Bright Little Stories

Five Ways to Feel Motivated Now

2011-09-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

1. Put on your favourite, upbeat, song and play it LOUD! (Go on, have a little boogie to it - you'll feel even more motivated)

2. Ring your bestest, most motivated friend who can always make you laugh and bounce a few ideas off her - you know she'll back you up because she believes in you almost more than you do

3. Load an inspiring or motivating audio book into your MP3 and go out for a power walk - you'll feel fit and fantastic. It doesn't have to be about motivation - it could be a biography of someone you admire or a guide to doing something you've always wanted to do.

4. Start a scrapbook of all your achievements in life so far - cut out pictures, draw a few diagrams, paste in certificates of everything from Fun Runs to first houses and then make a collage of all the achievements you want to put into your book over the next 1, 5, 10 and 15 years. Use it to help you feel motivated every day.

5. Do one thing you've been putting off RIGHT NOW! Clean that cupboard that's driving you mad, make that phone call, post that form off or check out that website and fill in the response form. The best way to feel motivated is to TAKE. ACTION. NOW.

10th Aniversary of 911 Videos

2011-09-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Has ten years really passed since the World Trade Center was attacked? For many of us it seems like yeaterday and for some it must feel like an eternity since they were with their loved ones. To quote Prince William at the Christchurch Earthquake memorial service: "Grief is the price we pay for love"

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to fulfil it
Santayana

Motivational Poem: Giving by Arthur William Beer

2011-09-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

Giving

by Arthur William Beer

To get he had tried, yet his store was still meagre

To a wise man he cried, in a voice keen and eager;

"Pray tell me how may I successfully live?"

And the wise man replied: "To get you must give."

As to giving he said, "What have I to give?"

I've scarce enough bread, and of course one must live;

But I would partake of life's bountiful store.

Came the wise man's response: "Then you must give more"

The lesson he learned; to get was forgotten

Toward mankind he turned with a love new begotten

As he gave of himself in useful living.

Then joy crowned his days, for he grew rich in giving.

Inspiration from my Silk Tree

2011-09-06T01:43:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the silk tree in the garden today. It's been completely bare since autumn - all the leaves and blossoms long gone. It's sad it has to look dead for half the year but I realised if it didn't lose it's leaves I would't get those little rays of sunshine throughout the winter in my lounge which, in the summer, is shaded by the silk tree. The tree reminded me of my goals; it still looks bare and dead but I know with a cretainty that as the weather warms and the days get longer new life will spring form the branches. Little green leaves will uncurl and fluffy pink pom pom blossoms will open. If we want to achieve our dreams, even when all hope seems gone and things look as bare as a silk tree in winter we have to hold on to the unshakable conviction that when summer comes, as it does every year, new life will burst forth from where there was nothing but bare branches.

Accountability Motivational Quotes

2011-08-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

"I must do something" always solves more problems than "Something must be done." Anon

“It is easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them.“ Alfred Adler

“Thinking well is wise; planning well, wiser; doing well wisest and best of all.” Persian Proverb

“It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.“ Sir Josiah Stamp

“God does not want us to do extraordinary things; He wants us to do ordinary things extraordinarily well.“ Bishop Gore

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.“- Moliere

“I am not bound to win
but I am bound to be true;
I am not bound to succeed
but am bound to live up
to what light I have. Abraham Lincoln

How to Survive High School: Thank You to the Bitches

2011-08-17T18:56:00.000-07:00

Thank you to the bitches in my life, you all know who you are

From the one who made my first job hell to the one who pranged my car.

You made me cry, you made me scared you made me feel frustrated

But most of all you made me think and got me motivated

You were hurting and so frightened when you tried to steal my mates

By spreading nasty rumours and mocking me to my face

You beat me and you kicked until my shins were bleeding

But the pain you felt inside didn’t go away with my beatings

You taught me that I have to fight and make a moral stand

That there are times I have to be stronger than the problem at hand

You were insecure about your friends, your brains and your looks

When you slammed me for my dress sense and outdid me in the books.

I returned to study with a vengeance and tried to make amends

The dress I wore looked nicer than yours but did it matter in the end?

I’d lost myself in girlish squabbles and silly petty fights

A lesson I learnt and never repeated now that I’ve seen the light!

