Posts Tagged ‘Success’

Courage

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

A wise man once said, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

Courage and bravery are the qualities of mind or spirit that enable a person to face difficulty without fear. Bravery and courage takes many forms. Without courage you cannot love, believe, forgive, be charitable, or have hopes. You must be true to your vision that has been assigned by God, or whatever name you call your higher power. It has been said that the brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all. As we see in the news on a daily basis, moral bravery is much more difficult and a truer courage.

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. -- Thucydides

Come out of your comfort zone. Take a deep breath and jump! Just do it! Don't have any regrets. It is better to have tried and failed, then to never have tried at all. The anticipation is always worse than the actual event. Read that sentence again, because it resonates with many as the reason why they decide NOT to do something. The worry gets the best of them. Everything happens to you for a reason. The hard times that you go through build character, making you a much stronger person. "If only," must be the two saddest words in the world. Keep in mind, when one door closes another door opens. For some, they can only focus on the closed door and never embrace the door that has just opened in front of them. Believe that everything contributes to your success and use everything as a learning experience. Focus on solutions, not problems. Trust your feelings and intuitions and things will fall into place as surely as a new day will dawn. Lucille Ball once said, "I'm not funny. What I am is brave!” Think about that. I think of her episodes, one in particular, where she and Ethel are working at the chocolate factory. I still laugh out loud and believe she was funny, but I do agree with her, she was extremely brave. It took a lot of bravery to accomplish what she did. She had her ups and her downs but in the end, she triumphed.

I try to live my life embodying the values of family, courage, determination and grace. Each smile, each touch, each kindness offered, always trying to mirror the grace of god. I always say looking up at the sky, "God if you want this, just tell me, and I will oblige." God has blessed me and I am thankful for this! I have learned that you can overcome all problems if you simply learn to have confidence in yourself. A hard lesson for me has been to love myself. This life lesson has ultimately led me into trusting in myself. I am not always the most popular person, but I am often forced into a position where I need to make the tough decisions. These decisions I struggle with, but know I do it to benefit the situation. Yes, it would be much easier to work for someone else, but ultimately, I don't think that I would be happy in that scenario. My advice is to risk all. If it is something that you want to do, then dare to try. Have the courage to try. I can't emphasize that enough, because It always comes back to courage. Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. To live with fear and not be afraid is the final test of maturity. This is the stage of life that I am entering. I say to myself, "If you made it through the last year and a half, you can live through anything!" In life you must take chances or you'll miss out on a lot of opportunities. In closing, this is a quote from one of my father's favorite heroes of his time - John Wayne. "Courage is being scared to death....and saddling up anyway."

Namaste

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Love me or hate me, I’m still gonna shine!

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Earth bound angels are everywhere! They could be your next door neighbor, a teacher, or a perfect stranger. God brings people into your life just when you need them. They come, and they go, at the precise moment you need them and then leave when their job is completed and you've received the help that you needed.

It is their wisdom, their empathy, their love, their compassion, their guidance, and their humanity that you may have needed. Perhaps it is a shoulder to cry on, a skill that you need to learn, or simply someone to laugh with when your parent just recently passed away.

My friend Melanie and I had lunch last week with a special friend (our angel) whom we both admire and respect. He is in his sixties, he is a lot of fun, and being around him is always interesting. He is a fascinating and engaging conversationalist. But the thing that I love the most about him is his bravery. He is not afraid of anything, he says it like it is, and doesn't take prisoners.

We went to see him because we wanted his advice.

Our conversation was intriguing-- we discussed politics, current events, characteristics of an entrepreneur, and also our company, The Adventures of Scuba Jack.

Although the conversation was never dull, there were three things that resonated with me.

The first thing that he said to us was that people shouldn't dwell on the past. He said that everything that you have done, whether good or bad has made you who you are today. Be proud of it, and learn from it. The past is gone, move on.

This is so true! I deserve every wrinkle on my forehead, I am proud of my accomplishments, and I have learned from my mistakes. Embrace your life lessons. Hopefully they have taught you well.

The second piece of advice he gave was interesting. He said, "Don't think that people are smarter than you or better than you, because they’re not. Being an entrepreneur is nothing that you can learn from a textbook. You either have it or you don't." He felt that we had it, and that we could do it. Harold is not the type to bull someone, if he felt that we weren't ready, believe me, he would have told us!

He went on to say, "There are some who have become successful, but they have done things to get that success that has not been in their best interest, or wasn’t the best way of doing things." In other words they cheated, and perhaps there was immorality of some kind involved.

My friend Melanie excused herself for a moment, and while she was gone, Harold looked into my eyes and said, "Are you afraid of succeeding?" I looked at him with fear, and said, "Yes, of course I am!" He said, "Don't worry. Nothing has to change. You can live in the same house, drive the same car, and have the same life." "Yes!” I thought, “What the heck am I worried about? I can do this!"

