Daily Quote

"I feel like I have had the most amazing life in my public service."

-Hillary Clinton

Community service really can change one's life. The feelings of making someone's life better mixed with seeing their smiles mixed with all of the other emotions really can change you forever. These powerful feelings are what can lead you positively into the future. 

Quote of the day

"All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much."

-George Harrison

Everything in moderation. If you take a huge slice out of the cake of your life now, you don't leave much for later. Also, eat your slice slowly. Savor each detail of it, and be open to try new flavors. The life cake changes every single day, so we all need to learn to accept it for what it is and enjoy each piece as if it was our last. 

Quote of the day

"Try to be like the turtle- at ease in your own shell."

-Bill Copeland

Turtles are so comfortable in their own skin. Or, shells that is. Try to be like a turtle, be yourself and be comfortable being you. Don't let anything get in your way of being yourself, and develop a nice shell to protect yourself from all of the insults and people trying to make you into something you are not. Then you will be a turtle, comfortable in your own skin. 

Daily Quote

"People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing." 

-Dale Carnegie

Most of the time, being all stressed out can really damage your work. It can impact people relations as well. Stress seems to cause a tension around not just the stressed one, but those around him too. Having a little fun, however, can lighten the mood and reduce the stress a lot. Besides, it is harder to climb a mountain carrying a sack of rocks, right? It is the same as success. It is easier to succeed by having a little bit of fun than it is to succeed with a ton of stress. 

Daily Quote

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."

-Lao Tzu

Sometimes, sticking to the same track as before is a better decision. People tend to like you for you, and change might not always come easily. Also, sometimes people change thinking they will become more successful, but they end up ruining themselves. Be careful in your decisions and be yourself no matter what. 

Quote of the day

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him."

-David Brinkley

Dealing with life's obstacles is yet another important skill that is crucial to know. Without this skill, the obstacles will come at you fast and hard, and you will feel the impact instead of letting them roll off of your shoulders. Once you can let these things roll off of your shoulders, you will gain more qualities than just this. You will become more agreeable and enjoyable, loose and fun. Of course, this depends on the person, but most would. These qualities make up that firm foundation and base that comes from the bricks of life's hardships that were thrown at you. 

Quote of the day

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

-Albert Einstein

People only want to love and to be loved, so living a life for others is really important. Besides, living by yourself is really lonely. Being with people is the best thing to do. Also, making people feel good is a great thing to do, as it makes you feel good as well. Live for others and your life is worthwhile. Live by yourself and your life is really no fun at all.

Daily Quote

"All things are difficult before they are easy."

-Thomas Fuller

Nothing will start out easy. You have to work up to it. Practice makes perfect, right? Eventually, you will be able to do whatever it is you are doing, just because you practice. Remember, no one is born perfect. You have to work hard to gain the skills needed to succeed! 

Daily Quote

"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The more mistakes, the better. This gives you knowledge for the future to do better. I was also told once that the only failure in life is when we fail to learn from our failures. This is so true. We must learn from our mistakes so we can do it better the next time! I mean, we will never know unless we try!

Quote of the day

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."

-Dr. Seuss

Enjoy each day, but know that there is still tomorrow. Today may be good and fun, so just know that there is still tomorrow to try everything that you ever wanted to try. There is always tomorrow, so don't worry about finishing everything today. Save some good things for tomorrow.

Quote of the day

"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart."

-Helen Keller

Love, compassion, care, and all of those internal feelings are even more important than the outside beauties. These things can only be felt with your heart. There are beautiful things in the world like pretty dresses or people, but the most important beauties are those that are felt inside your heart. Those that can be shared through a smile or a simple kind gesture. The feelings that will bring a smile to everyone around you.

Daily Quote

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
-Winston Churchill

Success may not last forever, but that doesn't mean you should give up on it completely. Failure in something won't kill you (most of the time- the exceptions that actually include real death will kill you), but you need to shake it off and keep going. This ability to keep going is what really counts, and this ability is a very special thing. Since nothing in life lasts forever, being able to move on is incredibly important. Things like this are the things that count in life.

Daily Quote

"Believe you can and you are halfway there."

-Theodore Roosevelt

Have you ever noticed that most things are all in your head? I used to always be told on long hikes or runs that the pain I was feeling was all in my head. I didn't know that this was true at the time. Then once, I decided to see what my dad was talking about, and when I felt pain, I tried to think that I was actually not in pain. To my great surprise and pleasure, it worked! I gave myself a sense of strength just by believing in myself. For other situations, believing you can do something is equally important, because if you don't believe you can do something, you will give up a whole lot faster. Self-confidence is an incredibly important quality to have.

