THINK YOURSELF A FAILURE? VIII

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." - Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln once said, "Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." He is one of the greatest leaders that ever lived, his life wasn’t as easy. In his youth, he went to war a captain and returned a private: a private is as low as it goes. His stint at failing didn't stop there. He pioneered many failed businesses, and was defeated in countless runs for public office. You can't talk about failing, without mentioning Lincoln. What about, Van Gogh? During his time, he sold only one painting: to a friend and only for a very small amount of money. While he wasn't a success during his life, Van Gogh trudged on, painting. Sometimes starving to complete his over 800 known works.

Lincoln made a striking statement, "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Your dreams can only be destroyed by you - from within. Do you think yourself a failure?

MI MADRE

"Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love." - Stevie Wonder

Madre

In Greek it's, "Mite-era." spelt, "Μητέρα". The Finnish use "Äiti", and in French it's "Mère." The Germans go a little off, and say it's, "Mutter" - pronounced almost like "Mortar". Still the Spanish prefer "Madre", and commonly in Africa, we call her, "Mama."

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. Asking her what the problem was, she gave him this reply, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother and I don’t have enough money." The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose." He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother."
She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave. The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.

FIRST, SECOND OR THIRD?

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." - Abraham Lincoln 

RA

A king had three daughters. He was at a loss as to what responsibilities he could saddle them with in his kingdom. So, he gave to all three of them some grains of wheat each. He asked them to return one year later. So, he dismissed them. One year later he summoned all three of his daughters and made inquiries as to what each did with her grain.

First Daughter: I fed mine to the Sparrows as I left the palace, I thought they were starving. King did not give any responsibility to her.

Second Daughter: I saved them safely along with my jewelry, they seemed precious and here they are.
King: Hmm. You take care of the treasury. He said.

Third Daughter: "I need some heavy machinery and men to get the wheat." Everyone laughed. Why? They asked. "I sowed the grains, in my land. Now it's grown so much, I want to harvest it."
King: "Hmm. Very good, I'm impressed, your action seems to be the best. You will take care of whole kingdom." He proceeded to give her the keys to his kingdom.

THE GIFT OF A DAY (28); ONE DAY AT A TIME

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." - Abraham Lincoln 

One Day

Sometimes we use certain terms and phrases without a thought as to how they originated. We hear things like, "one step at a time", "one day at a time", or even "one class at a time". Recently, I began to ponder on these phrases trying to really understand what they meant. Not long after I realized that, each one of these phrases has to do with the process involved in getting ANYTHING done. Everything seen today is a sequence of steps. Just like none of us alive today was born an adult, we all started as almost invisible sperms, and each day saw us transform. Life and ambitions are separated by time; which can be calibrated in days. Every day has it's peculiar lesson to be learned or taught.

Monica complained to her father, about how that her life was miserable that she didn’t know how she would succeed. She was tired of fighting all the time. It seemed as though when one problem was solved, another one lurking behind shows up. Her father, took her to the kitchen,filled three pots with water and placed each on the fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in another and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word. Monica, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what this dramatic old man was up to. After a while he turned off the heat from the pots. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He did the same with the eggs too. He then ladled the coffee out into a cup. Turning to her he asked. “what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied. “Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked

THE GIFT OF A DREAM (22); ARE YOU LIKE WALT?

"Let’s have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." - Abraham Lincoln

Truth be told, nobody else but you can understand your dreams better than yourself. Which is why many people, will oppose you anytime you talk about a dream you passionately wish to fulfill; because they, in most cases don't have the capacity to comprehend it. Someone once said that "dreams are not those pictures you see while asleep at night, but those pictures that prevent you from sleeping at night."

Walt Disney had a dream and he never gave up. Early in his career he was fired because they thought he didn't have "good ideas". That just made him dream more. When he was starting out in Kansas City he couldn't sell his cartoons. Some hinted that he had no talent but Walt Disney had a dream so he set out to conquer his foes. He found a minister who paid him a small amount to draw advertising pictures for his church. Disney had no place to stay, so