...Today I close the door to the past, open the door to the future, take a deep breath, step on through and start a new chapter in my life...

"If you spend too much time working on your weaknesses, all you end up with is a lot of strong weaknesses." - Dan Sullivan

"It is better to be in chains with friends , than to be in a garden with strangers." -Persian Proverb

"On a long journey, even a straw weighs heavy." -Spanish proverb

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
― Winston Churchill

Friendship can survive without love.  Love cannot live without friendship. -Unknown

"Love is playing every game as if it's your last." -Michael Jordan

"...but for me, my hate to lose is greater than my love to win." -Manti Te'o

"Success is where preparation meets opportunity." -Zig Ziglar

"Let today be the day you give up who you've been for who you can become." -Hal Elrod

"The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things." -Rainer Maria Rilke

"ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS, LISTEN TO THE ANSWERS, AND MAKE SURE TO TREAT {OTHERS} WITH SINCERITY." -Mark Hoplamazian

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." - Winston Churchill

"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision." -Muhammad Ali

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." -C.S. Lewis

“Practice as if you are the worst, perform as if you are the best.” -Unknown

Distance

by Dorothy Parker

Distance is sometimes a good thing.

Were you to cross the world, my dear,

To work or love or fight,

I could be calm and wistful here,

And close my eyes at night.

It were a sweet and gallant pain

To be a sea apart;

But, oh, to have you down the lane

Is bitter to my heart.

"You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get." - Michael Pheps

"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." -Unknown

"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" Vince Lombardi

"Being president doesn't make you who you are; it reveals who you are." -First Lady Michelle Obama

Teamwork: Simply stated, it is less me and more we.  -Unkown

"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." - John Lennon

"Football is like life, it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority."

-VINCE LOMBARDI

"Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering." – Ida Scott Taylor

"The way I see it, you should live everyday like its your birthday." -Paris Hilton

“...the image is one thing and the human being is another...it’s very hard to live up to an image.”


-Elvis Presley (From the press conference prior to his record-breaking Madison Square Garden shows in New York City, 1972)

"The creative adult is the child who has survived." --Ursula K. LeGuin

"Nothing atonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing." -Chinese Fortune Cookie (8/10/2012)

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"
- Marianne Williamson

"It's not fiction or non-fiction; it's the truth." -Anonymous

“Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that's what makes you strong.”  -Sarah Dessen

Life lessons at 56

Published: Thursday, May 31, 2012, 2:33 PM     Updated: Friday, June 01, 2012, 3:00 PM

By Regina Brett, The Plain Dealer
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To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I've ever written. It has traveled the world. Someone wrote at the top of that email chain letter that I'm 90. My odometer rolls over to 56 today, so here's an update:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
51.To be a channel of peace, you have to stay open. To do that, relax your heart.
52. Consult your own soul. Deep inside you already know the answers you need.
53. Interruptions are divine assignments.
54. God doesn't always call the strong. Sometimes you have to be weak enough to serve.
55. Start where you are and get busy on the possible.
56. Love life unconditionally. Love it ALL.
To reach Regina Brett: rbrett@plaind.com, 216-999-6328,reginabrett.com
Facebook: facebook.com/ReginaBrettFans
Twitter: @ReginaBrett

"I shall tell you a great secret my friend. Do not wait for the last Judgment, it takes place every day."-Albert Camus

(And, we're back!) "People who do not understand you will never settle for any proof, and people who appreciate you do not need any proof. " —Seth (Jane Roberts)

"Strong is the new skinny." -Unknown (Strong Lola Website)

"Skinny girls look good in clothes... Fit girls look good naked." -Unknown

"God loves a cheerful giver." -2 Corinthians 9:7

"A mistake is always forgivable, rarely excusable and always unacceptable." -Robert Fripp

“Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.” Stephen R. Covey

"Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." –The Wonder Years

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

"You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face." -Gatorade