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
       

Nobody Promised That Life Would Be Fair

 

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"
I am always tempted to ask, Compared to what?
- Sydney Harris

Adversity can crush our spirit - or strengthen it - it is our choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What if we just acted like everything was easy?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Whenever you say or even think, "This is hard,"
that task or challenge becomes difficult.
Dread it, and it becomes terrifying.

When you choose to move past fear -
fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of "looking bad," fear of losing respect -
life becomes much lighter, and most any task becomes possible - perhaps even enjoyable.
Most any challenge can become an adventure of discovery.

The secret to a great life is recognizing that life was never intended to be fair.
Life simply isn't "fair," and that's okay.
The joy of life comes from playing the game of life as best we can,
focusing far more on the love and good example we can contribute
to other lives than on demanding money, stuff, love, or appreciation.
Service becomes a source of joy when it is not viewed as a duty.

Life Is Not "Fair," But It Can Still Be Joyful.
Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Do Not Rail Against Life

Strength In Hard Times

Circumstance Reveals What You Are Made Of
      

Your Obstacles are Only as Big as You Think They Are

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
       

WHY Would Anyone "Expect" Life to be Fair?

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"
I am always tempted to ask, Compared to what?
- Sydney Harris

Adversity can crush our spirit - or strengthen it - it is our choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What if we just acted like everything was easy?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Whenever you say or even think, "This is hard,"
that task or challenge becomes difficult.
Dread it, and it becomes terrifying.

When you choose to move past fear -
fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of "looking bad," fear of losing respect -
life becomes much lighter, and most any task becomes possible - perhaps even enjoyable.
Most any challenge can become an adventure of discovery.

The secret to a great life is recognizing that life was never intended to be fair.
Life simply isn't "fair," and that's okay.
The joy of life comes from playing the game of life as best we can,
focusing far more on the love and good example we can contribute
to other lives than on demanding money, stuff, love, or appreciation.
Service becomes a source of joy when it is not viewed as a duty.

Life Is Not "Fair," But It Can Still Be Joyful.
Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Do Not Rail Against Life

Strength In Hard Times

Circumstance Reveals What You Are Made Of
      

Obstacles are seldom the same size tomorrow as they are today

 

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
       

Life was never intended to be fair

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"
I am always tempted to ask, Compared to what?
- Sydney Harris

Adversity can crush our spirit - or strengthen it - it is our choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What if we just acted like everything was easy?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Whenever you say or even think, "This is hard,"
that task or challenge becomes difficult.
Dread it, and it becomes terrifying.

When you choose to move past fear -
fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of "looking bad," fear of losing respect -
life becomes much lighter, and most any task becomes possible - perhaps even enjoyable.
Most any challenge can become an adventure of discovery.

The secret to a great life is recognizing that life was never intended to be fair.
Life simply isn't "fair," and that's okay.
The joy of life comes from playing the game of life as best we can,
focusing far more on the love and good example we can contribute
to other lives than on demanding money, stuff, love, or appreciation.
Service becomes a source of joy when it is not viewed as a duty.

Life Is Not "Fair," But It Can Still Be Joyful.
Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Do Not Rail Against Life

Strength In Hard Times

Circumstance Reveals What You Are Made Of
      

Obstacles are for Overcoming

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
       

Life is as Easy or as Hard as You Think it is

 

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"
I am always tempted to ask, Compared to what?
- Sydney Harris

Adversity can crush our spirit - or strengthen it - it is our choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What if we just acted like everything was easy?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Whenever you say or even think, "This is hard,"
that task or challenge becomes difficult.
Dread it, and it becomes terrifying.

When you choose to move past fear -
fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of "looking bad," fear of losing respect -
life becomes much lighter, and most any task becomes possible - perhaps even enjoyable.
Most any challenge can become an adventure of discovery.

The secret to a great life is recognizing that life was never intended to be fair.
Life simply isn't "fair," and that's okay.
The joy of life comes from playing the game of life as best we can,
focusing far more on the love and good example we can contribute
to other lives than on demanding money, stuff, love, or appreciation.
Service becomes a source of joy when it is not viewed as a duty.

Life Is Not "Fair," But It Can Still Be Joyful.
Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Do Not Rail Against Life

Strength In Hard Times

Circumstance Reveals What You Are Made Of
      

Obstacles are to Challenge You, Not Stop You

 

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
       

Gain Strength by Overcoming Obstacles

 

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
       

Don't Fear Obstacles

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
       

Look Obstacles Squarely in the Eye

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

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

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

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

Further reading: Learn to Motivate Yourself

Later is Never

Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life
       

Life Is Not "Fair," But It Can Still Be Joyful

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"
I am always tempted to ask, Compared to what?
- Sydney Harris

Adversity can crush our spirit - or strengthen it - it is our choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What if we just acted like everything was easy?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Whenever you say or even think, "This is hard,"
that task or challenge becomes difficult.
Dread it, and it becomes terrifying.

