15 Of My Best Life Quotes Of All Time

1. Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you're going to live your life - Joel Osteen.

2. If you don't like the road you are walking, start paving another one - Dolly Parton.

3. Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again - Og Mandino.

4. To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone - Reba McEntire.

5. Life's most persistent and urgent question is, '"What are you doing for others?" - Martin Luther King Jnr.

6. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it - Ronald Dahl.

7. Things are always better in the morning - Harper Lee.

8. Anyone who has ever made anything of importance, was disciplined - Andrew Hendrixson.

9. The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

10. Don't live the same year 75 times and call it a life - Robin Sharma.

11. The grass is greener where you water it - Neil Barringham.

12. Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving - Albert Einstein.

13. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough - Mae West

14. A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song - Maya Angelou

15. In the end, it is not the years in your life that count, it is the life in your years - Abraham Lincoln.

8 Little Wake-Up Calls You Need to Receive Before it’s Too Late

1. You might not have tomorrow to say, “I love you.”
About a decade ago a coworker of mine died in a car accident. During his funeral several people from the office were in tears, saying kind things like: “I loved him. We all loved him so much. He was such a wonderful person.” I started crying too, and I wondered if these people had told him that they loved him while he was alive, or whether it was only with death that this powerful word, love, had been used without question or hesitation. I vowed to myself then and there that I would never again hesitate to speak up to the people I love and remind them of how much I appreciate them. They deserve to know they give meaning to my life. They deserve to know I think the world of them. Bottom line: If you love someone today, tell them. If you appreciate someone today, tell them. There might not be a tomorrow. Today is the day to express your love and admiration.

2. Your judgments of others are often inaccurate.
You will never know exactly what another person is going through or what their whole story is. When you believe you do, realize that your assumptions about their life are in direct relation to your limited perspective. Many people you believe to be successful are extremely unhappy. Many people you think have it easy worked their tail off achieve what they have. Many people who appear to be wealthy are in debt because of their extravagant tastes for material possessions. Many people who appear to you to be old and uncool were once every bit as young and hip and inexperienced as you.

3. Not trying is why most people fail.
It’s not the mistakes and failures you have to worry about, it’s the opportunities you miss when you don’t even try that hurt you the most. Trying always leads to success regardless of the outcome. Even mistakes and failures teach you what not to do next time. Thus, every outcome is a lesson that makes you stronger and wiser. In the end, there’s only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the failure to try. The results you achieve are not based on what you plan to do or what you say you’ll do. Your results come from what you actually try and do consistently. Your life will get better when you get better. Start investing in yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually. Make it a priority to learn and grow every day by building positive rituals and sticking to them. The stronger you become, the better your life will feel.

4. Patience does not mean waiting and doing nothing.
Patience involves productive activity. It means doing your very best with the resources available to you, while understanding that the results you seek are worth the required time and effort, and not available elsewhere for any less time and effort. Patience is the realization that the quality of your life is much more significant than the quantity of things you fill it with. Patience is your willingness to accept and appreciate what you have right now, while you put forth a steady, focused effort into growing toward your dreams and goals.

5. You don’t need anything more to be happy.
Intuitively, you already know that the best stuff in life isn’t stuff at all, and that relationships, experiences and meaningful work are the staples of a happy, fulfilling life. Yet you live in a consumer driven society where your mind is incessantly subjected to clever advertising ploys that drive you, against your better judgment, to buy material goods you don’t need or even want. At a certain point, the needless material objects you buy crowd out the emotional needs advertisers would like you to believe they are meant to support. So next time you’re getting ready to make an impulsive purchase, ask yourself if this thing is really better than the things you already have. Or have you been momentarily tricked into believing that you’re dissatisfied with what you already have?

6. You aren’t perfect, and neither is anyone else.
All humans are imperfect. At times, the confident lose confidence, the patient misplace their patience, the generous act selfish, and the knowledgeable second guess what they know. And guess what? You’re human—we all are. We make mistakes, we lose our tempers, and we get caught off guard. We stumble, we slip, and we spin out of control sometimes. But that’s the worst of it; we all have our moments. Most of the time we’re remarkable. So stand beside the people you love through their trying times of imperfection, and offer yourself the same courtesy; if you aren’t willing to, you don’t deserve to be around for the perfect moments either.

