Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Quotations about Opportunities



Jumping at several small opportunities may get us there more quickly than waiting for one big one to come along.   ~Hugh Allen


When I look back now over my life and call to mind what I might have had simply for taking and did not take, my heart is like to break.  ~William Hale White


Opportunity is often difficult to recognize; we usually expect it to beckon us with beepers and billboards.  ~William Arthur Ward


Opportunity is a bird that never perches.  ~Claude McDonald


Opportunity is as scarce as oxygen; men fairly breathe it and do not know it.  ~Doc Sane


Opportunities do not come with their values stamped upon them.  ~Maltbie Babcock


Nothing is so often irretrievably missed as a daily opportunity.  ~Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach


It is often hard to distinguish between the hard knocks in life and those of opportunity.  ~Frederick Phillips


Seize the opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind.  ~Bulgarian Proverb


I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.  ~Mark Twain


Seize every opportunity along the way, for how sad it would be if the road you chose became the road not taken.  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com


Ability is of little account without opportunity.  ~Napoleon


The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.  ~Benjamin Disraeli


If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.  ~Milton Berle


A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.  ~Francis Bacon, Essays, 1625


Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the one you miss.  ~Author Unknown


Opportunity is a parade.  Even as one chance passes, the next is a fife and drum echoing in the distance.  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com


A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.  ~Harry Truman


Summing up, it is clear the future holds great opportunities.  It also holds pitfalls.  The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o'clock.  ~Woody Allen, "My Speech to the Graduates," Side Effects, 1980


[I]f one wants to get a boat ride, one must be near the river.  ~Anchee Min,Becoming Madame Mao


As you seek new opportunity, keep in mind that the sun does not usually reappear on the horizon where last seen.  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com


I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour.  I dripped it carelessly, Ah!  I didn't know, I held opportunity.  ~Hazel Lee


Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending.  ~Author Unknown


The follies which a man regrets most in his life are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity.  ~Helen Rowland


All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen.  ~Sidney Lumet


When written in Chinese the word "crisis" is composed of two characters - one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.  ~John F. Kennedy, address, 12 April 1959


Problems are only opportunities with thorns on them.  ~Hugh Miller, Snow on the Wind


Many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers.  ~Author Unknown


Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.  ~Thomas Edison


Opportunities fly by while we sit regretting the chances we have lost, and the happiness that comes to us we heed not, because of the happiness that is gone.  ~Jerome K. Jerome, The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, 1889


If I were Opportunity, I wouldn't just knock, you'd have to sign.  ~Robert Brault,www.robertbrault.com


Grasp your opportunities, no matter how poor your health; nothing is worse for your health than boredom.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

Dont miss yours!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

When Your Creativity Makes Someone Happy ; )

The best gift you can give someone is one that touches their heart...

A long time friend of mine invited me to her 40th celebration of life...and unfortunately, we have lost touch since we left high school, but since Facebook, we've been able to reconnect...so my thoughts were "what do I buy her?". Then I remembered, a saying I like to post on Facebook as my status. Each word in its self are simple, but the combination of the words are powerful, thought provoking, inspiring to me, and to her. So I took my creativeness and designed a tile, dressed it in fancy glittery, whimsical paper, pretty ribbon, and wrote out that saying that she loves so much...I was so excited to give it to her when we walked in, I made her open it right away!  I was touched that her first reaction was to cry because she loved it so much!   Happy Birthday Mrs. Lisa!


Friday, December 10, 2010

Dating! Emergency Contact Wanted~ Enough Said!

I think everyone wants to be able to find love in the traditional sense...meaning not in a bar or from online dating services. We all want to look across the room and catch that glimpse and say..."I will marry him/her!" Without having met! The love at first sight...I believe in that, an instant connection, being swept off my feet...meeting Mr. Right, riding off into the sunset! (Totally kidding)!

So, defeated in the traditional sense of dating, I joined an online dating service.  There I am hung out like a piece of candy hoping that my picture, my summary of who I am and what I want is sufficient  to bring another individual into my life. Its a mating process! This process is difficult and humbling as well. You wink or email, and sometimes you get the system generated "No Thanks" response, or just no response at all. Its funny because they give you all these suggestions on what to say in an email to that person to connect, and somehow...it doesn't seem to represent you or what you have to offer, BECAUSE your summary on your profile definitely doesn't sum up the quality person you truly are in the first place. And listen...I love to write, that's why I blog...But the truth of the matter is, no matter what I write, what the pictures reveal, seeing me and talking to me in person are hands down the best way to see who I really am. It is like an internship, hands on experience.  We can all have a degree, but how do you land the job without diving into that type of work, your foot in the door with a little experience under your belt? My degree (online profile) doesn't truly reflect my capabilities! It shows some, but not all...so while all I have are the words to summarize me, and a couple of pictures...it doesn't reflect my infectious laugh or my tender touch. It does show my true love of my family and friends...nor my love of traditions, as those are things you need to see firsthand.  You can’t see my creativity or feel my energy. You just see a smiling face on a good day.  Unfortunately I think without human interaction, so much is lost in translation and in this case an online profile.   But I'm being cautiously optimistic...I’ve meet a couple of great guys...and hopefully they will get to see the things that are not on paper that reflect who I really am.  Wish me luck in finding my emergency contact! LOL.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

