The Victor
By C.W. Longenecker

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t
If you like to win but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win the prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

“I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn’t really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur in order to keep my magazine going.” — Richard Branson

How are life and coffee related? Watch the following video to find out.

Do you have any other analogies? What is life like for you? Comment below.

Nick Vujicic, a dynamic speaker, shares his life with the people who really need his vision – kids.  He has a rather unique view of the world that can enlighten us all.   Enjoy!

Fighting Wolves

An old Cherokee is telling his grandson about a fight that is going on inside him. He said it is between two wolves:

1. One is evil, with anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

2. The other is good with joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one I feed.”

 Since this is Black History Month in the U.S., I wanted to post some quotes from African American optimal thinkers that we can all apply to our lives. 

“The time is always right to do what is right.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

“In America, with education and hard work, it really does not matter where you came from; it matters only where you are going.”
Condoleeza Rice

“I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”
Rosa Parks

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.”
James Allen

Because today is the tenth anniversary of V-Day in the U.S, I decided to list a few woman who were victims of the violence that V-day tries to bring awareness to. V-day was born to stop violence against women and girls whether it be for religious, social or political reasons. The women below decided NOT to submit to the violence, but instead chose to fight one more round and came out on top.  Their strength and bravery is phenomenal, and a perfect example to all.

Mukhtar Mai was a victim of gang rape in Pakistan. She took this tragic and horrible situation, gathered her strength and went to authorities putting her rapists in jail. She received compensation money from the government, which she did not use for herself, but instead opened a rape crisis hotline, and opened up a girls school. Mai has received countless death threats, attacks on her school, her local village, and against her family. She remains vocal, stands strong by her school, and refuses to close it down along with the hotline she opened. Mai was awarded Bravest Woman of the Year in 2005, and praised by the UN, having been honored her for her incredible activism, heroism, and bravery.

Ayyan Hirsi Ali is best known for publicly denouncing violence against women in Islam. Fleeing an arranged marriage in Somalia in the ninenties, she sought amnesty in the Netherlands. There she learned Dutch, English, received her BA degree in Political Science, and became a member of Dutch Parliament. She left the Netherlands when Theo Van Gogh, her co producer for the documentary “Submission”, was killed by an extremist for helping her make the movie.  She speaks out today all over the world, and refuses to “submit” to the death threats and multiple attempts on her life by extremists and terrorists that try to silence her.

This American woman, Aurea McGarry, has almost survived it all. Aurea has risen above her father’s murder, a physically abusive marriage, her mother’s death of cancer, her brothers treatment of cancer and then finally her OWN battle with cancer.  Despite all of this she has evolved into a successful entrepreneur in direct sales, an ambassador in her local chamber, a sought after motivational speaker, and a director for a childrens’ church for more than thirteen years.

The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful and rare of all.  Author Unknown.

The Wise Sage

Author Unknown

There once was a wise sage who wandered the countryside. One day, as he passed near a village, he was approached by a woman who told him of a sick child nearby. She beseeched
him to help this child.

So the sage came to the village, and a crowd gathered around him, for such a man was a rare sight. One woman brought the sick child to him, and he said a prayer over her.

“Do you really think your prayer will help her, when medicine has failed?” yelled a man from the crowd.

“You know nothing of such things! You are a stupid fool!” said the sage to the man.

The man became very angry with these words and his face grew hot and red. He was about to say something, or perhaps strike out, when the sage walked over to him and said: “If one word has such power as to make you so angry and hot, may not another have the power to heal?”

And thus, the sage healed two people that day.