Category: Inspirational Stuff

  • More Inspirational Quotes

    Quotes on Life

    1. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
    2. “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln
    3. “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell
    4. “Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs
    5. “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
    6. “We must not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.” – T. S. Eliot
    7. “There’s no next time. It’s now or never.”
    8. “For every effect there is a root cause. Find and address the root cause rather than try to fix the effect, as there is no end to the latter.”
    9. “When you don’t get what you want, you suffer. If you get it, you suffer too since you can’t hold on to it forever.” – Peaceful Warrior, on the fallacy of attachment
    10. “There are no ordinary moments. There is always something going on.” – Peaceful Warrior
    11. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
    12. Every moment you get is a gift. Spend it on things that matter. Don’t spend it by dwelling on unhappy things.
    13. Everything around us is made up of energy. To attract positive things in your life, start by giving off positive energy.
    14. Don’t put off living to next week, next month, next year or next decade. The only time you’re ever living is in this moment.
    15. Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. – Mark Twain
    16. Life is a gift. Never forget to enjoy and bask in every moment you are in.
    17. The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced – Art Van Der Leeuw
    18. “My life is my message.” – Gandhi
    19. “If wrinkles must be written upon our brow, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should not grow old.” – James A. Garfield
    20. “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”
    21. “In the beginning you will fall into the gaps in between thoughts – after practicing for years, you become the gap.” – J.Kleykamp (Regarding meditation)

    Quotes on Change

    1. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama
    2. All great changes are preceded by chaos. ~ Deepak Chopra
    3. Change is not pleasant, But change is constant. Only when we change and grow, We’ll see a world we never know. ~From Wisdom of The Orange Woodpecker

    Quotes on Past, Present and Future

    1. “Don’t let the past steal your present” – Cherralea Morgen
    2. “One has to live in the present. Whatever is past is gone beyond recall; whatever is future remains beyond one’s reach, until it becomes present. Remembering the past and giving thought to the future are important, but only to the extent that they help one deal with the present.” – S.N. Goenka
    3. “We are all here for some special reason. Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become the architect of your future.” – Robin Sharma
    4. The more you take responsibility for your past and present, the more you are able to create the future you seek.
    5. “Be present – it is the only moment that matters.” Peaceful Warrior
    6. “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.” – B. Olatunji
    7. Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead, that is where your future lies.~ Ann Landers
    8. “Holding on to anything is like holding on to your breath. You will suffocate. The only way to get anything in the physical universe is by letting go of it. Let go & it will be yours forever”. – Deepak Chopra
    9. Don’t put off living to next week, next month, next year or next decade. The only time you’re ever living is in this moment.
    10. “There’s no next time. It’s now or never.”
    11. “One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.” – Dale Carnegie
    12. “Never let your memories be greater than your dreams.” – Doug Ivester
    13. Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions ~ Albert Einstein
    14. To create more positive results in your life, replace “if only” with “next time”.

    Quotes on Purpose

    1. “Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life… Therein he cannot be re­placed, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.” – Viktor Frankl
    2. “Your work is to discover your work and then, with all your heart, to give yourself to it.” – Buddha
    3. “One person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 who have only interests.” – John Stuart Mill

