Actual for You - Living an Honest and Fruitful Life is not an Option (from a seminar I gave)

Why is an excellent question. Tony Robbins believes and fully lives a life of truth. He follows through. He wants his seminar participants to experience the victory over unbelievable circumstances. If you master coal walking, then dealing with sassy teenage daughters and sons seems that much easier. Dealing with a demanding or unfair boss becomes a trivial manner.

Nobody can or will do the hard work for us.

There is a price to be paid for success and fulfillment. That price is --- to never give up.

Never ever give up on your dreams and plans. Only losers do.

I read in a newspaper clip a few month's ago of a very old yet active woman, Lana by name, one hundred and three years young, and her reaction to the question 'What makes you stay young?' Her response?

"We don't stop playing because we grow older, we grow older because we stop playing."

Folks, our lives are not a dress rehearsal. Our lives are what we make them. The seeds we plant now will bloom into flowers over time.

Patience is a willingness to stick with a plan whether or not the sun shines, the wife loves you, the boss respects you, the money is flowing in or the economy is rising up. Patience brings results...

There was a famous, cynical comedian in the 1930s named W.C. Fields. He loved to drink, he loved to party and he loved to make people laugh. He was extremely funny. One day he was walking through a flower shop and a tag on one of the plants caught his eye. The plant was called a Century Plant. The somewhat dishonest florist told Mr. Fields that this plant only flowered once per century and that within 24 hours it would bloom. In a drunken ecstasy, Fields bought the over-priced plant, brought it home and invited many of his Hollywood pals over for the 24-hour wait for this Century Plant to flower. And wait they did. Two days of hard, heavy drinking passed and still the flower failed to bloom. Fields, fed up with waiting, went to his locked drawer, yanked the key off the wall hook and inserted it into the keyhole. Hearing the unlocking click, he yanked the drawer out and grabbed his pistol. He went into the livingroom where the Century Plant lay at rest and said to the plant: "For the last time, bloom! Bloom!!! Do you hear me, you fool?" Mysteriously, the plant remained silent and the flower failed to appear. Bang! He shot the plant and soil into a thousand directions and walked back into the kitchen for another shot of whiskey.

Mr. Fields is not so different than most people who want quick results or want something for nothing. He got impatient and never gave his flower a chance to bloom.

Have you ever wondered what could have happened for the better, if you had been a bit more patient with someone, with some project, or with some study you gave up on?

Most of us shoot the plant before it has a chance to flower. God only knows how many times I have given up too soon. And turning back too soon results in low levels of self-confidence.

And when you lose your self-confidence, opportunity becomes like a disease. You close your mind step-by-step to the magnificent, golden fields of opportunity. You hear people say things like "I know about that" or "I did that and it doesn’t work" or "Japanese are all alike" or "My friend tried that and lost money."

Sound familiar?

Regret is a bitter pill to swallow.

Following through brings rewards and momentum.

I speak from experience. Nine and a half months ago I weighed in at 114 kilograms. My blood pressure was skyrocketing, my legs were swollen because of poor circulation. I was on a regiment of pills to control all the diseases that were starting to effect me. Clothes didn't fit well. I looked like a poor cousin of Konishiki, the gargantuan sumoist. My wife, a nurse, was constantly complaining to me that being so fat was dangerous and selfish to the family. She was right, but I ate more under that pressure.

If you had seen me at that time you would not have believed that this over-fifty-year-old man, me, could have totally turned his troubled life and body around.

I’m back from the valley of the living dead to inspire each of you to do your best, always.

I did my best for the last nine months of weight loss and you can too with whatever areas of your life requiring improvement, once you understand the mindset for success. Last Friday I weighed in at 74 kilograms. My blood pressure is almost perfect. My leg swelling is virtually gone. The bounce is back in my walk. I can fit into Japanese-sized clothing without difficulty. The pillbox of disease is history.

Whether your twenty or eighty, fat or thin, smart or not so smart, handsome, pretty or not, rich or poor, confident or lacking confidence...there are better tomorrows and they should start today.

Not one precious soul in this world hasn’t at least secretly wished he or she could live a first-class, healthy life.