Quote of the day

"I have learned that sometimes 'sorry' is not enough. Sometimes you actually have to change."

-Claire London

When you say sorry, you should really mean it. Otherwise, it will just make it look like you don't care. Even if you don't care, sometimes it is good to make it look like you care. Sometimes, the thing that you did was so bad, so crushing to the other person, so demoralizing that you might need to even change a little bit. Change for the better. Change so that you won't make the same mistake again. That is what life is about, isn't it? Make mistakes and learn from them? Mistakes are natural in human life. They are unavoidable. Sometimes your mistakes can't be fixed with a 'sorry.' Sometimes, to fix them, you actually have to change a little bit.

Quote of the day

"If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you'll never enjoy the sunshine."

-Morris West

A little bit of caution is good to some extent, but if you worry only about the negatives, you will never get to enjoy the positives. For example: if you were eating a nice bowl of ice cream, don't spend too much time worrying about the little ice chunks, or you will never even think to enjoy the good parts. Ok, maybe that was a bad example, but the point is look for the good in something, because if you focus on the negatives, you might never see the positives.

Daily Quote

"Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks."

-Isaac Watts

I think that this is one of those times where a personal life story of mine is appropriate. 

Not too long ago, I used to lie. A lot. Lying was my way of not getting in trouble, and then keeping it that way. My parents and siblings could never tell if I was lying or not, and when I said something they didn't want to hear, they assumed it was a lie. When I said something that they thought was not the truth, they assumed it was a lie. Most of the time, they were correct. But I decided that I needed to grow out of lying, and that it was just plain wrong. Perhaps I decided that when my friends lied and I didn't like it, or maybe there was other influences. Anyway, the point is I stopped lying. It was very difficult and it took a couple years, but I finally did it! Now, when I lie, I feel like it will just crush me from the inside unless I confess within minutes of lying. Here is where the quote ties in. Learning to trust really is difficult, and my family to the day still thinks they can't trust me. At school, I have established a nice strong anti-lying feel with my friends. There is one in particular who I really appreciate. She knows I really can't lie much anymore, and she quickly accepted that and learned to trust me. I just hope that my family will soon realize that when I say something, I really mean it. I was doubted just hours ago by a member of my own family, and I hope that in the future I can help them realize that I am trying my hardest to fix myself completely. I don't think it will ever be perfect, but just as far as I have gotten may be as close as I get. But it is ok. Trust is incredibly important in this world, and it is very hard to determine who you can trust because there really are a lot of lies everywhere. We all just need to loosen up a bit and put our trust into the trustworthy and our truths into everything else.

Daily Quote

"The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit."

-Moliere

Rushing through things makes it likely for careless mistakes. Rushing through life lessons makes it likely to forget them later. Rushing through anything is just begging for mistakes. Taking your time to get things right is more important. The quote says that those who are slower are more successful, and I think this is because you can't rush through something and then expect to get it perfectly.

Quote of the day

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

-Will Rogers

It is great to secure yourself into a good place, but just because you are doing well doesn't mean it will stay that way. Life is a delicate balance, and just sitting there will likely run your good place down. You have to keep working at it to keep yourself in the place you are, and you also need to keep working to raise your position. Don't sit on your right track, because that train will come!

Quote of the day

"Very few of us are what we seem."
-Agatha Christie

Outside, we are all what we want ourselves to be. But did you ever know a person who was themselves for a while, then they suddenly changed? Did you ever want the old them back? Even if you didn't know them when they were themselves, being ourselves is a quality that is far more attractive then being who we would rather be. Try to seem like who you actually are, and you will become what you seem. 

Daily Quote

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

-Mahatma Gandhi

To forgive someone takes a lot of courage, you can't be weak. You have to actually mean what you say, and sometimes when you are angry, this is difficult. It is so difficult that there are adults who have trouble with this. Don't worry, everyone does. Overcoming your anger is very important but also very necessary. Eventually, if you do this enough, you can train yourself to do it every time. Then, you will become strong.

Daily Quote

"Most of the critical things in life, which become the starting points of human destiny, are little things."

-Roswell Smith

The little things in life are some of the most important ones. If everyone on earth did one little thing, they would add up and help the world for the better. Make sure your little things are good little things, because even just one little slip up can start something that you don't want to be in. These arguments are the hardest to escape, so don't get sucked in! More importantly, don't put any of the bad things out there. Every little thing, no matter how small or how much it seems like it wouldn't make a difference, is critical. These are the starting points of human destiny.