    Quotes on Dreams and Passion

    1. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot
    2. “If what you’re doing is not your passion, you have nothing to lose.”
    3. “At first dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable.” – Christopher Reeve
    4. “Do what you love and the money will follow.” – Marsha Sinetar
    5. “The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.” – Richard Bach
    6. “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive.” – Howard Thurman
    7. “All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
    8. “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau
    9. “No matter where you are in life right now, no matter who you are, no matter how old you are – it is never too late to be who you are meant to be.” – Esther & Jerry Hicks
    10. “There’s nothing capricious in nature, and the implanting of a desire indicates that its gratification is in the constitution of the creature that feels it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
    11. “Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.” – Belva Davis
    12. “The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
    13. “Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.” – Les Brown
    14. “Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.” – Niccolo Machiavelli
    15. “No dreamer is ever too small; no dream is ever too big.” – Anonymous
    16. “Never let your memories be greater than your dreams.” – Doug Ivester
    17. “You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.” – Pursuit of Happyness (Movie)
    18. “History shows us that the people who end up changing the world – the great political, social, scientific, technological, artistic, even sports revolutionaries – are always nuts, until they are right, and then they are geniuses.” – John Eliot
    19. “You will not do incredible things without an incredible dream.” – John Eliot
    20. “Instead of thinking about what you are going to do when you retire, think about how you can do that now and make a living from it.”
    21. “Don’t be pushed by your problems; be led by your dreams.”
    22. “Everything you want should be yours: the type of work you want; the relationships you need; the social, mental, and aesthetic stimulation that will make you happy and fulfilled; the money you require for the lifestyle that is appropriate to you; and any requirement that you may (or may not) have for achievement or service to others. If you don’t aim for it all, you’ll never get it all. To aim for it requires that you know what you want” ~ Richard Koch
    23. “I am not my memories. I am my dreams.” ~ Terry Hostetler
    24. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – Les Brown
    25. “Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.” ~ Albert Einstein
    26. “Every second you spend thinking about someone else’s dreams you take time away from your own.” – Yogi Ramen
    27. “What the mind can conceive, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill

    Quotes on Imagination and Creativity

    1. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein.
    2. “Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.” Albert Einstein

    1. “In life, as in football, you won’t go far unless you know where the goalposts are.” – Arnold H. Glasgow
    2. “When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life.” – Greg Anderson
    3. “The most important thing about goals is having one.” – Geoffry F. Abert
    4. “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” – Bill Copeland
    5. “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” – Jim Rohn
    6. “Everything is always created twice, first in the mind and then in reality.”
    7. “You need a plan to build a house. To build a life, it is even more important to have a plan or goal.” – Zig Ziglar

    Quotes on Attitudes and Mindsets

    1. “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” – Thomas A. Edison
    2. “How you think is as important as as what you think”
    3. “Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” —Lao-Tze
    4. “The only limits in your life are those that you set yourself.”
    5. “Every second you spend thinking about someone else’s dreams you take time away from your own.” – Yogi Ramen
    6. “The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts.”
    7. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” – Viktor Frankl
    8. “Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” – William James
    9. “Whether you think you can or think you can’t – you are right.” – Henry Ford
    10. “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
    11. “The degree of responsibility you take for your life determines how much change you can create in it.”
    12. “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” – Seneca
    13. The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.
    14. “A man can do all things if he will.” — Leon Battista Alberti (1404–72)
    15. “You can’t get to a place that you don’t believe exists.”
    16. “There is always room in your life for thinking bigger, pushing limits and imagining the impossible.” – Tony Robbins
    17. “The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” – Albert Ellis
    18. (Tool+Training+Experience) x Mindset = Goal/Success —- BUT if your mindset is zero then equation is (100 + 100 +100) x 0 = Failure
    19. “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” – Mahatma Gandhi
    20. “Sometimes you have to lose your mind before you can come to your senses.” – Peaceful Warrior
    21. “When you can’t change the direction of the wind — adjust your sails.” ~ H. Jackson Brown
    22. “If you believe you can, you can. If you believe you can’t, then, well you can’t.”
    23. “Our life experiences often create a limited worldview of what is and what is not possible. Thus to maximize your experience of life, base your dreams outside of your life experiences.”
    24. “To create more positive results in your life, replace “if only” with “next time”.”
    25. “Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.” – Sir James Dewar
    26. “Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.” ~Ernest Holmes
    27. “When a man is wrapped up in himself he makes a pretty small package.” –John Ruskin
    28. “There is no teacher who can teach anything new. He can just help us to remember the things we always knew.” – Odyssey of the Mind, Enigma
    29. “You have to ‘Be’ before you can ‘Do’ and ‘Do’ before you can ‘Have’.” – Zig Ziglar
    30. “We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” -Vince Lombarde
    31. “Instead of thinking outside the box, just get rid of it.”
    32. “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” ~Winston Churchill
    33. “You see things and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and I say ‘Why not?’” ~ George Bernard Shaw
    34. “Stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibilities” – Terry Josephson
    35. “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn
    36. If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself. -Norman Vincent Peale
    37. The sky has never been the limit. We are our own limits. It’s then about breaking our personal limits and outgrowing ourselves to live our best lives.
    38. If the grass is greener on the other side, maybe that’s because you’re not taking good care of your grass.
    39. One person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 who have only interests. – John Stuart Mill
    40. If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. Milton Berle

  • Nepal Photos

    Here is a sampling of some of my pictures from Nepal. Hope you enjoy them.

