Success is not final, failure is not fatal - Winston Churchill

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Success is not final, failure is not fatal.
It is the courage to continue that counts.
- Winston Churchill

Another sunrise, another new beginning.
- jlh

Whatever happens, always look to tomorrow - with courage and optimism.

Further reading: How to Feel Good About Yourself

What to Do When Your Whole World is Falling Apart?

How to Cope with Loneliness - 10 Tips for Coping with Feeling Lonely

Quotes about Moving On
New Beginning Quotes
No Regrets Quotes
Relationship Quotes
Quotes about Being Happy

Balance is Key

Manage the remarkable balance between acting from your heart and close to your gifts with completing the obligations that your labor and tasks require of you. Leverage opportunity AND seize joy.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Better learn balance. Balance is key.
- Miyagi: character in the movie Karate Kid

Balance activity with serenity, wealth with simplicity, persistence with innovation, community with solitude, familiarity with adventure, constancy with change, leading with following.
- jlh

A time for everything: a time to relax and a time to be busy, a time to frolic and a time to lay up food for the winter, a time to receive and a time to give, a time to begin and a time to finish.

*** This "Black Friday" don't waste your time, or your gas, driving from one overcrowded store to another looking for deals. Shop on-line and get GREAT bargains on everything from TVs to sports equipment, jewelery to games, DVDs to toys, clothing to watches.
Click here for GREAT DEALS.

Further reading: Finding Balance in Life vs Moderation: 8 Ways to Balance Your Life

How to Live a Stress-Free Life: 7 Tips for Stress-Free Living

Time, like life itself, has no inherent meaning.

Take time to play!

Quotes about Moving On

Quotes to Live By

New Beginning Quotes

No Regrets Quotes

Starting Over Quotes

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth - not going all the way and not starting. - The Buddha

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth - not going all the way and not starting.
- The Buddha

What are you committed to? Have you started, or are you still thinking about it - and making excuses? Do you work toward your goal each day?

*** Do you need to stop smoking or lose weight? Check out Neuro-VISION.

Further reading: Quotes by The Buddha

Mark Twain: It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

The Buddha: Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

The Buddha: Hate is never conquered by hate, Hate is only conquered by love.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
- Anonymous

Whatever you want in life, start today. Not tomorrow - today. Let it be a small beginning - a tiny beginning. Your happiness depends on starting today - every day.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Further reading: New Beginnings Quotes

Bad habits are like a comfortable bed

Rabindranath Tagore quotes: Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.

New Beginnings: A Time to Begin Anew

Celebrate endings - for they precede new beginnings.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
- Lao Tzu

From small beginnings come great things.
- Anonymous proverb

It is again that time of year when people begin to think about New Year's Resolutions. I have mixed feelings about New Year's resolutions because EVERY day is the beginning of a new life for each of us. On the other hand, I appreciate that we set aside one day each year to remind ourselves of the power of new beginnings. In that sense, New Year's Day is similar to Thanksgiving Day. I think of Thanksgiving Day, not as the one day each year to express gratitude, but as a day to celebrate the gratitude that I feel each day of the year.

*** What could be a better way to begin the new year than by resolving to live a happier life with less stress and frustration. My 49-day e-Training program Regaining Your Happiness in Seven Weeks can support you in living a happier life with less stress and frustration. Read the praise from those who have experienced the program at http://www.dreamthisday.com/happiness-program/

Further reading: It is never too late to begin.

The darkest night is often the bridge to the brightest tomorrow - jlh

Mary Anne Radmacher: Old Beginnings versus NEW beginnings

Beyond the Grief of Divorce - 7 Steps Toward New Beginnings

Celebrate endings - for they precede new beginnings. - jlh

Charles Schulz quotes: I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time.

I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time.
- the character Charlie Brown in Charles M. Schultz' Peanuts comic

The way I see it, it doesn't matter what you believe just so you're sincere.
- Linus in Charles M. Schulz’ cartoon Peanuts

Maybe life isn't really as complicated as we make it out to be. Perhaps a simple child-like attitude would create a less stressful and happier life.

