I was very shy about letting anyone know what I wrote.
by Jonathan Hilton
I was scared to death! Petrified! White knuckle, grab a hold of something, close your eyes and scream scared of what other people would think of my writing. So much so, I really hesitated to ever show it to anyone. I had one friend who I would “let” read what I thought. They were very safe and supportive.
Finally after a bit of coaxing, I started to take a few tentative steps out into the world of blogging. It was a world that is very strange to me, I just never realized how many other people write and share their work. What an amazing discovery this world has been. It is a world of dynamic personalities, interesting thoughts and great knowledge.
I was pensive at first because I am careful by nature I guess, and looked at a few blogs, and finally got up my courage to leave a couple of comments. I was amazed that not only did most of the blogs I commented on read my comments but they replied back!
I read another bloggers account of reading spam and pretending that it was real interaction, because at least it felt like someone had read my thoughts. That was me for sure. So getting actual feedback from real people was like winning the Super Bowl!
Thank you so much for following one of my blogs in any way!!
Other people actually read what I wrote. What a great feeling! Now even though I have never met in person any of these people, their stories and writing is a vital part of my daily life.
Finish a job at work, sneak over and see what is happening in the blog world. See a story that inspires, a video that puts me in awe, or a picture that makes me scared of reptiles. What ever it is generally, specifically I am inspired. Creativity comes from this inspiration and I want to express my gratitude for those who have followed me in as special a way as I can!!!
Thank you so much for making my life a richer experience. I placed each person in a random order because I love all of you so very much. If I forgot anyone it is not because you are not in my heart, because you are, it is because I somehow missed you!
A reading list is quite important. Over my recent history, I have been on a mission of learning, a quest to improve myself and to understand why life works the way that it does. I wish that I knew the wisest man in the world, who could simply relay all of the vital information I need to know to me. Unfortunately, I don’t think that person exists, and I don’t think that the experience would be quite as vital or memorable as it has been. I have traveled many miles in the distance of understanding and followed many paths by using only my mind and my reading list. The vehicle which has allowed me to do this has been the gift of literacy and the knowledge imparted to me from the wisest people who have ever thought thoughts. I wanted to compile a list of all of the books I have read that have contributed to my journey of self discovery. So that if you are looking for knowledge you will find out if you need to read these books or not.
The Four Agreements- Don Miguel Ruiz
The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho
Identity- Stedman Graham
Inflection- Window for and Inspired life- George Alexiou
That is That- Nirmala
Give up your Excess Baggage- Sri Vishwanth
More Reading list
Succeed Yourself- Richard Denny
Shortcut to Happiness- Robert Baohm
Love is the Answer- Ayne Blythe
I Forgive You: Why You Should Always forgive- Eric Watterson
8 Laws of Karma- Sri Vishwanath
Hijacking the Mind- Sri Vishwanath
I am – Stephen Shaw
Reprogram Your Subconscious- Kelly Wallace
Experience the Now- Sullins Stewart
The Power of Visualization- Sri Vishwanath
Butterflies Are Free to fly- Stephen Davis
Lucky You- How to Get Everything ou Want and Create Your Ideal Life Using the Law of Attraction By David Hooper
The Hidden Power- By Thomas Troward
Attaining Your Desires – Genevieve Hehrend
Even More Reading List
The Trusteeship of Life- William George Jordan
Thoughts are Things – Prentice Mulford
The Power of Concentration- Theron Q. Dumont
The Success System that Never Fails by William Clement Stone
Secret of the Ages – Robert Collier
The Rich Switch – David Hooper
Meditation for Dummies- Stephan Bodian
Mastery of Self for Wealth Power Success- Frank Channing Haddock
How to Succeed or Stepping Stones to Fame and Fortune By Orison Swett Marden
The Untroubled Mind by Herbert J.Hall
Your Invisible Power by Genevieve Behrend
The Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons by Napoleon Hill
Your word is your Wand- Florence Scoval Shinn
The Secret Door To Success- Florence Scoval Shinn
Nothing Personal:Seeing Beyond the Illusion of a Separate Self – Nirmala
The Power of Being Different: A Success Formula- John Paul Carinci
The Heart of Abundance: A Simple Guide To Appreciating and Enjoying Life – Candy Pauli
Trusting Life: Overcoming the Fear and Beliefs that Block Peace and Happiness – Gina Lake
The Secret Door To Success- Florence Scovel Shinn
How to succeed or Stepping Stones To Fame and Fortune -Orison Swett Marden
Mastery of Self For Wealth Power Success – Frank C. Haddock
I Forgive You: Why You Should Always- (The Path to Forgiveness) -Eric Watterson
Three Steps To Enlightenment – Gary Rutz
Cheerfulness As a Life Power – Orison Swett Marden
Beautiful Thoughts – Henry Drummond
The Art of Zen Meditation – Howard Fast
Being Happy – David Tuffley
Character – Samuel Smiles
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance -Andrew Holmes
Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nature – Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Reading List Continues
7 Ancient Keys to Happiness- A 90 Day, Lesson-a-Day Guide to Achieving inner-Bliss -S. Mills
Think and Grow Rich- Napoleon Hill
Frank Betther’s How I Raised Myself from Failure To Success (infinite Success Series)- Karen McCreadie
An Easy Guide to Meditation – Roy Eugene Davis
Ask, Believe, Receive- 7 Days to Increased Wealth, Bett3r Relationships, and a Life You Love- David Hooper
Thought Vibration- William Walker Atkinson
The Secret Art of Self Development – Karl Moore
Quantum Success- Sandra Anne Taylor
18 Rules of Happiness: How to Be Happy -Karl Moore
Frequency- Penney Peirce
The God Formula: A Simple Scientific Blueprint that has transformed Millions of lives – Jeffery Martin
Leveraging The Universe- Mike Dooley
Believe in Yourself – Joseph Murphy
The Game of Life and How to play it- Florence Scovel Shinn
Your Invisible Power – Genevieve Behrend
Thoughts are Things- Prentice Mulford
Radical Happiness- Gina Lake
Secret of the Ages- Robert Collier
The Power of Concentration- Theron Q. Dumont
This is still an incomplete list, but will do for anyone who wants to get started on the path to knowledge and understanding this reading list will give you a push in the right direction.
Quotes for a happy Friday. One of the great things about life is that it always shows you situations that challenge you and force you to react. Quite possibly for you, it is the first time that you have experienced this particular emotion or activity. The best thing is that almost without exception, someone, somewhere in the history of mankind has had a similar experience and felt exactly how you felt about it. Even better many of these people wrote their experiences down for you and memorialized their thoughts for eternity, or at least for as long as people have been able to read. I wanted to include some inspirational quotes that might help you get through a Friday afternoon, or Saturday, or Sunday or whatever day you choose to read this on. I am putting them all on here just for you, so enjoy them!
Quotes for a Happy Friday part 1
A ship is safe in harbor…..But that’s not what ships were built for. – William Shed
There is nothing either good or bad…..But thinking makes it so.– William Shakespeare
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become. – Buddha
The cave you most fear to enter contains the greatest treasure. – Joseph Campbell
Life is not measured by its length, but by its depth. – Anonymous
If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it. – William A Ward
Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning. – Joseph Campbell
There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it. – Napoleon Hill
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, make them. -George Bernard Shaw
Quotes for a Happy Friday part 2
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Winston Churchill
Put yourself in a state of mind where you say to yourself, “here is an opportunity for me to celebrate like never before, my own power, my own ability to get myself to do whatever is necessary.“- Martin Luther King, Jr.
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. – Buddha
I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. That’s where the fun is. – Donald Drumpf
I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. – Jimmy Dean
I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think. – Rumi
The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it. – John Ruskin
Men are born to succeed, not to fail. – Henry David Thoreau
I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest. -Muhammad Ali
Happiness is not having what you want. It is wanting what you have. – Unknown
Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.– Dale Carnegie
The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don’t have. -Woody Allen
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.-Yogi Berra
Fortune favors the bold. – Virgil
He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe. – Marcus Aurelius
If you haven’t got charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble. -Bob Hope
It is not length of life, but depth of life. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Everything that happens, happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so. –Marcus Aurelius
Act as if it were impossible to fail. -Dorothea Brande
If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. – Napoleon Hill
Quotes for a Happy Friday Part 3
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. -Maria Robinson
The future depends on what we do in the present. -Mahatma Gandhi
Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today. – James Dean
Attain to the place where no one and no thing can disturb you. -Lester Levenson
When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. – Helen Keller
In the hopes of reaching the moon, men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.- Albert Schweitzer
All the world’s a stage, and the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances: And one man in his time plays many parts. – William Shakespeare
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you’re heading. -Lao Tzu
History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. – Winston Churchill
“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” – Unknown
“My life is my message.” – Gandhi
I hope these quotes for a happy Friday make your day great.
