Sam Harris

"We often behave in ways that are guaranteed to make us unhappy."

— Sam Harris

American Writer

1967 -

This quote comes from the book entitled, Lying, by Sam Harris and I find it very profound.  How many times have you been attracted to doing something that was not in your best interests?  Be honest with yourself.  It has happened many times in my life and I often gave into the desire.  Like the candy bar I didn't need or that second piece of pie.  Or choosing to sleep a little longer instead of getting out of bed and either exercising or writing.  And while these things I mention do not seem to have serious consequences, ultimately they will.   Have you ever gotten angry over what a loved one said?  We know we shouldn't get angry and yell at people but we do.  

And the exciting thing is we can choose not to behave in ways that make us unhappy.  We can choose not to do the thing that will cause us harm.  Are you writing a book?  Don't give in to your desire to procrastinate and miss your deadlines.  Are you painting enough pictures to have your own gallery show?  Don't give in to the desire to procrastinate.  The choices we make help determine our happiness.  Are you making the right choices?  And don't lie to yourself.

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Caroline Myss

"Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that's the one that is going to require the most from you."

— Caroline Myss

American Author

1952 -

Through out life we are faced with choices.  Some are easy to make and some are difficult, but the choices that require courage are the ones that will teach us the most.  Being an artist can be a courageous choice if our parents and siblings stand against us.  Choosing to leave a secure job with benefits to paint or write full-time can be a courageous act.  The choices we make help to define who we are and who we become.  What choices are you making today that require courage?  What choices are you making that will challenge and teach you the most?  

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Henri-Frederic Amiel

"Learn to limit yourself, to content yourself with some definite thing, and some definite work; dare to be what you are, and to learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not and to believe in your own individuality."

Henri-Frederic Amiel

Swiss Philosopher/Poet

1821 - 1881

Sometimes the world we live in can be overwhelming.  There are too many choices.  Which direction should we take.  If I do this, then I will miss out on that.  Have you ever felt that way?  Paralyzed by too many choices?  I have.  After graduating from college, I didn't know which way to go.  I was afraid to choose because I might miss something, so I did nothing.  When we come to a fork in the road, we have to make a choice.  And when we take that path, we need to follow it to the next fork.  And again, we must make a decision.  But no one decision will destroy us.  I firmly believe that each path we choose ultimately leads us to where we are supposed to go.  In the end we become who we are supposed to be.

Amiel is also talking about strengths and weaknesses.  People tend to focus their attention on their weaknesses and try to improve them.  I believe we should focus on improving our strengths.  We need to accept our weaknesses and learn to navigate around them.  Be the person you were meant to be.  Accept your individuality and your originality.

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Charlotte Bronte

"I'm just going to write because I cannot help it."

— Charlotte Bronte

English Novelist/Poet

1816 - 1855

Do you have an urge to create?  To paint?  To write?  The desire must run deep if you want to succeed.  If you pick up a pen because you are interested in the fame and fortune, forget.  There are easier ways to make money.  Invest in stocks.  Writers write because they have no choice.  Painters paint because the choice has been made for them.   There is something deep inside all artists that demands that they create even when the odds are against them.  They cannot help it.

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Denis Waitley

"There are two primary choices in life:  to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them."

— Denis Waitley

American Speaker/Writer

1933 - 

Do you accept your world as it is or are you willing to change it and make it better?  As creative leaders we have a choice —  to make things better or leave them as they are.  If you are unhappy with your life, then change it.  If you are not happy with your art, then change yourself.  Practice more.  Study more.  Create more.  Life is about choice.  Don't waste time blaming others.  Don't blame your parents.  Don't blame God.  Don't blame your education.  The choice is yours.  Choose to be a winner.

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Jasper Johns

"As one gets older one sees many more paths that could be taken.  Artists sense within their own work that kind of swelling of possibilities, which may seem a freedom or a confusion."

— Jasper Johns

American Artist

1930 -

Fool's House
(1962)

When I begin to write a short story, I see many paths for the story to take and I have to make choices.  The excitement comes in the choosing.  Sometimes the path ends and I have to retreat and find another path.  Sometimes the path branches and again I have to choose which direction to go.  The same is true when I start a painting.  So many paths.  So many possibilities.  And the same is true of life.  So many paths.  So many choices.  Some become paralyzed by having too many choices.  After I graduated from college, I was paralyzed because I did not know what to do with my life.  Too many choices.  Or in my mind, too few choices.  Once I made a choice, the path began to take shape and I followed it where I needed to go.  And I arrived where I was supposed to be.

