You're Right Either Way

"Whether you think you can 

or you think you can't, 

you're right." 

~Henry Ford 

Henry was onto something with this quote, I think.  It appears to me that it all boils down to what we think. 

 

I think … therefore I am.  Who said that? 

Oh yeah … HIM.

Even the ancient scriptures tell us this – in the wisdom book (Proverbs 23:7)

I can write … I think

I can’t spell … I think

I can never win the championship.  I’m too small, too slow, too old … I think.

And what are we gonna do about that?

Dreams in a closet don’t get exercised.

Stuffed dreams suffocate from lack of breathing room.

Can you or can’t you?

You are right either way.

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Four Secrets to Staying Young

I want to tell you a story – and the originator of this story is unknown to me.  I’ve had this in my files for a long time, and today it jumped at me.  So here it is. 

There once was an 87-year-old lady who decided to go back to school and get her college degree.  On her first day in class she was asked “why are you here?” 

Her response – “I’m here to find a rich husband, get married, and have three kids.” 

Seriously, she was there to fulfill a life-long dream.  And she did.  Four years later she graduated, and along the way she developed a following of most of the student body on campus.  Everyone knew Rose and wanted to be her friend.

So, at the end of the season, Rose was invited to speak at the football banquet.

She approached the podium, fumbled with her notes and promptly dropped them. 

She apologized and leaned into the microphone and said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery.  I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me.  I’ll never get my speech back in order So let me just tell you what I know. 

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. 

1.  Laugh and find humor every day.    

2.  You have to have a dream.  

When you lose your dreams, you die.  We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it.

3.  There is a huge difference between growing old and growing up.  

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do even one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old.  If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I'll turn eighty-eight. 

Anybody can grow older.  That doesn't take any talent or ability.  The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. 

4.  Have no regrets. 

We elderly people don't usually have regrets for what we did, rather, for things we did not do.  The only people who fear death are those with regrets. 

No more comment needed. 

Class dismissed!

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Go Make Mistakes

Mistakes happen.  We get up.  We fall down.  We break things.  We say the wrong thing.  We attempt to do good and fail. 

Mistakes happen.

Good for you if you make mistakes.  Yes –

GOOD FOR YOU!

Mistakes mean that you are trying something new, you are learning and growing.  You are attempting the yet-to-be-mastered. 

You are DOING SOMETHING!

Even better – make mistakes that nobody has ever made before.  In the beginning, nobody’s work is ever good enough.  I made a piece of furniture two weeks ago.  It’s not perfect, but it works for where we want it to work. 

I’ve made enormous blunders as a public speaker/musician.  Oh my - the horror of it all.  And yet, I’m still alive, and apparently still garner a measure of esteem from my friends, for none of them have disavowed any knowledge of having known me – yet.

I’ve put stuff in print with typos in it.  My book – The Letters – has a typo on the Table of Contents page.  I spelled table – "Talbe".  Right there in the front of the book is this HUGE typo. 

I’ve reached the point of getting over making mistakes.  Now, I fear not making mistakes because I fear making mistakes.  That’s probably why I write five blogs each week.  It’s not all Pulitzer Prize stuff, and I still, on occasion, use the wrong tense and possessive subjective ‘whatever’ in my writing.  But I write. 

So, here I come – mistakes and all. 

I’ll show you mine (mistakes) if your show me yours.

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