On this page you will find some quotes that I like, I like to think of them as Words of Wisdom, for myself and any who read them. I am continually adding to them as I come across new ones that I feel are significant to my own experience, and gladly share them with you. Hopefully I will provide you with some new quotes to like. There are so many windows into the lives of those that have gone before us, they have experienced what we are experiencing now, know what we need to know and many of them have saved their quotes for us to enjoy and learn from. I wanted to share some of the words which I have found helpful over time. These Inspirational Quotes, I hope will inspire you to follow your dreams to whatever destiny is in front of you.
“Set a goal to achieve something that is so big, so exhilarating that it excites you and scares you at the same time. It must be a goal that is so appealing, so much in line with your spiritual core, that you can’t get it out of your mind. If you do not get chills when you set a goal, you’re not setting big enough goals.”-Bob Proctor
“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”-Albert Schweitzer
More Words of Wisdom
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” –Melody Beattie
“The way to know life is to love many things.” –Vincent Van Gogh
“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon….must inevitably come to pass.”Paul J. Meyer
“If we are growing, we are constantly going to be out of our comfort zone.” John Maxwell
“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” Norman Vincent Peale
“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.” Henry David Thoreau
“When life gives you lemons, please, just don’t squirt them into other people’s eyes.” J. Andrew Helt
“I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly and acutely miserable, but through it all I still know that just to be alive is a grand thing.”Agatha Christie
Words of Wisdom
“It is better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” Abraham Lincoln
“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” John Wooden
“Between you and every goal that you wish to achieve, there is a series of obstacles, and the bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacles. Your decision to be, have and do something out of the ordinary entails facing difficulties and challenges that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else.” -Brian Tracy
“People are just as happy as they make their minds up to be.”Abraham Lincoln
“Goals are a means to an end, not the ultimate purpose of our lives. They are simply a tool to concentrate our focus and move us in a direction. The only reason we really pursue goals is to cause ourselves to expand and grow. Achieving goals by themselves will never make us happy in the long term; it’s who you become, as you overcome the obstacles necessary to achieve your goals, that can give you the deepest and most long-lasting sense of fulfillment.” -Anthony Robbins
“Whatever you are, be a good one.” Abraham Lincoln
“Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture…. Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.” -Norman Vincent Peale
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln
“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend.” Abraham Lincoln
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. Benjamin Franklin
Even more words of Wisdom
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
Helen Keller
Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will.
Jawaharal Nehru
Life is like the dice that, falling, still show a different face. So life, though it remains the same, is always presenting different aspects. Alexis
Our life’s a stage, a comedy: either learn to play and take it lightly, or bear its troubles patiently.
Palladas
The geat blessing of mankind are within us and within our reach; but we shut our eyes, and like people in the dark, we fall foul upon the very thing we search for, without finding it.
Seneca
(7 B.C. – 65 A.D.)
Govern thy life and thoughts as if the whole world were to see the one, and read the other. Thomas Fuller
Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life, in all ranks and situations, is an outward occupation, an actual and active work. W. Humboldt
Unrest of spirit is a mark of life; one problem after another presents itself and in the solving of them we can find our greatest pleasure.
Kal Menninger
Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult. Hypocrites
After the game,
the king and the pawn go into the same box.
Italian Proverb
The acts of this life are the destiny of the next. Eastern Proverb
Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think.
La Bruyere
Life is like a library owned by the author.
In it are a few books which he wrote himself,
but most of them were written for him. Harry Emerson Fosdick
We make our fortunes, and we call them fate.
Earl of Beaconsfield
The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.
Elbert Hubbard
Life’s a voyage that’s homeward bound. Herman Melville
The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it.
Plutarch
Life is variable. Plautus
Life is a rich strain of music, suggesting a realm too fair to be.
George William Curtis
I made my life my monument.
Ben Johnson
The boundaries which divide life from death
are at best shadowy and vague.
Who shall say where one ends,
and the other begins? Edgar Alan Poe
One way to get the most out of life is
to look upon it as an adventure.
