It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.”
I had breakfast with a friend last Saturday and we discussed how she was investing in herself by taking a few weeks to examine what she will do for the rest of her working life. This is a truly talented individual with a wide range of skills and an impressive history of successes. I am sure her intelligence coupled with her work ethic makes her a candidate for a variety of top positions.
What I liked most was that she did not talk about what she can do but rather what would make her happy while making a positive contribution to the organization that is lucky enough to get her. What makes her special is that she has an objective understanding of who she is and how she can package her skills for the benefit of whoever employs her. I think far too often we don’t know how fortunate we are with what we have and how we can do so much for others. My friend realizes that life is not just the job we have but how our work can complement the life we lead.
Here is something I got from Angel and Marc Chernoff that I wish everyone understood.
5 Reasons Someone Wishes They Were You
We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. Don’t you think? How often do you pause to appreciate your life? How often do you stop dead in your tracks and think, “Goodness, I have it pretty darn good”?
Because even if life seems far from perfect right now, many people in this world still wish they had what you have. Here’s why:
- You are educated enough to read this. – If you’re reading this, you have something brilliant to be thankful for. It’s called an education. Believe it or not, there are roughly 774 million people in the world who don’t have this ability. That’s a significant percentage of the human population. Literacy is the bridge that closes the gap between discouragement and confidence, between confusion and understanding, and between sadness and hope. It’s the greatest platform of personal growth, and the means by which every human being can realize their full potential. Isn’t it crazy to think about how many people aren’t educated enough to make use of this basic human right?
- You are reasonably healthy. – In other words, if you got sick today you could recover. Never underestimate the gift of your health. It’s the greatest wealth you will ever own. It’s the foundation for every chance at happiness and success life has to offer. Your body is the only place you will truly ever live. If you’re lucky enough to have a body that’s in good health, be wise enough to keep it that way. Doing so is easier than most of us make it. Too often we focus on the negatives. We think about how hard it will be and all the sacrifices that must be made. But one of life’s greatest joys and one the primary benefits of good health comes from focusing on the positives of a healthy lifestyle – what we gain through living and feeling well.
- You have the freedom to choose. – If you often worry about what you’re going to do with your life – your career, your family, the next step, etc., be grateful. All details aside, this means you have ambition, passion, drive, and the freedom to make your own decisions. In the space between your yes and no, there’s liberation. It’s the difference between the path you walk and the one others want you to walk; it’s the gap between who you could become and who you want to be; it’s the legroom of free choice – a liberty that should never be taken for granted.
- You have enough wealth to live comfortably. – You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night. You awoke this morning with a roof over your head. You had a choice of what clothes to wear. You have access to clean drinking water and electricity. You are online right now. You have plenty to be comfortable. Being wealthy is a mindset. Be sure you understand this. Want less and appreciate more.
- You still have a chance. – Time is precious. Everything you know is ending. Not yet, but soon enough. What you must decide is what you want to do with the time you have left. If your lifespan were to expire this evening at the stroke of midnight, would you be at ease with how you have spent your time today? This is not a rhetorical question. Nothing is guaranteed. Someday, like many others are experiencing right this second, your time will expire. Don’t be afraid. Be alive in this moment and make the most of it. Right now is your chance.
~~~
Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain… To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices – today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.
Kevyn Aucoin
~~~
A 92 year-old man went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later the doctor saw the man walking down the street with a gorgeous young lady on his arm.
At his follow up visit the doctor talked to the man and said, “You’re really doing great, aren’t you?”
The man replied, “Just doing what you said Doctor, ‘Get a hot mamma and be cheerful’.”
The Doctor said, “I didn’t say that. I said you got a heart murmur. Be careful.”
~~~
If a synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest have to?
~~~
Two mothers were talking about a third one who had just given birth to triplets.
“You know, that only happens once in twelve-thousand times?” said the first.
“Amazing! How did she ever find time to do any housework?”
~~~
Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines.
~~~
A priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut. The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest’s breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car.
He says, “Sir, have you been drinking?”
“Just water,” says the priest. The trooper says, “Then why do I smell wine?”
The priest looks at the bottle and says, “Good Lord! He’s done it again!”
~~~
If it’s zero degrees outside today and it’s supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be?
~~~
It had been snowing for hours when an announcement came over the intercom:
“Will the students who are parked on University Drive please move their cars so that we may begin plowing.” Twenty minutes later there was another announcement: “Will the twelve hundred students who went to move 26 cars please return to class.”
~~~
“When a husband brings his wife flowers for no reason, there’s a reason.”
Molly McGee
~~~
She said:
Most men hate to shop. That’s why the men’s department is usually on the first floor of a department store, two inches from the door.
If a man prepares dinner for you and the salad contains three or more types of lettuce, he is serious.
Men own basketball teams. Every year cheerleaders’ outfits get tighter and briefer, and players’ shorts get baggier and longer.
Not one man in a beer commercial has a beer belly.
~~~
How can a woman find out what life’s like without a man around?
Get married.
~~~
Andy Rooney said:
Have you ever noticed that they put advertisements in with your bills now? Like bills aren’t distasteful enough, they have to stuff junk mail in there with them. I get back at them. I put garbage in with my check when I mail it in. Coffee grinds, banana peels … I write, “Could you throw this away for me? Thank You.”
~~~
“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
William Jennings Bryan
~~~
Stay well, do good work, and have fun.
Ray Mitchell
Indianapolis, Indiana
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