1. “The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater their power to harm us.” – Voltaire
2. “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.” – Muhammad Ali
3. “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin
4. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot
5. “If you’re going through hell keep going.” – Winston Churchill
6. “Take the first step in faith, you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
7. “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” – William Feather
8. “If you’re only willing to do what’s easy, life will be hard. But if you’re willing to do what’s hard, life will be easy.” – T. Harv Eker
9. “Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.” – Mark Twain
10. “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell
11. “Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.” – Brene Brown
12. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
13. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
14. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee
15. “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
16. “Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts.” - Winston Churchill
17. “Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.” – Kyle Chandler
18. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert Kennedy
19. “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” – Thomas Jefferson
20. “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” – Unknown
21. “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” – Brian Tracy
22. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” – Dale Carnegie
23. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” – Mahatma Gandhi
24. “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” – Winston Churchill
25. “Obstacles can’t stop you. Problems can’t stop you. Most of all, other people can’t stop you. Only you can stop you.”– J. Gitomer
26. “Fortune favors the bold.” - Virgil
27. “Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.” – Marilyn vos Savant
28. “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.” – Buddha
29. “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill
30. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett
31. “To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” – Elbert Hubbard
32. “Edison failed 10,000 times before he made the electric light. Do not be discouraged if you fail a few times.” – Napoleon Hill
33. “I know for sure that what we dwell on is who we become.” – Oprah Winfrey
34. “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
35. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
36. “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” – Seneca
37. “There is no education like adversity.” – Benjamin Disraeli
I've included all 37 quotes because not every person needs the same motivation. What clicks in my brain might not mean a damn thing to you. I gave you all 37 options so hopefully you'll find something to inspire you to get off your ass, out of that funk, or just turn that frown upside down and smile. Of all the quotes my favorite is number 27. It's probably the most obvious and maybe that's what my simple brain needs. Common sense works best for me: Something is over when you stop trying to do it. You can't win a fight if you don't get back up. A person will never lose weight if they keep eating the wrong foods for their metabolism. You have only failed to accomplish something when you stop trying to do it. I'll never complete a faster mile if I don't keep trying to jog an extra 10 seconds at a time. The business will never grow if we don't sell more product. I'll never have a family if I don't start dating new people. My life will never be what I want it to be if I use drugs. I will never know God's will if I don't eliminate contradictions in my life and pray to further my relationship with my Higher Power.
I want to know the peace that love brings. I want to be loved and love the world that is around me. The only way for that to be possible is for me to accept what exists AND THEN MOVE FORWARD. If I don't accept what exist today then I will move in the wrong direction. I need to accept exactly where I am and only then can I see the correct path from here. This place is a point in time. As stated by another quote above, success and failure are never final. There is no finish line with life. The only end point in life is death. Aside from that, life is a journey so change your view and love and cherish it. If I spend my time moving in the direction that is right for me then I will fail better and learn. I love that phrase: fail better. That is a great attitude to have. We are the product of a loving and caring God. Keep trying new things. Keep moving towards the light.
One day, one hour, one minute, or one second at a time - I will not use.
December 22nd - A New Way To Live
“When at the end of the road we find that we can no longer
function as a human being, either with or without drugs, we all face the
same dilemma.... Either go on as best we can to the bitter ends—jails,
institutions, or death—or find a new way to live.”
Basic Text, p. 87
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What was the worst aspect of active addiction? For many of us,
it wasn’t the chance that we might die some day of our disease. The
worst part was the living death we experienced every day, the
never-ending meaninglessness of life. We felt like walking ghosts, not
living, loving parts of the world around us.
In recovery, we’ve come to believe that we’re here for a reason:
to love ourselves and to love others. In working the Twelve Steps, we
have learned to accept ourselves. With that self-acceptance has come
self-respect. We have seen that everything we do has an effect on
others; we are a part of the lives of those around us, and they of
ours. We’ve begun to trust other people and to acknowledge our
responsibility to them.
In recovery, we’ve come back to life. We maintain our new lives
by contributing to the welfare of others and seeking each day to do that
better—that’s where the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Steps come in.
The days of living like a ghost are past, but only so long as we
actively seek to be healthy, loving, contributing parts of our own lives
and the lives of others around us.
––––=––––
Just for today: I have found a new way to live. Today, I will seek to serve others with love and to love myself.
