Chapter 61: How to Deal with a 21st Century Woman--Inspiration and motivation

By Frosty Wooldridge 

          Other people inspire each of us at different times in our lives.  At first, we said, “Watch me Mommy…”

          “Daddy, see what I can do….”

          Our world was intertwined with our parents in our formative ­years.  Depending on how they treated us, our lives are more ­manageable or terribly out of control.  We’ve found that the two­ human beings that brought us into the world were largely­ responsible for how we deal with the world today.  If they were­ kind and loving to us, we are self-assured and going about our­ lives in a positive manner.  For the children of violent, alcohol­ abusers, or unloving parents, we suffer lifelong crippling­ emotional problems.  Some of us move through them with therapy­ and others of us, are hopelessly lost.

          Nonetheless, as we grow older, all of us are inspired by­ certain people–either father figures, mother figures, writers,­ poets, statesmen or great athletes.  We are drawn to their wisdom­ or their bravado.  Some may touch our heartstrings.  Each may ­have said something intellectually or spiritually inspiring. ­ Others like Vince Lombardi the legendary Packer’s football coach­ motivate via fear.

          The following epigrams may touch you, inspire you or launch ­you toward your dreams.  It might be a paragraph or as little as ­sentence.  It might be noted that every great person had great­ travails, much like your own.  He/she had doubts and fears like anyone else.  In the end, we’re all a bag of skin holding ­together a glob of muscle and blood.

          However, we have found that our spirits conspiring with our ­minds can take us to any place on the planet.  The same holds ­true for you:

          Sir Winston Churchill, the great British Prime Minister in ­World War II wrote, “Success means going from failure to failure­ without loss of enthusiasm.”  To that we add, if you keep trying ­and never give up, you have a chance to succeed, and most likely­ you will.

          The late Robert Kennedy inspired the 60s generation, “Each­ time a man stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of­ others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny­ ripple of hope and crossing each other from a million different­ centers of energy and daring—these ripples build a current that ­can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. ­Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the­ censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society.  Moral­ courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great­ intelligence.  Yet it is the one essential vital quality for­ those who seek to change a world that yields painfully to change. ­And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to ­enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in­ every corner of the globe.”

          Robert Schuller said, “Discipline yourself to become a­ positive reactionary.  Misfortune never leaves you where it found­ you.  You will change.  You will become better or worse.  You ­make the choice.  Life is ten percent what happens to you and­ ninety percent how you react to what happens to you.”

          The man who charge up San Juan Hill with the Rough Riders, ­Teddy Roosevelt was born a weak and sickly child, yet grew into a­ larger than life hero, “It is not the critic who counts; not the ­man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer­ of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man ­who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and­ sweat an blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, and comes short ­again and again, because there is no effort without error and­ shortcoming, who does actually try to do the deed, who knows the­ great enthusiasm, the great devotion, and spends himself in a ­worth cause, who–at worst–if he fails, at least fails while­ daring greatly.

          Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious ­triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with ­those who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the­ gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

          “First step–self acceptance…you are the umpire in the ­game of your life…Remember, it ain’t  nothin’ till you call it.”

          “When the quarterback gets punished, he begins to think.”

          Each day is a new account:  “If you had a bank that credited ­your account each morning with $86,000 that carried over no ­balance from day to day, allowed you to keep no cash in your­ account and every evening canceled whatever part of the amount ­you had failed to use during the day, what would you do?

          Draw out every cent every day, of course, and use it to your ­advantage.  Well, you have a bank, and its name is time.  Every ­morning, it credits you with 86,000 seconds.  Every night, it­ rules off as lost whatever of this amount you have failed to ­invest to good purpose.  It carries over no balances.  It allows­ no overdrafts.  Each day, it opens a new account with you.  Each­ night it burns the records of the day.  If you fail to use the ­day’s deposits, the loss is yours.  There is not going back.  ­There is no drawing against tomorrow.

