Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take many small steps. - Helmut Schmidt A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words. - Unknown You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation. - Bette Davis Beauty is only skin deep, ugly goes to the bone. - Unknown Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. Dale Carnegie If you can’t laugh at yourself, you might be missing the joke of the century. - Anonymous Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself. - OG MANDINO Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. - T.S. Eliot Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. - Mark Twain Our five senses are incomplete without the sixth - a sense of humor. - Unknown Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. - Thomas Jefferson Imagination was given to man to compensate for what he is not, and a sense of humor to console him for what he is. - Anonymous Every human being is the author of his own health or disease. - SIVANANDA The brain is like a parachute - it works best open. - Unknown Use what talent you possess - the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. - Henry Van Dyke A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. - Hugh Downs The man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears. - Michel De Montaigne If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves. - Thomas Edison Happiness… is not a destination: it is a manner of traveling. Happiness is not an end in itself. It is a by-product of working, playing, loving and living. - Unknown Never fear shadows. They simply mean there’s a light shining somewhere nearby. - Unknown Real success can only be achieved through repeated failure and introspection. In fact, success represents 1% of your work that results from the 99% that is called failure. - SOICHIRO HONDA Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. - Harold Whitman One should eat to live, not live to eat. - Franklin Kiss often. Lips never wear out! - Unknown If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. - MILTON BERLE You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. - Plato The rock that is an obstacle in the path of one person becomes a stepping-stone in the path of another. - Unknown Tell the truth. There’s less to remember. - Unknown When it comes to doing things for others, some people stop at nothing. - Anonymous What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself. - Abraham Maslow Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. - Truman Capote We cannot change anything until we accept it. - Carl Jung The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results. - Napoleon Hill There’s always room for improvement. It’s the biggest room in the house! - Anonymous Destiny is not a matter of chance; but a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for. It is a thing to be achieved. - William Jennings Bryant Many marriages would be better if the husband and wife clearly understood that they’re on the same side. A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner. - English proverb A healthy body is a guest-chamber for the soul; a sick body is a prison. - Francis Bacon Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it. - Mark Twain Happiness is not in having or being - it is in doing. - Lillian Watson The people who get on in this world are the ones who get up and look for the circumstances they want and, if they can’t find them, make them. - George Bernard Shaw Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. - Muriel Strode Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle. And the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Buddha I’ve never seen a monument erected to a pessimist. - Paul Harvey The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands in time of challenge and controversy. - Martin Luther King Jr. Happiness is when your mind is thinking through your heart. - Judi Singleton Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation…even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. - LEONARDO DA VINCI Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get. - Ray Kroc, McDonald’s founder People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing - that’s why we recommend it daily. - ZIG ZIGLAR Knowledge is the food of the soul. - Plato Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. - Dr. Seuss The secret is to become wise before you get old! - Unknown Undertake something that is difficult; it will do you good. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. - Ronald E. Osborn Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. - Foster C. McClellan The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become. - CHARLES DU BOS Happiness is something you get as a by-product in the process of making something else. - ALDOUS HUXLEY Defeat is simply a signal to press onward. - Helen Keller It is no disgrace to start all over. It is usually an opportunity. - George Matthew Adams I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. Rita Rudner The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in not giving up. - TOMMY LASORDA Whoever is happy will make others happy, too. - Mark Twain Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. - Robert F. Kennedy Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life, I find. - John F. Kennedy The reason Angels can fly is because they take themselves so lightly. - Unknown Among the blind, the one eyed is king. - Anonymous The best motivation is self-motivation. The guy says, I wish someone would come by and turn me on. What if they don’t show up? You’ve got to have a better plan for your life than that. - JIM ROHN Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. - Theodore Roosevelt You’ve got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing. - Arthur Ashe Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. - Katherine Hepburn Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them. - Colton Who said it could not be done? And tell me what great victories does he have to his credit which qualifies him to judge what can and can’t be accomplished. - Napoleon Hill Don’t fight a battle if you don’t gain anything by winning. - George S. Patton Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it. - Margaret Thatcher Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. - Winston