Quote from Jeff Bezos

"A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well."

Quote from Confucius

"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."

Quote from Cicero

"To be content with what one has is the greatest and truest of riches."

Quote from Jay Leno

"Here's something to think about: How come you never see a headline like 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?"

Sam's new dog - Waldo

 

Long live TLC

I attended the funeral for one of my best friend’s daughter yesterday, see was fourteen when she past away. It is so difficult to accept such an early ending to one’s life; she was a beautiful young person. Her father wrote the eulogy, it was remarkable. It was a reflection of his love for his daughter and the wonderful time they spent together. It captured so much of her personality, and the great loss he was going through. He also included a tribute to her mother and to her brother who at the time was eight years old. There was not a dry eye in the service at the end of the eulogy; mostly everyone could ponder the loss as it relates to them. I myself have a fifteen year old daughter, she is everything to me. I am able to see her parents in her and herself as an individual as she evolves into her own person. I do not even try to relate, the very thought is too much to comprehend. My heart goes out to my dear friend and his family for such an enormous loss.
As I traveled back from the services, it struck me as odd as I contemplated the sayings that people - more specifically myself - which people choose to live by. My saying is “death is good for your practice.” It is all about appreciating how delicate life is and focusing your daily awareness as a result. What struck me as so odd was prior to yesterday it made so much sense to me, but after yesterday it was just words. It was just a comfort blanket that I intellectually wrapped myself in. The confrontation of hugging my friend and feeling his pain for a brief moment as he cried on my shoulder made me realize that the words, the saying, would not prepare me for a similar reality. Maybe I should not be prepared for such a tragedy, I am still pondering that thought.
The gift that I did receive from the experience was the continued reminder to love as best capable one can. Not only the ones that mean the most to me, but to as many as I can. Life is so much easier when one can love, such less resistance. Then when life goes away, which it will for all of us, there is less baggage to carry and more gifts for others. I hugged my wife hard this morning as I reminded myself how lucky I really am. To have someone who cares about me and to have someone to care for is a true blessing. I have many to care for and many who care about me, I am truly blessed.

Quote from Annie Dillard

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."

The Carrot, the Egg and the Coffee Beans

Author unknown:

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, 'Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?' Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened
and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. 'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Aim I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Randy Pausch's Really achieving your lifehood dreams

I recently viewed this lecture and was very moved by it. It is a very moving gift that he shares while being recently diagnosed with fatal pancreatic cancer and gives a lecture giving some advice based on his impending death.

You can see the lecture here:http://www.glumbert.com/media/lastadvice and you can view his website with the link of this post. This link is to the manuscript of this lecture, http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/pauschlastlecturetranscript.pdf .

Here are a couple of notes and quotes that I want to preserve:
"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."
"Brick walls in your path are there to test how bad you really want something."
"Talent does what it can, genius does what it must."

Some of his advice:
Work and play with others;
Tell the truth;
Apoligize (properly) by saying your sorry, admitting fault, and asking how one can make it better;
Wait, and people will show you their good side;
Show gratitude;
Don't complain, work harder.

