Monthly Archives: November 2009

Do not rely on one’s appearance, it can deceive. Do not rely on wealth; even that fades away. Rely on someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day bright.

Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

Do you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy?

The happiest people do not necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness waits for those who cry, those who cry, those who have been hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You can not go on with life successfully unless you let your past failures and heartaches go.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Stephen W. Hawking is one of the greatest scientists of the century. In1974, at the age of thirty-two, he became the youngest member of the Royal Society of London. Today he holds the same position at Cambridge University that Newton once held.

Hawking is perhaps the most handicapped scientist in the world today. Since the age of twenty-one, he has suffered from a progressive nerve disease called ALS. He has already lost the ability to turn the pages of a book, life his arms or hold his head straight. He requires the attention of a nurse or other assistants twenty-four hours a day. He needs a motorized wheelchair to get around. As if this were not enough, in 1985 he caught pneumonia and had an operation which deprived him of the ability to speak with his mouth. He writes and even speaks by means of a special computer and a voice synthesizer on his wheelchair. These he operates by means of a switch in the palm of his hand.

In spite of his physical problems, Stephen Hawking continues to live an amazingly full life–thinking, writing, teaching, doing research, traveling wildly. His explanation for this is: “One has to be grown up enough to realize that life is not fair. You just have to do the best you can in situation you are in. If you are physically disabled, you can not afford to be psychologically disabled.”

One of my favorite posters says, “Life is a test. It is only a test. Had this been a real life you would have been instructed where to go and what to do.” Whenever I think of this humorous bit of wisdom, it reminds me not to take my life so seriously.

When you look at life and its many challenges as a test, or series of tests, you begin to see each issue you face as an opportunity to grow, a chance to discover about life. Whether you are being bombarded with problems, responsibilities, even insurmountable hurdles, when looked at as a test, you always have a chance to succeed, in the sense of rising above that which is challenging you. If, on the other hand, you see each new issue you face as a serious battle that must be won in order to survive, you are probable in for a very rocky journey. The only time you are likely to be happy is when everything is working out just right. And we all know how often that happens.

Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do.

The greatest success usually comes just one step beyond the point at which defeat overtakes you. Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is almost within reach.

I will not run from any danger I might encounter today, because I am certain that nothing will happen to men that I am not equipped to handle. Just as any gem is polished by friction, I am certain to become more valuable through this day’s adversities, and if one door is closed, another door is always opened.

Because they feel compelled to show off in front of their friends, some teenagers play dangerous games. In one incident, police found a group of boys performing a dangerous stunt with their cars. The boys would perch on the hoods of cars going thirty-five or forty miles an hour. Then the driver would brake sharply, and the boy who flew the farthest off the car would win. Teenagers also drive their cars with the lights off and pass each other on hills or curves as ways of challenging each other. Water, as well as cars, seems to tempt young people to invent dangerous contents. Some students dared each other to swim through a narrow pipe under a four-lane highway. The pipe carried water from a stream to a pond, and the swimmer would have to hold his or her breath for several minutes before coming out on the other side. Another contest involved diving off the rocky sides of a quarry. Because large stones sat under the water in certain places, any dive could result in a broken neck. But the students would egg each other on to go “rock diving.” Playing deadly games like these is a horrifying phase of growing up for some teenagers.