Churchill A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties. - Harry Truman Look at your past. Your past has determined where you are at this moment. What you do today will determine where you are tomorrow. Are you moving forward or standing still? - Tom Hopkins Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. - Unknown Everyone has his burden. What counts is how you carry it. - Merle Miller The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were. - John F. Kennedy Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical. - Sophia Loren Wherever we look upon this earth, opportunities take shape within the problems. - Nelson Rockefeller Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down. - Oprah Winfrey Tell me who admires you and loves you, and I will tell you who you are. - CHARLES AUGUSTIN SAINTE-BEUVE Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief she is beautiful. - Sophia Loren Hard work often leads to success. No work seldom does. - Harvey Mackay We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers We understand why children are afraid of the darkness, but why are men afraid of the light? - Plato To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to. - KHALIL GIBRAN Life is a journey, not a destination. - Unknown Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. - Thomas Edison There will be a time when loud-mouthed, incompetent people seem to be getting the best of you. When that happens, you only have to be patient and wait for them to self-destruct. It never fails. - RICHARD RYBOLT Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. - Muhammad Ali Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every Morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle - when the sun comes up, you’d better be running. - Unknown Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it. - Henry Ford Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Apple Computers We will either find a way or make one. - Hannibal Believe in who you are, believe in what you feel, your power will come from that. - Melissa Etheridge You aren’t wealthy until you have something money can’t buy. - Garth Brooks The secret to success is to start from scratch and keep on scratching. - Dennis Green Honor isn’t about making the right choices. It’s about dealing with the consequences. - Midori Koto We cannot truly face life until we face the fact that it will be taken away from us. - Billy Graham Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated. - Lou Holtz To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. - Donald Laird If you judge people, you have no time to love them. - Mother Teresa Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. - Norman Vincent Peale It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get back up. - Vince Lombardi What does not kill me makes me stronger. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Don’t let the learning from your own experiences take too long. If you have been doing it wrong for the last ten years, I would suggest that’s long enough. - JIM ROHN Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have. - Louis E. Boone Failure is an opinion. It is either an educational tool for starting over or an excuse breeding tool for saying it’s over. - Doug Firebaugh A beautiful young woman is an accident of nature, but a beautiful old woman is a work of art! - Unknown The bigger a man’s head gets, the easier it is to fill his shoes. - Anonymous True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. - Helen Keller The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. - BLAISE PASCALL Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. - Jim Ryan A life without cause is a life without effect. - BARBARELLA A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm. - HENRIK IBSEN Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out. - James Bryant Conant The secret of success is consistency of purpose. - Benjamin Disraeli When you know what you want, and you want it badly enough, you’ll find a way to get it. - JIM ROHN What we see depends mainly on what we look for. - Sir John Lubbock People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within. - Romano L. Anderson Yes, risk-taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking. - Tim McMahon No one knows what he can do until he tries. - PUBLILIUS SYRUS There are always flowers for those who want to see them. - Henri Matisse Patience and perseverance have a magical affect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. - John Quincy Adams Always do what you are afraid to do. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Who dares, wins. - Anonymous Seek first to understand, then to be understood. - Stephen Covey Losers visualize the penalties of failure and winners visualize the rewards of success. - Rod Gilbert The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it. - Moliere If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. - Henry David Thoreau I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big. - Donald Trump We are each of us angels, with only one wing. We can only fly by embracing each other. - LUCIANO DE CRESCENZO Speak when you’re angry, and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret. - Robin Sharma The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing that you will make one. - Ellen Hubbard We must become the change we want to see. - Mahatma Gandhi It’s kind of fun to do the impossible. - Walt Disney It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies. - ARTHUR CALWELL Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds. - Buddha Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. - James Baldwin The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. - Arthur C. Clarke Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. - Mark Twain One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do. - Henry Ford Don’t be afraid to give up the good for the great. - Kenny Rogers Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear but around in awareness. - James Thurber Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. - Michael Jordan You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try. - Beverly Sills We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails. - Anonymous Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. - LEO BUSCAGLIA Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out. - ART