Reverence For Life

When reflecting on one’s life acknowledge all that has past – both good and bad. Honor it. Your past informs your present and gives hope for the future. In his book, Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue, author Paul Woodruff says this – "Reverence begins in a deep understanding of human limitations; from this grows the capacity to be in awe of whatever we believe lies outside our control – God, truth, justice, nature, even death. The capacity for awe, as it grows, brings with it the capacity for respecting fellow human beings, flaws and all." We can’t control the outcome of our life but we can approach it with reverence, honoring our traditions and respecting the life we are given.

In examining your life you may find places of great depth and of lack. Consider some things you may want to pursue. Benjamin Franklin would examine his life in great detail. He would review and acknowledge his weaknesses concentrating his efforts to improve upon them He was cultivating virtues instead of vices. You can continue to cultivate those things that are important while working on the areas where you may be weaker.

Reflection and Discovery

The years go by so fast – what did we do? The end of any year brings an assortment of TV shows reflecting on the past year. There are the celebrity happenings, the health breakthroughs, election results, and the parade of the famous that have passed away. But our lives are not reflected there. What has been important for us? What seemingly unimportant thing has had a profound impact on our lives? At beginning of a new year, a new season or a significant change we are confronted with what we have left undone. The gym shoes sit unused. The novel is unwritten.

What did we do that we wish we could take back? The apology we meant to deliver sits on our desk. We forgot to tell a dear friend we loved them and now it is too late. We are full of regrets of the past and hope for something better. The giddiness of the New Year is bittersweet. We are reflective, becoming sad - we must leave something behind. In our culture we can become afraid of the depth of this sadness. We remember the family members that are now gone and the friends who have moved on. Then there is the weight we gained - the loss of our youthful bodies.

We look at the past and it reflects back to us. Sometimes we don’t want do look back and see – but we must. Our life’s reflection provides an opportunity for growth – transformation. There are things we can’t change yet there are thing still to do. What can we give?

Lessons on Success: 17 Principles of Personal Achievement

This video is based on the book Lessons on Success: 17 Principles of Personal Achievement, captures the timeless principles gleaned from 20 years of interviewing the most successful men and women in the world.

Lessons on Success teach you the essence of action and attitude for achieving success in your life. Click on the attached link to check it out URL to video: http://video.success.com/inspirational/lessons-on-success/

Determination + Commitment = Success

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek. - Mario Andretti

Trials, Triumphs & Success

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
- Theodore Roosevelt

Goals, Dreams, Ideas.....Success

"The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals, the tragedy lies in not having any goals to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dream unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.

It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideals, but it is a disaster to have no ideals to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach."

~ Dr. Benjamin Mays ~

What Is Success?

You Cannot Achieve What You Have Not Defined......

The problem for most people who want to be successful is not that they can't achieve success. The main obstacle for them is they misunderstand success. Maltbie D. Babcock said, "One of the most common mistakes and one of the costliest is thinking that success is due to some genius, some magic, something or other which we do not possess."

What is success? What does it look like? Most people have avague picture of what it means to be a successful person that looks something like this:

• The wealth of Bill Gates
• The physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger (or Marilyn Monroe)
• The intelligence of Albert Einstein,
• The athletic ability of Michael Jordan
• The business prowess of Donald Trump
• The social grace and poise of Jackie Kennedy

It sounds absurd, but it's closer to the truth that we would like to admit. many of us picture success as looking like one other than who we are-and we especially can't be six other people! And more important than that, you shouldn't want to be. If you tried to become just like one of these other people, you wouldn't be successful. You would be a bad imitation of them, and you would eliminate the possibility of becoming the person you were meant to be.