A Moment's Reflection to Help Me with My Manifesto...

So as much as I would like the words to just flow through me and on to paper, I am at an impasse.  I'm not sure if its because I'm not ready to adhere to a set of rules that I want to live by the rest of my life, or I just don't have the creativity to come up with something profound and thought provoking... awe inspiring, that I HAVE to live my life that way.  I think, as I learned at The Grove today, that I have to make myself vulnerable. Vulnerable to who? Myself? Probably...So I think to truly write a manifesto to the depth that I want to write it, I think I need to break down the parts of my life that have been the most difficult and trying or fulling and happy, and draw from those moments and figure out how I got there or how to not go back. 

A particular time I can reflect on my life was not only happy but trying, when I graduated from college.  How did I do it, with everything that I had going against me, how did I manage to graduate from college?  When I decided to go back to school in 1998, I was 27, with a 5yr old. I needed 88 credits and 9 years had already passed from when I left high school...the dreariness had set in...it would take forever.  But something hit me when I went back...probably seeing all of the 18 year old's with thoughts of careers and their future in their heads...and I was already in my future...with a 5yr old.  There are some fortunate and unfortunate circumstances that I was in during the time I took to graduate...one thing, I was on welfare...poor, poor, poor. I had section 8, food stamps and almost free child care. But had I not been on section 8 with only having to pay $60 a month for rent, I wouldn't have been able to go back to school full time. Had I not received food stamps and almost free child care, I wouldn't have been able to take all the classes I did at one time.  I lived on $190 a month and financial aide for 2 years...(I cant even imagine now). So some of my unfortunate circumstances allowed me to make fortunate decisions. I pride myself on the fact that I finished 88 credits, graduated with a 3.0, volunteered at a domestic violence shelter, while single handedly raising a 5yr old by myself...in 2 years.  Originally I wanted to graduate before I was 30, and then with the new millennium coming upon us,  I wanted to be apart of the first graduating class of 2000.  I lived and breathed school, taking 16-21 credits at a time, one semester going to ASU and Rio Salado at the same time because ASU wouldn't approve my taking more than 20 credits one semester. I finished my Bachelors degree in Justice Studies with a minor in Family Studies (when I was 29!)! Graduating was euphoric...I did it!

Reminiscing about those tough 2 years has definitely provided me more inspiration for writing...as I'm coming up on 40 years of life and how I want to live my life for the next 40...those 2 particular years will definitely provide me with the additional insight and motivation to finish my manifesto by February 11, 2011. 

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Looking for Help in Writing My Personal Manifesto

I am beginning to write my personal Manifesto. I am hoping to have a true draft of it before the end of the year or at the very latest end of January, with a final draft by February 10th. Writing this manifesto is something that I want to live by, and adhere to, not only do I want it to be serious, but lighthearted at times. I thought about how I can make this more unique, so I’m going to add a special component to it.  My manifesto will have 40 points mostly in part due to my celebration of my wonderful 40th birthday next year! I would also like my manifesto to have within one of 40 points, 40 subparts. Those 40 subparts will be a task that I will complete in the 39 proceeding days to the 40th one, which will commence on March 22. So my personal 40 day journey should start on February 11 and end the day I hit the big 40...which by the way is the new 20!  I have so many ideas, and thoughts that I want to incorporate into this manifesto, but I would really like some feedback from you, my fellow relatives, friends, yes, you the reader, for some suggestions for my 40 subparts.  Don’t be shy...let me know, I’d love to hear from you!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Fable of the Porcupine

 It was the coldest winter ever. -  Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together.  This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other. After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.
 Moral of the story: The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

Friday, November 5, 2010

My Favorite Photo of My Son

This picture was taken of Jaysen as he was sitting of the very edge of a cliff at the Pebble Beach Golf course's 18th hole. I love the color of the ocean, but more so Jaysen's fearless perch and his looking out there seeing who knows what.