LINKLETTER Wherever you go, go with all your heart. - Confucius You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. - Les Brown A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. - Sir Winston Churchill All things are difficult before they are easy. - Thomas Fuller Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford I’ve got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end. - Larry Bird Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. - Les Brown Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them. - ORISON SWETT MARDEN Diligence is the mother of good luck. - Benjamin Franklin Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. - Harriet Beecher-Stowe Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility. - DIETRICH BONHOEFFER Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there. - Josh Billings Argue for your limitations and sure enough they’re yours. - Richard Bach If you really want something you can figure out how to make it happen. - Cher There are two ways of spreading light - to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. - Edith Wharton Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree. - Marion Wright Edelman Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower. - SHIGENORI KAMEOKA Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble. - FRANK TYGER And life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be. - Grandma Moses Fear less, hope more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Hate less, love more; And all good things are yours. - Anonymous Imagination is the highest kite one can fly. - LAUREN BACALL If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin. - Ivan Turgenev The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it. - General H. Norman Schwarzkopf There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth. - Leo Tolstoy People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. - Unknown People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be. - Abraham Lincoln Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words? - Marcel Marceau One is taught by experience to put a premium on those few people who can appreciate you for what you are. Gail Godwin When you follow your bliss…doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else. - Joseph Campbell Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer. - Ed Cunningham When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly. - Barbara J. Winter People with goals succeed because they know where they are going. - Earl Nightingale The harder you fall, the higher you bounce. - Anonymous How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone. - Coco Chanel Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies Opportunity. Albert Einstein It is never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely. - Anonymous You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses. - Unknown Our greatest blessings often appear to us in the shapes of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience, and we soon shall see them in their proper figures. - Joseph Addison Vision is the art of seeing things invisible. - Jonathan Swift Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments. - Rose Kennedy You have to find it. No one else can find it for you. - Bjorn Borg Think it more satisfactory to live richly than die rich. - Sir Thomas Browne A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do. - Bob Dylan People only see what they are prepared to see. - Ralph Waldo Emerson One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. - Helen Keller Even from a dark night songs of beauty can be born. - Unknown Little things affect little minds. - Benjamin Disraeli If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded. - Maya Angelou I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. - Confucius Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door. - Emily Dickinson Knowledge without action is useless. - Edgar Cayce It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters. - EVANDER HOLYFIELD Some people carry their heart in their head and some carry their head in their heart. The trick is to keep them apart yet working together. - David Hare If you don’t do what’s best for your body, you’re the one who comes up on the short end. - Julius Erving Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. - Oscar Wilde The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. - Victor Hugo Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that. - MICHAEL LEUNIG Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear. - John Lennon Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded. - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe I have never yet met a healthy person who worried very much about his health, or a really good person who worried much about his own soul. - John B. S. Haldane It is with true love as it is with ghosts; everyone talks about it, but few have seen it. - FRANCOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it. - John Lennon Within your heart, keep one still, secret spot where dreams may go. - Louise Driscoll The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers. - Deepak Chopra You cannot kindle a fire in any other heart until it is burning in your own. - Source Unknown Joy is not in things; it is in us. - John Wagner There is no happiness for people at the expense of other people. - ANWAR EL-SADAT The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy; I mean that if you are happy you will be good. - Bertrand Russell Since the things we do determine the character of life, no blessed person can become unhappy. For he will never do those things which are hateful and petty. - Aristotle See to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you. - James Freeman Clarke Love makes everything that is heavy light. - Unknown Darkness can not drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. - Martin Luther King Jr. When one door to happiness closes, another opens. But often we look so long at the closed door we do not see the one which has been opened to us. - Helen Keller The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. - Benjamin Franklin There never was any heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender and compassionate. - Robert Frost If you want happiness for an hour - take a nap. If