7. All the little things make a big difference.
Life isn’t about a single moment of great triumph and attainment. It’s about the trials and errors that get you there—the blood, sweat, and tears—the small, inconsequential things you do every day. It all matters in the end—every step, every regret, every decision, and every affliction. The seemingly useless happenings add up to something. The minimum wage job you had in high school. The evenings you spent socializing with coworkers you never see anymore. The hours you spent writing thoughts on a personal blog that no one reads. Contemplations about elaborate future plans that never came to be. All those lonely nights spent reading novels and news columns and comics strips and fashion magazines and questioning your own principles on life and sex and religion and whether or not you’re good enough just the way you are. All of this has strengthened you. All of this has led you to every success you’ve ever had. All of this has made you who you are today. Truth be told, you’ve been broken down a 1,000 times and put yourself back together again. Think about how remarkable that is, and how far you’ve come. You’re not the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, or even yesterday. You’re always growing… stronger!

8. Excuses are lies.
Make no mistake, there is always a lie lingering in between a dream and too many excuses. And the lie is you lying to yourself. The excuses and explanations won’t do you any good. They won’t add any value to your life or improve the quality of it by even the slightest margin. To fulfill your calling and get where you wish to go in life requires more than just thinking and talking. These feats require focused and sustained action. And the good news is, you’re perfectly capable of taking whatever actions are necessary. You just have to choose to actually do it. No one else can succeed for you on your behalf. The life you live is the life you build for yourself. There are so many possibilities to choose from, and so many opportunities for you to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Now is the moment to actually step forward.

(MARCANDANGEL).

Life Lesson: Pick Your Moments

A few minutes ago, Tennis world number one, Novak Djokovic defeated world number two and Centre Court star boy, Roger Federer, in the Wimbledon final.

For those that follow the sport, you will agree it was a classic. Familiar names, but they served us a match to remember taking the game to five sets, lasting for almost five hours! (The longest ever Wimbledon final).The aftermath of the game left me itching for my keypads. There were huge lessons to take away.

The general consensus from the bookmakers and simple viewers like myself, was that Roger Federer played the better tennis on the day. The two sets he won were 6-1, 6-4, and the two he lost before the deciding fifth set were tie-breaks. Infact, all the stats showed that Federer was streets ahead of him. Yet, Djokovic won that game. How? He picked his moments. He played his best tennis at the tie breakers and in the all deciding fifth set. In the second and fourth set, he lost easily and choose to conserve his energy wisely. In the war, he picked the most decisive battles and that made all the difference. In life, we must pick our moments. We must pace ourselves. We must know the most important battles in the war. We must learn to conserve energy, resources and time for when it truly matter. We are all finite resource so we must know when to strike.

Despite the partisan noise at Centre Court that almost made it feel like Federer was in Zurich, Novak Djokovic maintained his cool and brought out the steel that makes him such a doyen of the game. At times, you will be the unpopular one, the unfamiliar, the unloved and the crowd will want to get into your skin. The key is to use the detractors as fuel, and process the noise as 'fitting chants.' Federer's place in history is long preserved, and he will live to fight another day for his 21st grand slam title, but there was so much to learn from this game. Pick your moments!

Seven Things To Always Remember

1. Remember why you started in the first place. Frame your 'why' and ensure it is etched in the annals of your soul. When life gets tough and tight, look at the frame and remember why you are in the race in the first place.

2. Remember the moments that forged you into who you are today. Those scratching nights, those leeches that disguised as friends, those days that had 240 long bitter hours in them. Remember that it was for those moments that you were knocked into shape.

3. Remember family at all times. And family is not just blood, but those who hard times and life have revealed as your family. Remember them. You won't always be a messiah, but be there for family.

4. Remember to make the world better than you met it. In your pursuit for fortune and a good life, be a source of good to people. Remember to leave a smile when heaviness lurked around you. Remember to be the answer to the prayers of others. Do this at your own level.

5. Remember not to sweat the small stuff, because they are all stuff when all is said and done. Remember to give priority to the things that truly matter, that really counts. In the final analysis, you don't want to be 80 years old, and wonder what you have spent all your life focusing on.

6. Remember those that caused you severe pain. Not because you want to nurture an eternal grudge in your heart against them, but because you want to be wiser going forward. Remember to forgive those that severely hurt you, for to forgive is to liberate self, but don't forget their names. There are some hurts that is not worth revisiting. Never forget this.