Further reading: Shed the scales from your eyes

Choose to be as a young child - fully awake, eager for the next experience. - jlh

Where There is Love, Nothing is Missing - a Parable - jlh

Rabindranath Tagore: Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.

Rabindranath Tagore quotes: Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
- Rabindranath Tagore

The darkest night is often the bridge to the brightest tomorrow.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today is your day to Spread Wing and Soar.
Fly Life on Free Wings, and Sing to its Glory.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

*** Book of the day: The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World - Dalai Lama

Further reading: The path of the adventurer is a path of joy - jlh

A life lived in fear is a life half lived

Rabindranath Tagore quote: If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.

John Lennon: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

Consider a new beginning with your family - choose to take them less seriously

Consider a new beginning with your extended family - choose to take them less seriously. Take whatever they say as merely their opinion, which, of course, it is. Suppose Aunt Judy holds the opinion that you aren't doing the best with your life - or that your shirt is the wrong color - or your house isn't clean enough - so what? It's much easier to be gracious once you accept that her opinion is only her opinion - it's neither right nor wrong - it's just her opinion - and her opinion has nothing to do with you. As a new beginning, consider choosing to enjoy Aunt Judy for those ways in which she is pleasant to be around, and ignoring whatever she says that is not enjoyable or constructive. Your relationship (interaction) with each other human has both pleasant and unpleasant aspects. Enjoy the pleasant and don't become upset by the less pleasant.

Mary Anne Radmacher: USE this time of fresh beginnings

USE this time of fresh beginnings. Use it as an impetus, the force or energy toward change. Become stronger, a better leader, more focused in your thoughts. Exert more influence over your dreams by bringing them closer to your thoughts, every day.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Joseph Campbell: We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.
- Joseph Campbell

Good Endings precede Good Beginnings. If it isn't working, release it. If life isn't following the course you wanted, release your expectations and choose to love the life you have.

Every day is a new beginning - a day for a new plan and new action. If today, in conscious awareness, you choose the same plan as yesterday, you are wise. If you choose a different plan, you are equally wise. Whatever you choose, choose with intention.

Mary Anne Radmacher: Old Beginnings versus NEW beginnings

Old Beginnings versus NEW beginnings….

I was relating the details of a conflict to my coach. In my mind it was fresh to a life long issue. It was new information and I was pleased with my approach. My coach asked, “Why have you done the same thing you have always done in this circumstance?”

I told her I didn’t understand the question. She offered the candid observation, “I know you think you’ve made a new beginning. But really all you’ve done is used different words with the same approach you’ve always used. Really! You need to reach for a NEW beginning … not the same old beginning you’ve always used.”

The irony has remained with me. Hmmmm. A beginning that’s actually OLD. The phrase “new beginnings” at first seems redundant. It’s actually a profound challenge.

Have your new year’s resolutions been a new beginning for you or have they, like my approach to an old conflict, just been different words on the same old beginning? Maybe now’s the time to establish a new pattern of viewing your life fresh for 2009.

- Mary Anne Radmacher

Read Jonathan's latest articles on relationship issues

Should You Try to Get Your Ex Back? When to Rekindle the Romance and When to Walk Away - 10 Questions You Need to Ask

Trying to Get Your Ex Back? A Look at the 10 Best and Worst Ways to Rekindle the Romance

Forrest Gump Movie Quotes - Forrest Gump Quotes

Quotes from the movie Forrest Gump:

Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on.

It happens - Sometimes.

I just wanted to tell you I love you.

If you're sick, I'll take care of you.

Momma always said dyin' was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn't.

Stupid is as stupid does.

C. S. Lewis You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
- C. S. Lewis

Every day is a new day - a day for new beginnings, new dreams, new action - a day for challenge, adventure , and discovery. TODAY, what is your goal? What is your dream? What action are you taking to further your goals and dreams?

Renewal and Rebirth - The Great Cycle

The darkest night is often the bridge to the brightest tomorrow
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The crops were planted, tended, and harvested - now the ground lies fallow, awaiting the new planting. Did the year fail? I think not.

As the year has seasons, everything in life has its own cycles - its own rhythms. There will be a Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn every year. Every creature will be born, reproduce (or not), and die. A tortoise may live a century and a butterfly a few hours, but each has a cycle.