you want happiness for a day - go fishing. If you want happiness for a month - get married. If you want happiness for a year - inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime - help someone else. - Chinese Proverb To become a thoroughly good man is the best prescription for keeping a sound mind and a sound body. - Francis Bowen To insure good health: Eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life. - William London Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. - Heave What ever purifies the heart also fortifies it. - Hugh Blair Nobody really cares if you’re miserable, so you might as well be happy. - CYNTHIA NELMS The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, Instead of what you don’t have. - Woody Allen To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another. - Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. - Franklin P. Jones Whether life is worth living depends on whether there is love in life. - R. D. Laing Love doesn’t sit there like a stone, it has to be made, like bread: remade all the time, made new. - OG MANDINO A good heart is better than all the heads in the world. - Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton A bodily disease which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part. - Nathaniel Hawthorne The healthy, the strong individual, is the one who asks for help when he needs it. Whether he has an abscess on his knee or in his soul. - Rona Barrett You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 today and we don’t know where the hell she is. - ELLEN DEGENERES You can set yourself up to be sick, or you can choose to stay well. - Wayne Dyer Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. - Buddha Money is the most envied, but the least enjoyed. Health is the most enjoyed, but the least envied. - Charles Caleb Colton The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. - Helen Keller Champions know there are no shortcuts to the top. They climb the mountain one step at a time, they have no use for helicopters! - Judi Adler If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do. - Lucille Ball It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get. - MORARJI DESAI The struggle alone pleases us, not the victory. - BLAISE PASCAL There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering. - Theodore Roosevelt You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give. - Eleanor Roosevelt You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be. - DAVID VISCOTT It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. - Claude M. Bristol Every great achievement is the victory of a flaming heart. - Ralph Waldo Emerson To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. - Ralph Waldo Emerson The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses. Napoleon Hill One must marry one’s feelings to one’s beliefs and ideas. That is probably the only way to achieve a measure of harmony in one’s life. - ETTY HILSUM I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest. - Muhammad Ali Any thought that is passed on to the subconscious often enough and convincingly enough is finally accepted. - Robert Collier Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you. - Arnold Palmer If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. - Proverb You will be a failure, until you impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success. This is done by making an affirmation which “clicks”. - FLORENCE SCOVEL SHINN It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top. - Arnold Bennett Begin somewhere. You cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do. - Henry Ford A man’s dreams are an index to his greatness. - ZADOK RABINWITZ To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. - Donald Laird Either do not attempt at all, or go through with it. - Ovid As for courage and will - we cannot measure how much of each lies within us, we can only trust there will be sufficient to carry through trials which may lie ahead. - Andre Norton I wasn’t afraid to fail. Something good always comes out of failure. - Anne Baxter Don’t go through life, grow through life. - Eric Butterworth Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. - Mahatma Gandhi Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work. - H. L. Hunt Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true. - Ralph Waldo Emerson If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down. - Mary Pickford Never let the fear of striking out get in your way. - George Herman “Babe” Ruth Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. - Henry Ford I used to say, “I sure hope things will change.” Then I learned that the only way things are going to change for me is when I change. - JIM ROHN Nothing is difficult to those who have the will. - Dutch Poet’s Society As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might. - Marian Anderson Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. - Dale Carnegie If we don’t change the direction we are going, we are likely to end up where we are heading. - Unknown Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it. - ANTHONY J. D’ANGELO When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: “You haven’t!” - Thomas Edison You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. - LEWIS B. SMEDES The word impossible is not in my dictionary. - Napoleon Bonaparte Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison Man must search for what is right; and let happiness come on its own. - Johann Pestalozzi You can’t have everything, where would you put it? - Steven Wright We love in another’s soul whatever of ourselves we can deposit in it; the greater the deposit, the greater the love. - Irving Layton We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same. - Anne Frank A closed mind is a dying mind. - Edna Ferber Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give. - Eleanor Roosevelt We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. - Sir Winston Churchill Follow your instincts. That is where true wisdom manifests itself. - Oprah Winfrey Never part without loving words to think of during your absence. It may be that you will not meet again in this life. - Jean Paul Richter No good deed goes unpunished. - CLARE BOOTHE LUCE Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together. Vista M. Kelly Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. - Grace