Thought For Day - The Main Thing

"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."

— Stephen Covey

Thought For Day - Character

"Character is not made in a crisis, it is only exhibited."

--Robert Freeman

Personal Ramblings - Filmmaking

I'm reposting a great article from Suzanne Lyons Newsletter. Check out her websites and newsletter.

http://www.suzannelyons.net/

http://www.snowfallfilms.com/







TEN STEPS TO SUCCESS IN HOLLYWOOD
(Or any Business)


1. SET A GOAL - Do a one year goal. For example, "By December 1st, 2010 I will _________________________ _________________________________________. Then break it down into monthly milestones: January 1st, February 1st, March 1st, etc.

2. DESIGN YOUR PITCH - Do a FANTASTIC logline for your project or yourself depending on whether or not you are selling your script or yourself. Then prepare a two minute pitch to expand on the logline. If you are pitching yourself be sure to design your pitch drawing from highlights from your career and your personal life. I usually make a list of 5 to 10 highlights from my career and personal life and then I choose the ones I want to use in my pitch. As producers you should always have a great pitch ready that is about you because you will constantly be enrolling people in YOU, whether they be financiers, agents, directors, etc.

3. CREATE A DISPLAY OF WHO YOU KNOW (MAP OF RELATIONSHIPS) - Categorize the names of everyone you know in the industry, ie. producers, writers, casting directors, directors, entertainment attorneys, etc. Call everyone on your Map and tell them what you're up to.

4. NETWORK - Continue to expand your Map. Network, Network, Network. Get out there and meet people. Sometimes to push myself a little I will set a goal like "I will meet 10 new people this month". See my October Newsletter for some great tips on Networking and creating Relationships.

5. MAKE REQUESTS AND OFFERS - Make requests (not favors) of people on your Map. For example, "I'm really committed to meeting 3 new directors for my film project. Do you know any directors you could introduce or refer me to." Also, end every call and conversation with "Is there anything I can do for you". We all to often forget to do this and it means a lot to the person on the other end of the phone.

6. CREATE A HITLIST - Target who you need to talk to or meet with. RESEARCH. Read the trades. Make a list of 10 to 20 names and start calling. This could be one of the requests that you make to people on your Map. For example, "I am looking to set up a meeting with John Doe, Casting Director. He is on my Hitlist as someone I really want to meet. I know you have worked with him before and was wondering if I could use you name when I called him."

7. BRAINSTORMING - Get ideas outside of what you alone can come up with. So often we try to do it alone and it's crazy. In the Flash Forward workshops over the years we had a built in one-hour exercise called "Brainstorming" where we divided into teams of six or eight people and then divide up the time equally. Then one person would state what they needed and then they would be quiet and just listen and take notes as everyone threw ideas at them. They were not allowed to comment on the ideas at all. They just wrote everything down and then took from the ideas what they wanted. It was extremely successful.

8. KEEP STATS - I know this doesn't sound like fun and we all get a bit squeamish when we think about statistics. However, it is such a great wake up call to what actions you are really taking as opposed to what you are just talking about. Make a list of 3 to 5 categories you want to track and then add up the actions you have taken on a weekly basic. In the workshops I have led I always include this as part of the program. People are always shocked at how few calls they have made compared to what they thought they had. Categories could include: Number of production companies contacted about my project; number of meetings set; number of auditions; number of scripts sent out; number of new relationship made, etc.

9. GET A MENTOR - No matter what level you are at. Make it easy for them. Request only a little of their time over a very specific period of time. For example, three ten-minute conversations over the next four weeks, or a half-hour coffee meeting, or a lunch together. Also, please be prepared with your questions ready and it is important that you generate the conversation. It is not your mentor's job to generate it. Remember it is a business relationship so always acknowledge them for their time.

