As we are now, so
shall we be. This was a phrase that our College Bible School Principal
often reminded us. It was usually when we thought sleeping in was a better option than going to breakfast and the first class of the day. Or when we would play practical jokes, such as turning all of the milk in the school's massive refrigerator different colors with food coloring. Or when we procrastinated on getting a paper in.
As we are now, so
shall we be. Well, I am still pretty playful and have certainly done
my share of practical jokes. I still procrastinate. I still set my
alarm dutifully for 5:30 am and....don't....get.....up. Just one more
snooze, I think, I'll start getting up tomorrow. I'll really do this
thing tomorrow.
And then I realize that tomorrow is just a BUNCH of "today beads" strung together on the necklace of life. Yep. Came up with that one all by myself. =)
Look I will level with you. Pursuing
optimal health is NOT easy. But it IS simple. It is taking your
"today bead" and making it count. If you repeated TODAY for the next 3
or 4 months, would you be CLOSER to your goal of optimal health or
FARTHER FROM it?
Seriously? Make
an honest assessment as you read this blog. What are you already
planning on doing this afternoon or this evening that in your mind you may be justifying as "the last time" when you know full well that tomorrow never comes?
I don't know what world the REST of the population lives in, but in MY world there are ONLY a BUNCH of "todays". Tomorrow never EVER comes, do you notice that?
So what can you do TODAY so that ONE DAY you are "At your goal today?" Because no matter if you have 5 pounds to lose or 500, if you remain on the Medifast 5&1 Plan as written in the Quick Start Guide with the Condiments/Healthy Fat expanded list, you WILL be at goal today. Someday.
But if not? If you are winging it, or deciding that you aren't worth showing up for today in your own life, if that Sprinkles
Cupcake*TM or Starbucks*TM CakePop is truly more important to you than
your health, then your necklace of life may turn out to be even a bigger disappointment to you than you can imagine.
I know mine was. Having lost and gained 140 pounds my necklace of life was looking like it was broken. Every
bead was in disrepair. Every bead was cracked. And so, with
painstaking care, I got the support I needed, I adopted the Habits of
Health incrementally over time, and repeating them every day I slowly
took one cracked broken bead off one end of the necklace and strung one beautiful shiny brilliant bead of hope on the other end. Every day. One day at a time. Allowing for the passage of time, and making good decisions TODAY ONLY.
Soon enough my necklace was no longer a big disappointment to me. Soon enough I realized that TODAY MATTERS.
Today
matters. YOU matter. And that little voice that may be screaming at
you that one little bite won't matter is lying to you. EVERYTHING
matters. This is YOUR life. And as you are NOW, so SHALL you be
tomorrow.
Wishing every one of you success in your journey. =)
*No
Sprinkles Cupcakes or Starbucks Cakepops were harmed in the writing of
this Blog. And none WILL be today. Not on my watch. =)
Monday, January 21, 2013
Oriented Towards Health or Oriented Towards the Yummy Food?
This is something I have dealt with in my own journey, and
I'll tell you I am much more peaceful and content about this process of
attaining and maintaining a healthy weight NOW that I am oriented
towards health.
There seem to be two mindsets that I can adopt at the start of any day. The first mindset is what I call the "dieting" mindset, which is overshadowed by a fear of deprivation. It is a yummy-food-seeking mindset which keeps the "dieter" focused both on what he/she is depriving himself of, as well as keeping the "dieter" focused on how to make everything yummy, because unless everything is yummy I'm having a bad day. This is a very food-centric mentality, it is 100% the mentality I had the first time I did Medifast back in 06/07 when I lost 140 pounds.
The second mindset is the "oriented towards health" mindset. "What can I do today to attain and maintain a healthy weight?" If I am on the 5&1 I would grab 5 meals and set them aside. I would go to the store to make sure I had appropriate lean and green material. I would schedule in some time for a 30-minute walk or run. And then I would go about my day.
I didn't think I needed to "change my mind" about food back then. I thought I could keep my "relationship to the yummy food" in tact, that this "diet" was just temporary, that once I was "done" I could go back to eating my beloved yummiest yummies.
I was in for a rude awakening.
When I began the program again, in the summer of 08, I began the comprehensive Take Shape For Life Program. I focused on "changing my mind" about things. I focused on health instead of how to make everything the yummiest I could. I learned that indeed, people CAN change. We change by making the decision every day that we will act in accordance with our primary goal today. If our primary goal remains food-centric, and a quest for the yummies, then we will get exactly what we want. We will be tempted by the off-plan yummies, we will try to make the on-plan yummies as yummy as we can, and we will remain food-centric.