The unpredictable and irregular happenings of life's cycles are an inherent part of their nature. There are droughts and heat waves, injuries occur. The lion eats the zebra - one is nourished, one dies - neither failed.

Careers and relationships also have their cycles of birth, growth, and death - to be followed by rebirth and the renewal of the cycle.

The ending of a job or a relationship may appear as the darkest night, but it is merely the Winter season - the time of renewal and rebirth that precedes the new planting - the beginning of the next great cycle.

Beyond the Grief of Divorce - 7 Steps Toward New Beginnings

If you have been divorced, you know it hurts - especially if your marriage had lasted many years. Whatever the circumstances of your relationship, and whatever the nature of its ending, there is always grief and regret - perhaps regret over the ending or perhaps regret over not ending the relationship sooner - or perhaps both. How to move past the grief and regret? No matter how painful, divorce, like all endings, opens the door to new beginnings. Let's examine several.

1. Get support: Don't be embarrassed to ask friends for support. Join a divorce support group. Join a more general women's or men's group like ManKind Project and share your story.

2. Reconsider your obligations: In reality, you have NO obligations. There is nothing you ever have to do, because everything you do or don't do is always a choice. Be especially clear that you don't owe anyone an explanation or justification for any of your actions - ever.

3. Simplify your life: There is nothing that you really NEED to have. Material possessions seldom bring joy. Consider eliminating whatever you haven't used in a year, and minimizing new purchases - not based on economy, but on your choice for leading a simple unencumbered life.

4. Try something new: What have you been wanting to do, but couldn't find the time or commitment to begin? Perhaps yoga, qigong, stretching, walking, a new spiritual class, a book discussion group, ballroom dancing.

5. Learn and explore: You are never too old for learning and discovery. Open your mind. Study something you always wanted to know about but that didn't seem necessary or practical - other cultures and times, comparative religion, whatever calls you.

6. Volunteer: Nothing works better for relieving self-pity than helping others who are worse off. Fill the time you would have spent feeling sorry for yourself by giving something of yourself to others.

7. Get away: If you can possibly afford it, take a trip with a group of compatible people - perhaps a spiritual journey. Also, ask what is tying you to the community where you currently reside. Now is a time to consider the question of where, and how, you really want to live.

Believe in yourself. You have free will. You, and only you, are responsible for your life.

Also read my article 7 Secrets for a Happy Life.

Beginnings - Happy New Year!

A new year - a new season - a new beginning - renewal - rebirth.

Let every day be the first day of the rest of your life, but especially let today be a new beginning.

What is your vision for your life? Put it into action starting today.

Happy New Year!

Celebrate endings - for they precede new beginnings. - jlh

Celebrate endings - for they precede new beginnings. - jlh

Endings - sometimes a season of sorrow and grief. Endings - what must precede new beginnings. Life is an endless cycle of endings and beginnings. Renewal and rebirth cannot occur without endings - as the new year's crop can only be planted and flourish in the decay of last year.

Lao Tzu: The words of truth are always paradoxical.

The words of truth are always paradoxical.
- Lao Tzu

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
- Lao Tzu

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
- Lao Tzu

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
- Lao Tzu

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
- Lao Tzu

He who is contented is rich.
- Lao Tzu

I do not concern myself with gods and spirits either good or evil nor do I serve any.
- Lao Tzu

Silence is a source of great strength.
- Lao Tzu

To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
- Lao Tzu

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
- Lao Tzu

When the best leader's work is done the people say, "We did it ourselves."
- Lao Tzu

To lead people, walk behind them.
- Lao Tzu

It is never too late to begin.

I Dream This Day of Wondrous Things,
of Peace and Hope and Pride.
I Dance My Dance with Life Today,
I'm Filled with Love Inside.
- jlh

Today is a good day for everything you ever wanted to do but didn't believe you could. Choose something that has always seemed out of your reach, and begin today. Perhaps the smallest baby step today, and a slightly larger step tomorrow.

It is never too late to begin. Remember that you always wanted to play the piano, paint, write poetry, start a journal, read that challenging book, begin stargazing, learn a little Spanish, take up yoga or qigong, build something special. There will never be a better day to begin than today. Just do it.