Quote of the day

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra."
-Jimmy Johnson

Everyone knows that if you put in effort, you can do great things. But putting in a little bit of extra will make you extraordinary versus just plain ordinary. Put forth your greatest efforts and together, a little bit of extra at a time, we can help those who are less fortunate then ourselves. Put the right foot forward and take a step in the right direction on the path of life.

Quote of the day

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."

-Mother Teresa

If you are truly an enjoyable person, then people will leave you happier then they came to you. We all need to spread love and practice kindness. We need to build people up, not tear them down. Make people want to be your friend versus you forcing them to be yours. Make sure everyone is happy. It is up to us to make the world a better place. 

Daily Quote

"Opportunities always look bigger going than coming."
-Chinese Proverb

Always take an opportunity when you get one. You might not realize it until after it is gone, but each opportunity is unique and special in its own way. You might not realize how great the opportunity was until it has past. Take your opportunities when they are offered. They may never be offered to you again!

Daily Quote

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
-Mother Teresa

We all belong to each other. We are all children of God, and if we don't have peace with our brothers and sisters, it is because we must have forgotten that we were made for each other. We were made to be peaceful with each other, and we were made to live with one another in harmony. Unfortunately, we have turned to war when we are upset. We have no peace, and it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

And by the way, happy 100th post!

Quote of the day

"Consider the postage stamp: It secures success by sticking to one thing until it gets there."

-Josh Billings

Never give up. You will never reach your goal if you quit in the middle of it! You need to follow through until you get there. Find something you love and never give up. Otherwise, you will never succeed. Don't put too much on your plate, either. You will stress yourself, and it is way harder to stick to something under stress. Keep things at an easy level and stick to it, and success is yours!

Quote of the day

“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.” 

― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

One of the hardest things to do in a world that is constantly trying to make you someone else is to be yourself. Everyone sees your outward appearance, but not many get the chance to see who you really are. Being yourself is one of the most important things to be, though, because you are the only you and that is special. No one can be you like you can! Outward appearance is not always the most important thing to show, so we all need to dig down deep into our hearts and souls and bring the inner us to the top. It is a challenge worth trying.

Daily Quote

"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard, are sweeter."
-John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn and Other Poems

Our lives are full of things we know. Our realm of knowledge, for the most part, is the way we want it. We don't want to change anything about the sweet things in life, and this is ok. What we know is sweet. What we all need to realize, though, is that there is still a world of opportunity out there. There are so many sweet things that we don't know. These unheard melodies can even come from the most simple things. They don't even necessarily have to be silent. For example, the birds chirping outside your window or the smile you bring to the faces of many each and every day. The little things in life are the sweetest. Pay attention to nature around you, and keep an open eye for the sweet unheard melodies in the air.

Daily Quote

"Only those who are fit to live who are not afraid to die."

-Douglas Mac Arthur

You are fit to live only when you aren't afraid to die. Worry is a big issue in our lives. We spend too much time doing it, and we waste time that could be used to just live. Also, God is on our side. Heaven awaits those who are ready for it. Worry less and trust more. Just think- if we live now, that is great. If we die now, we are going to a better place which is great. Either way is a blessing, so don't fear death. Once this is achieved, you can be fit to live.

Quote of the day

"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

-John C. Maxwell

People don't really care about how smart you are. They just want you to be there for them. They want you for you. All they really want is someone who will love them and care for them and be with them even in the toughest times. Once they know how much you care for them, they will care a bit more about how much you know. People's emotions are very sensitive- we need the love of others to help keep us up. A true friend will care more for how the other feels and how they act towards the other than they will for how much they/their friend knows.

Quote of the day

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Forgiveness is a key skill. You need it to maintain relationships, whether it is just a friendship, family love, or a romantic love. There will be fights in life, this is unavoidable. But to continue to love, you have to be able to forgive each other. Without this power and skill, love is really out of the question. Learn to forgive and you will learn to love. 

Daily Quote

"Anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed."

-Robert H. Schuller

Anyone can count the seeds inside of an apple. That is easy, you just cut it open and count. Only God can look inside each seed and see, if planted, how many apples can be produced. God sees inside of everyone who they are. He can see the future. He can count the apples that the tree will produce in its lifetime. God is all-knowing and very powerful.