Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind. It is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.
Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair, these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.
Whether seventy or seventeen there is in every beings heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement of the stars and the starlight things and thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events and the childlike appetite for what’s next, and the joy and the game of life.
You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear. So long as your heart receives messages of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from the earth, from man, and from the infinite, so long you are young.
Michael Jordon tells of his failures and why they presented him with the greatest success. Never quit, never give up your dream, push through every obstacle. Learn from Michael Jordan and all those who have succeeded in life. Make it your job to understand how they used courage to be successful in life.
Maya Angelou was inducted into the Academy of Achievement, which is a Museum of Living History, in 1990 as a Poet and Historian in Washington D.C. Her words and video’s contain powerful messages of equality and love for all.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Get out there and make someone feel better. In doing this you will feel better too. Maya Angelou is a woman that has taken adversity in the extreme and turned it into Courage for all the world to see and feel.
Most of my life I have waited for others around me to make the changes I wished to see in the world. I realize now that I am part of that change and have a voice for peace. It takes courage for me to speak out, which I will be doing on a more regular basis. Pleasing everyone is not important to me any longer. Nothing gets accomplished that way. Peace begins when we each participate. Here is my message to you today:
Let peace settle into each breath you take. Feel it. Hold this feeling deep inside of you. For only when peace is held in each moment, will your life transform.
The gift you desire to deliver to the world is the light you came here to shine. This world needs each and every one of us to stand tall in peace, shining our light. It takes strength and courage to break up the storm cloud of human discord that prevails in the world at this time. We have a duty to ourselves and each other to make this world a better place for all to live. You carry powerful light. You can direct your light wherever you want it to go. Humanity is crying out as never before, reaching for help, for freedom. There is a great mass pressure compelling people to come into peace and order.
Imagine yourself stepping onto a moving stairway of light. You walk up the stairway using your own effort as the stairway of light carries you forward. You have a power inside of you that carries you forward more powerfully than your own effort could ever do. When we align with that power inside of us, the gained momentum is tremendous. Call that power inside of you whatever you want, there are as many names for it as there are people. Call it Bob if you want, just identify it. The name is just how we identify or label for our own mental comfort. You know how many people feel the need to categorize or put things in a box. You can not put God (or whatever name you choose) in a box. Something that everyone has access to does not fit in any box or container. Back to the subject of light.
The light wants to expand, which will produce courage, strength, harmony, health, perfection, and more that life has to offer. Kindness and consideration (forms of light) to others is imperative if you want to bring peace into your life and then into the world. If you cannot have peaceful harmonious conversations over whatever points are being discussed, discontinue the conversation. You are not responsible for another persons thoughts and feelings. Take care of your own. You will unleash the power (light) inside of you when you are calm and peaceful.
If you want to walk around being negative, go for it. Just realize that you will experience the repercussions that negativity will bring. You are solely responsible. You have the choice to close the door to your joy and miracles or open the door wide to access your greatness and everything that wants to come your way. I am here to experience life in all of its perfection, how about you? For each person that looks different, but if you can not participate, stay out of the way of those who do. Make every moment matter, they are more important than you realize.
For more videos and past updates on Randy Pausch, go to the Heroes or Courage section of this website.
June 10th, 2008: A Letter from President Bush
While I don’t have any way of validating it authenticity, nor do I have an particular reson to do doubt it – this arrived recently (click on letter for larger, readable image.)
In the July issue of Outside magazine is an article “A Long Way for a Short Film” on film making and mountain climbing. Thayer Walker writes that “Bill Barkeley is a 46 year old father of 3 with Usher syndrome, a condition that has left him legally deaf and blind. Bill considers climbing Kilimanjaro a process of transformation. He hopes to become an advocate for the deaf and blind. Overcoming adversity leads to the “butterfly moment” of reaching the top – capturing the “caterpillar moment” on film presents a greater challenge.”
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” Proverb
Bill said, “This project was my biggest and hardest, yet the most rewarding that I have ever done. I know that I am changed forever as I am passionate in helping others expecially the hearing and vision impaired. It started as a hope and a dream and hundreds of people got me up Mt Kilimanjaro. The grace of God and my faith in the human spirit took me to the top. I will never forget those who wanted to help and now we can make a difference.”
Now that my friends is Courage in motion. Bill Barkeley is an inspiration who will help pull many up the mountain to join him in making the world a better place for all.
Support excellence, genius, the spiritual nature, the soul, to find extreme divine and perfect expression as you deserve it.
~~~ Debra Oakland
Through ignorance and darkness, the human race has imposed upon itself activities believed to be impossible. Through truth and light, nothing is impossible.
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