Ignore Your Limits

"Know your limits, then ignore them" ~John Mason

Sometimes it is good to not know how far you can go. Then you will surprise yourself by how far you can go. Lets say that you are invited to run a marathon. You say yes knowing you have never run that kind of distance before. You get on the starting line and start running when you hear the signal. You will be pleasantly surprised how far you can run without stopping. Then you will be surprised that you are able to walk the rest without stopping. Then you will be able to tell everyone that you have completed a marathon. It may take you 6-8 hours to complete the marathon but that is OK. You did it, and that is all that matters.

Now that you have an idea of what it is like to run a marathon, you know what your limits are. You will know what it takes to get yourself to the next level. Now all you have to do is train yourself to get past those limits. You start running everyday. You start to rat better, making sure you eat things that will give your muscles the nutrients they need to take the punishment you intend to put on them.

Instead of waiting for someone to invite you to run that next marathon, you start searching for the next one you want to run. You make plans to be at that marathon, and you set goals to get you to the point to run that race. When the day comes you start running, and are amazed when you pass the 5 mile mark without feeling too much strain. You keep running till you can't run anymore. Then you walk the rest of the way. When you finish, you find you have shaved off two hours off you last marathon. Now you know what your new limits are and you can plan for the next one.

Love, Strength & Courage

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. ~ Lao Tzu

I don't know why I like this quote. There is something truthful about the words. I wonder if it is the same for men as it is for women. I know when I think about it, women tend to give men their strength. If it wasn't for women, I don't think men would ever do anything. I think they would sit around and do as little as possible. When women (or anyone you might care for) comes into the picture, then men want to do things for her. The man wants to give her everything he possibly can. It takes courage to do that.

When that same person loves you back, that just makes you want to do more. It becomes a cycle. She loves you. That gives you the courage to do the things that will make you successful. Loving her in return makes you strong enough to continue to do the things that make him and her successful. The cycle continues as long as they continue to love each other.

So here is what I suggest that you do. Take the time to find someone who you can love. Allow that love to give you the strength you need to build your life. When she loves you back, that will give you the courage to continue to do the things you need to do to continue to grow your life together. It will take that courage to have kids and to be the parents you want to be.

Strength, Courage and Love. Those are a fantastic combination.

Make Yourself Happy

"Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response." ~ Mildred Barthel

Have you ever thought about this? You may laugh at a joke, you may find things around you, but you choose to laugh. You have a choice to laugh. You may think that you don't, but if you put your mind to it, you can force yourself to keep a strait face instead of laughing.

The exact opposite is true as well. While you are sitting there in your seat in front of your computer or your smartphone or even your tablet reader, just start laughing. You can laugh for no reason. When you start laughing, you will find that funny and that will make you laugh. Try it. I Dare You. The laughing will make you feel good. There is something in your body, a hormone or something that is released when you laugh that makes you happy. So just laugh. Laugh when you are in your car and you just had a rough drive to work. If you laugh yourself into a good mood before you walk into the building, you will have a better day than if you walked in with the sourness from the guy who cut you off.

If you think you are a naturally pessimistic person, I am here to tell you, that is a choice you have made. Change that choice. Whenever you catch yourself being pessimistic, change your thinking. If you need to, start laughing. The people around you will wonder what happened to you.

Look For Stars, Not Mud

Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud and one the stars. ~ Frederick Langbridge

This could be said in so many ways. You hand someone a glass with a bit of water in it. One person sees the glass as half empty. The other sees the glass as half full. We have all heard that one. I don't know who said it, but it is a good way to see the nature of a person.

Take a look at yourself first. How do you look at things? Do you think about what is happening to you? Are you seeing all the things people are doing to hurt you? Are you thing about all the negatives in you life? From my experience, thinking about the bad things in life just brings on more things that are bad.

What you want to do is try to turn your thinking around; take a complete 180 turn and start thinking about what is good in your life, or better yet, make the negative things in your life a positive. If your car had a flat tire, take a moment to breathe and realize that the universe is just trying to slow you down. If you move too fast, you might not be able to stop when you see the brick wall.

Look for the positive things in life so you can attract more positive things. Change your way of thinking. Happiness is a choice. You can choose to feel happy. It is easy. Just think to yourself, I refuse to feel negative and I think I am going to feel happy. Want to concrete that feeling. Then start laughing. Start laughing for no reason. Just laugh. You will find it makes you feel better. You will also find that people around you will wonder why you are laughing.

Want another way to feel good. Take a deep breath. Hold it.... Then let it out slowly. It feels good.