Hansen Service is what life is all about. - Marian Wright Edelman The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. - Harper Lee Love and respect are the most important aspects of parenting, and of all relationships. - Jodie Foster Learn to listen. Opportunity could be knocking at your door very softly. - FRANK TYGER Take heed: you do not find what you do not seek. - English Proverb What we do today, right now, will have an accumulated effect on all our tomorrows. - Alexandra Stoddard There is a transcendent power in example. We reform others unconsciously when we walk uprightly. - ANNE-SOPHIE SWETCHINE Every man who is high up loves to think that he has done it all himself: and the wife smiles, and lets it go at that. - Sir James M. Barrie It’s no use saying, “We are doing our best.” You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary. - Sir Winston Churchill If your efforts are sometimes greeted with indifference, don’t lose heart. The sun puts on a wonderful show at daybreak, yet most of the people in the audience go on sleeping. - ADA TEIXEIRA The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting in above average effort. - Colin Powell Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting. - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. - Vincent Van Gough Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration. - D. H. Lawrence Love the moment and the energy of the moment will spread beyond all boundaries. - SISTER CORITA KENT I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. - Martin Luther King Jr. Love is as much of an object as an obsession, everybody wants it, everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it, those who do will cherish it, be lost in it, and among all, never …. never forget it. - CURTIS JUDALET There is no disguise that can for long conceal love where it exists or simulate it where it does not. - RRANCOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD Do all things with love. - OG MANDINO Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happiness would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. - Carl Jung Love gives itself; it is not bought. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Go to the truth beyond the mind. Love is the bridge. - Stephen Levine An act of love that fails is just as much a part of the divine life as an act of love that succeeds, for love is measured by fullness, not by reception. - HAROLD LOKES There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. - Logan Pearsall Smith Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times. - Anonymous Happiness is the highest good, being a realization and perfect practice of virtue, which some can attain, while others have little or none of it. - Aristotle The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is. - Erasmus The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being. And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically and spiritually. - Greg Anderson I don’t eat junk food and I don’t think junk thoughts. - Peace Pilgrim All God wants of man is a peaceful heart. - Meister Eckhart Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts. - Albert Einstein People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to. - George Allen Nothing great has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances. - Bruce Barton So what do we do? Anything, something, so long as we just don’t sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we’ve satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late. - Lee Iacocca At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you. - Goethe There would be nothing to fear if you chose not to be afraid. - Unknown She soars on her own wings. - Socrates The first and best victory is to conquer oneself. - DEWEY SIM Give it all you’ve got because you never know if there’s going to be a next time. - DANIELLE INGRUM Desire nothing for yourself, which you do not desire for others. - Spinoza You can if you think you can. - George Reeves Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can. - John Wesley You don’t just stumble into the future. You create your own future. - Roger Smith Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there’s love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong. - Ella Fitzgerald Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions. - Earl Gray Stevens Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. - ALDOUS HUXLEY Always hold your head up, but be careful to keep your nose at a friendly level. - Max L. Forman Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. - VICTOR BORGE Don’t spool yourself….unwind. - Val Snead Never think you can’t achieve. After all, it only took one acorn. - Bobby MacKinnon Integrity is shown when no one is looking. - Anonymous Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. - C. Archie Danielson Patience is the companion of wisdom. - Augustine One who makes no mistakes never makes anything. - Anonymous Never give up on anybody. - Hubert H. Humphrey Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents. - John F. Kennedy For myself, I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else. - Sir Winston Churchill Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The ’sure thing’ boat never gets far from shore. - Dale Carnegie It is never too late to be what you might have been. - George Elliot There are only two options regarding commitment; you’re either in or you’re out. There’s no such thing as life in-between. - Pat Riley The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move. - John Wooden There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failures. - Colin Powell You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now. - Joan Baez Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. - Dr. David Schwartz Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. - Aristotle Happiness is contagious…when you reflect happiness, then all others around you catch the happy bug and
THE CONNECTION Mind, Body & Soul De-Stress Your Life De-Stress at Work The Magic of Massage Relaxation Techniques "Don't Worry, be Happy!" Enjoy Life! Fit, Sexy, & Happy at any Age
FIT AND HEALTHY KIDS Start Early Promoting Physical Activity Establishing Healthy Eating Habits Fun and Healthy Recipes JUST FOR KIDS Be Active! Eat Right! Feel Good!