A famous speaker once said, "If a man tells you he doesn’t care about his self-improvement and success, there’s no telling what else he might lie to you about."

I'm certain many of us don't change because we are caught in what is often referred to as the "comfort zone."

The comfort zone is that cubbyhole place where we can consistently justify our underachievement and abandon our hopes and dreams while being cheered on by our failing and failed comrades. They are going nowhere and they are glad that you are too.

When we hang around with other people who are living compromised, unfulfilled lives it is easy to catch the blues. Misery does enjoy the company of other giver-uppers.

Don’t look in that dark storm, however, for support in your quest for betterment and excellence.

Great minds do, however, arise from the ashes of despair and hopelessness.

Those of Excellence do not live in mediocre circles, and neither should you.

The comfort zone club only loves you when you stop trying as hard as you can. That’s the wrong club to hang out at.

If you want to soar, then hang out with the hawks and eagles. Attend meetings and seminars with people serious about learning and improving upon their life and business skills. Read books by people who have accomplished much by doing and sharing much.

Look up, look down, look sideways and look within.

Pause and reflect on your blessings.

Smile until it doesn’t hurt.

Listen until your tongue bleeds.

Take nothing for granted.

Give others credit, even when it is not due.

Put high expectations on everyone but never be disappointed if others can’t or don’t live up to your standards.

Be wrong often, even when you know you are right.

Make a mountain of errors in your pursuit of excellence.

Focus on the person/people you are with, as if it may be the last time you meet. And it may just be.

Be the first to reach out with a hand of friendship or an encouraging pat on the back.

One of my favorite motivational speakers and a multi-millionaire sales trainer as well is named Zig Zeigler. He has often said at his seminars: "Are you a wandering generality or a meaningful specific?"

A wandering generality --- do you spend your life avoiding risk and settling for second best? A meaningful specific --- do you have any short-, medium- and long-term plans for your life? Are you orchestrating your life or is your boss or spouse doing the orchestrating?

What are we living for? Are we living for our parents’, spouse’s or children’s dreams and hopes? Or are we selfishly - some people may want you to believe - looking out only for our own self-interests?

Frankly, there isn't a single soul in the world who isn't living for the appreciation and respect of others.

We all want love and acceptance.

Our self-interest gives us the confidence and reserve energy required for moving forward and navigating the uncharted waters of our lives.

Our value on this planet is in direct proportion to the effort each of us puts out, even though we can rest.

Even though no one may be watching.

Even though the result may be in doubt.

Even though the money may not be in the bank.

Even though a loved one may be suffering from a disease or other misfortune.

Even though the sun hasn’t shone for a week.

Even though you’re getting by on three hours’ rest and holding down two jobs.

Even though we are told to fear terrorists and terrorism.

Even though the economy is in the doldrums.

Even though your boss doesn’t like you.

Even though your spouse doesn’t pay attention to you.

Even though no one cares about you.

We are all given the same twenty-four hours each day. No more and no less. How we fill that time defines us.

Thomas Edison, the prolific inventor of thousands of clever gadgets, once was asked about his invention of the lightbulb. The questioner wondered how he could have had the perseverance to continue with his experiments after thousands' of failures. He quickly snapped back: "Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work."

Stop complaining and moaning. Things don't work. People don't work. Children don't listen. Nobody loves you (or so you think). The world is going to hell. The government is the cause of my problems. I don't have enough money, enough time, enough brains, enough good looks. I'm too shy. He pushes me around. There's no hope. Rich people are lucky. It's my destiny to fail. Everything I touch goes bad. And my parents are the reason I'm a nobody.

On and on, the excuses flow, and we never have to get off our behinds and get to work on being the best we can.

With a suicidal rapidity we march forward toward a painful mental and physical death or living hell --- "Oh well" or a "I never got any breaks" or "What’s the use."

As you get older you start in with your list of "used to’s." We alllllll do it or have done it. "I used to be a good tennis player." "I used to bake bread." "I used to be in great shape." "I used to have four girlfriends." "I used to like people." "I used to have ambition." "I used to have a lot of money." I used to be a good tenor." "I used to write short stories." "I used to read a lot." Or here’s a clever one: "I used to have a sense of humor." And the grand prizewinner is: "I used to have time."

