Quit Talking and Begin Doing

    Last spring I was feeling down about a new skill I was trying to develop.  I was beating myself up for not having learned this skill when I was young, as I figured most people would normally do.  After an in-depth discussion with a friend about my frustration I was feeling better and decided to tweet a thought to serve as a reminder to myself (and to actually use Twitter).  It said, "Don't let a late start keep U from enjoying the journey. So U didn't start when U were young, big deal. You're going now. Enjoy the ride. " 

 

   I still get those feelings of disappointment and have to continually remind myself that it's OK to be a beginner.  Better to start now and do the best I can rather than be 10 years older and regret not having started 10 years ago.  Plus, I don't have to play catch-up.  Those feelings I have of being 30+ years behind - it's all in my head.  I am where I am.  If I keep at it for another year I'll be another year along and hopefully another year better.  I gotta enjoy the ride . . . and some rides aren't easy.

 

    So what do you want to try?  What's keeping you from taking a chance?  I took Walt Disney's advice: "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”   Whether it's in your personal life or your work life, give it a shot and don't live with the old adage:  “For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'” – John Greenleaf Whittier.

    For years I have been collecting quotes I find online, in books and articles, and even in places of business.  This set is from my 'taking chances" file.  Enjoy!

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
Albert Einstein

“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”
Thomas A. Edison

“One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.”
Henry Ford

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”
Vince Lombardi

“If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot.”
Confucius

“The limits of the mind are often mistaken to be the limits of the world.”

Immanuel Kant

"If we never took a risk our children would not learn to walk, climb stairs, ride a bicycle or swim; businesses would not develop innovative new products, move into new markets and create wealth for all; scientists would not experiment and discover; we would not have great art, literature, music and architecture."

Sir Digby Jones

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure ... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt

 

“There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
Nelson Mandela

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."
Andre' Gide

“I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.”
Lucille Ball

 "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Stay hungry. Stay foolish..."

Steve Jobs

"When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do. And one thing it takes to accomplish something is courage.”

Walt Disney

“You've got to go out on a limb sometimes because that's where the fruit is.”
Will Rogers

“After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery.  It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe.  Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.”
Sophia Loren