#694 Treasures of the morning

Expect problems and eat them for breakfast. ~ Alfred A. Montapert

Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper. ~ Francis Bacon

I used to love night best but the older I get the more treasures and hope and joy I find in morning. ~ Terri Guillemets

- To what extent do you enjoy mornings?
- How can you enhance your appreciation and utilization of mornings?

#693 Success and value

To burn always with a hard, gem like flame, that's success in life. ~ Robert W. Marks

Success is that old ABC - ability, breaks, and courage. ~ Charles Luckman

Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become one of value. ~Albert Einstein

- How bright is your flame?
- To what extent are you nurturing your abilities and courage?
- What value are you adding in your endeavors?

#692 Lucid intervals

Lucid intervals and happy pauses. ~Francis Bacon

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. ~ Ovid

Reverie is when ideas float in our mind without reflection or regard of the understanding. ~ John Locke

- How much opportunity do have for enriching and rejuvenating reflection?
- How could you cultivate more quality time for liberating your ideas?

#691 Expect nothing

The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them up. ~Ambrose Bierce

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. ~Jonathan Swift

The best things in life are not things. ~ Art Buchwald

- What are the best (material) things in life?
- What are the best (non material) things as suggested by Buchwald?
- Why is a mindset of expecting little a positive attribute?

#690 The benefits of walking

A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White

- To what extent does a vigorous five mile walk appeal to you?
- How much opportunity do you have to take regular walks?
- What other strategies do you use to maintain your equilibrium?

#689 Anticipation: radiance or calamity?

There is one thing which gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner. ~ G. K. Chesterton

A great source of calamity lies in regret and anticipation; therefore a person is wise who thinks of the present alone, regardless of the past or future. ~ Oliver Goldsmith

- How much do you enjoy looking forward to something?
- Has Goldsmith overstated his desire to focus on the present?
-What benefits/drawbacks might result if we direct our thoughts only on the present?

#688 Take time

Take time to work, it is the price of success.
Take time to think, it is the source of power.
Take time to play, it is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to read, it is the foundation of wisdom.
Take time to be friendly, it is the road to happiness.
Take time to dream, it is hitching your wagon to a star.
Take time to love & be loved, it is the privilege of the gods.
Take time to look around, it is too short a day to be selfish.
Take time to laugh, it is the music of the soul. ~ Old English Prayer

- Which of the above do you find the easiest to practice?
- The hardest?
- What area(s) would you add?

#687 Walking: the perfect balance

Walking is the great adventure, the first meditation,
a practice of heartiness and soul primary to humankind.
Walking is the exact balance between spirit and humility.
~ Gary Snyder

- How much do you enjoy walking?
- How much opportunity do you make in pursuing this worthy pastime?
- How does walking provide balance for one's life?

#686 Living wisely and earnestly

Zen is a way of liberation, concerned not with discovering what is good or bad or advantageous, but what is. ~ Alan Watts

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. ~ Buddha

- To what extent does Zen Buddhism resonate for you?
- What positive qualities might it cultivate within you?
- How might you enrich your knowledge of this discipline?

#685 How will you live your dash?

One lives in the hope of becoming a memory. ~ Antonio Porchia

Begin with the end in mind. (The end refers to your funeral and what people will say about you.) ~ Stephen Covey (from Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, habit #2)

There'll be two dates on your tombstone
And all your friends will read 'em
But all that's gonna matter
is that little dash between 'em. ~Kevin Welch

- To what extent do you think about what people think of you?
- What kind of legacy has been cultivated so far?
- What steps can you take to positively shape your life?

#684 Ripples build a current

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, 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, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. ~ Robert F. Kennedy

- What ideals have you defended?
- What actions have you done to improve the lives of others?
- Where have you seen ripples building into a current of hope and action?

#683 With glittering eyes

Never mind about 1066 William the Conqueror, 1087 William the Second. Such things are not going to affect one's life ... but 1932 the Mars Bar and 1936 Maltesers and 1937 the Kit Kat - these dates are milestones in history and should be seared into the memory of every child in the country. ~Roald Dahl

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. ~ Roald Dahl

- How much glitter resides in your eyes?
- How many great little secrets of life have you discovered?
- Where lies the magic in our every day experiences?