Update from Amanda in Belize

Once again, life in the tropics have been incredible,
medicinal, beautiful, insightful...After spending some
time at the Maya center, we hiked up to Cockscomb Basin
Wildlife Sanctuary, which is a natural park reserved
especially for jaguars. I only went on one night hike, and
unfortunately didn't see any jaguars or other big cats,
but I did see some of the most dazzling waterfalls. One
day, we hiked up from our campsite to a place called Tiger
Fern Falls, where chilly refreshing water splashes down
limestone boulders into a sweet little watering hole. Upon
arriving there, having just finished a pretty intense
little hike, we promptly stripped down to our Birthday
suits, jumped in, and spent the afternoon swimming,
jumping from the waterfall, crawling around the rocks and
trees. All of those beautiful skins only enhanced the
already incredible scenery.
After Cockscomb, we spent one last night at the Maya
Center, where the couple that manages the place, Arora and
Ernesto, talked to us about their lives and experiences.
Arora is an herbal healer, and I just so happened to have
a little stomach flu, so she brewed me some tea that
worked immediately! This woman really has a magically
strong spirit, and I think if I ever get diagnosed with
cancer I will go straight to her. She talked to us about
how she got into herbal healing, how her uncle passed the
profession on to her, how people started coming to her for
help even before she made her occupation known. Listening
to her was so intriguing; it was so interesting to hear
her talk about the spirits that have helped her along. I
think we all to often dismiss signs and coincidences for
nothing, when we should try to figure out what these
experiences mean for us and learn from them, even if
certain things are hard to explain. Everything happens for
a reason...
The next day we headed out to the Bladen Nature Reserve,
where we spent two nights at a little research station,
then another 5 nights out in the wilderness. The research
station is called BFree, and is run by a man, his wife,
and three kids that all live at the station in the middle
of nowhere. A resident biologist studies snails as an
indicator species of the ecosystem around them, and his
wife keeps him company. A school teacher lives in the back
of the classroom, and the staff live in dorms - basically
its a pretty sweet little deal they got there. The 6 day
backpacking trip was probably the biggest learning
experience for me so far. Only researchers and student
groups are permitted into this ancient forest. There are
only a few trails that meander along 1500 year old trees,
that are completely untouched by humans and completely
covered in vines and epiphytes. The quamwood tree blooms
delicate yellow flowers to mark the start of the dry
season, which now have fallen to sprinkle the richly
vegetated humus layer. Crocodiles glare at us from the
river we hike along, snakes slither under our feet, and
huge spiders hide in decomposing fallen trees. Surrounding
all three of our campsites are watering holes flowing in
from a clear river called Richardson Creek. The limestone
it flows over looks like swiss cheese, and the greens and
golds of the forest around us are reflected in the ripples
and eddies. To me, the only things that makes this NOT
heaven are the little black snails that stick to the rocks
and severely punish bare feet, and the abundance of bugs.
Little schools of fish (apparently related to pirhanas)
nibble at my hairy legs, trying to pinch me awake from
this dream life. I feel so fortunate to have seen and
lived in such untouched wilderness for almost a week, to
have felt so connected to things around me, to see how the
lives of all things in that forest are intertwined, and to
become a part of that system. At our last campsite, we
pitched our tents on a little strip of sandy-gravelly
beach that pretty much sums up the beauties of the forest.
Vines with heart-shaped leaves are tangled on thousand
year old ceiba trees, surrounded by emergent cecropia
trees, next to a late blooming quamwood, which towers over
huge palm frawns, growing shrubs, and baby ferns. The
crystal clear water reflects a fallen tree in the middle
of the watering hole like an Alexander Dali painting. It
would not be surprising to see a Brontosaurus tromp down
river, or a Teradactyl fly over head!
On Wednesday, the 20th, we hiked back to BFree for one
last night in the jungle. We ate dinner, then had a little
group check-in where we all talk about how we're doing
(seriously, I'm getting school credit for this). After a
most intense and beautifully spoken check-in, our spirits
lightened with the positive energy of others, we emerged
from the dining hall to witness the beginnings of a full
lunar eclipse! Things like this just further intensify my
belief that everything happens for a reason, and that all
spirits are connected. I walked down to the river to watch
the shadow of the Earth dim the light of the Moon, letting
the light of our spirits shine out. It sounds kinda
cheesy, i know, but I don't think any living being could
dismiss signs and sounds like these. The best thing I have
felt so far is that feeling of connection, of hearing the
river gurgle over shallow rocks, watching King Toads
enflate their throats to ribbit a most tremulous ribbit,
to hear Howler monkeys growl from what sounds like the
depths of hell just hectare away, to see the brilliant
stars twinkle under the trees, and to watch the silvery
granite rocks that bed this stream become illuminated
under a golden moon, then to feel my flesh and bones on
these rocks. Even the mosquito bites and black flies that
bite and itch and the huge furry black spider that just
bit my foot connect me to my surroundings.
Now I'm in a little beach town called Punta Gorda, which
is about 2 miles long, about 90 degrees hot, where poverty
is present, but the smiles of the locals are constant. It
amazes me how happy the people are here, when so many
people with so much fortune are so unhappy in other places
of the world. I think a guy on a bus put it the best,
"Just another shitty day in paradise."
Tomorrow we leave for Barranco to do Garifuna homestays
(Garifuna is a community of people here with a very
interesting history and culture), then off to BARC, which
is a Agroforestry research center.
I hope all is well wherever you are, that you are happy
and thriving and learning. No stress!

Quotes from Stephen R Covey

“You can’t talk your way out of what you’ve behaved yourself into.”

"While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions."

Quote from David O. McKay

"The greatest battles of life are fought out every day in the silent chambers of one’s own soul.”

Quote from Michael Jordan

"I've failed over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."

Quote from Marian Wright Edelman

"Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time."

Quote from Mother Teresa

"God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try."

Quote from Tex Winter

"You're only a success for the moment that you complete a successful act."

Quote from Paramahansa Yogananda

Link


"Learn to be calm and you will always be happy."