FIT SENIORS Seniors & Physical Activity Exercise Routine for Seniors
E-Mail This Page to a Friend
Book Excerpt
The following are two excerpts from my new book
'Secrets of a Massage Therapist'
Lean back, relax...and enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter One Marcus
"Now that's a massage." I smiled, despite my throbbing wrist. "You better appreciate it. My carpal tunnel is acting up." "Sorry about that." Craig said sorry a lot. He glanced up at me. "Why don't you hop up here and give your wrist a break?" "I don't know; it's an old table. It might not hold both of us." "Let's find out." He playfully stroked my inner thigh. "Come on, Angie. Don't be a chicken." I hesitated, but then climbed gingerly onto the narrow table, and on top of him. I was dressed in only bra and panties, and I felt him push my panties to the side ever so slightly, ready to complete what we had started. Suddenly the table quivered, and my adrenalin surged. I looked down at Craig. "Uh oh..." That's as far as I got before the table collapsed. For a second I was airborne, and then crashed onto the floor, Craig and what used to be my massage table in a heap beneath me. He laughed hysterically. "A massage with a bang. You should put that on your flyers." I was upset. "Damn. Now I have to buy a new table." I added absently, "Hope you're not hurt." Oblivious to my concern he pulled at my bra, but I pushed his hand away. "Let's leave it for another time." "Babe, it's just a table." That was the moment, right there, when I decided that getting involved with Craig, who started out as a client and then became my lover, would be my first and last such adventure. The very next day I purchased a new massage table and established a rule: Never get romantically involved with a client. That was seven years ago, and the rule had stood the test of time. Back in the present I pondered how I was such a different person now than when I had first started out as a professional massage therapist. Daydreaming about that long- ago incident passed the time while I filled my tank with gas. "It's usually not my style to chat up women who are pumping flammables, but if I don't give you my card, I know I'll regret it later." The voice startled me, and I almost dropped the nozzle, my heart pounding. I hadn't noticed anybody when I pulled in, but one minute I was pumping gas--and daydreaming--the next... "So here--give me a call. I'd love to take you out to dinner." I turned and looked into a pair of inquisitive, sparkling eyes. The deep voice and crisp, white business card had just... appeared. "Oh. Well...I may just do that," is what I said. What are you thinking is what my mind screamed. "All right, then. I look forward to it." He turned and walked to his car--a black Mercedes-- and drove off, a last reassuring look tossed in my direction. I absently watched as he pulled up behind a convoy of three stretch limos crawling past the gas station. Their appearance was unusual for this sleepy part of town, and I watched as they slowed to a graceful halt at the stop light. I wonder where they're going? They turned left at the light, maybe on the way to something exciting in the nearby metro area. I loved the charming, small-town character of my mid-sized city, and I smiled. The Mercedes pulled out and disappeared past the limos, and then the clicking of the nozzle brought me back to the present. Why in the world had I told him I might call? Here I was, a single and perfectly happy self-employed massage therapist, finally taking charge of my life, without the inevitable soap opera of a relationship. I had the freedom to do the things I wanted, and I surely wanted to keep it that way. Now this! I shook my head and paid for the gas, the incident nagging. To my great surprise, it stayed on my mind all afternoon, until later when I got home. I slowly peddled my exercise bike while examining the white business card. Agonizing. Should I? I was tempted...for the first time in a long time. Thinking back to the encounter it suddenly dawned on me that besides his sparkling eyes and deep voice--and the hat he was wearing--I couldn't remember much of anything else about him. Racking my brain for more detail, I was suddenly overcome by a hot flash, and my heart raced. There was something about that guy. Unbelievable. How could such a brief encounter throw me off like this? I peddled faster. Later that evening I met my friend Cindy--a mortgage broker--at our favorite hangout, Billie's Place. Cindy always gave good advice, even if her own life hadn't turned out quite the way she had planned. She was a hostage to men-kind. After flirting a little with Jason the Bartender, I told her of my chance encounter at the gas station. "You think I should call him? I really don't want to start anything new right now." "What's your gut feeling?" "I'm really intrigued." I giggled. "Even had a hot flash." She leaned forward. "Let me look at you." She turned my face side to side, checking me. "Yep, you're wasted, girl. It took what--a whole three seconds at a gas station? If you ask me, you need to get laid--ASAP." "Cindy!" She chuckled. "Hey. Some guy just says hi, and you fall all over yourself." "It's not that bad, is it? Sure, I haven't been dating for a while--by choice. But there was just something about him." Jason appeared at our booth and caught some of our conversation. "Nothing surprises me with you two anymore." Clearly we had spent a little too much time here. Some time ago when he was distraught over a fight with his partner, Jason told us that he was gay. We considered him family. "Hey, Jason, you're dating men. It's been a while for me. Any new rules?" "No, not really--I don't think. Just don't call him right away. Wait a few days. Make him suffer a little." His far-off expression was just a bit disturbing. "I'll do that--you're the expert." "Okay, enough man-talk," said Cindy. "Let's eat." We did. And drank. And laughed. It was a good time, typical fare for me and my best bud. We didn't get too drunk, though. Just enough to feel good, not so much to be dangerous. Cindy pumped me for info about Marcus, but I could tell her very little, and we both left with more questions than answers about my mystery man. continued..... Chapter Five