I didn't want my second journey to be a repeat of my first.
Behavior modification is absolutely KEY if we hope to make this a permanent solution.
I understand the whole argument that "if the food tastes horrible then the adherence will be lower, which will give lower success, etc etc." And I see the validity in that. But there is a difference between food being tolerable, edible, pleasant, and striving to make it the yummiest for yummy-sake.
This is not an anti-yummy blog. But this blog is begging the question "What are you focused on today? What are you wanting?"
Because we usually get what we want. And if we SAY we want something but continually act in a manner that is NOT in accordance to what we SAY we want, then truly we need to re-examine our wants.
I deprived myself of HEALTH for most of my adult life. I will do so no longer.
I WANT HEALTH.
There seem to be two mindsets that I can adopt at the start of any day. The first mindset is what I call the "dieting" mindset, which is overshadowed by a fear of deprivation. It is a yummy-food-seeking mindset which keeps the "dieter" focused both on what he/she is depriving himself of, as well as keeping the "dieter" focused on how to make everything yummy, because unless everything is yummy I'm having a bad day. This is a very food-centric mentality, it is 100% the mentality I had the first time I did Medifast back in 06/07 when I lost 140 pounds.
The second mindset is the "oriented towards health" mindset. "What can I do today to attain and maintain a healthy weight?" If I am on the 5&1 I would grab 5 meals and set them aside. I would go to the store to make sure I had appropriate lean and green material. I would schedule in some time for a 30-minute walk or run. And then I would go about my day.
I didn't think I needed to "change my mind" about food back then. I thought I could keep my "relationship to the yummy food" in tact, that this "diet" was just temporary, that once I was "done" I could go back to eating my beloved yummiest yummies.
I was in for a rude awakening.
When I began the program again, in the summer of 08, I began the comprehensive Take Shape For Life Program. I focused on "changing my mind" about things. I focused on health instead of how to make everything the yummiest I could. I learned that indeed, people CAN change. We change by making the decision every day that we will act in accordance with our primary goal today. If our primary goal remains food-centric, and a quest for the yummies, then we will get exactly what we want. We will be tempted by the off-plan yummies, we will try to make the on-plan yummies as yummy as we can, and we will remain food-centric.
I didn't want my second journey to be a repeat of my first.
Behavior modification is absolutely KEY if we hope to make this a permanent solution.
I understand the whole argument that "if the food tastes horrible then the adherence will be lower, which will give lower success, etc etc." And I see the validity in that. But there is a difference between food being tolerable, edible, pleasant, and striving to make it the yummiest for yummy-sake.
This is not an anti-yummy blog. But this blog is begging the question "What are you focused on today? What are you wanting?"
Because we usually get what we want. And if we SAY we want something but continually act in a manner that is NOT in accordance to what we SAY we want, then truly we need to re-examine our wants.
I deprived myself of HEALTH for most of my adult life. I will do so no longer.
I WANT HEALTH.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Just a lil' ole piece of fruit....
I've been thinking about
temptation, and why it seems like we can do good and be in control of
so many other areas, but the food seems to be, for many of us anyway,
the ultimate temptation that we aren't victorious over all the time.
Normally I would chalk it up to being human. Sin nature and all. But how about this for a monkey-wrench in the works.... In the Old Testament, and the Creation account, and the Fall of Man, Eve took the food that God had forbidden them to eat, and she ate it. She did not have a sin nature at the time. Yet she ate it anyway, because "it was pleasing to the eye", and of course she had been deceived by the serpent, who told her that God wanted to deprive them of it because it would open their eyes and make them wise. He managed to convince her that they would NOT die if they ate it. And we all know what happened next!
SO. It seems, my ladies, that we have an unusual and ancient pre-disposition toward eating "forbidden fruit!" It is tantalizing. It looks good. Sometimes we can't seem to muster the strength of resolve to run the other way when it beckons. It is pleasing to the eye, and then our inner voice takes over and rationalizes it as something "not so bad, won't kill us, blah blah blah...." How often do we double-talk ourselves into eating something we absolutely know is off-limits for our health and our goals, and something that may even *gulp* kill us. What Eve did is a literal example of what we face every day. Because she at the forbidden fruit from the forbidden tree, she invited a literal death on the whole human race. (Yeah, thanks, by the way.) But how often do we look at something and say "oh, it's JUST a ding-dong" or "oh, it's JUST a little ice-cream cone, how much can it hurt, REALLY?" I wonder if Eve said that about that lil' ole piece of fruit?
