Here are some more excerpts from my latest book, Simple Realities (The pathway to happiness and success), which is now available at Amazon.com and on Kindle.
OPTIMISM/PESSIMISM
Upon seeing Goliath, the Israelites thought, “He’s so big we can’t hurt him.” But David thought, “He’s so big I can’t miss him.”
Just like beauty, optimism and pessimism are in the eye of the beholder.
An optimist sees a potential opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a potential calamity in every opportunity.
Pessimists may turn out to be right; but optimists have a lot more fun.
There’s no point being pessimistic; it doesn’t work.
Expect the worst and you’ll probably get it.
Whether your glass is half full or half empty depends on whether you’re pouring or drinking.
A pessimist is an optimist coming back from the casino.
HOPE
I’ve known personally two men who spent most of World War II in prisoner of war camps – one in Asia and the other in Germany. They didn’t know each other (one lived in rural Prince Edward Island and the other in Toronto), but they clearly shared a common characteristic: they both knew the importance of hope. Both of them told me that hope was the main thing that had kept them, and thousands like them, alive.
Hope is the little feeling we have that the big feeling we’re having is temporary.
Hope is often born in darkness.
Leadership often consists solely of keeping hope alive.
Hope is good, but it’s not a plan.
We should learn from yesterday, live today, hope for tomorrow.
Even we if can’t go back and make a new start; we can start now to make a new ending.
It’s never too late to become the person you want to be, there’s usually time to start over again.
Hope sometimes causes disappointment, but hope is always necessary.
One thing that everyone needs to get through tough times is hope.
Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
SMILES
Try this little exercise. For one whole day, smile at least once each time you’re dealing with a person. Then, for one whole day, avoid smiling as much as possible. Compare how you felt at the end of each of these days, let alone how differently the people you were dealing with probably felt.
A smile always adds to your face value.
A smile is an outer reflection of an inner condition.
Of all the things we wear, our expression is the most important.
When you feel good, you should let your face know.
You can be as decisive with a smile as you can with a scowl.
Everyone smiles in the same language.
It’s particularly important to smile when it’s particularly difficult to do so.
If you have to do it anyway, you may as well do it with a smile.