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J. K. Rowling

"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

— J. K. Rowling

British Novelist

1965 - 

The choices we make help determine the person we become and what we accomplish.  Did you choose to write today or to watch TV?  Did you choose to help a stranger or did you buy something for yourself?  We make choices every minute of every day.  Did you choose to brush your teeth or comb your hair?  And these decisions impact our lives.  Some decisions have an impact immediately and others take years to materialize.  When I was in my 20's and 30's I played volleyball.  I was known for diving without knee pads on asphalt and hardwood floors to save a ball.  I felt very little pain at the time.  Now 30 years later those dives have come back to haunt my knees and me.  What choices are you making to day that will impact you tomorrow.  Again, I ask:  did you write or paint today?  Or did you go to a movie?  The choices we make tell us who we are, not whom we want to be.

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Saul Bellow

"Everyone needs his memories.  They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door."

— Saul Bellow

Canadian Novelist

1915 - 2005

Human beings have a need to feel good about themselves.  Even those who have done evil deeds have a way justifying what they have done.  They do not believe that they are bad people.  They use their memories to justify the person they have become.  And on the flip side, even the most successful and influential people sometimes feel as if they have accomplished nothing.  They remember only the negative events in their lives and become depressed.

Our memories are very powerful and they influence the lives we lead.  We all are selective in the memories that we retain.  We choose how we remember our past and what we believe about ourselves.  We are defined by one memory alone, but some of us live that way.   Choose wisely the memories that you keep and let go of those that trouble you.

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Langston Hughes

"An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose."

— Langston Hughes

American Poet/Novelist

1902 - 1967

It takes courage to be an artist.  You must be able to do what others are not willing to do.  You must be able to create what you are afraid of creating.  If you let fear of rejection influence what you create, you will not be able to produce the art that you want and need to create.  

Artists need to be free from the criticism of society.  Critics often get it wrong.  Don't let the negativity of others hold you back.  Create what your heart tells you to create.  Believe in the choices you make.  If you listen to yourself, you will find your way through the maze of criticism and come out with your spirit whole and free.

Are you feeling courageous?  Are you creating the art that you want to create?  Are you ignoring the criticism of both your friends and your enemies?  Are you creating from the heart?  The choice is yours. 

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John Steinbeck

"Ideas are like rabbits.  You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen."

John Steinbeck

American Novelist

1902 - 1968

Do you ever have too many ideas?  Sometimes when I am writing I am swamped with ideas and sometimes I don't know which ones to choose.  Writing fiction is full of opportunity.  Do you make the main character tall, short or medium height?  Does he have blonde, black or curly hair?  Does he have physical, social or mental disability?  Hundreds of questions.  Thousands of answers.  Sometimes having too many ideas can become a barrier to creating.  Writing fiction requires making choices — choosing a path to follow and not looking back.  The characters take on a life of their own.  

What is the best path to follow?  What are the best choices to make?  Sometimes I have ten ideas, but only two or three are worth keeping.  Don't be afraid of choosing — of following a path to where it takes you.  And keep the ideas coming.  Even bad ideas can lead you somewhere new and inviting.  The good ideas won't appear if there are no bad ideas on which to stand.  Light a candle and watch the ideas grow by leaps and bounds.

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Gordon B. Hinckley

"Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great purpose in heart."

— Gordon B. Hinckley

American Author, Religious Leader

1910 - 2008

Do you know what your purpose is?  Why you are alive on this planet in the 21st century?  We all have a reason for being.  Some people take a lifetime to figure out their purpose in life.  Others know and understand what their purpose is at a very young age.  Purpose is what gives our lives meaning.  Purpose requires that we do some soul searching to help us understand why we live the life we have chosen.

I believe that everything in life is a choice.  We choose how we want to live.  Sometimes by not making a choice we have chosen.  If you don't like something in your life, then choose something different.  We have no choice over what happens to us.  Our key choice is how we respond to what happens to us.  Do you have a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face?  Or are you grouchy and grumpy?  Do you respond to the hand that life has dealt you by moaning, groaning and griping?  Or do you pick yourself up and stay focused on your purpose — the great reason you are here?