I think food is an issue that is doubly hard to deal with, but it does not negate God's promise that there is NO temptation that will overtake us to where He will not provide an avenue of escape. We just tend not to look real hard for that avenue of escape when it comes to food. I'm sure there were plenty of garden paths in Eden that led AWAY from that tree. But I do note that Eve didn't take ANY of them.
So next time we think "Oh it's only a lil' piece of fruit!", remember Eve! =)
Normally I would chalk it up to being human. Sin nature and all. But how about this for a monkey-wrench in the works.... In the Old Testament, and the Creation account, and the Fall of Man, Eve took the food that God had forbidden them to eat, and she ate it. She did not have a sin nature at the time. Yet she ate it anyway, because "it was pleasing to the eye", and of course she had been deceived by the serpent, who told her that God wanted to deprive them of it because it would open their eyes and make them wise. He managed to convince her that they would NOT die if they ate it. And we all know what happened next!
SO. It seems, my ladies, that we have an unusual and ancient pre-disposition toward eating "forbidden fruit!" It is tantalizing. It looks good. Sometimes we can't seem to muster the strength of resolve to run the other way when it beckons. It is pleasing to the eye, and then our inner voice takes over and rationalizes it as something "not so bad, won't kill us, blah blah blah...." How often do we double-talk ourselves into eating something we absolutely know is off-limits for our health and our goals, and something that may even *gulp* kill us. What Eve did is a literal example of what we face every day. Because she at the forbidden fruit from the forbidden tree, she invited a literal death on the whole human race. (Yeah, thanks, by the way.) But how often do we look at something and say "oh, it's JUST a ding-dong" or "oh, it's JUST a little ice-cream cone, how much can it hurt, REALLY?" I wonder if Eve said that about that lil' ole piece of fruit?
I think food is an issue that is doubly hard to deal with, but it does not negate God's promise that there is NO temptation that will overtake us to where He will not provide an avenue of escape. We just tend not to look real hard for that avenue of escape when it comes to food. I'm sure there were plenty of garden paths in Eden that led AWAY from that tree. But I do note that Eve didn't take ANY of them.
So next time we think "Oh it's only a lil' piece of fruit!", remember Eve! =)
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
There is no "Perfect" moment. Take the moment and MAKE it perfect.
There really does not exist a "perfect" moment to decide to get healthy. So take THIS moment, and MAKE it perfect by making that decision. Now. Today.
If you feel a little bit of panic at reading these words, I'm not going to say "then you aren't ready". What I AM going to say is TAKE THE MOMENT. Make it THIS ONE.
Nevermind that you have your friends' husbands' dog's birthday party to attend a week from Tuesday at 3:47 in the afternoon. THIS is the moment you need to decide.
Because if not, seriously, then when?
As you are NOW so you SHALL BE. Are you ON PLAN now? This moment? This day we call "today?"
If not, then I suggest you decide what you desire. What you want. Why you want it. If you want the yummies, you will always get the yummies. If you want health, then you will do what it takes to obtain it.
So forget what happened last night at 11:34 pm as you were foraging in the pantry seemingly throwing your hopes and dreams for health out the window. Forget that more-than-a-glance you gave the cookies in the breakroom yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday.
Doesn't.
Matter.
It is TODAY and your very NEXT decision which determines the direction you will go. So what'll it be?
If you feel a little bit of panic at reading these words, I'm not going to say "then you aren't ready". What I AM going to say is TAKE THE MOMENT. Make it THIS ONE.
Nevermind that you have your friends' husbands' dog's birthday party to attend a week from Tuesday at 3:47 in the afternoon. THIS is the moment you need to decide.
Because if not, seriously, then when?
As you are NOW so you SHALL BE. Are you ON PLAN now? This moment? This day we call "today?"
If not, then I suggest you decide what you desire. What you want. Why you want it. If you want the yummies, you will always get the yummies. If you want health, then you will do what it takes to obtain it.
So forget what happened last night at 11:34 pm as you were foraging in the pantry seemingly throwing your hopes and dreams for health out the window. Forget that more-than-a-glance you gave the cookies in the breakroom yesterday afternoon.