Hey, folks, time is not about to change. But your perception of time must change. You must be focused.

Although our lives are finite, the opportunities within our lifetime are infinite and timeless.

A woman climbed Mt. Everest in her late seventies recently. A man ran and completed a marathon at age 100. An ex-President skydived at age 88. Actor Paul Newman drove in the 24-Hour Daytona Race when he was 75.

Tired? Consider this: John Wesley, a famous Christian minister of the 19th Century, preached over 40,000 sermons and traveled 225,000 miles (his horse had never heard of kilometers). Did you realize these figures belong only to the latter part of his life, from age 36 to 88?

And if you need more inspiration, let me read to you about a very special granny.

Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma Moses) was born on September 7, 1860 in Greenwich New York. She spent most of her life as a farmer's wife and raising her five children. She didn't become serious about painting until she was in her mid seventies. Up until that time, she enjoyed embroidery work with colorful scenes on canvas but when her hands became stiff with arthritis, she switched to painting. Her first picture was painted on a piece of canvas with house paint.

In 1938 when she was almost eighty, Louis J. Caldor, an art collector noticed her work in a drugstore window and bought her first paintings. In 1939, Otto Kallir, art dealer first exhibited her scenes of rural life at his Gallerie Saint-Etienne in New York City. Her one-woman show brought national recognition.

Gimbel's Department Store invited Grandma to New York to see a display of her painting at a Thanksgiving festival. Here she met many people who were fascinated by her paintings and by 1941 she received New York state prize for one of her paintings, "The Old Oaken Bucket." In 1949, President Harry S. Truman presented her with the Women's National Press Club Award for outstanding accomplishment in art.

In 1955, the news reporter Edward R. Murrow invited her on his TV show, See It Now. People watched the TV screen as Grandma painted a picture from her house. She sat at an old table and painted on masonite, a thin hard board. "I like to paint old-timey things," she said.

Her work is called primitive art, a simple and clear style and her theme was American rural life. Many primitive artists have not had formal training yet seem to paint in a natural way. Grandma drew from her memory and captured activities such as capturing the Thanksgiving turkey, Halloween night on the farm and having a family reunion picnic.

At age 100, she illustrated an edition of "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore and the book was published after her death. Grandma Moses died on December 13, 1961. She lived to be 101 and in the last year of her life painted twenty-five pictures!

It’s all in your head. Are you a wandering generality or meaningful specific?

Sound familiar?

Regret is a bitter pill to swallow.

Following through brings rewards and momentum.

I speak from experience. Nine and a half months ago I weighed in at 114 kilograms. My blood pressure was skyrocketing, my legs were swollen because of poor circulation. I was on a regiment of pills to control all the diseases that were starting to effect me. Clothes didn't fit well. I looked like a poor cousin of Konishiki, the gargantuan sumoist. My wife, a nurse, was constantly complaining to me that being so fat was dangerous and selfish to the family. She was right, but I ate more under that pressure.

If you had seen me at that time you would not have believed that this over-fifty-year-old man, me, could have totally turned his troubled life and body around.

I’m back from the valley of the living dead to inspire each of you to do your best, always.

I did my best for the last nine months of weight loss and you can too with whatever areas of your life requiring improvement, once you understand the mindset for success. Last Friday I weighed in at 74 kilograms. My blood pressure is almost perfect. My leg swelling is virtually gone. The bounce is back in my walk. I can fit into Japanese-sized clothing without difficulty. The pillbox of disease is history.

Whether your twenty or eighty, fat or thin, smart or not so smart, handsome, pretty or not, rich or poor, confident or lacking confidence...there are better tomorrows and they should start today.

Not one precious soul in this world hasn’t at least secretly wished he or she could live a first-class, healthy life.

A famous speaker once said, "If a man tells you he doesn’t care about his self-improvement and success, there’s no telling what else he might lie to you about."

I'm certain many of us don't change because we are caught in what is often referred to as the "comfort zone."

The comfort zone is that cubbyhole place where we can consistently justify our underachievement and abandon our hopes and dreams while being cheered on by our failing and failed comrades. They are going nowhere and they are glad that you are too.

When we hang around with other people who are living compromised, unfulfilled lives it is easy to catch the blues. Misery does enjoy the company of other giver-uppers.

