The Longer I Live

“Monday Motivation!”

The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.

~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Isn’t that the truth? I guess you just appreciate the little things when you get older.  I don’t know.  Seems to be that way for me.

I like to concentrate on the little things.  The little things is what life is all about.

“They say” - the  older you get, the more money you make, the more stuff you want?

I am actually the opposite. Downsize the “stuff”.

Instead of getting the big house, we decided to downsize. We don’t need the 3000 square foot home.  We actually downsized to about a 1000 square foot home.  A little too small.  We are building a new home and my husband originally wanted small, around 1200 square foot but we have decided on about 1500.  Storage room is a must.  No, not for stuff.  We need storage room for seasonal items, pantry type items, etc.

The big SUV?  Nope, don’t need that either.  Little Ford Taurus gets me back and forth to work the whole 2 miles.

We prefer to concentrate on family, friends, the warm sun, the green grass.  We would rather not have to stress over the big stuff and have to worry about how we are going to pay for all that stuff.

I like to concentrate on the little things.  The little things is what life is all about.

• Those pretty flowers,  that nice apple tree, fresh cut grass…

• And right now, even the fresh new fallen snow.

• A baby giggling, Kenny G’s saxophone, a little guy calling you Granny.

The older you become the more calm you become.   That is so true. You get to a point when you know it’s not worth it to sweat the small stuff.

Have you found that the longer you live the more beautiful life becomes?  What wisdom has life given you?

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Can You Predict The Future?

“Monday Motivation!”

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

~ Peter Drucker

You are the creator of your future.  Success does not just happen.

Success does not have time for guessing or wishful thinking.  Just creating.  Successful people don’t get where they are by just thinking they would like to be successful.  They know they are successful.  They know what to do and they know how to do it.

Certainly, the thought of success comes first.   Plenty of thoughts.  The plan emerges.  There is a goal.  The goal is the future.

Just thinking, just wishing and even just knowing what to do is not going to make it happen.  Knowledge is useless! Knowing what to do - in and of itself - is useless.  You need action.  You need a focused plan and you need a process.  A step by step action plan to accomplish your goal.

Do you sit around and wait for your future to happen?  Do you take what comes your way? Are you a dreamer or a doer?

Or are you the creator of your future?

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Monday Motivation

“Monday Motivation!”

“Life is ten percent what happens to you
and ninety percent how you respond to it.”
Lou Holtz

Hmm, that quote made me think.  That is so true and really resonates with me, especially over the last 5 yrs or so.

My family has always been the core of my strength.  No matter what and I mean what, any of us do, any of us say, we are always there for each other, yes no matter what.  My family is unique in this way.  Unlike any family I have ever known.

My mom raised all eight of us (poor soul) by herself.  No parents, no siblings, and you got it - no spouse.  She taught us a few things for sure.

One - Your family will always be your family.  Friends will come and go, but your family will always be your family.  Your friends may run at the first sign of need, but your family - they will always be there.

Two - You have to work.  You don’t feel well, dinner still needs to be prepared, so what.  You are tired, the driveway still needs to be shoveled, so what.  You will live.  There are just some things you have to do.  Too many people are counting on you.  Get your “stuff” done, then rest.

Three - You have five minutes to feel sorry for yourself.  Get over it.  Yesterday is gone.  Nothing you can do about it.  Can’t change it.  There are no do overs and no excuses.  Excuses won’t get you anywhere.   The important thing is - “What are you going to do now?  What is your plan for the next step?  How are you going to fix it or move forward?”

With the security of family as your base, there is nothing you can’t accomplish.  If work is just a natural part of your personality then you expect nothing less of yourself.  And the feel sorry for yourself part - I always wanted more but she just wouldn’t let me.  No time for that.  You aren’t going to be productive with self-pity.  I smile when I think about that sometimes.  She still does it today.  She just won’t let me whine about anything.  Probably why my nickname is Mary Sunshine.

So yes, Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.

Thank you Mom for that wisdom and that attitude.  It has brought me this far in life, through a few traumas and dramas and has even pushed me out of bed a few times.

Do you have the “Can do” attitude?  Do you spend too much time blaming others or other things for life’s dealings? Do you believe in the attitude making all the difference?

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Success Is Simple

“Monday Motivation!”

Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.
- Arnold H. Glasow

Okay, now we know the fundamentals to achieve success.  No more questions, the answer is unmistakable.  No objection here.

The primary focus now would be to figure out - what is right.

I would say what feels right is right.  Listen to your inside voice.  If it feels like hard work, then it is probably not right.  If you are happy and it feels effortless, then you are on the right path.

Well we accomplished the what, now we need to figure out the how - the right way.

The right way will show itself.  You will find the way.  If it presents itself as too difficult then it is not the right way.  you will just know.

We know the what and the how all we have to do is execute our plan at just the right time.

The time is right when you are ready and not one minute before.  If you are pressured to execute your plan too soon or you are hesitant, then it not the right time.  If you are not confident that it is the right time then you will be apprehensive and it will show.

Success is simple.  If you feel it, you have it.  Success is distinct to each individual.  Success means different things to different people.  What does success mean to you?

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We Lie Loudest When..

“Monday Motivation!”

We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.

