The Glass Is Always Full

"Some folks go through life pleased that the glass is half full. Others spend a lifetime lamenting that it's half-empty. The truth is: There is a glass with a certain volume of liquid in it. From there, it's up to you!"~Dr. James S. Vuocolo

Well there are your choices...Is it half full or half empty? Your answer will say a lot about you (but I would imagine that most people will say it's half full, because that is what they are supposed to say...) Why not think of another answer? I say that the glass is FULL! Half with liquid and the other half with air. Just because I only gave you 2 choices, you thought that those were the only answers.  Break out of your either/or thinking!

See, we've been taught to think sequentially, linearly,  not simultaneously. We've also been taught that most questions require an either/or answer...Why not think of AND instead of the either/or? Let's say that you want to do a couple of things on vacation, so you say well we could do this or that. Why not say, we could do this first AND then that second! You might not get to spend all the time you wanted on one thing but you were able to do them both!

Aristotle said "Happiness depends on ourselves," and Edison said “There is a time for everything.” The choices are up to us AND there is time for everything. Remember, think AND instead of either/or!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Some folks go through life pleased that the glass is half full. Others spend a lifetime lamenting that it's half-empty. The truth is: There is a glass with a certain volume of liquid in it. From there, it's up to you!"

There Are No Mistakes!

"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go." ~Richard Bach

Our society has programmed us to believe that mistakes and failures are to be avoided AT ALL COSTS. This is just plain wrong. How will we ever learn and grow if not from our mistakes and failures. I choose to look at failures as feedback, nothing more, nothing less. It is showing me that what I'm doing is not the best way to do whatever it is that I'm doing.  It is a necessary thing we must go through to get to where we want to go.

We have learned to castigate failures, to scorn them, laugh at them, put them down...With these actions tied into failure, it's easy to see why our society tells us to avoid it at all costs. But what if we ALL looked at failure as the feedback that we need to do things better? Now that's not so bad is it.  

Thomas Watson, founder of IBM said that "The fastest way to success is to fail faster." But if we are avoiding failure, then the opportunity for success remains at a distance.

Work on seeing what you might call "failure" as feedback. And see how it affects your frame of mind and thought process.

"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go."

Break Your Own Records

"Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves -- to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today."~ Stewart B. Johnson

Are you getting ahead of yourself or are you trying to keep up and get ahead of your neighbors and friends? See, our society has made it a game about keeping up with the Joneses. All the advertising is directed at making you feel as if you need everything to keep up. And if you don't, well, you might be thrown out of Scottsdale!! I mean, come on, we have a reputation to uphold here...

How shallow have we become to buy into that crap? I sure hope that we are finding our way out and just worrying about keeping ahead of ourselves. That's where growth is! That's where change is! That's where happiness is!

Take a moment to think about how you can 'outstrip your yesterday by your today.' What would it take to make today a better day than yesterday? That's all you have to do...consciously think about how you can make today better than yesterday...and then do it!

When you realize that even the poorest American is in the top 97% of people in the world as far as wealth goes it might change your thinking. Or that 60% of the world doesn't have running water or indoor plumbing, or that 50% has never made a telephone call, you will realize that our job is just to get ahead of ourselves and not anyone else.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves -- to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by our today."

Change Yourself

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."~Victor Frankl

Wow...have we missed this truth. Too often, we continually try to change the situation, trying different things, different ways, different ideas. All the while neglecting to change ourselves!!

Think about the last challenge that you had. Think about all the things that you did to rectify the situation. Sometimes you are able to fix things, but what happens when you don't? Do you ever even think about changing yourself?? I know that most of the time, I didn't. Now, I make sure that I look at myself and see if I need to change.

Action:
In dealing with your next challenge today, see if changing yourself will make a difference. I bet it will! Look at yourself from all angles and change what needs to be changed to solve the challenge!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."