Real Life

For a long time it has seemed to me that life was about to begin; Real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.

--Father Alfred D'Souza

Real Winners

Nobody loves motivational quotes more than I do. But be very careful because every once in a while you'll find a quote that might sound good but isn't true. And if you believe that quote, it might actually do some
harm.

Let me tell you a story...

It was the most important Little League game of Eric's life. He was 11 years old and his team, the Pirates, were playing the Giants in the championship game.

It was the bottom of the sixth inning and the Pirates were ahead 2-1. But the Giants had the bases loaded with two outs and their best hitter was at bat.

He hit an easy fly ball to Bobby, the Pirate's right fielder. Bobby circled under the ball as everyone held their breath. The ball fell into his glove and then bounced out. Bobby scrambled for the ball, but by the time he decided where to throw it, two Giants had scored.

Final score:
Giants 3
Pirates 2

It would be "wait until next year" for the Pirates.

As the Pirates moped off the field, something totally unexpected happened. Their manager started yelling and screaming at Bobby. "You lost the gave for us. You cost us the championship!"

Crying, Bobby ran off the field and vanished into the woods.

After the game, Eric went to meet his parents in the parking lot, but his dad wasn't there. His mom said he had something to do. On the drive home, a dejected Eric saw something that startled him.

Way in the distance, Eric saw his dad walking Bobby home. His dad had his arm around the kid who robably felt like he didn't have a friend in the world.

Eric never forgot the kindness his dad showed that evening.

As the years passed, whenever Bobby saw Eric's dad, he always greeted him warmly and enthusiastically because he never forgot, either.

So whenever I hear stories like this one, I think of this quote:

"Winning is not the only thing, it's everything."

This quote makes my blood boil because the manager in the story actually believed it. He believed that winning a Little League game was "everything" and that the feelings of a fragile 11 year old boy were "nothing."

The truth of the matter is that winning is not the only thing. Winning is not everything.

Real winners don't necessarily hit home runs or make spectacular catches. Real winners know how to be kind. Eric's dad was a winner.

Here's a quote that is true and will make you a winner if you believe it:

"Winning is not the only thing, but kindness is everything."

Rob Gilbert
From Bits & Pieces

As You Dream, Do Shall You Become

The longer I live the more I realize how important it is that I
always have a big dream in my life. Dreams are what cause us to
bound out of bed in the morning instead of waking with anxiety
or, even worse, apathy for the day ahead. When I don't have a
dream in front of me it's easy to find fault with everything and
self-pity comes easily.

There's an easy explanation for why we're not at our best when
we don't have a dream - we were created to dream. The Proverbs
writer tells us that "without a vision the people perish."

I've always liked a quote that I've heard attributed to both
Oscar Hammerstein and Walt Disney, "If you don't have a dream,
how are you going to make a dream come true?"

So why is it so hard for some of us to dream? Or so tough to
believe that our dream can come true? Perhaps for some of us
it's because we were programmed to "don't get your hopes up."
While this was told to "protect" us, it had the opposite effect.
For many years I wanted to believe in a dream (because I was
created that way) but I was afraid of how I'd feel if I didn't
get my dream. I was afraid to "get my hopes up."

So how do we start dreaming? Or how do we dream bigger? By
changing our thoughts of course. Mark Victor Hansen, who says
he's read "As A Man Thinketh" more than 25 times, writes in his
book "Dare To Win", "If you know exactly what you want, you can
have it...Look around you. The world is filled with abundance."

A dream is nothing more than a thought or a series of thoughts.
And James Allen tells us that "your circumstances may be
uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but
perceive an Ideal (a dream) and strive to reach it. You cannot
travel within and stand still without."

And that's worth thinking about.

-Anon?

Living at risk

Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.
--Ray Bradbury

Prosperity is the ability to do what you want to do at the instant you want to do it.
--Treat yourself to life by: Raymond Charles Baker

------------------

Often, the need to know is a pretext for not moving forward.

And you, have you already, refused the happiness to live together because you had the fear of acting without thinking? Do you think that on every occasion you must reflect? On the contrary, don't you believe that the most remarkable and the most important things in our life sometimes call for moving with a nave heart and beneficial spirit?

