it's the grain of sand in your shoe.
- Robert W. Service

Ninety-nine percent of the failures
come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
- George Washington Carver

Where there is no accusation of "fault,"
there can be no anger.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb

Sometimes "bad" things just happen. Try to avoid lashing out at whoever is handiest - your spouse, your family, your friend, the government, God.

Direct your attention to finding a way forward,
rather than on assigning blame.
 - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Deal with Anger

Revenge is Never the Answer

When You Have Been Wronged
      

Don't Limit Your Own Growth

The only limits in our life are those we impose on ourselves.
- Bob Proctor

May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity.
May your heart sing sweet lullabies of timelessness.
May your spirit soar throughout the vast cathedral of your being.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

There are no great limits to growth because there are
no limits of human intelligence,
imagination, and wonder.
- Ronald Reagan

Further reading: Soar Your Spirit

How to Regain Your Dreams

Choose Your Life Purpose

The Edge
      

Don't Give Up - Try Another Way

Be resolute in your goals,
but flexible in your tactics.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution.
If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds.
- Norman Vincent Peale 

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman,
before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
- John Quincy Adams

You must do the things you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Where there's a will, there's a way.
- old English proverb

Sometimes the way to the pot of gold on the other side of the mountain is to keep fighting up the steep slippery slope, but often it is better to walk around the mountain. Also consider refocusing your attention on another pot of gold that is even larger, shinier, and virtually at hand.

How often we keep banging our head into the same wall, or to use the phrase derived from Cervantes Don Quixote, "tilting at windmills." 

When a problem seems unsolvable, or a question appears unanswerable, consider that you may not be asking the best question. 

In their own way, problems can be blessings.
They can be the prod to get us out of our complacency and into action.

Problems create an opportunity for us to exercise our ingenuity,
to plan, to persevere, to interact with our social network,
and to feel a sense of accomplishment when we finally overcome the unexpected roadblock. 

In the midst of crisis, boldly seize opportunity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

Further reading: Problem-Solving Abilities 

Be Flexible

Another Door Opens 

Rising Again
    

Be Satisfied With Enough

Be Satisfied With Enough,
Work Enough (but not too much),
and Play Enough (but not too much).
Balance Service and Play, Both are Essential.
Take some time in a quiet place to contemplate
the balance between being of service -
both to this generation and to generations yet unborn -
and renewing your vitality with play and celebration.
Without play, one becomes old and dry.
Without service, life becomes meaningless.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.
- Epicurus

It isn't enough to talk about peace.
One must believe in it.
And it isn't enough to believe in it.
One must work at it.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

He who can give thanks for little
will always find he has enough.
- Anonymous

We can do anything we want to
if we stick to it long enough.
- Helen Keller

Further reading: Abundance or Scarcity?

A List of Gratitudes

How to Balance Your Life

Comparisons are Odious
         

Solitude is a Canvas for Creation

The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers,
but it takes a very creative mind to spot wrong questions.
- Antony Jay

The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.
- Albert Einstein

Make an empty space in any corner of your mind,
and creativity will instantly fill it.
- Dee Hock

To live a creative life
we must lose our fear of being wrong.
- Joseph Chilton Pearce

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement
and the thrill of creative effort.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority
has made the world better.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Creativity has more to do with the elimination of the
inessential than with inventing something new.
- Helmut Jahn

May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity.
Asking "What IF" is the essence of creativity.
It Takes a Creative Mind to Ask the Right Questions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Discovery through New Eyes

Seek Your Own Wisdom

Welcome Inquiry, Discovery, and New Vistas

Scientific Thinking