On the days when you are discouraged, refocus on your purpose.  Remind yourself of where you want to go — of the legacy you want to leave behind.  

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Eleanor Roosevelt

"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art."

— Eleanor Roosevelt

American Speaker, Author, Political Activist

1884 - 1962

In one sense, we all are artists.  We create the lives we lead.  While we may not have any control over what happens to us, we do have control how we respond to what happens to us.  And how we respond creates the person we become.  When you reach the end of the road one day and you look back at your life, what is the legacy you have left behind.  What kind of person have you become?  Will you be a grouchy, grumpy old drunk or a kind, caring matriarch?  Will you dance with laughter or worry and fret over the fact that your husband never puts down the toilet seat?  We all make choices in life and those choices create the lives we lead.  

Our lives are a work of art.  What color are your memories?  How many wrinkles line your dreams?  Do your hopes have arthritis?  What are you doing today that will create your legacy tomorrow?  What decisions are you making today that will form the core of your character tomorrow?  Life is about growth and change.  What lessons are you learning that will change your life?  Your life is a canvas.  Pick up your paint brush and start painting.  Live the life today that you will be proud of when you are 103.

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Ella Winter

"Choose well: your choice is brief and yet endless."

— Ella Winter

Australian Journalist, Author 

1898 - 1980

I believe everything we do in life is a choice and that we need to take responsibility for our actions and not blame others.  The challenge is to make the right choices or at least to make choices.  When I graduated from college I was afraid to choose a direction to my life.  I didn't know what I wanted to do.  If I went down the wrong path it would be a disaster.  What I have learned is that the choices I made have led me where I need to be.  The challenge is to choose.  If you keep choosing you will eventually end up where you are supposed to be.  If you don't choose and let life happen, you may end up where you don't want to be.

Many people blame others for the circumstances in which they find themselves.  They are what I call "IF ONLY THINKERS."  They preface everything with the phrase: if only.  If only I had more money.  If only I had a college education.  If only my boss liked me.  If only I had better parents.  If only....If only....If only....

Usually we only have a short time to make a decision before the door closes and the opportunity passes.  Sometimes the opportunity will come around again and other times it won't.  I once had an opportunity to work for a trade magazine but I turned it down because I was happy with the job I had.  And the opportunity to work for a trade journal never came around again.  I sent out resumes, but noone responded.  I don't know how my life would have been different if I had accepted the position, but I have no regrets.  I am satisfied with the life I have lived.

The choices we make often send us in directions we never imagined.  New opportunities arise for us to seize.  Each choice we make leads us closer to where we are supposed to be.  We make a life by making choices.  What choices are you making today that will open up new doors for you tomorrow?

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Eric Fischl

"What experience has shown me is that it takes your life to become an artist."

— Eric Fischl

American Artist

1948 -

Becoming a painter, a poet, or a novelist takes a lifetime.  We are always in a state of becoming.  If we stop growing and changing, if we plateau, we die as artists.  We are on a journey.  The work we leave behind is the record of our journey.

Where are you on your artistic journey?  What challenges are you facing today?  What challenges have you learned to overcome?  What are your dreams for tomorrow?  What paths have you taken?  What roads have you avoided?

Don't despair if you feel you have lost your way.  Maybe you have just taken a detour and you will soon find your way again.  What we sometimes feel are the wrong roads turn out to be the right roads in the end.  We often cannot see the forest because of the trees.  Climb up the nearest tree and your world will change.  

I often hear people complaining about the weather.  It's too cloudy.  Too rainy.  Too cold.  Too hot.  Can't see the sun.  Yet if we get in an airplane and fly above the clouds, the sun is there.  It is always there.  So don't become discouraged.  Instead change your perspective.

Here is Eric Fischl talking about one of his paintings.

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Viktor Emil Frankl

"Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude."

Viktor Emil Frankl

Austrian Psychiatrist/Writer

1905 - 1997

I believe that everything in life is a choice.  We choose how we get up in the morning.  We choose how we go to work.  We choose our attitudes.  I believe we have little or no control over what happens to us.  We can be in a car accident, be diagnosed with cancer or get fired from our job.  We have no control over preventing these things from happening.  The only thing we have control over is how we respond to what happens to us.  We have 100% control of our attitude.  As Frankl says, we have the freedom to choose our attitude.