10. CREATE A SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR YOURSELF - It is extremely important to be held accountable for your promises! We're only human after all and sometimes when the going gets tough the tough get going. Don't let that happen. Be held accountable for your word and your actions. Every Tuesday morning a group of 6 of us get together to talk about our goals and what actions we are going to take that week. On Friday we email in what we have done so far, and what is still left to do before we meet the next Tuesday. It really helps keep us focused and on target, and the coaching and brainstorming we do with each other is priceless.

A BONUS TIP: HAVE FUN AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOURSELF DAILY! We are here to have fun (no matter what business you're in) so keep that in mind at all times. The more you take on having every action, every milestone and every goal as FUN, the more people will want to play with you and the more you will attract into your life everything you want. Also, don't wait for others to acknowledge you. Acknowledge yourself. In the Launching the Future workshop I lead I include a page where people list what they want to be acknowledged for, just to get them in the habit of acknowledgment.

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday JD

Today I celebrate my birthday and today I also celebrate the courage, vision and love that my parents had that took them from the farms of Ireland to America during the Great Depression to eventually give me a great life and the America Dream.

it's funny how when I was younger I would get depressed on my birthday and eventually I turned it into my one and only Designated Depression Day and finally I decided I didn't need to be depressed for even one day and let that go. Now I see it my birthday more as a Designated Gratitude Day. A day when I can focus on all I am grateful for.

So today I celebrate all I am grateful for and it is a very very long list. Thank you to my family, especially my new Irish family, friends and all those who have touched my life over the years and gave me the gift of your friendship, love, humor, company and contributed to who I am today. It's been a long and interesting journey. You're in my memory and my heart. Thank you.

I got a special package from My Cousin Marie all the way from the mountain of Glanduff Ireland. She sent me a Irish Baseball hat and scarf and birthday card.

My cousin is 65 years old and rides her bike up and down the mountain 1/2 hours each way to get to the town to buy the present and to mail it to me. Truly a gift and some sacrifice from the heart. I can't convey how special a birthday present it is and how it is a symbol of the love that is in my life that I feel so grateful for.

So my birthday today will look like this:

Exercise - The Steps in Santa Monica
Meditating, Journaling and Visioning and for my future @ the Self Realization Gardens in Santa Monica
Create a Vision Board for 2010
Volunteering for a 1/2 day packing care packages @ Operation Gratitude
Working / Writing on my Documentary. TV Series Proposal and my Memoir Book
A special dinner with my family.
And having my cousin Sharon and her family calling me from Germany to sing me a Happy Birthday
Calling my Aunt Maggie and Cousin Marie in Ireland to share my day with them
And receiving Birthday wishes from my family on the East Coast and from all my friends on FB

It doesn't get better than this......

I believe my best years are still ahead of me and I look forward to achieving more, contributing more and living an even more fulfilling life.....

So a toast..... Slainte
I share this day with all my family and friends and say Thank you




John Duffy

Saturday's Motivational Video - Les Brown Story

Thought For Day - What Lies Within

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us"

Unknown

Thanks Scoty Jones

Thought For Day - What's the Solution?

"To solve any problem, here are 3 questions to ask yourself: First, what can I do? Second, what can I read? And third, who Can I ask?"

Tony Christodoulou

Not necessarily in that order. i prefer to see problems as challenges and believe there is always a solution

John Duffy

Thought For Day - It's the Life in Your Years

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."~

Abraham Lincoln

Thanks Sharon

Veteran's Day

In Memory of my Dad Patrick Duffy, my Father in-Law Jules Lisella and my friend CJ Bau, May they rest in peace and in honor of all those who have served.


Donate to the Wounded Warrior's Project

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

Thought For Day - Silence Doesn't Equal Agreement

"You have not converted a man because you have silenced him." -

John Morley

Freedom Without Walls - 20th Celebration of Fall Of Berlin Wall

20th Anniversary Celebrations

On November 9, 2009, Berlin will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a "Festival of Freedom".

In the United States, the German Embassy is coordinating a public diplomacy campaign with the motto "Freedom Without Walls" to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The campaign is focused on promoting awareness of the fall of the Berlin Wall among current college students, and students at over 20 universities will participate in "Freedom Without Walls" events in late 2009.