William Feather
Life without endeavor is like entering a jewel mine and coming out with empty hands. Japanese Proverb
Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. Ralph Waldo Emerson
There are no classes in life for beginners: right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult. Rainer Maria Rilke
To live is like to love–all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it.
Samuel Butler
One life – a little gleam of time between two eternities. Thomas Carlyle
Life is a pure flame,
and we live by an invisible sun within us.
Sir Thomas Brown
As I grow to understand life less and less,
I learn to love it more and more.
Jules Renard
There are many motivating things that I have come across over that past two years, and one of the most motivating people of the last half of the 20th century has been Muhammad Ali, championship boxer.
Not because he was a great boxer, but because he transcended boxing and provided inspiration that can be applied to every day life.
It doesn’t really matter what your goals are or what you really want to accomplish, if you believe in yourself like Ali did, you will have an excellent chance of achieving your goals. I publish his affirmations with a sense of pride, because I know “How Great I Am.”
I am sure that Ali never thought that his thoughts from so long ago would ever amount to anything more than motivation for the fight he was about to undertake. He even admitted himself that he was trying to convince himself and everybody else that he was the greatest, if he said it often enough and loud enough, people would start to believe him.
This is true to all of us, if you say how great you are, and believe it, you will be!
Below is the most motivational video of all time. Watch it and you will feel that there is nothing you can’t do.
One of his poems The Legend of Cassius Clay:
This is the legend of Cassius Clay,
I Am The Greatest
The most beautiful fighter in the world today.
He talks a great deal, and brags indeed-y,
Of a muscular punch that’s incredibly speed-y.
The fistic world was dull and weary,
But with a champ like Liston, things had to be dreary.
Then someone with color and someone with dash,
Brought fight fans are runnin’ with Cash.
This brash young boxer is something to see
and the heavyweight championship is his destiny.
This kid’s got a left, this kid’s got a right,
If he hit you once, you’re asleep for the night.
Ali provided the examples of great personal affirmations that anyone can use to help motivate them to accomplish any thing.
After defeating Sonny Liston the most feared fighter of his time, this affirmation was spoken:
“I knew I had him in the first round.Almighty God was with me. I want everyone to bear witness, I am the greatest! I’m the greatest thing that ever lived. I don’t have a mark on my face, and I upset Sonny Liston, and I just turned twenty-two years old. I must be the greatest. I showed the world. I talk to God everyday. I know the real God. I shook up the world, I’m the king of the world. You must listen to me. I am the greatest! I can’t be beat!”
Before fighting Ernie Terrell in 1967 Ali let the world know what he thought of his opponent.
I think Terrell will catch hell at the sound of the bell.
He’s going around saying that he’s a championship-fighter,
but when he meets me he fall 20 pound lighter.
He thinks that he’s the real heavy weight champ
but when he meets me, he’ll just be a tramp
Now I’m not sayin’ just to be funny, but I’m fightin’ Ernie because he needs the money
Last night I had a dream, When I got to Africa, I had one hell of a rumble. I had to beat Tarzan’s behind first, For claiming to be King of the Jungle. For this fight, I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning And throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick. I’m so fast, man, I can run through a hurricane and don’t get wet. When George Foreman meets me, He’ll pay his debt. I can drown the drink of water, and kill a dead tree. Wait till you see Muhammad Ali.
Muhammad Ali was the greatest because he not only professed his ability and went on to back it up, he also led the way for all people, everywhere, if you truly believe that you are the best, the greatest and you will succeed, then there is no power on the face of the Earth that can stop you from achieving and experiencing your greatness. How Great I am!
Other Muhammad Ali quotes I like.
I’m retiring because there are more pleasant things to do than beat up people.
Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head.
Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wildlife.
It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ’em out, I pick the round
Since I won’t let the critics seal my fate, they keep hollering I’m full of hate. But they don’t really hurt me none, ’cause I’m doing good and having fun.
Conclusion:
There is no person alive who can tell you that you are not capable. There is no person alive who can tell you that you don’t have the talent. There is no person alive who can tell you you are no good, washed up, a loser….only you can tell yourself these things. You have the talent to be the greatest at whatever it is that you decide to do. You simply have to believe how great you are, fight all the critics, enjoy the journey and in the end you will be The Greatest.