Yesterday.
Doesn't.
Matter.
It is TODAY and your very NEXT decision which determines the direction you will go. So what'll it be?
Monday, January 14, 2013
Off Plan Foods and the Power We Give It...
Some days are harder than others to remain focused and oriented towards optimal health. I find that the last few weeks I have been giving wayward glances to that glass of wine, or that gourmet chocolate, or even the cheese-and-cracker tray and each day that passes it is becoming more painful to say "no".
This is an interesting phenomenon, because I KNOW what giving that type of food ANY attention at all, ANY second thought at all, does to my brain.
When I begin to take my eyes off where I'm going and instead affix them to what I am "depriving" myself of in this process of attaining and maintaining a healthy weight, I begin to FEEL oppressed. I begin to FEEL like a martyr. I begin to FEEL like the tension is rising.
And I am creating structural tension in the WRONG direction. Structural tension means setting my brain to work on a "problem" or an "issue" that requires a solution, that requires a "working out" of.
Our brains will continue to work a problem in the back ground of our lives for a solution, while we continue living the day to day. And by taking my eyes OFF of what I am CREATING with this awesome process of attaining and maintaining a healthy weight, I also took my brain off the task of working a solution to that issue.
And I reminded my brain, in focusing on what I am depriving myself of, that I am in fact NOT able to drink wine, eat cheese (please no one tell me that cheese is allowed on this plan...I am not a vegetarian and I follow the Quick Start Guide for optimal results and cheese stalls me out every time), eat crackers or gourmet chocolates.
And my brain gets resentful when it feels like it "CAN'T" have something. My brain gets resentful when it feels like it "SHOULD" do something else. And my brain begins working out that solution to resolving the tension of "not having" by increasing the pressure to "just have it already".
Does anyone relate to this phenomenon? We can suddenly feel "overwhelmed" by the urge to eat something off-plan, so much so that it hurts our head NOT to do it, and we wonder where that came from? It seems to come out of the blue, but it does not in fact come out of the blue, it is a result of our brain trying to work the solution to our feelings of deprivation, if we have been focusing on those feelings for a few hours, days, weeks, or months.
This is why people who fight so hard and stay on plan for months and months and months can have a "bite" of something off plan and then find it nearly impossible to have another 100% on plan day.
For ME, this occurs when I have entertained feelings of deprivation or martyrdom, feelings of "poor me, why did God make me like this?" and feelings that I'm missing out.
I INTENTIONALLY practice turning those feelings and that focus around to begin dwelling on what I am desiring to CREATE with this process of BECOMING. When I intentionally do that for a few hours, days, or weeks, it gets "super-easy" to make decisions that support my primary goals. But it is a discipline of the mind. And it is never too late to start creating this positive "structural tension".
So what are YOU focusing on today? Are you feeling sorry for yourself because you are so deprived of the yummies? Or are you focusing on WHERE YOU ARE HEADED with this amazing process of becoming fully YOU?
I choose to turn my thoughts towards where I am headed, and why.
And that is that.
This is an interesting phenomenon, because I KNOW what giving that type of food ANY attention at all, ANY second thought at all, does to my brain.
When I begin to take my eyes off where I'm going and instead affix them to what I am "depriving" myself of in this process of attaining and maintaining a healthy weight, I begin to FEEL oppressed. I begin to FEEL like a martyr. I begin to FEEL like the tension is rising.
And I am creating structural tension in the WRONG direction. Structural tension means setting my brain to work on a "problem" or an "issue" that requires a solution, that requires a "working out" of.
Our brains will continue to work a problem in the back ground of our lives for a solution, while we continue living the day to day. And by taking my eyes OFF of what I am CREATING with this awesome process of attaining and maintaining a healthy weight, I also took my brain off the task of working a solution to that issue.
And I reminded my brain, in focusing on what I am depriving myself of, that I am in fact NOT able to drink wine, eat cheese (please no one tell me that cheese is allowed on this plan...I am not a vegetarian and I follow the Quick Start Guide for optimal results and cheese stalls me out every time), eat crackers or gourmet chocolates.
And my brain gets resentful when it feels like it "CAN'T" have something. My brain gets resentful when it feels like it "SHOULD" do something else. And my brain begins working out that solution to resolving the tension of "not having" by increasing the pressure to "just have it already".
