“What to do when adversity strikes? There is only one thing to do. Stand steady and see it through. Stay steadfast, constant, and true. The real tragedy in the whirlwinds of life comes only when we allow them to blow us off our true course.”  

David S. Baxter

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” 

Gail Devers

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
 Mark Twain

 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.

Sometimes it is hard to find a little inspiration. But inspiration is never far away, sometimes we just need to know where to look for it.  Author Unknown.

_______________________________________________________________________ 

Despite having lost his arm in a farming accident at age 6, Pete Gray became a baseball wonder.  He was a successful minor league outfielder with a batting average of .333 and a stolen base record of 63.  Pete was also appointed the MVP of his league and the 1944 Southern leagues most valuable player. 

What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it. Alexander Graham Bell

 _______________________________________________________________________

Despite the fact that FDR contracted an illness that left him paralized from the waist down, he became govenor of New York, and president of the United States for four terms. He led the country into WWI and helped to bring the U.S. out of a depression.   He did this by refusing to believe that he was paralized and fit his hips and legs with iron braces, teaching himself to walk by moving his torso and supporting himself with a cane.  Had he resigned himself to a wheelchair, the public never would have believed him capable of becoming a political figure, much less the president of the United States. 

Fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round - remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped. James Corbett

__________________________________________________________________________

Triple Amputee Kelli Lim lost her arm and both legs at age 8 to bacterial meningitis.  Deciding she would do something for other sick children, she became a doctor and graduated this year from UCLA medical center.  She performs most procedures with one arm.  What keeps her going? Kellie says I hate failing,” she said. “It’s one of those things that’s so ingrained in me.”

We will either find a way, or make one. Hannibal

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The one thing all famous authors, world class athletes, business tycoons, singers, actors and celebrated achievers in any field have in common is that they began their journeys when they were none of these things.  Yet still they began their journeys.  Begin your journey, and if you have already begun, contiue on.  You are poised for greatness.  Do what you were meant to do!