This quote belongs to Francois-Marie Arouet (1694 – 1778)
(known by his nom de plume Voltaire)
“There are no return visas for re-entry into planet earth. Life is a one way ticket out. How do you get more living out of life? Life is free to spend at will. The only restrictions are your own self-imposed inhibitions. Free your mind and will to be open to new experiences and to be prepared for the opportunities that will come your way. Live well – choose wisely. Plan a good life, and then follow the steps to make it happen. You cannot control all the circumstances of your life, but you can control your reaction to them. Be smart; use your talents for good purposes, and then reap the positive results. You only receive the gift of one life – make it the best possible by following the principles of good living – faith, joy, peace, and hope.”
~QuotesGram.com
I know many young people and not so young people who seem to be searching for life satisfaction in a career. They feel happiness can be found in prestigious job title and recognition. I know it took me a long time before I learned that it was the content of my days and what I did that satisfied and not only what I did in my job.
It was the discovery that I could enlarge the box that contained my activities by going beyond job description and societal norms through volunteerism and more. I even turned down a major promotion because the content of my life’s activities was much more than just my job. ~Ray Mitchell
“Our greatest achievement in life is being happy with the little things that probably means nothing to others.” ~Hermann J Steinherr
Are you looking for a Cup or a Coffee?
A group of computer engineers, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups, some ordinary looking, some expensive, some exquisite. He told them to help themselves to hot coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in their hands, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap looking ones.
“While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and worse, you were eyeing each other’s cups.”
“Now if life is coffee , then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn’t change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it. “
So the moral of this story is: don’t let the cups drive you, enjoy the coffee instead.
“The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them… Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will.” ~Michel de Montaigne
1,000 Ways To Be A Warrior! 