There are no excuses

"20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Dick Hoyt's son, Rick, was born with cerebral palsy. Dick could have used his son's disability as an excuse. He could have chosen to have kept his son moored safely in the harbor. Instead, Dick's son is the reason why Dick has pursued what most would think to be impossible. Dick's love for his son is the reason why Rick has lived a life that his doctors said could not be lived.  On the good days and the bad, during the long training runs and the exhausting swims, when he couldn't see the hope and possibility, Dick's son was the reason why he chose to throw off the bowlines and sail away from the harbor. 

"Excuse" is a word that shouldn't exist. There are no excuses, everything is a reason. The question is: will our "excuses" be reasons why we choose to pursue our dreams or reasons why we won't?

Hope

A leader is a dealer in hope.
Napoleon Bonaparte


People won't achieve if that don't believe. The leader's #1 responsibility is to plant seeds of belief and carefully tend to them as a master gardener would with rare plants. 

Go for it

"...And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom" - Anais Nin


"You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want" - Margaret Young




Go for it. 


And if you already are going for it. Don't give up. 


Blossom. Be the fullness of who you are.

Never Give Up

Dream, Speak, Do, Believe

1. Never, never, never give up. 

2. Never, ever assume anything about anyone. 

3. Greatness/success could be just around the corner...you won't find it unless you keep going.

Enjoy this video. Gives me goosebumps and tears:

You Are Perfect for Your Situation

Dream, Speak, Do, Believe

"You are perfect for your situation. Your situation is perfect for you."

-- David Zimmerman

Three thoughts here:

1. Situations are not who we are, nor are situations the goals/dreams we pursue. Who we are walks through situations to arrive at the goals/dreams we pursue.

2. I believe that we are perfect for all of our situations -- the good, the bad, and everything in between. Whoever has the ability to change holds the power in the relationship. In the relationship between us and our situation, we have the ability to change. But here is the key: we don't need to change who we are; we need to change what we believe about who we are. In the quote above, believing that the first sentence is true is what makes the second sentence true.

 

3. We are not subject (subservient) to our situations. Our situations -- even the painful, challenging, scary ones...especially those -- serve us.

So whatever situation you are facing, stand up, look it in the eye, and determine how it will take you one step closer to your dream.

Who We Are Determines What We Do

Dream, Speak, Do, Believe

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianne Williamson

Here's what hits me most: We don't fear success, we fear believing that we are successful. We don't fear winning, we fear believing that we are winners. Why? Because we think that when we choose to believe we are successful -- "that we are powerful beyond measure" -- that who we are now depends on whether or not we succeed. But who we are does not shift with the constantly changing winds of our successes and failures. It is not what we do that determines who we are; it is who we are that determines what we do.  

 

The Arena

Dream, Speak, Do, Believe


It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 

-- Theodore Roosevelt

Time in the "arena" is a prerequisite to achieving our dreams. While in the arena, there will be times of great victory which spur us to take on greater challengers. There will also be times of defeat & hardship, of "dust and sweat and blood" -- but these are possibly more valuable than the victories because like a blazing fire to metal, these times mold us into the victors we become...these times reveal the victor already in us.

Dream, Speak, Do, Believe

I am more convinced than ever that what we dream becomes reality (or not) based on the words we speak, the actions we choose to take, and what we think/believe about ourselves and the situation. I believe that we need to be encouraged/inspired every day towards bold dreams, bold words & actions, and belief.


To this end, my plan is to start posting more frequently shorter blog posts that focus on the above. Here's the first...

Some of the highlights from Will Smith include:

"It's all very simple: 'I know who I am. I know what I believe.'"

"The first step: You have to believe if before anyone else believes it."

"I believe I can [build] whatever I want to [build]."

"No reason to have a Plan B because it distracts from Plan A."

"There is a disillusional quality successful people have to have. You have to believe that something different can happen." 

"Confucius said: 'He who says he can and he who says he can't are both usually right.'"

"Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity. It is unrealistic to put people in a piece of metal and fly them over the ocean, but fortunately the Wright brothers didn't think so."

"The second I decide it is done, it is done."

"As soon as you say it, you just made it real -- whether positive or negative."

"I hate being scared to do something."