Ella Winter

"Choose well: your choice is brief and yet endless."

— Ella Winter

Australian Journalist, Author 

1898 - 1980

I believe everything we do in life is a choice and that we need to take responsibility for our actions and not blame others.  The challenge is to make the right choices or at least to make choices.  When I graduated from college I was afraid to choose a direction to my life.  I didn't know what I wanted to do.  If I went down the wrong path it would be a disaster.  What I have learned is that the choices I made have led me where I need to be.  The challenge is to choose.  If you keep choosing you will eventually end up where you are supposed to be.  If you don't choose and let life happen, you may end up where you don't want to be.

Many people blame others for the circumstances in which they find themselves.  They are what I call "IF ONLY THINKERS."  They preface everything with the phrase: if only.  If only I had more money.  If only I had a college education.  If only my boss liked me.  If only I had better parents.  If only....If only....If only....

Usually we only have a short time to make a decision before the door closes and the opportunity passes.  Sometimes the opportunity will come around again and other times it won't.  I once had an opportunity to work for a trade magazine but I turned it down because I was happy with the job I had.  And the opportunity to work for a trade journal never came around again.  I sent out resumes, but noone responded.  I don't know how my life would have been different if I had accepted the position, but I have no regrets.  I am satisfied with the life I have lived.

The choices we make often send us in directions we never imagined.  New opportunities arise for us to seize.  Each choice we make leads us closer to where we are supposed to be.  We make a life by making choices.  What choices are you making today that will open up new doors for you tomorrow?

Robert M. Persig

"To live only for some future goal is shallow.  It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top."

— Robert M. Pirsig

American Writer

1928 - 

Those of us who set goals sometimes get so caught up in the goal that we live only in tomorrow's world and forget about today.  We think that when we publish our first book or sell our first painting that everything will be perfect.  The future that we imagine is never what we thought it would be.  We still carry the negative baggage that we have today into the future.  If we have marital problems today, we probably will still have them tomorrow.  We need to learn to live with ourselves no matter what our living conditions are.  Whether we are poor or rich, we are still the same person.  If we are unhappy when we are poor, we will be unhappy when we are rich.  Learn to be happy now.  Enjoy the moment.

Have you stopped to smell the roses today?  Spring is just around the corner and the hard winter of 2011 is sliding out the door.  Are you finding joy in the moment?  Have you seen the first robins or the red-wing blackbirds?  Have you given those you love a hug and told them that you love them?  Take a walk today.  Taste the wind on your lips.  Smell the fresh air.  Dance with the rain drops.

Goals are important but they should not dominate our lives to the point that we ignore the beauty around us.  Don't live in the future because it has not come yet.  Don't live in the past because it has already gone.  Live in the moment where you are.  Love yourself for who you are now.

Milton Berle

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."

—  Milton Berle

American Comedian & Actor

1908 - 2002

Many times we have to make our own opportunities.  People often complain that they were not given a chance.  They fall into "If Only" thinking: "If only I could have gone to school."  "If only my boss would have promoted me."  "If only my parents loved me."  If only. . . . If only. . . .  If only. . . .  If you are going to achieve your dreams and accomplish your goals, you must move beyond "If Only" thinking to "Opportunity" thinking.  You must build your own doors and knock on them.

What doors can you build today that you can knock on tomorrow?  Building the door to opportunity does not just happen by accident.  It takes hard work, belief in oneself and persistence.