Does anyone relate to this phenomenon? We can suddenly feel "overwhelmed" by the urge to eat something off-plan, so much so that it hurts our head NOT to do it, and we wonder where that came from? It seems to come out of the blue, but it does not in fact come out of the blue, it is a result of our brain trying to work the solution to our feelings of deprivation, if we have been focusing on those feelings for a few hours, days, weeks, or months.
This is why people who fight so hard and stay on plan for months and months and months can have a "bite" of something off plan and then find it nearly impossible to have another 100% on plan day.
For ME, this occurs when I have entertained feelings of deprivation or martyrdom, feelings of "poor me, why did God make me like this?" and feelings that I'm missing out.
I INTENTIONALLY practice turning those feelings and that focus around to begin dwelling on what I am desiring to CREATE with this process of BECOMING. When I intentionally do that for a few hours, days, or weeks, it gets "super-easy" to make decisions that support my primary goals. But it is a discipline of the mind. And it is never too late to start creating this positive "structural tension".
So what are YOU focusing on today? Are you feeling sorry for yourself because you are so deprived of the yummies? Or are you focusing on WHERE YOU ARE HEADED with this amazing process of becoming fully YOU?
I choose to turn my thoughts towards where I am headed, and why.
And that is that.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Does it Ever Get Easier?
The short answer to that is no. But
it DOES get better. And the alternative is that it gets EVEN harder,
which is not a happy alternative at all.
Being content with process is truly a state of mind. Physiologically, this process will never be EASIER. Even in transition and maintenance, physiologically our bodies will always strive against us to store every extra calorie we give it as fat. Having already BEEN overweight or obese, we know this to be true.
I think too many times people lose the weight, and then somehow begin to think their bodies have STOPPED doing that, that all is "normal" now and since they are a normal weight, that their bodies will behave.
Not. So.
So what is there to be done? Is it hopeless? "KB what the heck, you are supposed to be inspiring me today? And instead you are acting like a low-pressure system, taking the wind right out of my sails!!"
OK here is the silver lining. And it is what I keep coming back to time and time again because it is the truth of the matter. This HAS to, and I mean HAS to become a lifestyle choice if ANY of us have a PRAYER of keeping this weight off. Losing weight most people can do. Follow a regimented program for a certain amount of time. Check the box. Great results. Done.
But then UNLESS you have DONE the WORK (and it IS work, folks, let no one tell you it isn't...it is intentional hard WORK) to develop a fit and healthy mind to go along with your new fit and healthy body? Well, you may become part of the 85% statistic who gain their weight back.
It's like a rubber band, snapping you back to fatville every time. Unless you CHANGE what that rubber band is tethered to. Unless you DEVELOP positive goals to reinforce your REASONS for losing weight and becoming healthy.
The mechanisms of our bodies will not change with this process. We can harness those mechanisms for our own good by utilizing the tools that Take Shape For Life fueled by Medifast provides, and bringing our bodies in to a healthy weight, and in that full process we can learn our limitations so that after Transition we can maintain beautifully.
Or we can bury our heads in the sand, white knuckle through every day hoping some day it will get easier, and it doesn't, lose a few pounds and gain it right back.
Well, I choose to engage the process. I choose to learn how my body operates, how it responds, and live within those limitations IN ORDER THAT my primary goal of "Attaining AND Maintaining a Healthy Weight" will always STAY achievable.
What are you doing today? Take a snapshot of TODAY'S actions and line them up for a week, a month, a year. IF you did that, would you be closer to your goals or would you STAY where you are now? If progress is not being made TODAY, ie if you are choosing not to stay on the Medifast 5&1 Plan, or on your Transition Plan if you are in Transition, or on your Maintenance Plan if you are in Maintenance, if you are not staying ON that plan then where will you be TOMORROW?
As you are, so shall you be. Are you determined? Focused? On plan? Wonderful. Then you are getting where you want to go. Are you saying "I'll be back on again Monday?" I got three words for you:
Why.
Not.
Today.
Today is the tomorrow you spoke about yesterday.
Happy Take Shape For Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
Being content with process is truly a state of mind. Physiologically, this process will never be EASIER. Even in transition and maintenance, physiologically our bodies will always strive against us to store every extra calorie we give it as fat. Having already BEEN overweight or obese, we know this to be true.
I think too many times people lose the weight, and then somehow begin to think their bodies have STOPPED doing that, that all is "normal" now and since they are a normal weight, that their bodies will behave.
