36525 days to live

“Adventure is a state of mind – and spirit. It comes with faith, for with complete faith, there is no fear of what faces you in life or death.”

Jacqueline Cochran, aviator

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When we fly or board a plane, it is really an act of faith because if just one thing goes wrong at 10, 20 or 30 000 feet… and that’s the end of us. But what an adventure it is to take off and relinquish control over our destiny. I like every minute of this state of mind. We can experience a similar feeling on a roller coaster ride, in a hot-air balloon or with skydiving.

These are one of the ways to live life to the fullest among many more.

Do you like to give up control over your life and experience an intense feeling of adventure?

“Each day we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.”

 Charles Swindoll

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Some days, I observe the behaviour of my children and I really don’t like what I see…

The real trouble is that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But isn’t it easier to look

the other way and get busy with other things? Yah right…

We should really invest more time with our children, I will…

“Adopt the pace of Nature; her secret is patience”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Nature will eventually fix everything… even if we  are not here anymore… especially if we are not here anymore.

Don’t you think we’re taking this whole Social Media thing a bit too seriously?

Who wants to be on their deathbed  and say” I wish I had more Twitter followers.”

How many Facebook “friends” and Linked In “professional contacts” will attend your funeral?

When my wife wants to get my attention, she asks me; “who will be sitting in the front row at your funeral.”    “Your iPhone, your iPad , your laptop?”

Don’t get me wrong! These are great tools of communication, but how much is too much?

Let’s try to put things in perspective.

My passion or obsession is with time and I wonder, if recently, I have been overindulging and over- investing my very limited time on those platforms.

Let’s put down all our latest gadgets and gizmos, let’s play with our kids, let’s spend time with our wives and husbands, girlfriends or boyfriends while we can.

“The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.”

Corrie ten Boom

Holocaust survivor

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It’s not how long we live that is important, it’s the difference we make in this world.

“Some days are simply meant for playing.”

Let today be a day to take life less seriously. Kick back, smile, laugh, watch the busyness of the world from a quiet corner and find humor in everything around you.

Have a great week end everyone!

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“I think I’ve discovered the secret of life; you just hang around until you get used to it.” 

Charles Schulz

American cartoonist ( Creator of Peanuts)

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“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday”

Don Marquis

Humorist

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“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. One of the greatest things in life is to keep your mind young.”

Henry Ford

Industrialist

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Not a bad quote for a so-called uneducated man…

BE PREPARED… The Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” is good advice for all of us; regardless our age.    

In a sense, to be prepared, for a Boy Scout, simply means that he is getting ready to deal with whatever happens.  It is exciting that in the process of preparing he is learning how to attain his goals. Most of the goals, at that point, are short-range but if the overall goal is to be an Eagle Scout, he literally is setting a “big” and “long-range” goal. Setting and reaching goals prepares a Scout for life and for whatever endeavour he might choose.   

The athlete must prepare for the upcoming competition and the musician for the next concert.  The habit of preparation is one of the  benefits that come from being a Boy Scout. That’s the reason Scouting is so beneficial in our society today and is especially helpful for young kids.

When we are prepared, we actually save of lot of time, worries and frustrations. Do you remember when you were cramming in school, most of us manage to move up in the school system by cramming before our exams, but do you remember the feeling when you prepare thoroughly before the exam and found it so easy?

It is the same in life, preparation saves us more time than we have to invest most of the time.

So if you want to reduce the stress and frustration in your life, BE PREPARED!

“Science prolongs life. To consist of what ? Eating, drinking and sleeping? What is the good of living longer if it is only a matter of satisfying the requirements that sustain life?

All this is nothing without the charm of art.”

Sarah Bernhardt

French actress

“Happiness path is paved with your dreams and desires,

      down this path lies creativity, love and long life.”

