Tag: patience

Random Thought #11 – The Affirmation Spot for Saturday March 7, 2009

Patience is not passive waiting. Patience is active acceptance of the process required to attain the goals and dreams you seek.

Stay inspired!

Ray

55 Things to Be Thankful For – The Affirmation Spot for Wednesday November 26, 2008

Today’s Affirmation:

“I am blessed beyond belief in my life.”
(click the affirmation to hear it in mp3)

As we celebrate the American Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, here are 55 things to be thankful for. Some may seem counter-intuitive. However, even the negative sometimes is worthy of our thankfulness. I’ve probably left some off my list. Leave a comment today and let me know what you are thankful for.

  1. Sun – without it’s warmth and light we could not exist.
  2. Earth – the beautiful planet that sustains us.
  3. Water – the sauce of life.
  4. Life – each and every morning we wake up is a new chance to be the person we want to be.
  5. Shelter – something to shield us from the elements.
  6. Children – the happy nature and innocence of children remind us how we are meant to be.
  7. Food – an absolute blessing for those who struggle for it and something to be more appreciative of for those of us who never worry about our next meal.
  8. Faith – our faith in ourselves and in something greater than ourselves.
  9. Minds – the power to think, to reason, to grow, and to adapt.
  10. Lines – for making us slow down and enjoy where we are.
  11. Compassion – for getting over ourselves to consider and understand someone else.
  12. Hope – reminds us there is a potential upside to every situation.
  13. Giving – when we give we remember that nothing truly belongs to us and it frees us from our attachments.
  14. Receiving – the opportunity to have our needs met while allowing others to give.
  15. Fear – for teaching us love, strength, and humility.
  16. Work – whether a career, a hobby, or community work; the sense that we have something to do when we get up in the morning is something to be thankful for.
  17. Friendship – those people who choose to spend key parts of their lives with us.
  18. Family – those people we wound up with by fate, but stay with out of love.
  19. Anger – for teaching us the benefits of peace.
  20. Peace – peace within and as much peace without as we can muster.
  21. Sight – the ability to see the beautiful world we inhabit.
  22. Love – the glue that holds us together.
  23. Difficulty – for making us strong and giving us something to compare with the heights.
  24. Stars – the wonder and glory of the night sky.
  25. Hatred – for reminding us to love (may we need ever-less reminding)
  26. Surprises – the wonderful things in life that we didn’t expect.
  27. Visionaries – people who see the world not as it is, but as it could be.
  28. Change – the ever-present possibility of improving ourselves and the world.
  29. Purpose – the plan to achieve something in this life and the firm belief that you can.
  30. Wind – a source of comfort, energy, and a metaphor for change.
  31. Music – the soundtrack of our lives.
  32. Possibility – the memory that something more and different is out there.
  33. Today – an opportunity to make the most of what we have.
  34. Tomorrow – the hoped for opportunity to continue our dreams.
  35. Joy – the deep and intense happiness about being alive.
  36. Freedom – the ability to think, act, and be who you are.
  37. Acceptance – the ability be at peace with how things are for the moment.
  38. Learning – the opportunity to enhance our potential.
  39. Success – the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of our work.
  40. Adversity – for reminding us how strong we can be.
  41. Grass – for carpeting our planet and being a nice place to lie and look at the sky.
  42. Soil – a medium to grow food and plants.
  43. Moon – the most beautiful object in the night sky and the timepiece marking our lives through its phases.
  44. Innovation – for improving our experience of life.
  45. Dreams – the fuel that drives us through tough times and gives a reason to aim high.
  46. Options – the ability to choose.
  47. Sharing – the opportunity to pool our talents and resources.
  48. Flowers – they add beautiful sights and smells to our world.
  49. Mountains – they provide beauty, challenge, and the ability to see a long way.
  50. Oceans – beauty, unimaginable power, source of life and transportation.
  51. Competition – the opportunity to test ourselves and to improve.
  52. History – for teaching us the lessons we need to learn over and over until we get them.
  53. Future – for giving us the opportunity to try again.
  54. Death – for reminding us of life’s value.
  55. Meaning – the search for which makes our lives the journey that they are.

Focus on What You Can Do

Today’s thought is:

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
~ John Wooden

I often encounter people who look at the world in horror and say, in desperation, “I want a different world, but what can one person do?” Similarly, there are people who feel powerless to change their own lives for the better. They allow what they cannot do to stop them from doing what they could do.

The problems that face us individually and collectivley can be overwhelming at times. Their enormity depresses some, makes others apathetic, and still others angry.

The amazing thing is that these same conditions inspire others to strive for something better, more complete, more empowering. The key is to focus on what we can do rather than what we cannot.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

 John Wooden’s accomplishments, while not world-changing, are staggering in sports terms. He led the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team to 10 NCAA national championships in 12 years between 1964 and 1975. In that span his teams, went undefeated four times. Only one team in men’s college basketball has completed an undefeated in the 33 years since.

As a revered coach, Wooden’s words have become legendary. Today he is 97 years old. Someone who has achieved that level of success in any field and that scale of longevity bears listening to.

Coach Wooden tells us not to let what we cannot do interfere with what we can.

  • Maybe you can’t end world hunger today, but you can donate time or money to those helping to feed the hungry.
  • Maybe you can’t create a more just political system overnight, but you can collaborate with others and take steps that will get us there one day.
  • Maybe you can’t attain your financial goals today, but you can begin making the changes and taking the chances that will lead you to that goal one day.
  • Maybe your life is too filled with stress and pain to achieve complete happiness today, but you can at least beging releasing the stress and the pain so that one day you can know that happiness.
  • Maybe your dream of being a world-class dancer has to wait another year, but you can still work on perfecting the dance in preparation for that day.
  • Maybe world peace is not in the cards for humanity today, but you can create a more peaceful world through every encounter you have today.
“Actually, I’m an overnight success, but it took me twenty years.”
~ Monty Hall

The fact is that you may not reach the mountain top today. That does not mean you stop climbing. For these days when you worried, stressed, and strove over your goal, will be “the stuff” the dream is made of when you do achieve it.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Stay Inspired!

Ray

Ray Davis is founder of The Affirmation Spot, a website offering downloadable mp3 motivation tools.

anunnaki_cover_full_colorRay’s 2015 speculative fiction novel, Anunnaki Awakening: Revelation, is turning heads. Where did humanity really come from and where is it going? This is Book 1 of a trilogy. The Awakening has begun!

Learn more about the trilogy and order your signed copy today at AATrilogy.com.