There was a time that it never seemed possible. No one could not imagine the collapse of Communism and the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Yet the impossible became possible and freedom happened. It started in the imagination of the oppressed German people living under the brutal East German regime. It was a great day for Germany and the world twenty years ago,

A comparison in case you forgot the differences or maybe are not clear about them:

Communism

"The dictatorship of the Communist Party is maintained by recourse to every form of violence"
Leon Trotsky

"Ideas are more powerful than guns. we would not let our enemies have guns, why would we let them have ideas"
Joseph Stalin

Democracy

"There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin"
John F Kennedy

"The West won't contain communism, it will transcend communism".
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall".
Ronald Reagan

Great days lie ahead and people are imagining freedom from their brutal regimes.

Freedom's Calling - Iran is Next....... and..... North Korea and........ Freedom's Calling.........

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 2 - Whenever, Wherever

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - Smooth Operator

Saturday's Motivational Video - Ironman Sara Reinertsen

Thought For Day - Embrace Uncertainty

“Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.”

R. I. Fitzhenry

Thanks Ben Ramsey

Condolences to Family and Friends at Fort Hood

My heart and condolences go out to the families & friends of those killed at Fort Hood and my wishes for a speedy recovery for the wounded.

john Duffy

Thought For Day - Your Destination is Not Determined by the Winds

"Your destination in life is not determined by the blowing of the wind, but rather the setting of your sail. Remember, we all have the same challenges (winds blowing on us). So if some people are succeeding wildly, while others are falling down... it is how you are responding to the challenges that is dictating your course and your destination."

Jim Rohn


Thanks Brian Carruthers

Thought For Day - Pursue Those Dreams

"Dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them"


John Duffy

Thought For Day - Greatest Success

"Our greatest success will come just one step away from our greatest failure."

Napoleon Hill

Thought For Day - Be Honored for What You Give

Sunday's Eclectic Music Video 2009 # 2 - Cry of Freedom

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - Naitty Waller & Henry Girls

Saturday's Motivational Video - Dealing with the Economy

Thought For Day - Our Choices Make Us

"We all make choices...but in the end, our choices make us."

Angie Rodriguez

Thought For Day - This Shall Make Me Better

"Instead of thinking; 'This Too Shall Pass', change your thought process to; 'This Shall Make Me BETTER'...Growth comes through experience"

Tony Robbins

Thought For Day - A Job Never Started

"It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish."

J. R. R. Tolkien

Thanks Kevin Van Hook

Thought For Day - Step Out on Faith

Many of the most successful people in our history had setbacks. Donald Trump, Walt Disney have been bankrupt but it never stopped them from trying again. Some people fail once and give up. The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the word "extra." Be extraordinary! Step out on faith. As Martin Luther King once said, "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Thanks Scotty Jones

Thought For Day - No Eraser

"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser"

John W. Gardner

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 2 - Ring of Fire

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos 2009 # 1 Red House

Saturday's Motivational Video - Homeless to Harvard

Thought For Day - What is your % of Responsibility?

What percentage % are you responsible for in a relationship? partnership? your career? your life?

No, not 50-50 or 51-49 but 100%. It's only when you take 100% responsibility for your relationships and life do you achieve the results you want.

Thought For Day - Get Back on the Horse - A Variation

"Sometimes when you get thrown off the horse you have to get up, dust yourself off. Grab the silly beast by the bit, Look him straight in the eyes and tell him " If you do that again, I'm going to beat your ass... Now calm down and I'll feed you some carrots as soon as we get to where we're going"

Joseph Mcclendon

I know a raw perspective but I hope you appreciate the humor in it.

John Duffy

Thought For Day - Out of Suffering

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. "

Kahlil Gibran

Thanks Ben Ramsey

Thought For Day - Success isn't a Secret

"Success is not a secret — it never has been. There are only a
few really good ideas, and not one of them is a secret."

Larry Winget

There are no "Secrets".