You were miserable in marriage and you tried to get me fired

That kind of petty jealousy should have had me riled

But I quit my job and travelled the globe and lost 35 kilos

And two years later you were still sad and I felt like a hero

I learned that sadness and unfulfilment will eat us all alive

The only thing we’re on earth for is to set goals for us to strive

You were a micromanaging beast; a woman on a mission

And heaven help any one who crossed paths with your vision

A mini Hitler, a major pain, an overbearing ruler

You made me realise self control, efficiency and good humour!

I knew my path to success and wealth would come from your insight

Not because I’d act like you but from being the opposite

You are a man but that didn’t stop you acting like a bitch

You ruled your little kingdom like a narcissistic witch

You tormented and harassed the week, the meek and mild

And when somebody stood up to you, things turned madly wild!

You taught me bitches have many cloaks, they come in many guises

Just as we can find success in folks of all shapes and sizes

The little bitches irked and nagged, they really pushed my limits

They got right into my skin and shredded me in minutes

Most were customers, strangers on the street.

People I had never met and never want to meet

They taught me first impressions last and last was where they’d be

Good manners and self confidence are the things I like to see

I learned to value my judgement and to raise my own standards

To find people who inspired me and gave a helping hand

To all the bitches, thank you

I know you’re all still hurting

Miserable and nasty your lives are small and crumbling

If you ever want to change things and realise happiness

You should listen to the bitch that you happen to see next!

One of them might be you, as a stranger in disguise

Teaching you a lesson, making you more wise

The world gave us bitches so we could learn and grow

What can you learn today from the bitches that you know?

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

2011-08-17T00:57:00.000-07:00

Loving this mashup of inspirational speeches - 40 in 2 minutes!

Anthony Robbins Quotes

2011-08-12T02:06:00.000-07:00

Quotes from Tony Robins

A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided.

How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I'm committed to?

If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you'll achieve the same results.

It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.

In life you need either inspiration or desperation.

You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.

Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.

Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.

How I Read 10 Inspirational Books a Week!

2011-07-26T02:31:00.000-07:00

My MP3 player is my best friend - and so is my librarian! By hiring audio books from the library I'm able to "read" up to a dozen books a week while I'm walking to work, doing the groceries, ironing...you name it! I can have a clean house, fit body and dinner on the table - all while "reading" a book. Look for audio books on CD at your local library or download audio books online and load them onto your MP3 via your PC.

Today I "read" The Secret while walking to work - for a preview of the movie click here

How to Live to 100

2011-07-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

Extensive studies of 100-year olds have been performed to see what the magic "ingredients" are to reaching triple digits. Is it Omega 3? fruit and veges? lots of exercise? no smoking? low cholesterol?
Turns out it wasn't so much their physical environment that helped these centenarians live a long life but their mental one.

The three factors people over 100 have in common are:

1. A passion they actively pursue
2. The ability to get over dissapointments and tragedy in live
3. An exocentric view of life; living an interdependent life with friends and family

So if you want to see out a long and healthy life follow a passion you love, or join some classes and find a new hobby today, you'll also make more friends doing it and when tragedy strikes, as it does to us all from time to time, you'll have a strong network to lean on and help you move on to things you love - like your passion!

Inspirational Poem: If by Rudyard Kipling

2011-07-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Note: I've tweaked the editing of the poem to make it easier to read for those of you who find poetry a little challenging to read with all those broken lines!

Inspirational Poem: If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
or being hated, don't give way to hating, and yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken (to be) twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave life to, broken, and stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose and start again at your beginnings and never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a man my son.

Rudyard Kipling

Ange's notes:

I love this line:

"If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose and start again at your beginnings and never breathe a word about your loss"

becuase it's so easy for things to go wrong and waste hours complaining about it to anyone within earshot!
I now go by the rule that: "Unless a person is part of the solution to your problem, don't tell them about it! "

If only Kipling had thought to address the last line to thoses of us with ovaries to! sigh

One of my Favourite Motivational Speakers: Tony Christiansen

2011-05-27T01:06:00.000-07:00

Here's my top reasons for being inspired by Tony Christiansen:

He's a successful businessman
He's a best selling author
He's a qualified lifeguard, honoured by World Surf Lifesaving Federation despite not having legs!
He's an Olympic Gold Medallist in shot put, discus and javelin
He's a Second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do
He's Race car champion and the world's fastest amputee
He's a Qualified pilot, creating New Zealand aviation history
He's a Qualified Scuba Diver
And in December 2002, against all odds, Tony climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain.

