On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Coach Hite doesn’t mince words in this motivational video. Originally intended for students, the message will resonate with listeners of all ages.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In their latest release, How Luck Happens, authors Janice Kaplan and Barnaby Marsh share real-life examples of individuals and groups that have triumphed over challenging circumstances. The following “underdog” story is one of my favorites:
In 2016, the English football club Leicester City was given a 5,000 – 1 chance of winning the championship of the Premier League. For some perspective, bookmakers gave the same odds to Bono becoming the next pope. Essentially those odds mean Are you crazy? It’s not going to happen.
The Premier League is big and powerful, with no draft or salary caps, and the same four teams have won the championship for the previous twenty years. Little underfunded Leicester City had lost so many games the previous season that they barely escaped being tossed out of the league altogether. The closest they had come to a championship was finishing second in the 1928-29 season. They spent about a tenth as much on their players as the more popular teams like Manchester United and Arsenal.
But with all that, they won. One way to think of 5,000 – 1 odds is that if the teams in the Premier League played for five thousand years, Leicester City would win the title once. The BBC called it “one of the greatest sporting stories of all time.” Closer to home, NBC Sports said, “It’s not like anything we can comprehend in America.”
Various pundits had explanations for why it all happened. They praised the analytics the team used in recruiting and signing players, pointed to the surprising coach, and noted that the famous four top teams all sputtered.
However you cast it, the Leicester City story is inspiring. However long the odds, if you want to make luck happen, you don’t quit. Something can happen. You can change the odds. You can surprise yourself and everyone else.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Over 700 years ago, an Afghan man had to flee his homeland. In exile, Jal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi wrote volumes of exquisite poetry abut life, love, and loss. Here’s one of my favorites:
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
I’d like to say that I follow all the directives in the following poster and have daily productive mornings. Realistically, I aim for at least three. My struggles: No Internet and Replenish with Water. I can’t resist checking my email and social media. As for my beverage of my choice…I prefer to replenish with two cups of Chatty Matty coffee.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
When we dwell on past events (and transgressions), we remain stuck and unable to enjoy the gifts of the dynamic present. In the following Zen parable, one monk struggles with a rigid sense of right and wrong.
Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
“Come on, girl” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. “We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?
“I left the girl there,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A while back, a good friend sent me this video about a man who persevered despite his circumstances. An inspiration for all of us!
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
This short Zen story reminds us about the importance of mindfulness:
Two men were arguing about a flag flapping in the wind.
“It’s the wind that is really moving,” stated the first one. “No, it is the flag that is moving,” contended the second.
A Zen master, who happened to be walking by, overheard the debate and interrupted them. “Neither the flag nor the wind is moving,” he said, “It is MIND that moves.”
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A fan of Dame Helen Mirren, I enjoyed listening to these highlights from her Commencement Sheet at Tulane University on May 20, 2017 in New Orleans. As always, Dame Helen inspires and entertains with her timely advice.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
I love Zen stories…here’s another one of my favorites:
One day a young Buddhist on his journey home came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier.
Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a great teacher on the other side of the river. The young Buddhist yells over to the teacher, “Oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river”?
The teacher ponders for a moment looks up and down the river and yells back, “My son, you are on the other side.”
Source: Zen Stories
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In the introduction to Daring Greatly, author Brené Brown shares her perspective on “The Man in the Arena,” the famous excerpt from Theodore Roosevelt’s “Citizenship in a Republic” speech. I find myself rereading the following segment whenever I’m facing a challenging situation.
“When we spend our lives waiting until we’re perfect or bulletproof before we walk into the arena, we ultimately sacrifice relationships and opportunities that may not be recoverable, we squander our precious time, and we turn our backs on our gifts, those unique contributions that only we can make.
Perfect and bulletproof are seductive, but they don’t exist in the human experience. We must walk into the arena, whatever it may be–a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation–with courage and the willingness to engage. Rather than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgment and advice, we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen. This is vulnerability. this is daring greatly.”