John Duffy

Thought For Day - Make Choice to Help Others

"You have a choice. The choice to invite people into your life to help them. When you meet someone, ask them "How can I help you?""

Keith Ferrazzi

A powerful question. Try it... It will ramp up your life.......

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 2 - Apologize

Thanks Sharon

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - Shutting Down Detroit

Saturday's Motivational Video - Magic Johnson

Thought For Day - Do You See What You Believe?

"My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out. "

President Ronald Reagan

Thought For Day - Stronger Men

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men."



President John F. Kennedy

Thought For Day - Adversity

"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time. "

Malcolm X

Thought For Day - Real Winners

"The real winners in life are the people who look at every situation with an expectation that they can make it work or make it better."

Barbara Pletcher

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 2 - Only God Knows

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - Brother's in Arms

Saturday's Motivational Video - An Extraordinary Life

Thought For Day - Small Steps Towards Goals

"My best advice is to set small, attainable goals for yourself."

Skateboard Legend Tony Hawk - Oct 2009

Thought For Day - Don't React Emotionally

"When your emotions run high, your intellect and your ability to acess your resources runs low"

Steve Linder

Thought For Day - It's Never Too Late

"It is never too late to be who you might have been. "

George Eliot

Thought For Day - Victory in Defeat

"Sometimes you win. Sometimes it looks like you've lost. When it looks like you've lost, remember, there is always a victory hidden in defeat."

Chris Widener

Thought For Day - Opportunity in Every Difficulty

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

Winston Churchill

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 2 - Song For You

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - Say

Thanks Cousin Sharon

Saturday's Motivational Video - The Best Motivation

Thought For Day - Be Remembered for the Right Thing

"You're either going to be known for the problems you solve or the problems you create."

Unknown

Thought For Day - Anger Stops the Search for Truth

"In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves. "

Buddha

Thanks Ben Ramsey

Thought For Day - Stories Are Emotional Transportation

"stories are emotional transportation. Do you weave stories into your daily conversation?"

Keith Ferrazzi

"Facts tell, stories sell..."

Paul Darwish

What stories do you tell yourself about your life? Are you the victim or the hero? Are you the lead or a bit player? Don't get trapped in old stories, make up new and better ones......

John Duffy

Personal Ramblings - Nostalgia - The Bronx - Freedomland 1963

I went here as a kid........

Thought For Day - Old Stories

"Don't let your old "stories" prevent you from creating new ones"


Tony Estigoy

Thought For Day - Pessimist Don't Blaze New Paths

"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to uncharted land or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."

Helen Keller

Thought For Day - Being Happy is a Habit

"Being miserable is a habit. Being happy is a habit. The choice is yours."


Tom Hopkins

Personal Ramblings - A Write Up

A friend and line producer Michael Mandaville posted this on his website www.citizensoldierhandbook.com. to share my website with his readers. Appreciated. Thanks Michael.....



A friend of mine, John Duffy, set out various goals for himself and has accomplished quite a few over the years in the challenging Film Industry. His site, GlassThreeQuartersFull, is a fine example of optimism spreading on the internet, not only as a testament to his determination to guide his own Emotional state toward a Positive Outcome but help others along the way. He uses music, quotes, ideas and thought. Check it out. Here are three quotes from his site.

'What's the difference between a hero and a coward? They were both scared to death. It's just one stepped forward and one stepped back. Deal with it. Work it out and move on." Lionel Richie

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever." Lance Armstrong

"A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle. " Kahlil Gibran

Personal Ramblings - Check out Friend's Book - Citizen-Soldier

Check out a friend and fellow line producer Michael Mandaville's book "Citizen-Soldier"and website


http://www.citizensoldierhandbook.com/

http://url4t.com/YC1

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 2 -Wings to Fly

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - I Believe in You

Saturday's Motivational Video - Leadership

General Colin Powell grew up in my neighborhood Mott Haven in the South Bronx.....

Thought For Day - Flexibility

"You need to have more flexibility in coming up with solutions than your clients have in coming up with problems."