7. Remember to always look out for yourself. Most people by nature, are inherently selfish, and will not always look out for you. They will look out for their interest first, they will pursue their goals first, and at times, might be vicious in how they go about it. It is not that they are bad people, it is just the way people are wired. Remember, it is in your best interest to always look out for yourself.

10 Quick Questions that Will Change the Way You Think Today

1. What could you be positive and happy about right now, if you really wanted to? – Your greatest weapon against stress and negativity is your ability to choose one thought over another. Happiness escapes from those who refuse to see the good in what they have. When life gives you every reason to be negative, think of one good reason to be positive.

2. What’s one problem you’re thankful you don’t have right now? – Smile, not because life has been easy, perfect, or exactly as you had anticipated, but because you choose to be happy and thankful for all the good things you do have, and for all the problems you know you don’t have.

3. What do you need to stop thinking and saying to yourself? – Stop discrediting yourself for everything you aren’t, and start giving yourself credit for everything you ARE. We have to learn to be our own best friends, because sometimes we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.

4. What are you holding on to that you need to let go of? – One of the hardest lessons in life is letting go—whether it’s guilt, anger, love or loss. Change is never easy. You fight to hold on and you fight to let go, but oftentimes letting go is the healthiest path forward. It clears out toxic thoughts from the past. You’ve got to emotionally free yourself from the things that once meant a lot to you, so you can move beyond the past and the pain it brings you. Again, it takes hard work to let go and refocus your thoughts, but it’s worth every bit of effort you can muster.

5. Will you blame others and deny responsibility, or will you create an action plan to move forward? – Imagine how much more effective and happy you’d be if, instead of denying, blaming, dreading and fighting against certain situations and tasks, you simply got them handled.

6. How can you respond from a place of clarity and strength, rather than thoughtlessly reacting to this experience? – Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask yourself if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future. And remember that our character is often most evident in our highs and lows. Be humble at the mountaintops, be strong in the valleys, and be faithful in between.

7. How can you be of service to the greater good, so that everyone around you feels elevated, rather than weighed down? – Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more. Thus, the best way to find yourself when times are tough, is to lose yourself in the service of a cause greater than yourself.

8. How are your expectations serving you, or hurting you? – Don’t lower your standards, but do remember that removing your expectations of everything is the best way to avoid being disappointed. Because, in a sense, expectations are like fine pottery—the harder you hold on to them, the more likely they are to crack. So just let go a little, and appreciate your life and relationships for what they truly are.

9. Who, or what, needs your forgiveness? – Forgiveness doesn’t always lead to healed relationships and situations. Some relationships and situations aren’t meant to be. Forgive anyway, and let what’s meant to be, BE. Go ahead and set yourself free. When you hold resentment toward another entity, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and break free.

10. What do you now know better for next time? – Don’t let your fear of past events affect all the possibilities ahead of you. Live for what today has to offer, not what yesterday has taken away. There will always be obstacles, but we are confined most often by the walls we build ourselves. What we see greatly depends on how we look at it. Forget what you’ve lost and focus on what you’ve learned.

(MARCANDANGEL).

Ten Things I Hope You Understand

1. I hope you understand that to try is to truly win. And that to have put your hands on the plough is to have conquered inertia. That this thing called victory is our creation, and should find personal 'meaning' with you

2. I hope you understand that love is still the greatest force on earth, irrespective of how unlucky you might have been with it. That to have loved, and to have been loved is one of life's greatest gift, and that you will always pick love over hate.

3. I hope you understand the 'why'of why you started at all. That in the midst of the chaos, the lingering noises that mask themselves as wisdom, you find your raison d'etre, the reason for which you ventured, and to thyself be true.

4. I hope you understand that every moment is fleeting. That you must find meaning for your appearance in this space. That doing what you love should be pursued either as the 'main event' of your life or as a 'side attraction.' That to totally ignore this path is to have only half-lived.

5. I hope you understand that life will throw you curve balls, catch you unawares alot, rock your boat uninvited and pass sour lemons your way. That to go through the school of hard knocks which life is, is what it means to have been educated, and that your badge of living comes from these vicissitudes.

6. I hope you understand that to be kind is a treasure you should gift everyone. That true kindness is in the little things...The opening the door for someone else, saying please, letting someone else take the last seat on the bus and simply being a good person.

7. I hope you understand that it is fine to cry. That it is perfectly ok to feel exhausted, whimper and not be up for it on some days. That on these days, the world will cut you some slack, but that you will get back on your feet and go again.