Don’t look in that dark storm, however, for support in your quest for betterment and excellence.

Great minds do, however, arise from the ashes of despair and hopelessness.

Those of Excellence do not live in mediocre circles, and neither should you.

The comfort zone club only loves you when you stop trying as hard as you can. That’s the wrong club to hang out at.

If you want to soar, then hang out with the hawks and eagles. Attend meetings and seminars with people serious about learning and improving upon their life and business skills. Read books by people who have accomplished much by doing and sharing much.

Look up, look down, look sideways and look within.

Pause and reflect on your blessings.

Smile until it doesn’t hurt.

Listen until your tongue bleeds.

Take nothing for granted.

Give others credit, even when it is not due.

Put high expectations on everyone but never be disappointed if others can’t or don’t live up to your standards.

Be wrong often, even when you know you are right.

Make a mountain of errors in your pursuit of excellence.

Focus on the person/people you are with, as if it may be the last time you meet. And it may just be.

Be the first to reach out with a hand of friendship or an encouraging pat on the back.

One of my favorite motivational speakers and a multi-millionaire sales trainer as well is named Zig Zeigler. He has often said at his seminars: "Are you a wandering generality or a meaningful specific?"

A wandering generality --- do you spend your life avoiding risk and settling for second best? A meaningful specific --- do you have any short-, medium- and long-term plans for your life? Are you orchestrating your life or is your boss or spouse doing the orchestrating?

What are we living for? Are we living for our parents’, spouse’s or children’s dreams and hopes? Or are we selfishly - some people may want you to believe - looking out only for our own self-interests?

Frankly, there isn't a single soul in the world who isn't living for the appreciation and respect of others.

We all want love and acceptance.

Our self-interest gives us the confidence and reserve energy required for moving forward and navigating the uncharted waters of our lives.

Our value on this planet is in direct proportion to the effort each of us puts out, even though we can rest.

Even though no one may be watching.

Even though the result may be in doubt.

Even though the money may not be in the bank.

Even though a loved one may be suffering from a disease or other misfortune.

Even though the sun hasn’t shone for a week.

Even though you’re getting by on three hours’ rest and holding down two jobs.

Even though we are told to fear terrorists and terrorism.

Even though the economy is in the doldrums.

Even though your boss doesn’t like you.

Even though your spouse doesn’t pay attention to you.

Even though no one cares about you.

We are all given the same twenty-four hours each day. No more and no less. How we fill that time defines us.

Thomas Edison, the prolific inventor of thousands of clever gadgets, once was asked about his invention of the lightbulb. The questioner wondered how he could have had the perseverance to continue with his experiments after thousands' of failures. He quickly snapped back: "Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work."

Stop complaining and moaning. Things don't work. People don't work. Children don't listen. Nobody loves you (or so you think). The world is going to hell. The government is the cause of my problems. I don't have enough money, enough time, enough brains, enough good looks. I'm too shy. He pushes me around. There's no hope. Rich people are lucky. It's my destiny to fail. Everything I touch goes bad. And my parents are the reason I'm a nobody.

On and on, the excuses flow, and we never have to get off our behinds and get to work on being the best we can.

With a suicidal rapidity we march forward toward a painful mental and physical death or living hell --- "Oh well" or a "I never got any breaks" or "What’s the use."

As you get older you start in with your list of "used to’s." We alllllll do it or have done it. "I used to be a good tennis player." "I used to bake bread." "I used to be in great shape." "I used to have four girlfriends." "I used to like people." "I used to have ambition." "I used to have a lot of money." I used to be a good tenor." "I used to write short stories." "I used to read a lot." Or here’s a clever one: "I used to have a sense of humor." And the grand prizewinner is: "I used to have time."

Hey, folks, time is not about to change. But your perception of time must change. You must be focused.

Although our lives are finite, the opportunities within our lifetime are infinite and timeless.

A woman climbed Mt. Everest in her late seventies recently. A man ran and completed a marathon at age 100. An ex-President skydived at age 88. Actor Paul Newman drove in the 24-Hour Daytona Race when he was 75.