          It is up to each of us to invest this precious fund of ­hours, minutes and seconds in order to get from it the utmost in­ health, happiness and success.”

          “Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb ­your peace of mind.  To talk health, happiness and prosperity to­ every person you meet.  To make all your friends feel that there­ is something in them.  To look at the sunny side of everything and ­make your optimism come true.  To think only of the best, to work­ only for the best and expect only the best. To be just as ­enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your­ own.  To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the­ greater achievements of the future.  To wear a cheerful­ countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet­ a smile.  To give so much to the improvement of yourself that you ­have no time to criticize others. To be too large for worry, too­ noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the­ presence of trouble.”  Christian Larson

          “Love makes a better suitcase for traveling through the­ years.”

          “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how­ close they were to success when they gave up.”

          “Frustration into fascination; Never in neutral; Lean into­ life.”

          Helen Keller, the blind/mute/deaf lady, said, “Life is­ either a daring adventure or nothing.  Security does not exist in­ nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.  ­Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure.”

          “When we do something new, something different, we push ­against the parameters of our comfort zone.  If we do the new ­thing often enough, we overcome the fear, guilt, unworthiness, ­hurt feelings and anger–and our comfort zone expands.  If we back off and honor the “need” to be comfortable, our comfort zone­ shrinks. It’s a dynamic, living thing–always expanding or ­contracting.”  John-Roger and McWilliams

          “Victory belongs to the most persevering.” Napoleon

          “Creative living means optimizing your environment. ­Enthusiastic, successful people realize that life is a game; the ­hand they’ve been dealt is their environment, the result is optimizing and their edge is creativity.  They understand that ­overcoming obstacles is the natural state of human existence and­ represents the challenge that keeps life exciting.”  Ed Scott

          The famous comedian Mel Brooks said, “Look, I really don’t ­want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you’re alive, you ­have to flap your arms and legs, you have to jump around a lot,­ you have to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death.”

          “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Einstein

          Sometimes, things aren’t like you would like them to be.­  Your wisdom comes when you accept things you don’t like or things­ you can’t do anything about.  That doesn’t mean you approve or ­advocate or ignore; it means you accept.   Walter Cronkite, the newscaster, said, “And that’s the way it is.”

          “When an emotional injury takes place, the body begins a ­process as natural as the healing of a physical wound.  Let the­ process happen.  Trust that nature will do the healing. Know that ­the pain will pass and, when it passes, you will be stronger, ­happier, more sensitive and aware.”  HOW TO SURVIVE THE LOSS OF A­LOVE

          “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be­ lost;  That is where they should be.  Now put the foundations ­under them.”  Thoreau

          Are you depressed?  Best way to solve it?  Exercise. Plan.  ­Do something. Talk to a friend. Write in your journal.

          “To change one’s life:  Start immediately.  Do it­ flamboyantly.  No exceptions.”  William James

          “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. ­ Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”  Goethe

          At times, we all feel like the world is a dirt sandwich.  If ­you look around however, in history, or at the moment, everyone ­has good and bad times.  The great psychologist Carl Jung said it­ best, “Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic­ currents of life, is without trouble.” 

          “If you think you can do a thing, or think you can’t do a­ thing; you’re right.”  Henry Ford

          “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we ­learn by doing them.”  Aristotle

          You may have looked up to the big house on the hill and­ wished you lived in it.  Many of us think we will have made it ­when we’re rich.  But that ain’t necessarily so.  For every man ­who has the big house on the hill, many of them live utterly­ disastrous lives.  William Henry Channing said it best, “To live­ content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury,­ and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not ­respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly,­ talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes ­and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all­ bravely, await occasions, hurry never.  In a word, to let the­ spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common.­  This is to be my symphony.”

          “Tomorrow is the most important thing in life.  It comes in ­at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and puts­ itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from­ yesterday, and we can do anything with the new day we wish.” ­                                                      John Wayne