#682 The true meaning of life

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. ~Nelson Henderson

Just living is not enough... One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. ~Hans Christian Anderson

- What 'trees' have you planted which will enrich people around you?
- What are the important ideals and values which provide inspiration?
- What light and hope can you emanate?

#681 Ready to welcome

The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. ~ Eden Phillpotts

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience. ~Emily Dickinson

- How receptive are you to serendipitous experiences?
- When did the last ecstatic experience take place?
- What can you do to cultivate them more frequently?

#680 Finding success

A successful individual typically sets his next goal somewhat but not too much above his last achievement. In this way he steadily raises his level of aspiration. ~ Kurt Lewin

- How goal orientated are you?
- What achievements have you enjoyed?
- How sequential have been your successes?

#679 Be thyself

Resolve to be thyself: and know, that he who finds himself, loses his misery. ~ Matthew Arnold

- How much are you true to yourself?
- To what extent has an understanding of self helped to alleviate difficulties?

#678 Neither fear nor wish

Enjoy the present hour,
Be thankful for the past,
And neither fear nor wish
Th' approaches of the last. ~ Abraham Cowley

- How much did you enjoy the hours of your day?
- How thankful are you for your past?
- How composed are you for your eventual departure?

#677 Time stays, we go

Time goes, you say? Ah no! Alas, Time stays, we go. ~ Henry Austin Dobson

- How often do you think about your mortality?
- What is your attitude about the approaching inevitability?
- What's your philosophy about time?

Enjoy the present hour,
Be thankful for the past,
And neither fear nor wish
Th' approaches of the last. ~ Abraham Cowley

#676 Continued cheerfulness

The world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps his cool. ~ William McFee

The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness. ~ Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

- How often do you not keep your cool?
- What brings you back to composure?
- How can you keep your positive outlook?

#675 Ships that pass in the night

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing;
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice; then darkness again and a silence. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

- How accurate is Longfellow's description of human interaction?
- There seems to be a tone of melancholy in the poem. How can you provide a little more light within several of your relationships?

#674 The world as brotherhood

Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. (A person is a person because of other people.) ~African Proverb

The world has narrowed to a neighborhood before it has broadened to a brotherhood. ~ Lyndon B. Johnson

- What valued relationships do you appreciate in your life?
- To what extent have you nurtured them?
- What small steps can you take to cultivate a wider brotherhood?

#673 A genuine individualist

As a rule, I always look for what others ignore. ~ Marshall McLuhan

To be a genuine individualist requires a great deal of strength and courage. It is never easy to chart new territory, to cross new frontiers, or to introduce subtle shadings to an established color. ~Toller Cranston

- How much do you value your individuality?
- How much strength and courage?
- How do you balance your individualistic perspective with other important considerations?

#672 Without drawing attention

A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself. ~ David Ogilvy

- How much do you enjoy decoding advertising?
- What are several effective ads you have seen?
- What makes them so effective?

#671 Marginalize your weaknesses

Sometimes it is more important to discover what one cannot do, than what one can do. ~ Lin Yutang

- I can do anything....(not). What can you do well?
- To be honest with yourself, what do you find difficult and challenging?
- How can you nurture your strengths and marginalize your weaknesses?

#670 A thin line

There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt. ~ Erma Bombeck

- Pain, tragedy, hurt...when have you experienced the sorrow?
- When, eventually, did you experience some release?
- How, like a seed germinating, did you experience some renewed affirmation of life?

#669 Having no advantage

It is the greatest of advantages to enjoy no advantage at all. ~ Henry David Thoreau

- When have you enjoyed advantage?
- When have you struggled without it?
- In what circumstance might you apply Thoreau's wisdom?

#668 Yes, to life

I imagine that yes is the only living thing. ~ e. e. cummings

- How much negativity tries to creep into your life?
- What are the affirmations you can make about life?
- What positive action can affirm your yes?

#667 Exercise your art

Let each man exercise the art he knows. ~ Aristophanes

- What are several of your strengths?
- How have you harnessed them?
- Where lies an area for future growth?