2011-01-18T22:52:00.001-08:00

Make your own fortune cookies here...http://ping.fm/uYzfh

Best Motivational Books

2010-12-22T01:23:00.000-08:00

Dare To Dream!: 25 Extraordinary Lives

100 Ways To Motivate Yourself: Change Your Life Forever

Positive Thinking Every Day: An Inspiration for Each Day of the Year

The Success Formula For Personal Growth: 2,000 Motivational Quotes, Winning Strategies and Advice From 500 Super Successful People

Master Strategies for Higher Achievement: Set Your Goals and Reach Them - Fast! (Your Coach in a Box)

Inspirational Anonymous Quotes

2010-12-18T01:21:00.000-08:00

Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.

Only very foolish people are convinced that they are never wrong. Confess often!

Loud does not always mean right. Quiet does not always mean fearful.

What have you learned from your mistakes lately?

More Inspirational Quotes

2010-12-14T01:12:00.000-08:00

What you see depends on what you're looking for.

Life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.

John Maxwell

Children will not remember you for the material things you provided

but for the feeling that you cherished them.

Richard L. Evans

You may only be someone in the world, but to someone else, you may be the world.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Walt Emerson

Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness,heart, talent, guts.

That's what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.
Bethany Hamilton

Inspirational Poem: Be a Winner

2010-12-10T01:10:00.000-08:00

Be A Winner

The Winner is always part of the answer
The Loser is always part of the problem

The Winner always has a program
The Loser always has an excuse

The Winner says "Let me do it for you"
The Loser says "That's not my job"

The Winner sees an answer for every problem
The Loser sees a problem for every answer

The Winner sees a green near every sand trap
The Loser sees two or three sand traps near every green

The Winner says "It may be difficult but it's possible"
The Loser says "It may be possible but it's too difficult"

Purpose of Nothing

2010-12-04T01:08:00.000-08:00

Purpose in the Nothing
Days on end repeat themselves
Morning noon and night
It's nothing to get a cup of milk or
To leave on the hall light
Stacks and stacks of building blocks
Strewn about the floor
It's nothing still to pick them up
Like so many times before
And then there is the soothing touch
Or word that brings new light
To a hurting, anxious, growing child
Who simply does not like the night
Cooking, shopping, bills to pay
Folding clothes forever it seems
The rain and snow keeps seasoning by
But dormant lie my dreams
Pointless, dull, routine, the same
My soul withers to empty
Only a tiny, hoping flicker remains
In the tomb my heart surrenders
A voice in the dark rings true and bold
'You have no need to wonder.
Don't you know you carried my name
Each time you fed the hunger?
And when the pain of an injured hand
Filled their eyes with tears
You touched the wounds with healing balm
You brought heaven near
Tasks that had to be done
Routine is your daily fight
It has become a root system of dependency
From which seedlings can take flight
It's all in the thought of things
And know that it is 'something'
You are my vessel of bonds unconditional
When you find purpose in the nothing'

Inspirational Quotes from Depak Chopra

2010-11-28T00:43:00.000-08:00

The secret of attraction is to love yourself. Attractive people judge neither themselves nor others. They are open to gestures of love. They think about love, and express their love in every action. They know that love is not a mere sentiment, but the ultimate truth at the heart of the universe.

You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices

Our thinking and our behaviour are always in anticipation of a response. It is therefore fear-based

The Ambitious Violet

2010-11-20T00:30:00.000-08:00

There was a beautiful and fragrant violet who lived placidly amongst her friends. One morning, as her crown was embellished with beads of dew, she lifted her head and looked about; she saw a tall and handsome rose standing proudly and reaching high into space.

The violet opened her blue lips and said, "What an unfortunate am I among these flowers, and how humble is the position I occupy in their presence! Nature has fashioned me to be short and poor.... I live very close to the earth and I cannot raise my head toward the blue sky, or turn my face to the sun, as the roses do."

And Nature heard the conversation of the violet and the rose; she approached and said, "What has happened to you, my daughter violet? You have been humble and sweet in all your deeds and words. Has greed entered your heart and numbed your senses?" In a pleading voice, the violet answered her, saying, "Oh great and merciful mother, full of love and sympathy, I beg you, with all my heart and soul, to grant my request and allow me to be a rose for one day."

And Nature responded, "you know not what you are seeking; you are unaware of the concealed disaster behind your blind ambition, I will grant your request. But if calamity befalls you, your complaint must be to yourself."

And Nature stretched forth and touched the roots of the violet, who immediately turned into a tall rose; rising above all other flowers in the garden.

