Aim for the shore

If you give up on your goals, you are actually giving up on yourself

It was a fog-shrouded morning, July 4th, 1952, when a young woman named Florence Chadwick waded into the water off Catalina Island. She intended to be the first woman to swim the 21 miles from the island to the California coast. Long-distance swimming was not new to her; she had been the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. The water was numbing cold that day. The fog was so thick she could hardly see the boats in her party. Several times sharks had to be driven away with rifle fire. She swam more than 15 hours before she asked to be taken out of the water. Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so close to land, but when Florence looked, all she saw was fog. So she quit… less than one-mile from her goal. Later she said, "I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I might have made it." It wasn't the cold or fear or exhaustion that caused Florence Chadwick to fail. It was the fog. Two months later, Chadwick tried again. This time was different. The same thick fog set in, but not only did she make it she beat the mens record by two hours because she said that she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind while she swam.

Reflection:

There are so many times in life where we fail, not because we are afraid or because of what others think, but because we lose sight of our goals. Without always keeping an eye on your goal, you could lose your sense of direction and very quickly want to give up without even realising how close you are. This is easier said than done and yes there may be days when you just want to give up, throw in the towel and just move on, but it is so important that you always keep your eye on the prize. If you give up on your goals, you are actually giving up on yourself and this is no way to conquer and achieve the things you set out to do. Imagine how great it will be as you accomplish every step and expect each success to materialise. Celebrate your successes in your mind every morning and evening, never stop and I assure you, you will conquer your goals irrespective of what is in your way.

May you have an Awesome week!

Darren Zwiers

"Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of opportunity when it occurs. - Mario Andretti

Uprooting Habits

Conquer your bad habits soon or they will conquer you!

A father wanted to wean his son away from his bad habits. The father took his son for a stroll through a garden. Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there. The youth held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The youth pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all. "Now pull out that one," said the father pointing to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to pull it out. "Now take this one out," said the the father, indicating a guava tree. The youth grasped the trunk and tried to pull it out. But it would not budge. "It's impossible," said the boy, panting with the effort. "So it is with bad habits," said his father. "When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold they cannot be uprooted." This lesson with his father changed the boy's life forever.

Reflection:

This story holds such a powerful message. We form bad habits and then wonder how we can rid ourselves of them, most of the time it's just way too difficult as we identify these habits too late when they have grown deep roots into our personality and character. Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to arise from. Now there is no immediate cure to get rid of these bad roots, just like the above story, it's almost impossible to uproot them once they have fully grown on you. The good news is that it is much easier to replace a bad habit with a good habit. Pick one bad habit that you want to change in your life today… only one to begin with and figure out a way to replace it with a good habit. Be patient with this process and don't forget it is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them. Conquer your bad habits soon or they will conquer you!

May you have an Awesome week!

Darren Zwiers

"Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character." -  Stephen Covey

Gifts From The Heart

A young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet he filled his leather container so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart. Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container. The student challenged his teacher, "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?" The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter. Heartfelt gifts deserve the return gift of gratitude."

My Message:

I'm sure you've received a gift from a young child. The natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because you love the idea wrapped around the gift and of course you want to encourage to child to continue the beauty of giving. Now gratitude always takes hard work as it doesn't come naturally. Sometimes we find it hard to show total appreciation for gifts we receive from people. This is because sometimes we only value the item given rather than the feeling and thoughtfulness embodied in it. It's important to never forget the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions wrapped around the gifts we receive. Don't just look at the item, look at the person giving it and know with certainty that gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart.

May you have an Awesome week!

Darren Zwiers

"Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love." ~ Leo Buscaglia

The Hedgehogs

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The hedgehogs, realising the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions. After a while, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive. The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

My Message:

None of us in this world are perfect, we all have our own unique issues and unless we accept other peoples' imperfections, we are never going to come together. This is what makes life, and the relationships we're in, so dynamic and real. It's so important to learn from those around you who have different perspectives, habits, hang-ups, goals, wants and fears. This is what makes us all human. You know that beauty often lies in the depths of imperfections and flaws. By dealing with the imperfections in our own character and in the character of others teaches us to be patient, tolerant and accepting. If everyone and everything we came into contact with was perfect or the same, we would never develop the capacity to be tolerant of differences, or to give the precious gift of acceptance to those we love most. As a result of this we may grow as human beings and come to see things in a fresh way, and adjust our ideas of what is truly perfect by learning the beauty of having patience

to get on with everyone around us.

May you have an Awesome week!

Darren Zwiers

"Accepting all the good and bad about someone. It's a great thing to aspire to. The hard part is actually doing it." ― Sarah Dessen