???? My next client, Tom, was a fairly new addition. One of my regulars had referred him to me, and when I first saw him I was afraid my table wouldn't hold him. I had estimated him to be about 6'5" with a very muscular physique, kind of like a professional wrestler. The table held up, but that first massage was quite a workout for me, and I was completely covered in sweat afterwards. Based on that experience I now asked him to turn up the A/C a little. He eased onto the table and I prepared myself for a workout. He had earlier told me that he was a bookkeeper for a small automotive company, and as I beheld his nearly 300- pound frame, I smiled at the thought of him being a paper pusher. I went to work, and he almost immediately dozed off, and just a few minutes later I heard him snoring. Several minutes passed as I worked my magic, the only sound that of pounding skin and air flow. Suddenly I heard a noise at the door, and I looked over. It was Tom's wife, but not like I had ever seen her before. She wore the determined look of an Amazon going into battle, and she just silently stood there--her strong and muscular legs slightly spread. She said nothing, but her outfit spoke volumes. She was dressed as a dominatrix, with knee-high boots with high heels, fishnet stockings, and a black leather body garment sporting two holes--one for each of her dark red, almost purple nipples. She seemed strangely enchanted by my deer-in-the- headlights look. I stopped the massage and watched her slowly walk over to her still snoring husband. The whip she had hidden behind her back now appeared, and she used it to slap him on his back. I stepped back further. "How many times have I told you not to get a massage without my permission?" Startled, Tom jumped, and tried to turn over. "Don't you move! Not 'til I tell you." She slapped him again and he stopped fidgeting. As for me, I just stared in disbelief. "So you want to test me? You asked for it, you got it. Punishment will be swift!" With one quick move she pulled the sheet off him. "Get down, on your hands and knees, and crawl." She moved away from the table and stood waiting for him to follow her orders. He slowly lifted his head and glanced over at me in a silent cry for help. Then, this huge, lumbering man carefully got down on his hands and knees--his head hanging down like a dog who knows he has done something wrong--and slowly crawled towards his wife. I sat on a nearby armchair, unable to look away. Soon he had made it over to his wife. She slapped him again, this time on his buttocks. "I have a very special punishment for you today, just to make sure this won't happen again." She pointed to her feet with the whip. "Here--lick my shoes, and then my feet. But do it right. Don't make me tell you again." He did. He first licked her left shoe, and then the right one, before slipping the shoes off and licking both of her feet. "You missed a spot." She pointed to the top of her right foot. He followed her demand. This spectacle took several minutes. "Good boy, good boy!" Tom lifted his head with a little smile on his face at his wife's approval. He had not said a single word during all of this. "Okay, you can follow me now." She motioned for him to get up. I wondered, follow her where? The basement...? She held out her hand to me. "Here's your check. You don't mind letting yourself out, do you?" I took the check, and she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Tom followed her like a dog on a leash. It only took me a minute to pack my stuff. I backed out of the driveway and took one last look at the neat house with a fenced-in back yard, rose bushes and trees, a mailbox painted with colorful flowers, a minivan in the driveway, and a family dog. Just a typical all-American family... On the way to my next appointment--filling in at another spa--I was rewarded with more weirdness. Sitting at a red light in back of a pick-up truck, I noticed the driver checking me out in his side-view mirror. Sorry buddy--not interested. My eyes were drawn to his rear-view mirror. Some type of ornament was hanging from it. At first I couldn't tell what it was, but then it became clear that I was looking at a pair of brass balls, cojones, the family jewels, dangling where the public could appreciate them. I chuckled at the sight of these enormous testicles, and my mind started to work overtime. What was the real message here? 1. I wish I had a pair this big. 2. I'm married now. Let me show you the man I used to be. 3. I don't need no stinking gun rack. I've got these stinking balls. 4. See what you're missing? Same thing I'm missing. I wondered if there was a woman somewhere displaying a pair of fake boobs dangling from the rear-view mirror of her pick-up. She would be a perfect match for him. The truck pulled away and I followed for a few blocks before pulling into the parking lot of the spa that belonged to Missy--my friend of many years. continued..... To continue reading, please click below!
The material on this website is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and is not to be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Experts suggest to consult with a physician before starting any weight loss or exercise program. Copyright © 2007 FitwithAndrea.com All rights reserved.
Website Design by Eclipse Website Design