David Baird

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« Ma curiosité est insatiable, je vampirise l’air du temps. Pour moi chaque jour compte, et chaque jour il faut découvrir des choses. »

^{Karl Lagerfeld}

^{Directeur artistique de la Maison Chanel}

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A mental barrier to good time management skills is a negative self-concept, or what are called “self-limiting beliefs.” Many people believe that they don’t have the ability to be good at time management. They often believe that it is an inborn part of their background or heritage. But there is no gene or chromosome for poor time management, or good time management, for that matter. Your personal behaviors are very much under your own control. 

Action Exercise
Imagine that someone were to offer you a million dollars to manage your time superbly for the next thirty days. Imagine that an efficiency expert was going to follow you around with a clipboard and a video camera for one month. After thirty days if you had used your time efficiently and well, working on your highest priorities all day, every day, you will receive a prize of one million dollars. How efficient would you be over the next thirty days?

Brian Tracy

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“The outer world will always attempt to pull you this way and push you that way. There will always be external pressures from financial issues, career issues, health issues, relationship issues and more. Further, the TV news will always attempt to manipulate your emotions to increase your upset and anger at the seemingly rampant injustices of the world.

Nonetheless, you do always have the ability to resist these external stressors, and to live in inner peace and happiness. You can choose how you prefer to respond to external events, and you can train yourself to minimize your stress and maximize the joy you receive from life.

Stop! Breathe deeply.

Begin bringing peace to the outer world by regaining your own inner peace. Then use that inner peace as a platform from which to approach the outer world with perspective, understanding, and patience.”

Drink every minute to its fill; savor its taste…

Especially on a SUNDAY AFTERNOON.

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“Life is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.”

Virginia Satir

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Realism. Why is it so difficult to be realist? To see things as they really are and not as we want them to be. To learn to accept things as they are is in my opinion the beginning of Wisdom.

“What is destructive is impatience, haste, expecting too much too fast”

May Sarton

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I admit it. I’m extremely impatient. It can be a blessing and a curse at different times and in different circumstances. So, most of the time, I disagree with May Sarton, because when impatience is channeled at the proper time and in a proper way, it can turn into a blessing more than curse.

Many people consider the idea trite that you are in complete control of your thoughts and your happiness is 100% up to you.
The truth is that there is nothing around us that is as controllable as our thoughts, and what goes on in our heads is truly free, that is for the time being.
One of the keys to happiness is as you grow old, to find those things that free your mind and re-center it. This may be exercise, writing, artistic endeavors, but finding that lever to freedom is a great gift and one that you owe to yourself.

Hugh Mcleod

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“Patience is the companion of wisdom”

St-Augustine

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 Patience is one of the rarest resource when we need it most.

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you have now was once among the things you only hoped for.”

Epicurus

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“A lot of the busyness in our lives give us a false sense of productivity. Doing a lot doesn’t mean that what we are doing is important.”

Unknown author

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“When you argue with reality, you lose, but only one hundred percent of the time.”

Byron Katie

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When will you start taking yourself seriously. You know when you need a break. You know when you need a rest. You know what to get worked up about and what to get rid of. And you know when it’s time to take care of yourself, for yourself. To do something that makes you stronger, faster, more complete. Because you know it’s never too late to have a life. And never too late to change one.”

Text from an advertisement from the Nike company

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

“The future will depend on what we do in the present”

Mahatma Gandhi

(1869-1948)

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We all know this, it is so simple to understand when we read it. However, the challenge is not only to read it and understand it, the real challenge is to practice what we understand so well.

Yes, practice it day in day out, especially when you have distractions, a bad day or a good day.

Whatever is your dream, your project, your goal, pursue it relentlessly without wasting time.

You need a burning desire to keep you absorbed and focused, even when you have so many responsibilities and distractions.

Will you?

“Money won’t make you happy… but everybody wants to find out for themselves.”

Zig Ziglar

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How much time and energy do you invest for the accumulation of money?

Is this what you really care about?

What if there would be something else to run after?