Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. --Og Mandino
Life Unlived
“The amount of death terror experienced is closely related to the amount of life unlived.” — Irvin D. Yalom
Largest Burden
The purpose of life is finding the largest burden that you can bear and bearing it. ― Jordan B. Peterson
The Life We Have Planned
“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” --E.M. Forster
Courage
“Courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway.” --John Wayne
I've Failed
“I’ve failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” --Michael Jordan
Learning to Trust
“Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks.” --Isaac Watts
Strong Soul
Permanence, perseverance, and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: it is this that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. --Thomas Carlyle
Suffering and Meaning
“In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.” ― Viktor E. Frankl
Nothing Will Work
“Nothing will work unless you do.” --Maya Angelou
Be Brave
“Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.” --Paulo Coelho
Suffering, Imagination, and Reality
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” — Seneca
Light and Darkness
“The light that you discover in your life is proportionate to the amount of the darkness you are willing to forthrightly confront.” ― Jordan B. Peterson
Build Me a Son
“Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.
“Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee - and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.
“Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.
“Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
“And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the weakness of true strength.
“Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.’” —General Douglas MacArthur, a prayer for his son
Radiance
I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. —Psalm 34:4-7
5 Behaviors Guaranteed to Increase Happiness: #3 of 5
“View yourself as actively capable of making changes in your life, rather than as a passive, helpless victim. Make use of your own agency. Take responsibility for being the architect of much of your own misery, and choose to build success instead.” —Dr. Stephen Marmer; December 9, 2022; The Dennis Prager Show
Breaking Strong
The world breaks everyone, and, afterward, some are strong at the broken places. --Ernest Hemingway
Success, Failure, Courage
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. --Winston Churchill
Prosperity
Prosperity tries the fortunate, adversity the great. —Rose Kennedy
Stop Signs
“Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines.” —Robert H. Schuller