When you choose to move past fear -
fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of "looking bad," fear of losing respect -
life becomes much lighter, and most any task becomes possible - perhaps even enjoyable.
Most any challenge can become an adventure of discovery.

The secret to a great life is recognizing that life was never intended to be fair.
Life simply isn't "fair," and that's okay.
The joy of life comes from playing the game of life as best we can,
focusing far more on the love and good example we can contribute
to other lives than on demanding money, stuff, love, or appreciation.
Service becomes a source of joy when it is not viewed as a duty.

Life Is Not "Fair," But It Can Still Be Joyful
Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Do Not Rail Against Life

Strength In Hard Times

Circumstance Reveals What You Are Made Of
      

Defeat as Education

What is defeat? Nothing but education.
Nothing but the first step to something better.
- Wendell Phillips

When you find your path, you must not be afraid.
You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes.
Disappointment, defeat, and despair are
the tools God uses to show us the way.
- Paulo Coelho

Being defeated is often a temporary condition.
Giving up is what makes it permanent.
- Marilyn vos Savant

The greatest test of courage on earth
is to bear defeat without losing heart.
- Robert Ingersoll

Circumstances don't defeat you -
you defeat yourself when you give up.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Serenity in Times of Crisis

Overcoming Difficulties

Do not rail against life

Life's Storms
      

The Winds of Adversity

Don't fight forces, use them.
- R. Buckminster Fuller

Today, when the winds of adversity blow strong,
redirect their force into the
service of your highest intention.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Read more about this at Boldly Sail the Storms of Life

If you want to be happy,
put your effort into controlling the sail, not the wind.
- Anonymous

Greatness is not in where we stand,
but in what direction we are moving.
We must sail sometimes with the wind
and sometimes against it -
but sail we must,
and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

'Tis the set of the sail that decides the goal,
and not the storm of life.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Further reading: Adjust Your Sails

Tested by Storms

Have a Plan
    

Taming Obstacles

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

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

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

Further reading: How to Motivate Yourself

Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Later is Never
       

How You Choose to View Your Life

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"
I am always tempted to ask, Compared to what?
- Sydney Harris

What if we just acted like everything was easy?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Adversity can crush our spirit - or strengthen it - it is our choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Whenever you say or even think, "This is hard,"
that task or challenge becomes difficult.
Dread it, and it becomes terrifying.

When you choose to move past fear -
fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of "looking bad," fear of losing respect -
life becomes much lighter, and most any task becomes possible - perhaps even enjoyable.
Most any challenge can become an adventure of discovery.

Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The secret to a great life is recognizing that life was never intended to be fair.
Life simply isn't "fair," and that's okay.
The joy of life comes from playing the game of life as best we can,
focusing far more on the love and good example we can contribute
to other lives than on demanding money, stuff, love, or appreciation.
Service becomes a source of joy when it is not viewed as a duty.

Further reading: Circumstance Reveals What You Are Made Of

Strength In Hard Times

Do not rail against life
      

9/11 - 2017

Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice
at the end of the day saying,
"I will try again tomorrow."
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Every calamity is to be overcome by endurance.
- Virgil

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

Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life.
The evening beam that smiles the clouds away,
and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.
- Lord Byron

Further reading: Draw from Suffering

Overcoming Obstacles

Hard Times

Gather Strength
    

Humor in the Face of Adversity

There is no defense against adverse fortune which is
so effectual as an habitual sense of humor.
- Thomas W. Higginson

Life's burdens are lighter when I laugh at myself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You can turn painful situations around through laughter.
If you can find humor in anything, even poverty,
you can survive it.
- Bill Cosby

Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.
- Mark Twain

Life is not a tragedy, it is a comedy.
To be alive means to have a sense of humor.
- Osho

Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.
- Mark Twain

Keys to a great life... taking oneself lightly, forgiveness, and acceptance.

Further reading: Power of Laughter

A Happy Life

Having a Sense of Humor

As a Child Again 

Too Serious?

Cherish the Whimsey

Why is This Happening?

"Why?" is the most useless question in the universe.
The only question with any meaning is "What?"
Asking "Why is this happening?" can only disempower you.
Asking "What do I want to make of this?" does exactly the opposite.
- Neale Donald Walsch

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

The less I take the difficulties of my life as personal affront,
and the more I use them as an opportunity to learn and grow...
the easier I sleep at night.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

I am determined to be cheerful and happy
in whatever situation I may find myself.
For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness
is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.
- Martha Washington

There is a secret wisdom-of-the-ages
that holds the key to breaking our cycle of self-imposed suffering.
The secret wisdom is, "Life is not supposed to be fair."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Not Fair, But Joyful

A Hard Life

My thoughts on "Life is not supposed to be fair." 

Do not rail against life

Serenity in Times of Crisis

What is Defeat?