Staying Young

Ha ha, this is definitely not my problem -

That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be twelve years old.

- Walt Disney

Nightingale-Conant has a great Word-of-the-Day type service that emails out a Motivational Quote of the Day. You may sign up for it here. This is probably my favorite -

"Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can."

- The Dalai Lama

Motivational Quote of the Day

"The difference between try and triumph is a little umph."

-Unknown

I like that.

Steve and Gandhi

My father recently handed me a transcript of Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement speech at Stanford. You may read it here or watch a video of it here.

These are some of the most powerful words I have ever read -

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Then today I received my "Motivational Quote of the Day" from Nightingale-Conant and it was one of Gandhi's -

"Live as if you were going to die tomorrow."

And here's a great tune from Tim McGraw called "Live Like You Were Dying" -



Yeah, a little heavy today. Poop is a funny word. That lightened things up a bit. Hee hee, poop.

Health = Wealth

Today's Nightingale-Conant quote of the day -

"It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."

Mahatma Gandhi

And this comes from Men's Health -

"Be as Healthy as the Wealthy"

MQOTD

"The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."

-Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

Has anyone else ever heard his middle name? Weird. I'll have to look that up now.
He seems to have been pretty ahead of his time on this point. I don't know if he really did anything about it, but I suppose he wasn't a physician so it wasn't really up to him.

On a somewhat unrelated note, there's a statue of Edison in downtown Brockton, MA where it looks like he's giving you the finger. It's pretty hilarious.

MQOTD

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

-Helen Keller

Whealth

"If you have not consciously made the decision to be rich, excellent, and healthy, then you have unconsciously made the decision to be poor, mediocre, and unhealthy."

-Wallace D. Wattles, self-help author

One of the things I like about HSAs and high deductible health plans is that they make consumers more conscious of health care issues and spending.

MQOTD

I like this. I'm a big proponent of taking pride in every little thing, though this often renders one an anal perfectionist.

"The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams."
— Og Mandino: Author, The Greatest Salesman in the World.

Smile

"You can never tell what type of impact you may make on another's life by your actions or lack of action. Sometimes just with a smile on the street to a passing stranger can make a difference we could never imagine."

-Ed Foreman, Congressman, Advisor to 5 US presidents

This is another Motivational Quote of the Day from Nightingale-Conant. It's not the most grammatically consistent statement, but this made me think. Little acts of kindness can have a dramatic effect on the world around us. On the flip side, negativity can spread and hurt more people than just the guy you flipped off while you were driving.

Wealth = Health

How perfect is this?

	"To get rich, never risk your health. For it is the truth that health is the wealth of wealth."
	— Richard Baker: American congressman.

"Health is the wealth of wealth." I really like that.

MQOTD

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today."
— Dale Carnegie

MQOTD

"The very first step to building wealth is to spend less than you make."

-Brian Koslow

Duh...I hadn't heard of the guy before being emailed this quote. It turns out he has a company called Breakthrough Coaching and he has some pretty good lines:

www.brainyquote.com

Happiness

Maxwell Maltz, author of Psycho-Cybernetics, and a pioneer in the self-help genre, had this to say:

"Emptiness is a symptom that you are not living creatively. You either have no goal that is important enough to you, or you are not using your talents and efforts in a striving toward an important goal."

[the quote comes from Nightingale-Conant's Motivational Quote a Day, to which there is a link on the right hand side of this blog]

Everyone gets down, now and then, so get up off the couch, go for a walk, paint something, visit your grandmother, write down some goals you have, or check a book out of the library.

In other news, money doesn't buy happiness, not even "stacks" of it. ThirdAge.com has an article about a recent Stony Brook University study.