Quote of the Day 1/7/14

“I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”    [Maya Angelou]

Quote of the day: 1/20/11

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes."     [Charles Swindoll]

"The feeling is mutual"

Yesterday I posted the following quote on my facebook:


"Never allow someone to become your priority while allowing yourself to be their option."


     Throughout the course of the day, I had numerous people tell me that the following quote reflected their lives. Teens and adults alike shared their feelings and poured out their hearts to me. Someone had become the center of their focus, while to the other, they were simply lingering in the shadows. As the day continued, I went back and forth with this idea that at some point or another, each of us has let an individual become way too important. How we would feel during a given day had became a direct correlation of how much (or how little) that other person had responded and/or reacted to us.
   Each of us can agree that usually we end up brokenhearted, discouraged and unhappy. So why is it that we build these emotional bonds to people? Even those people who only break us down?  Eleanor Roosevelt once said "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent." Whether or not we want to admit it, we allow people to pain us. We let them sink into our brain and heart and suddenly everything is blurry.
     I'm not saying that we should not allow people into our lives, because we most definitely should. We as humans were made for friendship and relationship and feelings. But I am saying that if we were all completely honest with ourselves we would step back and see that at various points in our lives, we had put too much effort into someone that did not deserve it. Anne Frank, in her diary, made the bold statement of "Despite everything, I still believe people are good at heart." I would have to dispute that statement. I consider myself optimistic but also realistic. The truth of the matter is that people were, are and will be corrupt and unfortunately we will all spend the rest of our lives, weeding through the good and the bad. We will all get hurt at one time or another but we will also heal, learn and move on.
     Sometimes an attachment to someone is inevitable, it happens and you have no idea why. I challenge those in this situation to not let someone else get the best of you. I am a firm believer in that 10% is what happens to you and 90% is what you do about it. It all starts in the mind and it can end if we set our minds on other things. Its hard to forget about people and its harder to let go. Yet, no one deserves to live in a foggy, disconnected world. We need to live in this world with a clear mind, making our own independent choices knowing that the people who deserve our focus will never demand it.