Tired? Consider this: John Wesley, a famous Christian minister of the 19th Century, preached over 40,000 sermons and traveled 225,000 miles (his horse had never heard of kilometers). Did you realize these figures belong only to the latter part of his life, from age 36 to 88?

And if you need more inspiration, let me read to you about a very special granny.

Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma Moses) was born on September 7, 1860 in Greenwich New York. She spent most of her life as a farmer's wife and raising her five children. She didn't become serious about painting until she was in her mid seventies. Up until that time, she enjoyed embroidery work with colorful scenes on canvas but when her hands became stiff with arthritis, she switched to painting. Her first picture was painted on a piece of canvas with house paint.

In 1938 when she was almost eighty, Louis J. Caldor, an art collector noticed her work in a drugstore window and bought her first paintings. In 1939, Otto Kallir, art dealer first exhibited her scenes of rural life at his Gallerie Saint-Etienne in New York City. Her one-woman show brought national recognition.

Gimbel's Department Store invited Grandma to New York to see a display of her painting at a Thanksgiving festival. Here she met many people who were fascinated by her paintings and by 1941 she received New York state prize for one of her paintings, "The Old Oaken Bucket." In 1949, President Harry S. Truman presented her with the Women's National Press Club Award for outstanding accomplishment in art.

In 1955, the news reporter Edward R. Murrow invited her on his TV show, See It Now. People watched the TV screen as Grandma painted a picture from her house. She sat at an old table and painted on masonite, a thin hard board. "I like to paint old-timey things," she said.

Her work is called primitive art, a simple and clear style and her theme was American rural life. Many primitive artists have not had formal training yet seem to paint in a natural way. Grandma drew from her memory and captured activities such as capturing the Thanksgiving turkey, Halloween night on the farm and having a family reunion picnic.

At age 100, she illustrated an edition of "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore and the book was published after her death. Grandma Moses died on December 13, 1961. She lived to be 101 and in the last year of her life painted twenty-five pictures!

It’s all in your head. Are you a wandering generality or meaningful specific?

Put high expectations on everyone but never be disappointed if others can’t or don’t live up to your standards.

Be wrong often, even when you know you are right.

Make a mountain of errors in your pursuit of excellence.

Focus on the person/people you are with, as if it may be the last time you meet. And it may just be.

Be the first to reach out with a hand of friendship or an encouraging pat on the back.

One of my favorite motivational speakers and a multi-millionaire sales trainer as well is named Zig Zeigler. He has often said at his seminars: "Are you a wandering generality or a meaningful specific?"

A wandering generality --- do you spend your life avoiding risk and settling for second best? A meaningful specific --- do you have any short-, medium- and long-term plans for your life? Are you orchestrating your life or is your boss or spouse doing the orchestrating?

What are we living for? Are we living for our parents’, spouse’s or children’s dreams and hopes? Or are we selfishly - some people may want you to believe - looking out only for our own self-interests?

Frankly, there isn't a single soul in the world who isn't living for the appreciation and respect of others.

We all want love and acceptance.

Our self-interest gives us the confidence and reserve energy required for moving forward and navigating the uncharted waters of our lives.

Our value on this planet is in direct proportion to the effort each of us puts out, even though we can rest.

Even though no one may be watching.

Even though the result may be in doubt.

Even though the money may not be in the bank.

Even though a loved one may be suffering from a disease or other misfortune.

Even though the sun hasn’t shone for a week.

Even though you’re getting by on three hours’ rest and holding down two jobs.

Even though we are told to fear terrorists and terrorism.

Even though the economy is in the doldrums.

Even though your boss doesn’t like you.

Even though your spouse doesn’t pay attention to you.

Even though no one cares about you.

We are all given the same twenty-four hours each day. No more and no less. How we fill that time defines us.

Thomas Edison, the prolific inventor of thousands of clever gadgets, once was asked about his invention of the lightbulb. The questioner wondered how he could have had the perseverance to continue with his experiments after thousands' of failures. He quickly snapped back: "Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work."

Stop complaining and moaning. Things don't work. People don't work. Children don't listen. Nobody loves you (or so you think). The world is going to hell. The government is the cause of my problems. I don't have enough money, enough time, enough brains, enough good looks. I'm too shy. He pushes me around. There's no hope. Rich people are lucky. It's my destiny to fail. Everything I touch goes bad. And my parents are the reason I'm a nobody.