If some one has confidence in you it is because you are considered worthy of the trouble.
--Anon?

Attract People

To put it another way: When you stop working on what it is
you’re trying to get, and start working on YOU, only then will
you get what it is you want.

It really is very basic when you think about it. Jim Rohn says,
"To attract attractive people, you must be attractive. To
attract powerful people, you must be powerful. To attract
committed people, you must be committed. Instead of going to
work on them, you go to work on yourself. If you become, you can
attract."

I know so many people who work very hard and diligently and
sacrifice greatly in an effort to create wealth. But they
haven’t changed who they are, and until they begin to think and
act like wealthy people they’ll never attract the wealth they
seek. Wealthy people don’t think and act the way they do
because they have wealth. They have wealth because they think
and act that way.

How many people are on a diet today who don’t stand a chance of
losing (and keeping off) any weight because they’re still the
same person who gained all that weight to start with. Let me
repeat again, so you’ll grasp how important this is: Slim
people don’t think and act the way they do because they’re slim.
They’re slim because they think and act that way.

To get what you want, you change who you are, and you change who
you are by simply changing the way you think and act. And one
technique for doing that which is promoted by a lot of wise
teachers is to "act as if." If you "act as if" you’re slim long
enough, then one day you will attract slimness even though you
may be 100 pounds overweight today. If you act as if you’re
wealthy long enough, then one day you will attract all the
wealth you can imagine even though you may this moment be
destitute and homeless.

Bob Proctor says, "Act like the person you want to become. For
as Goethe, the German philosopher, once wrote, ‘Before you can
do something, you first must be something.’"

And that’s worth thinking about.

AsAManThinketh.net

BIG DREAM

How powerful is a BIG DREAM?
It can literally keep you alive!

Here’s what Linda Hope said about her dad, one of my favorite celebrities of all time:

"He's thrilled about [turning 100]," daughter Linda Hope told reporters in a telephone press conference last month. "This has been a goal of his for the last number of years. He's determined to be a 100...He rallies [thinking about it]. He's just absolutely amazing." (www.eonline.com)

Just two months after realizing his dream, our beloved Bob Hope went to his greater reward.

Another favorite celebrity, George Burns, had an identical dream. He constantly talked about living to be 100, which he did. And shortly afterwards, he too passed on.

These two icons knew the power of a BIG DREAM. They lived their lives that way and they both experienced a life that few people couldn’t even dream of, it was that amazing.

Stop and think about the last person you encountered who had a BIG DREAM! Did they seem to have an extra reservoir of energy or did they seem sluggish and uninterested in life? Did they have a great attitude toward the world and others, or were they bitter and negative? Did they move and walk with a bounce and a spring of zestiness, or did they mope along in an apathetic slumber?

You know the answers to those questions! Big Dreams create ENERGY and ENTHUSIASM for living!

I often quote Napoleon Hill’s "Whatever the mind of Man can conceive and believe it can achieve" to prove the power of belief. But there’s another important meaning to that statement. Look at the first action -- conceive (which is the beginning of a dream). Doesn’t that mean the same thing as
Dr. Robert Schuller’s instruction that "If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It!"

But I’d venture to bet that most people are as Thoreau described them, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is
called resignation is confirmed desperation." And I’d further venture that most of this "quiet desperation" is caused because they find themselves either without a dream or without the belief in their dreams.

I know the feeling all too well --- I’ve been there. After almost 20 years of chasing my dreams I experienced some major setbacks that I didn’t respond to well. In the process, I lost one of my most prized possessions -- my belief in my dreams. I suddenly found myself living the most miserable of lives --- the life of quiet desperation.

It took me almost five years to get in touch with my dreams again, but when I did, the results were amazing. So many of the things in my life that I enjoy today were my dreams just a few short years ago. Since then, I’ve not only uncovered and achieved some super BIG DREAMS in my own life, I’ve been able to counsel and teach others how to reach theirs.

Vic Johnson
AsAManThinketh.net