Not. So.
So what is there to be done? Is it hopeless? "KB what the heck, you are supposed to be inspiring me today? And instead you are acting like a low-pressure system, taking the wind right out of my sails!!"
OK here is the silver lining. And it is what I keep coming back to time and time again because it is the truth of the matter. This HAS to, and I mean HAS to become a lifestyle choice if ANY of us have a PRAYER of keeping this weight off. Losing weight most people can do. Follow a regimented program for a certain amount of time. Check the box. Great results. Done.
But then UNLESS you have DONE the WORK (and it IS work, folks, let no one tell you it isn't...it is intentional hard WORK) to develop a fit and healthy mind to go along with your new fit and healthy body? Well, you may become part of the 85% statistic who gain their weight back.
It's like a rubber band, snapping you back to fatville every time. Unless you CHANGE what that rubber band is tethered to. Unless you DEVELOP positive goals to reinforce your REASONS for losing weight and becoming healthy.
The mechanisms of our bodies will not change with this process. We can harness those mechanisms for our own good by utilizing the tools that Take Shape For Life fueled by Medifast provides, and bringing our bodies in to a healthy weight, and in that full process we can learn our limitations so that after Transition we can maintain beautifully.
Or we can bury our heads in the sand, white knuckle through every day hoping some day it will get easier, and it doesn't, lose a few pounds and gain it right back.
Well, I choose to engage the process. I choose to learn how my body operates, how it responds, and live within those limitations IN ORDER THAT my primary goal of "Attaining AND Maintaining a Healthy Weight" will always STAY achievable.
What are you doing today? Take a snapshot of TODAY'S actions and line them up for a week, a month, a year. IF you did that, would you be closer to your goals or would you STAY where you are now? If progress is not being made TODAY, ie if you are choosing not to stay on the Medifast 5&1 Plan, or on your Transition Plan if you are in Transition, or on your Maintenance Plan if you are in Maintenance, if you are not staying ON that plan then where will you be TOMORROW?
As you are, so shall you be. Are you determined? Focused? On plan? Wonderful. Then you are getting where you want to go. Are you saying "I'll be back on again Monday?" I got three words for you:
Why.
Not.
Today.
Today is the tomorrow you spoke about yesterday.
Happy Take Shape For Life-ing! Rinse and Repeat!
Changing my username to "GoetheGirl"
No, I'm not, but after stumbling upon the brainyquotes page for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I feel like I should!
I had heard of Goethe before, but I never knew that SO many of his quotes were, well, HIS! So, without further ado, this blog is dedicated to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
*Dream no small dreams for they have the power to move the hearts of men.
*All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.
*Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and if possible speak a few sensible words.
*Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
*As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
*Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.
*Do not give in too much to feelings. An overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.
*This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.
*Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.
*A person hears only what they understand.
*Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
*Common sense is the genius of humanity.
*It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.
*In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm. In the real world all rests on perseverance.
*The way you see people is the way you treat them. The way you treat them is what they become.
*He only earns his freedom and his life who takes them every day by storm.
*Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen.
*A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them.
*Correction does much but encouragement does more.
*If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.
*Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.
*The person born with a talent they were meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.
*Everyone wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.
*Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean.
*Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops.
*NOTHING IS WORTH MORE THAN THIS DAY.
So let's go to it! Make it an ON PLAN day! =)
I had heard of Goethe before, but I never knew that SO many of his quotes were, well, HIS! So, without further ado, this blog is dedicated to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
*Dream no small dreams for they have the power to move the hearts of men.
*All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.
*Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and if possible speak a few sensible words.
*Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
*As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
*Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.
*Do not give in too much to feelings. An overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth.
*This is the highest wisdom that I own; freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.
*Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.
*A person hears only what they understand.
*Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
*Common sense is the genius of humanity.
*It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.
*In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm. In the real world all rests on perseverance.
*The way you see people is the way you treat them. The way you treat them is what they become.
*He only earns his freedom and his life who takes them every day by storm.
*Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen.
*A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them.
*Correction does much but encouragement does more.
*If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.
*Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.
*The person born with a talent they were meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.
*Everyone wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.
*Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean.
*Happiness is a ball after which we run wherever it rolls, and we push it with our feet when it stops.
*NOTHING IS WORTH MORE THAN THIS DAY.
So let's go to it! Make it an ON PLAN day! =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)