- Eric Hoffer

Isn’t that the truth!  No pun intended.  I have always wondered how exactly do people lie to themselves?  When you lie to others, you are quite possibly the only one who knows the difference. But when you lie to yourself?  How can that be, you know the truth.  So how can you lie to yourself?

Unfortunately, you can lie to yourself easily,   When you don’t want to do something, you can conveniently convince yourself that you aren’t capable of doing it.  It’s too hard, or you don’t have time right now and you have other more important things to do, etc.  Frequently, your lies are excuses.

Do you lie to yourself if you are afraid to do something, afraid of failure?  You lie to yourself and say you didn’t really want to do that anyway.

Often, when the opportunity has passed, you are sorry that you lied to yourself.  One of those moments you regret.  Do you want to look back over your life and have regrets?  Inevitably, we all have regrets.  Some can be avoided.  Take a chance, believe in yourself.  You owe it to yourself.

Can you tell when you are lying to yourself?  Are they often disguised as excuses?  Or are they actually the loudest when we lie to ourselves?

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I Can, Therefore I Am!

“Monday Motivation!”

I can, therefore I am.
- Simone Weil

Wahoo!  I like that.   Positive thinking empowers me - motivates me.  If I can then I am. Short but powerful words. So it’s as simple as that.  If you can be a blogger than you are a blogger.  Of course you can be a blogger.  Why couldn’t you be a blogger?

What is it, then, that holds you back?  The only thing stopping you is you.  Hmmm, that could be a hard pill to swallow.  Give that a little thought.  Really look at your thoughts and actions toward what you want to do.  Do you really give 100%?

Why is it that people will take full responsibility for their success but will offer any and every excuse for their failure.  Failure has a negative connotation surrounding it.  Failure is just a plan that didn’t work.  So what.  Try something else.

When you are working on something - say a craft project - and you create a wreath (I’m trying to give an everyday example) and when you are finished, you look at it and it just doesn’t look right.  Do you give up?  Do you feel like a failure?  No, you just decide to change it, remove something, add something, it’s no big deal.

I can, therefore I am.  I believe positive thinking makes a difference.

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The Harder I Work

“Monday Motivation!”

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

-Samuel Goldwyn

Hmmm, how does that happen?  So if I want to be lucky, all I need to do is work harder?  I can do that.  I like to be lucky so I think I will try that work harder theory.

I guess maybe it is human nature that people think a successful person is just real lucky.  “Look at her, she is so lucky”.  They don’t want to admit that possibly the successful person has actually worked for every achievement.  If they say that out loud then they might have to take responsibility for their own lack of luck!

It is highly unusual for opportunity to actually come knocking at your door.  I think you are the one that needs to go knocking.  Sure, opportunity can find you if you are lucky.  And by lucky, you of course have already sent out feelers with your hard work.  I don’t really want to be the one to tell you, to be the bearer of bad news, but the fairy godmother or Aladdin’s lamp are just stories.  Sorry.   I guess it is time for plan “b” so you might have to revert back to good ole’ fashion work.

Have any of your successes been luck? Or possibly a combination of effort and being in the right place at the right time?

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What Do You Know?

“Monday Motivation!”

You know more than you think you do.
- Benjamin Spock

That’s interesting.  I don’t know what to think about that.  What do you suppose that means?  How can you know more than you think you do?

I’ve given this quote a little thought for the last few days.  I honestly don’t know what to think about it.  I’m going to have to turn this entire discussion over to everyone else.  Maybe I will be able to add my thoughts after I get a little direction from you.  I would like to know what you think.

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The Beginning is

“Monday Motivation!”

The beginning is always today.

- Mary Wollstonecraft

• Yesterday is gone, forget about it. Learn from it and done with it. “The beginning is always today.”

• Tomorrow is not here yet and is certainly not promised. Keep it in mind but don’t spend today yearning for it. “The beginning is always today.”

• Today is your focus.  A new day is a new beginning - your chance to start over.  Take advantage of it.  Live in the moment.

This philosophy is a great motivator.  I think about “today as a new beginning” in the area of fitness and well being.  If I didn’t do so well in the exercise or diet area over the weekend - today is a new day.  I am not going to give up because of a slip up.  Forget about the weekend and get back on track.

When I quit smoking (11 months clean - thank you very much) I slipped up a few times but I started a new day with determination and a positive attitude.  I can do this, I want to do this.

I keep this philosophy in the forefront of my mind and live my life by it.  I have started over a few times too many but wouldn’t have had the strength to start over without believing in the new beginning of today.

I also put this inspiration to work for me in blogging.  I certainly don’t always get everything done that I want to accomplish in a day.  Can blogging cause stress? Yes, blogging can be somewhat stressful and overwhelming which is a recipe for discouragement.

If you dwell on yesterday and everything you didn’t get done, how will that become productive?

If you stress over tomorrow and all the tasks you need to complete, you will be wasting today.

Is it really your time? Yes.  The beginning is always today.

What are you going to do with your opportunity?

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Do You Know What Tomorrow Is?

“Monday Motivation!”

Usually every week there are at least a couple of quotes that resonate with me. I give them my attention and thought then decide which quote I have the most discussion with. This is the first week since starting Monday Motivation, however, I am finding it difficult to pick one that moves me.

Monday Motivation will be about “beginnings”! Stay tuned and come back in the morning to join the discussion!

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