At eventide the sky became thick with black clouds, and the raging elements disturbed the silence of existence with thunder, and commenced to attack the garden. It tore the branches and uprooted the plants and broke the stems of the tall flowers, sparing only the little ones who grew close to the friendly earth.

When the storm calmed and the sky cleared, all the flowers were laid waste and none of them had escaped the wrath of Nature except the clan of small violets, hiding by the wall of the garden.
Having lifted her head and viewed the tragedy of the flowers and trees, one of the violet maidens smiled happily and called to here companions, saying, "See what the tempest has done to the haughty flowers!" Another violet said, "We are small, and live close to the earth, but we are safe from the wrath of the skies." And a third one added, "Because we are poor in height the tempest is unable to subdue us."

At that moment the queen of violets saw by her side the converted violet, hurled to earth by the storm and distorted upon the wet grass like a limp soldier in a battle field. The queen of the violets lifted her head and called to her family, saying, "Look, my daughters, and meditate upon that which Greed has done to the violet who became a proud rose for one hour. Let the memory of this scene be a reminder of your good fortune."

The dying rose quietly said: "You are contended and meek dullards; I have never feared the tempest. Yesterday I, too, was satisfied and contented with Life, but Contentment has acted as a barrier between my existence and the tempest of Life, confining me to a sickly and sluggish peace and tranquility of mind.
I could have lived the same life you are living now by clinging with fear to the earth.... I could have waited for winter to shroud me with snow and deliver me to Death, who will surely claim all violets.... I am happy now because I have probed outside my little world into the mystery of the Universe.... something which you have not yet done. I could have overlooked Greed, whose nature is higher than mine, but as I hearkened to the silence of the night, I heard the heavenly world talking to this earthly world, saying, 'Ambition beyond existence is the essential purpose of our being.' At that moment my spirit revolted and my heart longed for a position higher than my limited existence. I realized that the abyss cannot hear the song of the stars, and at that moment I commenced fighting against my smallness and craving for that which did not belong to me, until my rebelliousness turned into a great power, and my longing into a creating will.... Nature, who is the great object of our deeper dreams, granted my request and changed me into a rose with her magic fingers."
The rose became silent for a moment, and in a weakening voice, mingled with pride and achievement, she said, "I have lived one hour as a proud rose; I have existed for a time like a queen; I have looked at the Universe from behind the eyes of the rose; I have heard the whisper of the firmament through the ears of the rose and touched the folds of Light's garment with rose petals. Is there any here who can claim such honor?" Having this spoken, she lowered her head, and with a choking voice he gasped, "I shall die now, for my souls has attained its goal. I have finally extended my knowledge to a world beyond the narrow cavern of my birth. This is the design of Life.... This is the secret of Existence." Then the rose quivered, slowly folded her petals, and breathed her last with a heavenly smile upon her lips... a smile of fulfillment of hope and purpose in Life... a smile of victory...

Motivational Video

2010-11-16T00:28:00.000-08:00

Success: Motivational Video

Persistence

2010-11-12T00:27:00.000-08:00

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than
unsuccessful people with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve
the problems of the human race.

Calvin Coolidge

Inpirational Poem: Come to the Edge

2010-11-08T00:23:00.000-08:00

Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
Come to the edge!
And they came,
and he pushed,
and they flew.

Christopher Logue

Inspirational Story: Jackie Chan

2010-11-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

Jackie Chan’s parents could not afford to feed him when he was a baby. They considered selling him for US$26 to the English obstetrician who delivered him. At the tender age of 7, Jackie was apprenticed at the infamous Academy of Chinese Opera. For more than 10 years from 5am to midnight, seven days a week, he endured a brutal program of music, dance and traditional martial arts training.
The training he received was particularly harsh and cruel. The students was beaten and starved for not performing up to par. Later he appeared in some early Hong Kong films as a stunt man and worked his way up to stunt coordinator, then to director.
When Bruce Lee died, Jackie, along with many others were picked to filled the vacuum. Jackie failed miserably.
“Very hard, very hard,” he said, “So instead of trying to be Bruce Lee, I decided to be myself.”
Jackie was born to be “Steve” who was later changed to Jack Chan. Later, Raymond Chow, a director changed it to “Jackie Chan”. His first big break came in 1978 with the movie “Snake In Eagle’s Shadow”.
Today, Jackie is indisputably Hong Kong’s biggest movie star and is currently making big in US too. Jackie’s fees are up to US$50 million a year!

Inspirational Photo

2010-10-30T00:21:00.000-07:00