    You can flip through the slide show if you cursor over it.

  • Eddie Izzard, the Marathon Man. Part 2

    Here is the second episode of the series. I’m still amazed by this man. It is hard to believe that he just decided to do this out of the blue in the middle of his pampered life. Also surprising is how this man is tougher and more determined than anyone would ever suspect. It was almost painful to watch the soap opera of his toes, blisters and cramps but then to see him skip across finish line after finish line with a smile on his face was truly impressive.

    His progress was quite good. His first marathon, he clocked in at 10 hours after stopping to look at geese, get ice cream, chat with the locals and enjoy the scenery. For his last marathon, the victory lap back into London, where it all started, he made the 26.2 miles in a respectable 5 hours. This test of human endurance and human spirit ended up being a training program: from the couch to a 5 hour marathon in 2 months. Remember that the 5 hour time was after completing 43 marathons in 51 days. I’m sure that after some real rest and recuperation he could shave off considerable time. You can literally see in episodes 1 and 2, which trace his progress from marathon 1 to marathon XX how solid and strong his muscles were becoming, how his face was slimming and how his beer belly was shrinking day after day. The Eddy Izzard on the last day of the marathon was quite different from the Eddy Izzard from the first.

    Here is episode 2 in 6 parts. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Beware the show does have some foul language.  You can find episode 1 here.

    Part 1

    Part 2

    Part 3

    Part 4

    Part 5

    Part 6

  • Eddie Izzard, the Marathon Man

    In North America, Eddie Izzard isn’t exactly a household name, but in the UK he’s a bit of a legend.  A stand-up comic that can still sell out Radio City Music Hall for 4 nights, the 47 year old not only has staying power but is still growing professionally.  I had seen a few of his bits on Youtube and was looking for another when I came across a slew of articles on his try at running.   As he is portly with a sedentary lifestyle, I would’ve been impressed if he ran a marathon or half marathon, but it turns out he didn’t just run a marathon, he ran 43 marathons in 51 days.  That is something that most elite athletes couldn’t even dream of doing.  The average runner might only do 1 or 2 marathons a year and spend the rest of the time training, but Eddie who hadn’t really run since he was a kid, spent only 5 weeks of training before he set out on his mammoth task.  Oh, and in the process, he raised $400,000 for Sports Relief.  Truly inspirational.

    Here are some articles and videos:

    http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23744688-eddie-izzard-on-becoming-a-marathon-man.do

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1213682/Eddie-Izzard-completes-mega-seven-week-marathon-blisters-blisters.html

    Here is a youtube clip of the first episode from the documentary series on the run. There is some colourful language, consider yourself warned. Be sure to watch episode 2.

    Part 1

    Part 2

    Part 3

    Part 4

    Part 5

    Part 6

  • Handbook for 2010

    I just received this from a friend. A few of them really hit home.

    Health:
    1. Drink plenty of water.
    2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
    3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
    4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
    5. Make time to pray.
    6. Play more games.
    7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
    8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
    9. Sleep for 7 hours.
    10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

    Personality:
    11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
    12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
    13. Don’t over do. Keep your limits..
    14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
    15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
    16. Dream more while you are awake.
    17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
    18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
    19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
    20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
    21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
    22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
    23. Smile and laugh more.
    24 . You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

    Society:
    25. Call your family often.
    26. Each day give something good to others.
    27. Forgive everyone for everything.
    28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
    29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
    30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
    31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

    Life:
    32. Do the right thing!
    33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
    34. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
    35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
    36. The best is yet to come.
    37. Your Inner most is always happy. so, be happy.