Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
Quotes on gratitude
November 25th, 2009
We may tell ourselves and everyone around us that Hey, we are positive, upbeat people who always see the world through rose-colored glasses! But in our private moments we still sometimes throw our own little Pity Parties.
My Pity Parties don’t occur when there’s really something to be upset about. No, during real crises, I’m usually too busy working the problem to have time for a Pity Party. I throw my best celebrations of misery when there’s nothing tangible to upset me. I throw them over the small things, the minor inconveniences and everyday disappointments that plague everyone.
So once a Pity Party begins, how can you turn out the lights and put yourself back into a rose-colored frame of mind? Try counting your blessings.
Finding purpose in disability
November 21st, 2009
They say what you don’t know can’t hurt you. But that didn’t quite prove true for Monty Reed.
In 1986, Reed was conducting night parachute training as a member of the U.S. Army Rangers. Suddenly one of the other jumpers glided too close, coming underneath Reed and cutting off the flow of air to his chute. The chute collapsed about 100 feet from the ground and Reed plummeted to earth.
After the impact, Reed had trouble breathing, but the worst pain was in his broken ankle. He managed to wrap some tape around it, get to his feet, and grab his gear. Rangers are taught to suck it up and keep going, and that’s what Reed did. He walked eight miles to the helicopter.
The next morning Reed couldn’t move. What he didn’t know when he made that eight-mile walk was that he hadn’t just broken his ankle. He’d also broken his back in five places. Doctors told him that walk to the helicopter was likely the last walk he’d ever make.
Quotes on finding the funny thing
November 11th, 2009
When my nephew was a year old, my mom and I kept him while my brother and sister-in-law attended a wedding in another state. One night he got upset about having to go to bed at his usual bedtime and decided to hold his temper until around midnight when he suddenly started screaming loudly enough to wake the hounds of hell.
My mother was in the room next to his and frantically tried to quiet him. But he was red-faced, furious, and having none of it. So she brought the squalling little cuss to me.
Can you take criticism?
November 9th, 2009
When I was studying journalism in college, I had one instructor whose opinion mattered more to me than anyone else’s. He was a tremendously talented writing coach with a wry sense of humor—and he didn’t pull his punches.
Occasionally we’d wander to the restaurant across the street from the journalism department and grab a corner table. He’d light a cigarette, lean back, and start critiquing my articles. When he came across a passage that didn’t work, he’d read it aloud … and laugh at my goofy sentence construction. I’d grimace and writhe in my chair, and he’d laugh even harder because he knew I was fighting the urge to throw my drink at him. One day I asked, “Do you laugh like that at all your students?” “No,” he said, “only the ones that can take it.” Taking it wasn’t always easy. But the lessons stuck, and they made me a better writer.
How a disaster inspired a legend
October 31st, 2009
Prod your muse
October 22nd, 2009
On the bulletin board beside my desk is a sign that reads “The ultimate inspiration is the deadline,” a quote attributed to Nolan Bushnell
TAGS: brainstorm, creative, creativity, deadline, ideas, inspiration, motivation, Self-Improvement | 
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