more than one right answer

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“There is more than one right answer.”

-Dewitt Jones, National Geographic Photographer

image from www.english-forlife.com

image from www.english-forlife.com

There is something satisfying about getting the right answer.

Take a trip down memory lane back to school, where the goal was to get 100% on a test, or a perfect score on the entrance exam for college. Striving for excellence or perfection can be the source of great upset and frustration since we humans quite often fall short of the mark.

There can be many paths to excellence and achievement. Today’s quote coaches us to relax a bit and determine what is right for us, which may not necessarily be what others or society dictate.

EXERCISE:

What are the right answers for you regarding the following questions?

  • Where do you most enjoy spending your free or leisure time?
  • What strategies work best for you in your marital and parenting relationships?
  • What qualities and attributes bring you the greatest happiness and life satisfaction?
  • Where else would it be of value to remember that there is no one right answer to any question or issue you face?

Love will draw

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“Love will draw an elephant through a key hole.”

-Samuel Richardson, 18th Century English Writer

Image from quotesgram.com

Image from quotesgram.com

The image of an elephant being drawn through a key hole is difficult to grasp. How could the largest land creature, whose weight can exceed ten tons and whose heights reaching almost four meters, get through such a tiny opening?

The power of love is without question the source of miracles that often cannot be understood from a place of normal reasoning and logic.

When Lawrence Anthony, author of The Elephant Whisperer, passed away, the herd of wild elephants he had lived with for years came to his home to mourn him—a clear sign of their love for him, and their awareness of his passing.

EXERCISE:

Where have you observed the miraculous power of love in your life?

How and where would demonstrating even greater love in your world make the biggest difference?

Busy is a form of lazy

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“Being busy is a form of laziness—lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”

-Timothy Ferriss, Author

QC #1046

Timothy Ferris is an American author, entrepreneur, and public speaker, best known for his 2007 best-selling book, The 4-Hour Work Week.

Assuming the average worker puts in 40 hours each week, we would see that Ferris is suggesting we work only 10% of those hours.

To achieve such a breakthrough would clearly cause us to do far less and in many cases stop the majority of our daily tasks.

EXERCISE:

How would decreasing the time you spend in meaningless work and focusing on your most important priorities improve the quality of your personal and professional worlds?

Begin today by ruthlessly cutting out at least one hour of busywork that is adding no real value to your world.

Friday Review Strength

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FRIDAY REVIEW:  STRENGTH

Leadership requires inner strength. Here are a few strength-related posts you may have missed. Click on the Quote to read the full message:

QC #1045a

“Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it.”

 

 

 

QC #1045b

 

“People are like tea bags. You find out how strong they are when you put them in hot water.”

 

 

 

QC #1045c

 

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

 

 

 

better to walk alone

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“It’s better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction.”

-Diane Grant, American Playwright

image from Flickr by Michelangelo_MI

image from Flickr by Michelangelo_MI

Peer pressure doesn’t stop when we leave high school. Being “cool” and fitting in with the crowd is a strong influence in our personal and professional worlds. Just because others engage in certain behaviors and activities doesn’t mean we need to go along for the ride. At these times it is critical to lead our own lives, being clear about what we value and the direction in which we want to go.

EXERCISE:

In what areas of life, past or present, have you headed in the wrong direction due to the influence of others?

Where might it be time to choose a more genuine and authentic path even if it means going it alone?

What the carrot said

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“What did the carrot say to the wheat?  Lettuce rest. I’m feeling beet.”

-Shel Silverstein, Children’s Book Author

Image from Flickr by LollyKnit

Image from Flickr by LollyKnit

Most everyone agrees that we should all eat our veggies and a balanced diet for optimal health.

Exercise and the proverbial “use it or lose it” philosophy is another component to health and wellness. Rest, sleep, and recovery time, on the other hand, often take a back seat to diet and exercise. Here are some key facts that may inspire you to give rest an equal footing with nutrition and exercise:

Rest and Relaxation:

  • Protect your heart
  • Lower your risk of catching a cold
  • Boost your mental power and memory
  • Lower your risk of stroke
  • Improve your mood and feelings of well-being
  • Help you make better decisions
  • Help you lose weight by reducing stress eating
  • Lower the incidence and risk of disease by boosting your immune system

EXERCISE:

What steps can and will you take to increase the quality and quantity of your rest and rejuvenation strategies to enhance your health and overall well-being?

Rock Bottom

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“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

-J.K. Rowling, Author of the Harry Potter series

Image from www.telegraph.co.uk

Image from www.telegraph.co.uk

J.K. Rowling conceived the idea for the highly successful Harry Potter series while on a train from Manchester to London in 1990. At the time, she was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. Over the course of the next seven years, her mother died, her first marriage ended in divorce, and she and her young child lived in relative poverty, subsisting on state benefits, until she finished the first book in the series.

Five years later, she became a multi-millionaire.

She was the runner-up for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, noted for the social, moral, and political inspiration she brought to her fans. Today, she supports numerous charities.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can you use life’s biggest challenges and difficulties as the foundation to take your life to the next level?

How can you support others in your world to do the same?

Friday Review Worry

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Friday Review: Worry

How much of your time is spent worrying?  Here are a few worry-related posts you may have missed. Click on the Quote to read the full message:

QC #1041a

“I have lived a long life and had many troubles, most of which never happened.”

 

 

 

QC #1041b

 

“Worry is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.”

 

 

QC #1041c

 “Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.”

 

 

 

 

a puppy licking your face

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“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.”

-Ben Williams, author of Surviving Terminal Cancer

Image from Flickr by Kevin Stanchfield

Image from Flickr by Kevin Stanchfield

Over the past few years I’ve come to more fully appreciate the miraculous power of the dog to brighten people’s days. No other animal conveys the loyalty, devotion, and unconditional acceptance and love we get from a dog. Some of their other remarkable qualities are:

  • They help us live healthier, longer lives by the exercise we get in walking them.
  • They reduce stress and support greater well-being.
  • They can improve your social life! People can’t resist stopping to visit with someone with a lovable dog.
  • Caring for dogs helps relieves symptoms of depression and encourages people to be more positive.
  • Dogs have proven invaluable to the elderly by providing companionship and reducing stress.
  • Having a dog makes you safer. They act as a supplemental security system.

EXERCISE:

How can you more fully appreciate and benefit from our furry friends even if you don’t currently own one?

How can you exhibit more of the wonderful qualities of a dog to brighten the lives of others? 

(Just don’t lick anyone!)