On and on, the excuses flow, and we never have to get off our behinds and get to work on being the best we can.

With a suicidal rapidity we march forward toward a painful mental and physical death or living hell --- "Oh well" or a "I never got any breaks" or "What’s the use."

As you get older you start in with your list of "used to’s." We alllllll do it or have done it. "I used to be a good tennis player." "I used to bake bread." "I used to be in great shape." "I used to have four girlfriends." "I used to like people." "I used to have ambition." "I used to have a lot of money." I used to be a good tenor." "I used to write short stories." "I used to read a lot." Or here’s a clever one: "I used to have a sense of humor." And the grand prizewinner is: "I used to have time."

Hey, folks, time is not about to change. But your perception of time must change. You must be focused.

Although our lives are finite, the opportunities within our lifetime are infinite and timeless.

A woman climbed Mt. Everest in her late seventies recently. A man ran and completed a marathon at age 100. An ex-President skydived at age 88. Actor Paul Newman drove in the 24-Hour Daytona Race when he was 75.

Tired? Consider this: John Wesley, a famous Christian minister of the 19th Century, preached over 40,000 sermons and traveled 225,000 miles (his horse had never heard of kilometers). Did you realize these figures belong only to the latter part of his life, from age 36 to 88?

And if you need more inspiration, let me read to you about a very special granny.

Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma Moses) was born on September 7, 1860 in Greenwich New York. She spent most of her life as a farmer's wife and raising her five children. She didn't become serious about painting until she was in her mid seventies. Up until that time, she enjoyed embroidery work with colorful scenes on canvas but when her hands became stiff with arthritis, she switched to painting. Her first picture was painted on a piece of canvas with house paint.

In 1938 when she was almost eighty, Louis J. Caldor, an art collector noticed her work in a drugstore window and bought her first paintings. In 1939, Otto Kallir, art dealer first exhibited her scenes of rural life at his Gallerie Saint-Etienne in New York City. Her one-woman show brought national recognition.

Gimbel's Department Store invited Grandma to New York to see a display of her painting at a Thanksgiving festival. Here she met many people who were fascinated by her paintings and by 1941 she received New York state prize for one of her paintings, "The Old Oaken Bucket." In 1949, President Harry S. Truman presented her with the Women's National Press Club Award for outstanding accomplishment in art.

In 1955, the news reporter Edward R. Murrow invited her on his TV show, See It Now. People watched the TV screen as Grandma painted a picture from her house. She sat at an old table and painted on masonite, a thin hard board. "I like to paint old-timey things," she said.

Her work is called primitive art, a simple and clear style and her theme was American rural life. Many primitive artists have not had formal training yet seem to paint in a natural way. Grandma drew from her memory and captured activities such as capturing the Thanksgiving turkey, Halloween night on the farm and having a family reunion picnic.

At age 100, she illustrated an edition of "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore and the book was published after her death. Grandma Moses died on December 13, 1961. She lived to be 101 and in the last year of her life painted twenty-five pictures!

It’s all in your head. Are you a wandering generality or meaningful specific?

Hey, folks, time is not about to change. But your perception of time must change. You must be focused.

Although our lives are finite, the opportunities within our lifetime are infinite and timeless.

A woman climbed Mt. Everest in her late seventies recently. A man ran and completed a marathon at age 100. An ex-President skydived at age 88. Actor Paul Newman drove in the 24-Hour Daytona Race when he was 75.

Tired? Consider this: John Wesley, a famous Christian minister of the 19th Century, preached over 40,000 sermons and traveled 225,000 miles (his horse had never heard of kilometers). Did you realize these figures belong only to the latter part of his life, from age 36 to 88?

And if you need more inspiration, let me read to you about a very special granny.

Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma Moses) was born on September 7, 1860 in Greenwich New York. She spent most of her life as a farmer's wife and raising her five children. She didn't become serious about painting until she was in her mid seventies. Up until that time, she enjoyed embroidery work with colorful scenes on canvas but when her hands became stiff with arthritis, she switched to painting. Her first picture was painted on a piece of canvas with house paint.