Steve Linder

i would add you need to have more flexibility in coming up with solutions than your kids, family, associates or life has in coming up with problems.....

John Duffy

Thought For Day - Do You See What You Believe?

"Do you see what you believe or do you believe what you see?"

Sidney Baker, MD

This is a quote that should make you really think. Most people see what they believe most of the time, It's true in medicine and it's true in politics and it's true in life. It's hard and takes work to challenge yourself to break free from your filter of beliefs and see what is there. How often do we acknowledge we have assumptions and beliefs about most things. How often do we take the time to consider all the alternative ideas and beliefs on a subject and what experiences leads people to hold them.

An example is vaccinations. Either you're for them or against them but have you really tried to understand the other side, Could if be possible that both sides have some valuable ideas and maybe the truth is in the middle or maybe 75% of one side and 25% of the other? Or maybe your view or side is mainly right but you can appreciate the humanity and good intentions of most of the people on the other side if not all.

Try looking at things from different perspectives, from a distance, from the future or from the past point of view. Question authority and assumptions even or maybe especially yours.

And try to remember the humanity of people with different life experiences and points of view. And consider the slim possibility that maybe you're not right about everything all the time. I know it's hard to go there when you believe you are never wrong but what if you are and were. Hmmmmm

John Duffy

Life Management Tool

Here is a Life Management Tool I adapted from a few people and use daily. It is numbered in the order of the priorities in my life. Feel free to adapt it and re-prioritize based on your life. Hope it is useful.....

Thought For Day - No Time

One of the biggest excuses people make for not doing something is "they don't have enough time".

We do what is important to us.

Did you forget to eat yesterday? Did you forget to sleep yesterday? Did you forget to go to the....?

No I bet you didn't. And I bet you didn't forget to watch TV. Did you? But did you forget to workout or read a book that will improve your skills or offer you new opportunities? Hmmm I know , You don't have the time.

I think you know what you have to do. The question is will you do it. Are you a will do or a will not?

Cmon time to make it happen......

John Duffy

Thought For Day - Get Some Bones

"To succeed in life, you need 3 things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone."

Reba McEntire

Thought For Day - Deal with Today

"What happened yesterday was yesterday and what's gonna happen today is gonna be today.If you can just get that in your head, then the rest you can deal with."

Lionel Richie

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 2 - People Who Died

Rest in Peace Jim Carroll

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - Catholic Boy

I read Jim Carroll's book "Basketball Diaries" when it came out in the 70's and I was in my 20's. I related to parts of growing up in an Irish-American family and going to Catholic schools. It was a powerful book that I turned a few friends on to at the time.
RIP James Carroll

Saturday's Motivational Video - The Big Questions

I met W Mitchell at a Tony Robbins seminar in Maui 17 years ago. Meeting him put all the challenges I was going through in perspective. Never again would I complain or whine about any problems or difficulties I faced. My new belief would get tested many times since that day but I would never forget W Mitchell. He became a model for me of what is possible.

Thought For Day - Heroes and Cowards

'What's the difference between a hero and a coward? They were both scared to death. It's just one stepped forward and one stepped back. Deal with it. Work it out and move on."

Lionel Richie

Thought For Day - Never Quit

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."

Lance Armstrong

Thought For Day - Act

"A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle. "

Kahlil Gibran

Thought For Day - Don't Let Them Bring You Down

" If you can't take a person up with you, don't let them bring you down with them!"

Les Brown

Thought For Day - Will and Will-Nots

"Life is not about the haves and the have-nots, but about the wills and the will-nots.

What are you willing to do that you haven't done in the past? What step are you willing to take that others aren't taking? It's rarely about "can you?" and almost always about "will you?""

