Quote of the day for 9/23/2014

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“You always pass failure on the way to success.”
-Mickey Rooney

We all want to be successful, but when it comes to the "road to success," not all of us reach the end. Whenever one reaches a 'bump in the road,' doubt tends to take over and you question whether or not you should finish the journey. We complain that it's too hard. We wonder if it is even worth it to continue on the road to success.

Let me tell you something: enduring failure and hardships is a part of the journey. It's the 'bump in the road' that builds the character needed in order to be ready for success. If we aren't ready to experience a little failure along the way, then we aren't ready for the end result. Nothing in life is ever easy. I know that better than anyone. I've been fighting and and surviving one thing or another since the day I was born. It's all I know. I haven't reached success yet. I'm still on my journey.
Success to me means finding inner peace and happiness. It is being truly content with who you are and never doubting that you are loved. It is putting others' first and taking care of yourself so you CAN take care of your loved ones when they need you.
People tell me that I'm a success. I disagree with them. I'm becoming a success. I'm not there yet. I still have to work through life's failures in order to reach my destination. The one thing that keeps me going is the faith that I will make it there someday.

Failure and success go hand-in-hand. While they are polar opposites, failure is what builds character and strength in order to achieve and appreciate success. Keep that in mind when you see yourself at a little 'bump in the road.'

Quote of the day (9/7/2014)

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Today's quote of the day is about growing and being out of our comfort zone.

“If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.” - John Maxwell

 Life is all about growth. There is job growth, family growth, spiritual growth, emotional growth, etc. We never stop growing, and we shouldn't even try to escape the process. We need to grow. How do we better ourselves if we don't continue to grow?

A lot of people try to stay the way they are because they are afraid to leave their comfort zone. They are afraid of the unknown.

It is okay to be afraid. Heck, I am afraid of the unknown, but I never doubt that I am strong enough to handle what ever comes my way.
Through a tough upbringing to bad experiences in my love life, to health issues, to poverty, and to a serious back surgery, I knew that I could handle what ever comes my way. While I continue to battle recovering from a serious back surgery, I know that I can get through it. It's helping me to grow emotionally (and somewhat physically). The past year and a half, I've been way out of my comfort zone. My life before was easier to manage. Everything now depends on whether or not I'm having a bad pain day. I work around my pain.
In some aspects, life is slowly getting easier. In other aspects, I am still struggling. I constantly remind myself that I'm growing, I'm strong, and despite being out of my comfort zone, I will overcome this.

We underestimate how strong we really are. We need to realize our strength, accept the process, continue to grow, and understand that being out of our comfort zone is actually a GOOD thing.

Quote of the day (08/13/2014) *Special Robin Williams edition*

*Good morning, everyone! I wanted to start a new series on The Water Cooler. On Bubblews, I used to have a series called: "Quote of the Day." It was very popular with my readers and I've had a few requests for it from a few friends of mine. 
Since we are all still mourning the loss of Robin Williams, I wanted to pick a quote from one of his most loved movies, "Dead Poets Society." It also happens to be one of my favorite movies.*

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“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
-Robin Williams

Robin Williams changed the world with his infectious, larger than life personality and sense of humor. He had a love of making people laugh. He made it his life's work to make millions of people roar with laughter. People who have had a bad day can turn on one of his comedy routines or one of his movies and just get lost in his comedy.

Anyone who sets out to share their sense of humor with the world in order to make the world laugh is a pretty amazing person.

No matter what it is that we want to do, if we have an idea of what we want to do with our lives, we can go out and do it. A lot of us have dreams as kids of what we want to be when we grow up. Some of us grow up wanting to be actors, cops, doctors, singers, dancers, etc. We get told by naysayers that our dreams are "far-fetched." Some kids may even want to change how things are done in the world. Perhaps they grew up with a relative who was sick and they want to be the one who finds a cure for the ailment. Again, a naysayer will tell them that their dream is "far-fetched."
Why are we so quick to shoot down young people's ideas of finding cures and changing the world? If you have a dream for this world, don't let anyone stop you from achieving it. Einstein had a dream, and look at all he accomplished. 
We can all do what ever it is we set our minds to. Any one of us has the possibility of changing the world. Share yourself with the world.

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Again, my heart is still broken and in shock about Robin Williams' passing. As someone who shares the history of depression, I know the struggle. I've been moved to see so many people bringing attention to how serious depression and mental illness is. I've been moved to see the suicide helpline passed around so many times. I'm glad that the message is getting passed around.
RIP Robin Williams!

I am going to put the suicide helpline number on here because I really want to encourage people to call if they are in crisis. The people on the other side of the line are amazing and caring people. They are always there for you when you need someone. If you're in despair, thinking about suicide, or thinking about harming yourself, PLEASE CALL 1-800-273-TALK.