In 1938 when she was almost eighty, Louis J. Caldor, an art collector noticed her work in a drugstore window and bought her first paintings. In 1939, Otto Kallir, art dealer first exhibited her scenes of rural life at his Gallerie Saint-Etienne in New York City. Her one-woman show brought national recognition.

Gimbel's Department Store invited Grandma to New York to see a display of her painting at a Thanksgiving festival. Here she met many people who were fascinated by her paintings and by 1941 she received New York state prize for one of her paintings, "The Old Oaken Bucket." In 1949, President Harry S. Truman presented her with the Women's National Press Club Award for outstanding accomplishment in art.

In 1955, the news reporter Edward R. Murrow invited her on his TV show, See It Now. People watched the TV screen as Grandma painted a picture from her house. She sat at an old table and painted on masonite, a thin hard board. "I like to paint old-timey things," she said.

Her work is called primitive art, a simple and clear style and her theme was American rural life. Many primitive artists have not had formal training yet seem to paint in a natural way. Grandma drew from her memory and captured activities such as capturing the Thanksgiving turkey, Halloween night on the farm and having a family reunion picnic.

At age 100, she illustrated an edition of "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore and the book was published after her death. Grandma Moses died on December 13, 1961. She lived to be 101 and in the last year of her life painted twenty-five pictures!

It’s all in your head. Are you a wandering generality or meaningful specific?

You are what you think you are. You always meet your expectations, and if your expectations are low then your results will be low.

Are you a good person? Are you kind? Are you soft? Are you thoughtful? Are you exhausted? Are you serious? Are you rich? Are you boring? Are you bored? Are you a housemom? Are you a dissatisfied worker? Are you an underachiever? An overachiever? A nonachiever? Are you an engineer talking about stress in buildings? Are you just an office lady filing away your hours? Are you a Kacho (boss) who secretly wishes to be in the sales department or in a laboratory or to have your own business? Are you Mr. Macho, pumping iron after hours? Are you gay and afraid to come out of the closet? Are you a Christian on a mission to save the world? Are you an eldest son with an endless sense of duty? Are you a beer drinker who never gets high on life when off the bottle? Are you a bellydancer masquerading as a department store clerk? Are you the black sheep of your family who never gets invited to family affairs? Are you the heirloom of a fortune that dishonestly tells people that your wealth was earned through hard work? Are you a welfare recipient because hamburger-flipping jobs are below you? Are you tired of life or your partner or your boss or your spouse or your children or that mother of yours’ who keeps asking about your plans for marriage?

Are you ready for change?

It's not easy becoming a man or woman of truth and integrity, but the effort is more than worth it.

Concentrate, as if your life depends on it.

If you have goals and you are focused on self-improvement, your listening skills must be improved.

Switch off your cleverness, so that you can listen with all your might.

Open your eyes to the world begging to be noticed.

Smell the flowers and put a gentle hand of encouragement on the shoulder or neck of those you love.

Two thousand years past, an ancient philosopher named Pliny the Younger said: "The grace of listening is lost if the listener's attention is demanded, not as a favor, but as a right."

So who are you? What are you living for? What are you willing to die for? I pray these last few reading minutes forced you to question yourself about how to proceed from this day forward in being a person of achievement.

Remember: you only grow old by thinking old.

Keep yourself fresh.

Look for the opportunities to serve your fellow men.

Small acts of kindness do add up to a better world for us all.

I leave you with this story. There was a carpenter who for forty years worked honestly and built for himself a reputation. His skill was known in all the nearby towns and villages. One day the carpenter decided that it was time to retire. He told his boss that he would like to leave after his next job. His boss agreed but said to him "Your last house is to be made with great precision. I will give you all the materials necessary to build a quality, comfortable home. The carpenter agreed to do his best, but in truth his heart just wasn’t in it. He put together the house hastily, not pounding in nails or measuring dimensions accurately. The house was done quickly and at first appearance looked good to the boss. The carpenter saw the boss count out his wages and then reach into his trousers to pull out the key. "This, my good carpenter, is your house and my final gift to you."

When we do our best and live truthfully we can reach magnificent heights.

Treat every house you build as you would your very own.

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