Larry Winget

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 2 - Push It to the Limit

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - American Dream

Saturday's Motivational Video - Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire

Don't Back Down

Sept 11 2001 - Never Forget - 8 Years Ago

Sept 11, 2001, My city, New York and my country, America was attacked by Islamic Terrorist. 2,974 innocent people lost their lives that day. I took it personal as I believe many of us did. It changed me profoundly forever. I came back to New York City and visited Ground Zero that December and I felt the incredible loss and pain but also saw the strength and resilience of my fellow New Yorkers and fellow Americans. Hard to believe it has been eight years ago......

I will never forget and hope we always remember....

I will participate in a walk and rememberance today in Los Angeles to honor and remember all those lost and fallen heroes of Sept 11, 2001

Tribute to all the victims of 9/11

Sept 11 2001 - 102 Minutes That Changed America - 8 Years Ago

102 Minutes That Changed America airs Sept. 11 at 8pm/7C History Channel
Watch it.....

Thought For Day - Not Everyman Lives

"Every man dies. Not every man really lives"

William Wallace

Thought For Day - One Moment That Changes Your Life

"Most successful people can identify one minute, one moment, where their lives changed, and it usually occurred in times of adversity."

Anonymous - Thanks to H-Pileci

I remember the moment that changed my life. Do you have a moment like that?

Thought For Day - Courage to Ask

"You get in life what you have the courage to ask for"

Oprah Winfrey

Thought For Day - Constant and Never Ending Improvement

"Make it so today is not like yesterday, and tomorrow will be different forever"

Tony Robbins

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos 2009 # 2 -Piece of My Heart

Lt Dan Band

Sunday's Eclectic Music Videos # 1 - Life Is Beautiful

Personal Ramblings - Different Paths, Different Stories

What does a young woman raised in California and the daughter of a religious cult leader, a young woman raised under the Orwellian communist regime of Bulgaria, a young woman raised on the wrong side of the tracks in the Deep South, a man raised in the Brownsville projects of Brooklyn New York, a homeless man living on the streets of New York, an American ex-communist and an Irish man living in New York have in common?

For one thing they all have written memoirs about their unique lives that I am planning on reading this month. I've all ways been fascinated by stories of peoples lives whether in books or movies that expand my understanding of their world. Life and humans are so varied and yet have so much in common. I learn to appreciate our common humanity rather than our differences.

This year as I have been pursuing writing a memoir I have been reading as many memoirs that I can. I have read over a dozen already.
I have my own unique story to tell and struggle to capture it. And I also read and read and read. The books I intend to read in the next month are the following:

Prophet's Daughter - Erin Prophet
Street Without a Name - Kapka Kassabova
The Cracker Queen - Lauretta Hannon
City Kid - Nelson George
Land of the Lost Souls - Cadillac Man
Commies -Ronald Radosh
A Long Stones Throw - Alphie McCourt

Saturday's Motivational Video - Success Is Easy

Thought For Day - Start Today

"A year from now you will wish you had started today."

Karen Lamb

Thanks to Loren Slocum

Personal Ramblings - 2009 Film Festivals / Markets /Events

I'll be attending a few film festivals / markets and events in the next few months. Here is some info on them:

LA irish Film Festival Sept 23-27

http://www.lairishfilm.com/

G.I. Film Festival Road Show Sept 26

http://www.gifilmfestival.com/losangeles

Showbiz Expo Oct 17

http://www.theshowbizexpo.com/

AFI Fest Oct 30 -Nov7

http://www.ifta-online.org/afm/afifest_alliance.asp

American Film Market Nov 4-11

http://www.ifta-online.org/afm/about.asp

Thought For Day - Share Your Gifts

"Some things in life are too important not to share."

Mercedes

What things in life do you share?

Thought For Day - Get Out of Your Own Way

"As long as a man (or woman) stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way".

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thought For Day - A Better Man

“When, in life, you find yourself on opposite sides of an issue from another person or group of persons, I encourage you to engage in the kind of rigorous debate upon which our great country was founded. However, I hope also that you will be mindful never to let those differences become a chasm which you cannot cross for the sake of a greater good. Indeed, ‘a better man’ is one who understands that he can put aside differences without surrendering his beliefs.”