8. I hope you understand that people will not always be there for you. That there are some of life's battles you will have to go alone. That these battles are for 'self' only. Battles that will test your will, conviction, staying power and your loyalty.

9. I hope you understand that the gift of true friendship is priceless. That 'real' old friends are the best. That you must seek friends that will always have your back, and more importantly, you must be the kind of friend you seek.

10. I hope you understand that God is still the greatest waymaker. That He can pick your pieces and make a masterpiece from it, and that he loves you more than your mind can ever conceive. I hope you never forget this in your darkest days.

How to Be Grateful and Strong When Things Go Wrong

1. Be grateful around difficult people.
We expect people to treat us kindly, fairly, and respectfully. But the reality is some people won’t. They will lose their tempers or act foolishly, regardless of how we treat them. This must be accepted. Don’t lower your standards, but do remind yourself that removing your expectations of others—especially those who are being difficult—is the best way to avoid being disappointed by them. When you’re forced to deal with a difficult person, you can be grateful for having other people in your life who are far less difficult. You can be grateful for having a way to practice being better at patience, communication, and tempering your expectations. You can think of this person as a teacher who is inadvertently helping you to grow stronger as a person. And, at the very least, you can be grateful for them because they serve as a great reminder of how not to be.

2. Be grateful when you catch yourself starting to complain.
Many of us have developed a subtle habit of complaining when things don’t go quite our way. Gratitude is the antidote. Each time you notice yourself feeling bitter, or complaining, notice the story in your mind about “how life should be.” Instead of letting this story dominate you, find a small way to be grateful instead. What could you feel grateful for right now? What could you appreciate about this moment? Remember, there’s always something to be negative about—and something to be grateful for. The choice is ours.

3. Be grateful when you begin to feel overwhelmed.
Have you ever noticed how the more familiar you become with an amazing situation or relationship in your life, the more you seem to take it for granted—and even feel annoyed or overwhelmed in busy and stressful times? Challenge yourself to flip your perspective in these moments, using a simple reframing tool we call “. . . and I love it!”

4. Find gratitude after job loss.
No one wins at chess by only moving forward; sometimes you have to move backward to put yourself in a position to win. And that’s a good metaphor for your life’s work too. As painful as losing your job is, it’s an ending that leads to the beginning of everything that comes next. Let the heaviness of being successful be replaced by the lightness of starting over. This new beginning is the start of a different story, the opportunity to refresh your life, to reinvent who you are. Remind yourself, as often as necessary, that you can find gratitude for where you are. You can find gratitude for these moments of reinvention—for pushing into the discomfort of getting good at interviewing, learning new skills, and leveling up. You can find gratitude for the opportunity to grow stronger, even in the midst of the growing pains that ultimately get you there.

5. Find gratitude amid health problems.
A couple of years ago, on the second-to-last day of her life, a close friend of ours shared that her only regret was that she didn’t appreciate every year with the same passion and purpose that she had in the last two years of her life, after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. “I’ve accomplished so much recently, and truly appreciated every step,” she said. “If I had only known, I would have started sooner.” Her words made us cry and smile at the same time. What was truly miraculous was seeing the genuine gratitude in her eyes at that moment. And her sentiment has always remained with us. So, while health problems are never fun, the pain can be mediated by a sense of gratitude for having a chance to move forward on our own terms. Of having a life worth living, from moment to precious moment.

6. Find gratitude when someone you love dies.
As we know firsthand, when you lose someone you can’t imagine living without, your heart breaks wide open. And the bad news is you never completely get over the loss—you will never forget them. However, we have the ability to push through the experience, and even find meaning in it. Ultimately, we grew to appreciate that although death is an ending, it is also a necessary part of living. Limits illuminate beauty, and death is the ultimate limit—a reminder that we need to celebrate this beautiful person, and appreciate this beautiful thing called life. Although deeply sad, this passing forces us to gradually reinvent our lives, and in this reinvention is an opportunity to experience beauty in new, unseen ways and places. And finally, death is an opportunity to celebrate a person’s life, and to be grateful for the beauty they showed us.

Life’s disappointments and struggles are not easy to find gratitude for, but they can become incredible paths of growth if we find the lessons in them—if we start to see everything as our teacher. Truly, the best time to focus on being grateful is when you don’t feel like it. Because that’s when doing so can make the biggest difference.

(MARCANDANGEL).