Excellence

I would rather perform at 90% of  an excellence standard than 110 percent of an adequacy standard.

~Don Beveridge

Our Gifts

God has given us two incredible things: absolutely awesome ability and freedom of choice.  The tragedy is that, for the most part, many of us have refused them both.

~Frank Donnelly

Preparation

Remember, it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

~ Howard Ruff

Accept Fear

I have accepted fear as a part of life, specifically the fear of change, the fear of the unknown. I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: Turn back, turn back; you'll die if you venture too far.
~ Erica Jong

Do Nothing

A carpenter and his apprentice were walking through a large forest. When they came across a tall, huge, gnarled, old beautiful oak tree, the carpenter asked his apprentice "Do you know why this tree is so tall, huge, gnarled, old and beautiful?" 

The apprentice looked at his master and said "No...why?"

"Well," said the carpenter "because it's imperfections rendered it useless for what people wanted.  If it had been useful, it would have been cut down long ago and made into tables and chairs.  But instead, it was left here, untouched and allowed to grow so tall and old that now we can sit in it's shade and relax."

The lesson here is that sometimes we feel frustrated because we cannot do something now and yet we don't realize that our skills and talents are better served for another purpose. 

What Money Can Buy

Money can buy a bed, but not sleep;Books, but not brains;
Food, but not appetite;
Finery, but not beauty;
A house, but not a home;
Medicine, but not health;
Luxuries, but not culture;
Amusement, but not happiness;
Religion, but not salvation;
A passport to everywhere but heaven.

~Author unknown but greatly appreciated

Confidence

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

~Eleanor Roosevelt

Rest When You're Weary

Rest when you’re weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Fresh Start

If you have made mistakes…there is always another chance for you…you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down.

 ~ Mary Pickford

Start Again

Whether one is twenty, forty, sixty, or eighty; whether one has succeeded, failed or just muddled along - life begins each morning! The greatest fact in life is that it is never too late to start again. Biography simply overflows with inspiring examples of this truth. However discouraging your days may have been, keep this thought burning brightly in your mind: life begins each morning!

~L.M. Hodges

Three Words

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.

~ Robert Frost

Stand Before God

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."


~ Erma Bombeck

A Canvas...

Life is like a great big canvas and you should throw all the paint in it you can.

~ Danny Kaye

To Live For...

He who has nothing to die for has nothing to live for.

~Moroccan Proverb

Perseverance

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.

~Marie Curie