I remembered an article I had read about how God doesn't want people to "shrink". He wants you to shine, and become what you were born to be. If people did shrink, there wouldn't be any great inventions, there wouldn't be great poetry, there wouldn't be any great victories, and there wouldn't be any great loves. You must forge ahead, despite all anxiety, despite the nay sayers, despite your budget. Take a chance because you never know how absolutely perfect something can be, unless you try.

Marilyn Monroe said "I believe everything happens for a reason. People change so you can learn to let go, things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they are right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart, so better things fall into place."

This is so true. These are painful lessons, but lessons that you need to learn in order to move forward in life. In order to be great! So, take a long, deep breath and jump in! You'll be glad that you did!

By the way Harold: Thank you! You will never know what our meeting meant to me. You’re the best!

Beth Costanzo is the creator, President and CEO of The Adventures of Scuba Jack, Inc. www.adventuresofscubajack.com. She is also the owner of Majestic Harbor Community School www.majesticharborschool.com and contributes regularly to her blog, www.missbethsjournal.com.

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SHOUT AND CHEER, IT’S TIME FOR ANOTHER NEW YEAR!

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Cheers to the New Year and another chance to get it right! Oprah Winfrey

Christmas cards have been pouring in wishing a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It is time to celebrate a new life and a new start! It is a time of reflection on the year past and of looking forward to a new year and imagining what it may bring. New Year is the time to make the changes necessary to lead a more fulfilling life. Start today, reflect upon the things that you don't like, think of ways that you can change them. It is a time to put the past behind you, and step bravely into the unknown.

In my more youthful days, I had a plan of my life etched in my mind. I would find the right man and get married, buy a house, open my business and see the world. For the most part, I have done what I planned, but it is funny how your outlook on life changes as we get older. I think less about things, but more about myself evolving as a good person (my goal is to get into heaven). I want to do something each day that frightens the heck out of me. I want to challenge myself, I want to help others and raise my children to be independent, successful individuals. I want to bring my company as far as I can and continue to have a blast while doing it.

Unfortunately, most people judge their success (or lack of) by what they see around them. My children are in that realm. They see reality shows that show tremendous wealth, not many scruples, and lack of values and morals and dysfunction that is seen as normal by today’s standards. I try to teach my children that those shows are not the norm, that there are ways to become successful, but a plan is needed to do so. Two of my children are in High School and they understand that an education is important. They understand that this sets the foundation for their future and that it is important to get good grades.

I believe that most people set benchmarks in their lives - in their careers, personal lives, personal finance, education and also in obtaining real estate. This helps to keep individuals on track and moving towards where you want to be in a certain number of years. As we embark on the New Year, remember it is a clean slate, and a new page on which to write the next chapter of your life. Do you have goals you'd like to accomplish in the coming year? With all the planning we do to be successful, why does success seem so elusive?

You can do it, get a pen and paper and write down 4 or 5 goals for the New Year. This is basically an action plan, so you must write down sub-sections of how you are going to do this. For example, this is one of my goals for my company, The Adventures of Scuba Jack.

A. I would like to get The Adventures of Scuba Jack into major retail.
1. Develop a larger on-line presence;
2. Exhibit at the New York Toy Fair;
3. Obtain a sales team;
4. Meet with distributors to get my product in the various stores throughout the country;

This could also work with my personal life.

B. Spend more time with my children.
1. Spend time with each of my children individually each week;
2. Sign my son up for a sport that we can go to together;
3. Go out for coffee or dinner with my husband once a week so we can stay cohesive;
4. Make sure that we have a family meeting each Sunday night, so we know the expectations for the week, and basically who is responsible for what!
Put this on your refrigerator and look at it daily. It is nice to have a visual; it is a constant reminder of how you would like your year to transpire. Don't throw this activity aside, do not procrastinate. It is your life so make the best of it. Plan, plan and if necessary adjust those plans. If you need more money, find a way to get it. Get a second job, or find a hobby that you can create a stream of income from. Find your passion and capitalize on it. Don't whine and tell me it can't be done! It can. My father never graduated from High School and did very well for himself. It takes hard work, persistence and a whole lot of determination. Map out your goals and determine ways to reach them. Once you have determined your destination, its time to evaluate your current position and how you are going to achieve those goals.

Remember to make this New Year special; it is the start of your new life. Start with the traditional kiss at midnight for good luck as part of ringing in the New Year. We kiss those dearest at midnight not only to share a moment of celebration with our favorite people, but to ensure those affections and ties will continue throughout the next 12 months. To fail to kiss our significant other at the stroke of midnight would be to set the stage for a year of coldness. So, put on your favorite lip gloss and pucker up. You wouldn't want to take a chance with fate, now would you? Now if you are single, you must prepare prior to the big event. Position yourself in the room next to the most awesome person that you find attractive. Take a large gulp of courage, (I prefer a White Russian) and get as close to your target as you can, and let the kiss begin.

The Scottish song, Auld Lang Syne was first written in the 1700's. Robert Burns is the person whose transcription got the most attention, so that is why the song is associated with him. The translation of the words is "we'll drink a cup of kindness yet for times gone by." Yes, let go of the past, and bring forth a new year filled with hope and promise.

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man- Benjamin Franklin

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