Never Lose Hope

Hope is a precious commodity.

It fuels our drive. It gives us the courage

to continue through any struggle.

Hope gives us the desire to face

another day, to strive to overcome

it's challenges and work for new ones.

Hope gives us glimpses of tomorrow,

of the possibilities that lie in our future

and of the paths we need to travel.

Hope lightens our steps when the

road is strewn with obstacles,

and helps us decide on our route.

Hope puts a smile on our face

and a glimmer in our eyes.

Hope let's us see love as it blooms.

Never lose faith in your abilities,

trust the instincts you have inside,

they will guide you through your journey.

And always have hope.

Always look to the future.

Always believe that the best is out

there for you to find.

Never lose your hope.

Never lose the faith you have in

who you are.

Because with that faith in yourself,

lies the essence of your hope.

Excellence

           Excellence is never an accident. It is achieved in an organization or institution only as a result of an unrelenting and vigorous insistence on the highest standards of performance. It requires an unswerving expectancy of quality from the staff and volunteers.

          Excellence is contagious. It infects and affects everyone in the organization. It charts the direction of a program. It establishes the criteria for planning. It provides zest and vitality to the organization. Once achieved, excellence has a talent for permeating every aspect of the life of the organization.

         Excellence demands commitment and a tenacious dedication from the leadership of the organization. Once it is accepted and expected, it must be nourished and continually reviewed and renewed. It is a never-ending process of learning and growing. It requires a spirit of motivation and boundless energy. It is always the result of a creatively conceived and precisely planned effort.

        Excellence inspires; it electrifies. It potentializes every phase of the organization’s life. It unleashes an impact which influences every program, every activity, every committee, every staff person. To instill it in an organization is difficult; to sustain it, even more so. It demands imagination and vigor. But most of all, it requires from the leadership a constant state of self-discovery and discipline.

             Excellence is an organization’s life-line. It is the most compelling answer to apathy and inertia. It energizes a stimulating and pulsating force. Once it becomes the expected standard of performance, it develops a fiercely driving and motivating philosophy of operation. Excellence is a state of mind put into action. It is a road-map to success. When a climate of excellence exists, all things staff work, volunteer leadership, finances, program come easier.

              Excellence in an organization is important because it is everything.

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,

When the funds are low, and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As everyone of us sometimes learns.

And many a person turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up,

When he might have captured the victor’s cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out,

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far.

So stick in the fight when you’re hardest hit,

It’s when things seem worse,

That you must not quit.

The Man in the Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for self

And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to the mirror and look at yourself

And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother or wife

Whose judgment upon you must pass.

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum

And think you’re a wonderful guy.

But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum

If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

He’s the fellow to please—never mind all the rest,

For he’s with you clear to the end.

And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test

If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass.

But your final reward will be heartache and tears

If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

The use of the male gender is acknowledged.

We chose not to alter the poem to make it politically correct.

Thanks for letting it be

Who Am I?

I am your constant companion.

I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.

I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.

I am completely at your command.

Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me,

And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.

Show me exactly how you want something done,

And after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great men

And, alas, of all failures as well.

Those who are great, I have made great.

Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though

I work with all the precision of a machine

Plus the intelligence of a man.

You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin;

It makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me

And I will put the world at your feet.

Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.

Who am I?

I am habit!

Desiderata

          Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. 

              Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

           Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

         Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

        Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

              You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

               Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

        With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond

measure.

It is our Light, not our darkness, that most

frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,

gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small does

not serve the World.

There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so

that other people won’t feel unsure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God

that is within us.

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.

As we let our own Light shine; we unconsciously

give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear; our

presence automatically liberates others.

  —Marianne Williamson

Good Enough

My child, beware of “good enough,”

It isn’t made of sterling stuff;

It’s something anyone can do;

It marks the many from the few.

The flaw which may escape the eye

And temporarily get by

Shall weaken underneath the strain

And wreck the ship, the car or plane.

With “good enough,” the car breaks down,

And one falls short of high renown.

My child, remember and be wise,

In “good enough,” disaster lies.

With “good enough,” the failures rest

And lose the one who gives the best.

Who stops at “good enough” shall find

Success has left them far behind.

For this is true of you and your stuff—

Only the best is “good enough.”

Attitudes

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you . . . we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

—Charles Swindoll