In life there aren’t many experiences which bring large numbers of positive people into your life at once. Each person making a lasting impact on you, whether it is big or small. If you are a reader of this blog, then you have noticed my absence recently.
The great crew from camp after an unexpected dip in the lake. It cost me a phone but it was well worth it.
I had great intentions of being able to keep writing while working the hours that this great experience requires for the short-term. Unfortunately life has gotten in the way, and my intermittent contributions will have to do until the middle of August.
Inspiration comes from life, and I think that to live your life to the fullest and gather the lessons that each day has to teach, you need other people in it. There is a sign in my current office which I did not put there, but it serves to remind me about the impact that people have. It states. “Everyone brings joy to this office. Some when they enter. Some when they leave. ” I have found these words to be true.
My current occupation is as an administrator at a small summer camp in Maine. It is a fantastic place, and the staff that works here consists of tremendous young people. I often hear people complain about the younger generation and the fact that they lack work ethic or morals. I would challenge them to spend a day with the counselors at our camp. You would be bowled over by character, determination, hard work and just plain decency. They are all good kids who contribute greatly to the successful running of the camp.
Selfishly, the influx of all of these great people has made me a better person. All people get down, and need an encouraging word from time to time. Without even knowing that they are doing it, almost without exception this group of young people has encouraged me daily, and inspired me not only to advocate for them, but to remember my younger self and the dreams and inspiration that come along with it.
Often times as life moves along we tend to minimize the number of people in our lives as we become set in our ways and interests. I know that I have been less likely to venture out of that comfort zone to stretch to try new things. This entire experience has been a stretch and a growing experience. I know that it is only for a short season, which gives me the strength to carry on through all difficult circumstances and also reminds me to cherish the moments that do come along.
Each and every person in this adventure, those that are here and those that have moved on have made an incredible impact on my life in a very short time. From the owners to the girl who washes the clothes. I am truly lucky to have been able to be impacted by these great people. I am sure that just as quickly as we all came together, we will all separate at the end of the summer, but the memories of this experience will last with me for the rest of my life.
If you could choose one book as a mandatory read for all high school students, which book would you choose?
Any Book by William George Jordan!
by Jonathan Hilton Day 33
To find a great work of literature that would be appropriate for a high school curriculum would be easy, but my own opinion is that I should choose a book that will foster thought as well as provide a guide on life.
Too much of our school curriculum are designed to teach people how to perform tomorrow, ignoring the here and now.
My choice provides a lot of guidance and information rolled into one fantastic package. Self Control, Its Kingship and Majesty by William George Jordan provides readers with the motivation and inspiration to reach to become better people and to try to understand life that is happening in the here and now. Everyone in the world should read this book and here is why.
Sparks In My Mind
In my own life there have been a lot of important moments and accomplishments, that at the time meant something wonderful. My journey into thought and actually becoming more aware began the day I started to read this book. I had never heard of William George Jordan, most people never have, but that does not make his words any less powerful to digest.
My mind was like an old mansion with a lot of dust on the furniture and cobwebs all over the place because it had never been properly used up to its capacity. The reading of this book was like throwing the windows open and allowing the first cleaning crews in to make the place presentable.
This power of words, has led to further investigation and expansion, that seems to have no end, nor do I want it to. Yet this entire journey would not have been possible without the key the thoughts of William George Jordan gifted to me a hundred years after it was originally published.
Good Seeds Lead to Strong Crops
In any mind, especially the young, what you put into them is going to have a distinct influence on what you are able to yield out of them. Playing video games and watching television are not going to permanently harm anyone, but there is not a lot of thought stimulated by these activities.
Reading this book, really reading and thinking would change lives and allow students to take their minds further, because there is great advice for how to live. This Guidance applies to life today as well as it did to life at the beginning of the 20th Century.
These seeds of thought would be planted and for some they would grow quick and for others it might take years, but if young minds are exposed to high ideas these ideas can’t have anything but a positive effect on people.
Ideas That Transcend Time
The thoughts and writings of William George Jordan really do apply to today as much as they did in 1907. Thinking well of others and becoming aware of how you think are the kinds of Thoughts that will resonate with all people at all times.
For me, I had never comprehended that how I thought was affecting my life and if I didn’t like what was happening in my life then I had to make changes in the way that I was thinking. The idea that I had control over this thought process was empowering and has been the basis of my personal growth.