What is your attitude to your life?  Your art?  What is your attitude to the people around you? Do you choose to be optimistic and positive?  Or are you grouchy?  Discouraged?  Negative?  Are you always finding fault with people and the world around you?  Do continually make sarcastic comments and put people down?  Or do you look for the good in people?  Even the worst of people have some good in them.  

As creative leaders we choose our attitudes.  Choose today to be positive, dedicated and inspiring.  Choose to find the silver lining in every dark cloud.  Choose to be a better you.  And then you will be a better artist.

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Maya Angelou

"If you don't like something, change it.  If you can't change it, change your attitude.  Don't complain."

— Maya Angelou

American Poet/Writer

1928 -

One of the easiest things to do is to criticize, to complain, to find fault.  It is a trap that many creative people fall into.  The world doesn't always recognized our creative genius so we put others down.  Complaining becomes our defense mechanism, the way to protect ourselves from the onslaught of the world around us.  What we need to learn is that complaining is not productive.  It does not help us create great works of art.  If we don't like something about the world, we need to either change it or change ourselves.  And what I have found over the years is that it is much easier to change yourself than it is to change those around you and it requires a lot less energy and time.

So ask yourself: "What did I complain about yesterday?" Then ask yourself if you can change it and if not, then change your attitude."  I teach people that they have little or no control on what happens to them.  The only thing they have 100 percent control of is their attitude.  If you don't like where you live, then change your attitude.  If you don't like your boss, then change your attitude.  We need to develop an attitude of gratitude.  We need to appreciate what we have, not complain about what we don't have.

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Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them: character, the heart, generous qualities, progressive ideas."

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Russian Novelist

1821 - 1881

Think of the stories you have heard of intelligent, educated people who have done evil things.  Intelligence and even education do not make us good people.  It is what is in the heart that matters most.  Are you caring, compassionate and generous?  Your character and nature will show through.  That which lives in your heart will be visible in your art.  

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Eric Hoffer

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings."

— Eric Hoffer

American Philosopher/Writer

1902 - 1983

We should give thanks daily for the gifts that we have been given.  The world we live in can be a difficult, negative place and yet we must find a way to celebrate the positive, to believe in that which is good and precious.  As creative leaders our gifts and talents are many.  I am thankful that I can type, that I can read, that I can write, that I can create.  Sometimes it is the small things that are most important.  

Give thanks for what you have been given.  Develop an attitude of gratitude.  Every day write down ten things for which you are grateful.  The choice is yours.  Focus on what you have, not what you don't have.  Don't like that picture you painted?  Don't think you have much skill in drawing?  Don't despair.  Focus on your talent for color or your insight into human nature.  Honor the gifts that you have.  Appreciate your strengths. Celebrate life.  

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George Elliot

"What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?"

— George Elliot

English novelist

1819 - 1880

When it comes time to knock on those pearly gates and you look back across your life, what are you going to remember?  For most of us, it will be the people we've known and had some relationship with.  Will you have left this world a better place?  Will you have left the lives of those you love better?  Creative people, whether writers, painters or actors, often are known for their art, not their relationships.  I recently was reminded of this by the Jackson Pollock movie.  In his relationships with people, Pollock was a disaster.  I believe that an artist can be both creative and emotionally stable, but it takes working on relationships as much as we work on perfecting our art.

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Pam Shaw

"If you take too long in deciding what to do with your life, you'll find you've done it."

— Pam Shaw

When I graduated from college, I wanted to be a writer.  It took me four years to find employment as a writer.  My first job was writing policy and procedural manuals for a nursing home company.  I was very frustrated in those early years because I could only spend an hour or so every day writing poetry.  I wanted to be a full time writer of novels and poetry.  When I turned fifty, I realized that I had been writing my whole life and that I was a writer.  I may not be rich or famous or able to spend all day writing, but I still had written thousands of poems.  I believe that in the end we all end up doing what we are supposed to do.  At 61 I have spent 35 years working in health care and I know in my heart that is where I am supposed to be.  Yes, I am a writer.  I am a speaker.  And I touch people's lives.  So my advice to others is not to worry if you are not doing what you think you should be doing.  In the end we all do what we should do.  Pam Shaw, the author of the quote, was a school teacher before she became a top salesperson at Mary Kay Cosmetics.  I would change the quote to read:  Whether you are doing what you think you want or not, you are doing what you are supposed to be doing.

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