Quote of the day

"You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through." 

-Rosalyn Carter

Reflections

Go to the people.
Live with them,
Learn from them,
Love them.
Start with what they know,
Build with what they have.
But of the best leaders
When the work is done
The task accomplished,
The people will say,
"We have done this ourselves."

Loa-Tzu (Chinese poem, 700 B.C.)

Movie Meme

The movie quote meme, which I saw first at Erin-Go-Blog.

1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Mark entires when someone guesses correctly along with the title of the movie and the person who guessed it.
5. No cheating. No Gooole or IMDb search functions to find the answers.

Items in red have been guessed correctly. Good luck!

1. "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." (Casablanca, Katharine)

2. "Oh honey you know what's happened I got a runner in my pantyhose, I'm not wearing pantyhose." (Pretty Woman, Christy)

3. "Mother, I do not need a blind date. Particularly not with some verbally incontinent spinster who drinks like a fish, smokes like a chimney, and dresses like her mother."

4. "It's K-K-K-Ken c-c-c-coming to k-k-k-kill me." (A Fish Called Wanda, Katharine)

5. "Get me. I'm givin' out wings." (It's a Wonderful Life, Christy)

6. "During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize. I play these song at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen."

7. "Hello? Santa Claus's reindeer? Of course I can... let's see, there's Dopey, Grouchy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Happy, Bashful, Rudolph and Blitzen! You're welcome!"

8. "I need to talk to you. Every time I call you're either taking a bath, washing your hair or you're out of the country. That was a good one, by the way." (Can't Buy Me Love, Christy)

9. "She was a good cook, as good cooks go. And as good cooks go, she went."

10. "You'd rather focus on other people's Kodak moments than make memories of your own!" (27 Dresses, Katharine)

11. "So this is Hell. And there's a crucifix in it." (The Birdcage, Katharine)

12. "Do they teach beauty queens to apologize? Because you suck at it!" (Erin Brockovich, Katharine)

13. "Cancer? Oh my God! I am gonna go bald and have to eat macrobiotic food!"

14. "I can't have coffee, it's on the bad food list you gave to me. What kind of doctor are you?"

15. "Sometimes I sing and dance around the house in my underwear. Doesn't make me Madonna. Never will." (Working Girl, Christy)

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely,
in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,
totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit, what a ride!"

--Mavis Leyrer, age 83

Quote of the Day

"Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid."

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Quote of the Day

In honor of my dear friend who will be laid to rest today. RIP Juel.

"The world breaks everyone
and afterward many are strong in the broken places.
But those that will not break it kills.
It kills the very good and the very gentle
and the very brave impartially.
If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too
but there will be no special hurry."

Ernest Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms

The hope of something great

Update: 6/1/08

The version of the poem I used in my original post was found on the web through a google search. I have this poem on the bulletin board above my desk. When I read it the evening after I posted it, I realized that the version I have and love is slightly different. So I have updated it below.

Also, I realized after receiving a comment that I left someone off my dedication list. My brother Jimmy is going through some pretty big changes right now and I should have dedicated it to him, as well. So to Jimmy, anything is possible.

----------

This morning after the alarm went off I spent a few minutes lying in bed not wanting to get up. The quietness of the morning was perfect for thinking and this morning I thought about changes. I seem to have quite a few people in my life that are dealing with major life changes right now. Change can be a scary thing, but it can also be a time of great promise and excitement if we face it with the right attitude.

"The start of something new, brings the hope of something great."

Those words have be resonating in my brain all day. I originally heard them as part of the saying that appears below and they have always rung true for me. So to my friends who are facing life changes, more specifically, Barb, Deede, Laurie, Christy, Kipp and Christina, I dedicate this to you.

If there was ever a time to dare,
to make a difference, to embark on something worth doing,
it is now.
Not for any grand cause, necessarily--
but for something that tugs at your heart,
something that's your inspiration,
something that's your dream.

You owe it to yourself
to make your days here count.
Have fun.
Dig deep.
Stretch.

Dream Big.

Know, though, that things worth doing
seldom come easy.
There will be good days.
And there will be bad days.
There will be times when you want to turn around,
pack it up,
and call it quits.
Those times tell you
that you are pushing yourself,
that you are not afraid to learn by trying.

Persist.

Because with an idea,
determination,
and the right tools,
you can do great things.
Let your instincts,
your intellect,
and your heart,
guide you.

Trust.

Believe in the incredible power of the human mind.
Of doing something that makes a difference.
Of working hard.
Of laughing and hoping.
Of lazy afternoons.
Of lasting friends.
Of all the things that will cross your path this year.

The start of something new
brings the hope of something great,
Anything is possible.
There is only one you.
And you will pass this way only once.
Do it right.

-Author Unknown

Quote of the Day

Count your garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall.
Count your days by golden hours, don't remember clouds at all.
Count your nights by stars, not shadows.
Count your years with smiles, not tears.
Count your blessings, not your troubles.
Count your age by friends, not years.

--Lyvonn Berry

Quote of the day

“Promise me you'll always remember:
You're braver than you believe,
and stronger than you seem,
and smarter than you think."

--Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh

I make the weather!

This has been one of my favorite quotes since I heard it for the first time a few years ago. Enjoy!

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

I possess tremendous power to make a life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a person humanized or dehumanized.

If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

–Goethe

Quote of the Day

A conversation with a colleague about accountability reminded me of the following quote this monring. I first heard it when I was teaching customer service at a previous job. It has always stuck with me because I believe it to be true, we do make our weather!

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration; I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Quote of the day

I love to make soup. And I am often told that my soup is very good. I saw this quote and fell in love with it. A possible explanation for why I love making soup? You decide.

"Only the pure of heart can make good soup."

-Beethoven

Quote of the day

"Invent your world.
Surround yourself with people,
color,
sounds,
and work that nourish you."

--SARK

Quote of the day

Today's quote of the day is borrowed from Tanya one of my blogging friends and daily reads.

“The aim of life is to live,
and to live means to be aware,
joyously drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”

--Henry Miller

Quote of the day

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye."

-Miss Piggy

Quote of the day

"The visionary lies to himself, the liar only to others"

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Quote of the day

"Life can only be understood backwards;
but it must be lived forwards."

-Soren Kierkegaard

Quote of the day

Today's quote of the day was inspired by my workplace. :-)

"We Are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be."

-Kurt Vonnegut

Quote of the day

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.

~Gilda Radner

Quote of the day

A quote that my mother would wholeheartedly agree with either that or they are doing it just to annoy her!

"I'm convinced there's a small room in the attic of the Foreign Office where future diplomats are taught to stammer."

--Peter Ustinov