If I had never read this book, I am not sure that would have happened. Another theme was the crime of the tongue, how gossip is demeaning to all.
Jordan not only states this but goes on to explain in detail why it is so. Another great one is how blind allegiance to duty is not only foolish but unhealthy. Blindly following anything without questioning is not a good way to live your life.
There are many great thoughts like this that I may have heard of before but never had explained to me in an appropriate way. These lessons resonated and pounded my brain like a bell tolling. Think! Think! Think! The dignity of self-reliance, Think! Worry the great American disease, think! Syndicating our sorrows, think! Failure as success, think! The royal road to happiness, think! There is a weight in these thoughts that stays in your mind.
It touched my Soul and Still Does
So many books I have read since that time and learned a lot of different ideas and studied philosophies of life but none had the impact on me personally as the collection of books written by William George Jordan.
It is great advice, great motivation and also inspiration. I feel like the first step that I had in the journey to actively become a better human being stared the moment I started to read the words in this book.
It could only have a positive impact on the lives of others and the best part is that you can get his books digitally for next to nothing.
This is the greatest bargain in the history of man. Incredible knowledge at your disposal and it doesn’t cost a thing.
If you could choose one book as a mandatory read for all high school students, which book would you choose?
It has long been one of my long standing beliefs that people come into your life for a reason and you merely need to allow things to play out to find out why. Sometimes they come in to stay for awhile, and some times they just pop in teach you something and then disappear on down the line.
I have been doing a super secret writing project with Hope Rose of Hope is Something You Can’t Live Without, well at least it is super, not really all that secret. I wanted to take a moment and evaluate our progress. She wanted to write and needed a little push, and I always like projects. So I devised the rules which looking at I have broken all the time, but I never liked rules anyway.
Rules of The Project
Hope writes like a dancing machine. Cheap use of the prompt but a use none the less.
I will provide you with a prompt each day.
You will have a reasonable time to post something,using any creative medium you want, along with your writing. You can take pictures, you can draw pictures, you can paint pictures, you make macaroni pictures, or you can take them from Google, videos from youtube, whatever expresses what you feel inside. I will also complete the assignment. The commitment is for 30 days, that means until March 9.
But there must be writing that answers the prompt.
So we started this journey of very few rules and no real idea of what would come out of it. I am not sure if I expected to write like I was some sort of dancing machine or what, but it has been interesting. I have enjoyed it and I hope that Hope has as well. There are still ten days left as far as I can tell because we missed a few and I see more writing on hope’s blog then there were prompts. But I may be mistaken which one goes with which.
So here are the prompts so far and links to our answers:
Inspiration comes from who we see and what we experience every day.
by Jonathan Hilton
The more I look for topics to write about and expound upon, the more my writing process comes clearly into my mind. I write best when I have someone specifically in mind to write about, because it is like I am explaining my thoughts or emotions to them, or that I am giving them advice. Often I know the advice would never be received directly, so I just give it on the pages of my writing.
Since these people of inspiration are all around me, they may not even know that I have been inspired by them. I can look at almost every one of the approximately 200 articles I have written on this website and remember clearly the lesson or situation that prompted the thoughts or feelings that caused me to put it to paper. This clearly shows me that people do not recognize the impact that they have on others just by living life as an example.
As we approach the new year of 2013 I am endeavoring to dig deeper into those relationships that I have had in the past to wring out the valuable experiences that I have been fortunate to experience in my lifetime. That means that if you have ever met me than you will probably be the motivation for some piece of writing that I have done in the past or I will do over the next year or two.
All things create stories in your mind, all you have to do is tell them.
I have never mentioned a name or directed a thought directly at someone because my intention is not to publicize anyone’s short comings or problems. I simply have had experiences with people in my life that have taught me lessons from their positive actions or from their negative behavior. Each situation has value, it is just much more fun to remember the positive, and often more valuable to recall the negative behavior some have displayed.
What this means as we head into a new year is that I am going to be writing and publishing a lot of material over the next year and when you read it, you just might see something of yourself in that writing. I am grateful in advance for all of the experiences and looking forward to sharing them in the future. It is definitely true that there is inspiration all around us and all we have to do is look for it, to find it.
I am planning on continually publishing articles about inspiration, but I am also going to be sharing short stories from all aspects of my youth, because they were great and they helped make me what I am today. I can not wait to get started.
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