Courage and Perseverance

When you get into a tight place
and everything goes against you,
till it seems you cannot hold on a minute longer,
never give up then, for that is just
the place and time the tide will turn.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe

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

Obstacles are those frightful things you see
when you take your eyes off your goals.
- Henry Ford

Stand up to your obstacles
and do something about them.
You will find that they haven't
half the strength you think they have.
- Norman Vincent Peale

Today's affirmation:
Even when I am afraid or unsure,
I choose to move in the direction of my goal.
Whenever I fall, I stand up,
brush myself off, and keep moving.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Photo: Talking to relatives across the Berlin Wall 1961.

Further reading: Beyond Failure

Keep Moving

Choose to Soar

Wanting is Not Enough
     

Complaint Against Life Fixes Nothing

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

Challenges Make Us Stronger

 

When life is too easy for us, we must beware
or we may not be ready to meet the blows
which sooner or later come to everyone, rich or poor.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Overcome obstacles - grow and bloom anyway.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We must free ourselves of the hope
that the sea will ever rest.
We must learn to sail in high winds.
- Aristotle Onassis

Do not pray for easy lives.
Pray to be stronger men.
- John F. Kennedy

You Can't Soar Without a Headwind.
Obstacles are Necessary to a Life Fully Lived
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Opportunity within Crisis

We Must Sail, Not Drift

Serenity rather than Fear

Life Is As Hard As You Think It Is
      

The Illusion of Knowledge is a Trap

 

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

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

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.

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

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

Further reading: Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

The Danger of Assumptions

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real
      

Find the Strength to Persevere

A hero is an ordinary individual
who finds the strength to persevere
and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve

If we don't see a failure as a challenge to modify our approach,
but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect,
we will immediately feel overwhelmed.
- Anthony Robbins

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Improve what you can
and accept all the rest of life
just as it comes.
Know that fear is your worst enemy -
perhaps your only enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you feel overwhelmed...

1. Ask yourself, "What is the smallest list of tasks that I MUST accomplish TODAY?"
2. Work on that short list right now. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
3. Don't worry about anything not on the short list. Read How to Stop Worrying if you need help with this.
4. Don't blame yourself for feeling overwhelmed, for having gotten yourself into this situation, or for anything else. If you have failed at some task, that does not make you-the-person a failure. If you need help getting in touch with your own worthiness read How to Feel Good About Yourself.

Further reading: How to Cope with Loneliness

All Life is a Risk

How to Feel Better About Yourself

Don't Borrow Trouble

How to Gain Self Confidence
      

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
    

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
       

If You're Committed, There's a 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
    

Learn to Master Patience

 

A person who is a master of patience is master of everything else.
- George Savile [paraphrase]

A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.
- Lao Tzu

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions,
do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.
- Saint Francis de Sales

Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is...
The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.
- Dan Millman

The greatest weapon against stress
is our ability to choose one thought over another.
- William James

Do not attempt to conquer the world with force,
for force only causes resistance.
- Lao Tzu

Read the Aesop fable The Oak and the Reeds

Further reading: The Secret of Happiness

The River of Life

Enjoy the Journey 
     

Dare to Become Your Greatest Self

 

Only when life is difficult, are we challenged to become our greatest selves.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb

It is not because life is difficult
that we do not dare.
Life is difficult
because we do not dare.
- Seneca

All things at first appear difficult.
- Chinese proverb

Difficulties show men what they are.
In case of any difficulty,
remember that God has pitted you
against a rough antagonist
that you may be a conqueror,
and this cannot be without toil.
- Epictetus

Further reading: Choose to be Positive

Difficulties Offer Opportunities

Beyond Failure

Why is This Happening?
      

Stand Up To Your Obstacles

 

When you get into a tight place
and everything goes against you,
till it seems you cannot hold on a minute longer,
never give up then, for that is just
the place and time the tide will turn.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe

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

Obstacles are those frightful things you see
when you take your eyes off your goals.
- Henry Ford

Stand up to your obstacles
and do something about them.
You will find that they haven't
half the strength you think they have.
- Norman Vincent Peale

Today's affirmation:
Even when I am afraid or unsure,
I choose to move in the direction of my goal.
Whenever I fall, I stand up,
brush myself off, and keep moving.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Photo: Talking to relatives across the Berlin Wall 1961.

Further reading: Beyond Failure

Keep Moving

Choose to Soar

Wanting is Not Enough
     

Don't Complain

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

Overcome obstacles - grow and bloom anyway

 

When life is too easy for us, we must beware
or we may not be ready to meet the blows
which sooner or later come to everyone, rich or poor.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Overcome obstacles - grow and bloom anyway.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We must free ourselves of the hope
that the sea will ever rest.
We must learn to sail in high winds.
- Aristotle Onassis

Do not pray for easy lives.
Pray to be stronger men.
- John F. Kennedy

You Can't Soar Without a Headwind.
Obstacles are Necessary to a Life Fully Lived
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Opportunity within Crisis

We Must Sail, Not Drift

Serenity rather than Fear

Life Is As Hard As You Think It Is
      

Beware of the Illusion of Knowledge

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

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

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.

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

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

Further reading: Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

The Danger of Assumptions

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.
    

 

Stop Feeling Sorry for Yourself

A hero is an ordinary individual
who finds the strength to persevere
and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve

If we don't see a failure as a challenge to modify our approach,
but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect,
we will immediately feel overwhelmed.
- Anthony Robbins

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Improve what you can
and accept all the rest of life
just as it comes.
Know that fear is your worst enemy -
perhaps your only enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you feel overwhelmed...

1. Ask yourself, "What is the smallest list of tasks that I MUST accomplish TODAY?"
2. Work on that short list right now. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
3. Don't worry about anything not on the short list. Read How to Stop Worrying if you need help with this.
4. Don't blame yourself for feeling overwhelmed, for having gotten yourself into this situation, or for anything else. If you have failed at some task, that does not make you-the-person a failure. If you need help getting in touch with your own worthiness read How to Feel Good About Yourself.

Further reading: How to Cope with Loneliness

All Life is a Risk

How to Feel Better About Yourself

Don't Borrow Trouble

How to Gain Self Confidence
      

Beware 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
    

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
       

Where there's a will, there's a 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
    

Comfort for your difficult days

May a thread of comfort be woven through your difficult days.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.
- Irish Blessing

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather,
always bring your own sunshine.
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

Your life within God's arms,
Your dance within God's arms,
Is already Perfect!
- Hafiz

Know that to find comfort, relax into the arms of Spirit.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Ten Little Tips To Feel Happier Right Now

Comfort on Difficult Days

The Secret of Happiness

Give Thanks for the Small Miracles

Beyond Your Worries
     

Be a Master of Patience

 

A person who is a master of patience is master of everything else.
- George Savile [paraphrase]

A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.
- Lao Tzu

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions,
do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.
- Saint Francis de Sales

Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is...
The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.
- Dan Millman

Do not attempt to conquer the world with force,
for force only causes resistance.
- Lao Tzu

Read the Aesop fable The Oak and the Reeds

Further reading: The Secret of Happiness

The River of Life

Enjoy the Journey