Our Free Will is Constrained, and Precious

 

Our circumstances define the playing field, not the outcome.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Life consists not in holding good cards
but in playing those you hold well.
- Josh Billings

Customs form us all.
Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed beliefs,
are consequences of our place of birth.
- Aaron Hill
Yet within these quite extreme constraints, progress, success, and happiness are still possible.

You play the hand you're dealt.
I think the game's worthwhile.
- Christopher Reeve

All men and women are born, live, suffer and die;
what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams,
whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things,
and what we do to make them come about.
We do not choose to be born.
We do not choose our parents.
We do not choose our historical epoch,
the country of our birth,
or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.
We do not, most of us, choose to die;
nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death.
But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
- Joseph Epstein

Our Free Will is Highly Constrained,
Which Makes the Free Will that We Do Have Even More Precious.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We all have free will, but only within the harsh constraints of predestination.
Within the limits placed upon our lives by the circumstances of our genes,
our place and condition of birth, the parenting we receive,
and other events beyond our control,
we are defined by the free will we can still exercise.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Make Your Dreams Come True

Do What You Can Do

Choose to Soar
    

Stop Feeling Sorry for Yourself

A hero is an ordinary individual
who finds the strength to persevere
and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve

If we don't see a failure as a challenge to modify our approach,
but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect,
we will immediately feel overwhelmed.
- Anthony Robbins

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Improve what you can
and accept all the rest of life
just as it comes.
Know that fear is your worst enemy -
perhaps your only enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you feel overwhelmed...

1. Ask yourself, "What is the smallest list of tasks that I MUST accomplish TODAY?"
2. Work on that short list right now. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
3. Don't worry about anything not on the short list. Read How to Stop Worrying if you need help with this.
4. Don't blame yourself for feeling overwhelmed, for having gotten yourself into this situation, or for anything else. If you have failed at some task, that does not make you-the-person a failure. If you need help getting in touch with your own worthiness read How to Feel Good About Yourself.

Further reading: How to Cope with Loneliness

All Life is a Risk

How to Feel Better About Yourself

Don't Borrow Trouble

How to Gain Self Confidence
      

Never Lose Sight of Your Dreams

Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations.
For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.

- Henry David Thoreau

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,

then they seem improbable, and then,
when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
- Christopher Reeve

Winners Dream Big Dreams.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We come this way but once.
We can either tiptoe through life
and hope we get to death without being badly bruised
or we can live a full, complete life achieving
our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.
- Bob Proctor

Further reading: Don’t Quit

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

What You Become

Boldly Sail the Storms of Life        

Our circumstances define the playing field, not the outcome

Our circumstances define the playing field, not the outcome.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Life consists not in holding good cards
but in playing those you hold well.
- Josh Billings

Customs form us all.
Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed beliefs,
are consequences of our place of birth.
- Aaron Hill
Yet within these quite extreme constraints, progress, success, and happiness are still possible.

You play the hand you're dealt.
I think the game's worthwhile.
- Christopher Reeve

All men and women are born, live, suffer and die;
what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams,
whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things,
and what we do to make them come about.
We do not choose to be born.
We do not choose our parents.
We do not choose our historical epoch,
the country of our birth,
or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.
We do not, most of us, choose to die;
nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death.
But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
- Joseph Epstein

We all have free will, but only within the harsh constraints of predestination.
Within the limits placed upon our lives by the circumstances of our genes,
our place and condition of birth, the parenting we receive,
and other events beyond our control,
we are defined by the free will we can still exercise.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Make Your Dreams Come True

Do What You Can Do

Choose to Soar
    

How to Cope with Overwhelm...

A hero is an ordinary individual
who finds the strength to persevere
and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve

If we don't see a failure as a challenge to modify our approach,
but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect,
we will immediately feel overwhelmed.
- Anthony Robbins

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Improve what you can
and accept all the rest of life
just as it comes.
Know that fear is your worst enemy -
perhaps your only enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you feel overwhelmed...

1. Ask yourself, "What is the smallest list of tasks that I MUST accomplish TODAY?"
2. Work on that short list right now. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
3. Don't worry about anything not on the short list. Read How to Stop Worrying if you need help with this.
4. Don't blame yourself for feeling overwhelmed, for having gotten yourself into this situation, or for anything else. If you have failed at some task, that does not make you-the-person a failure. If you need help getting in touch with your own worthiness read How to Feel Good About Yourself.

Further reading: How to Cope with Loneliness

All Life is a Risk

How to Feel Better About Yourself

Don't Borrow Trouble

How to Gain Self Confidence
      

Dream Big Dreams

Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations.
For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.

- Henry David Thoreau

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,

then they seem improbable, and then,
when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
- Christopher Reeve

Winners Dream Big Dreams.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We come this way but once.
We can either tiptoe through life
and hope we get to death without being badly bruised
or we can live a full, complete life achieving
our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.
- Bob Proctor

Further reading: Don’t Quit

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

What You Become

Boldly Sail the Storms of Life        

Your Circumstances are Just the Beginning of Your Story

 

Our circumstances define the playing field, not the outcome.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Life consists not in holding good cards
but in playing those you hold well.
- Josh Billings

Customs form us all.
Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed beliefs,
are consequences of our place of birth.
- Aaron Hill
Yet within these quite extreme constraints, progress, success, and happiness are still possible.

You play the hand you're dealt.
I think the game's worthwhile.
- Christopher Reeve

All men and women are born, live, suffer and die;
what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams,
whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things,
and what we do to make them come about.
We do not choose to be born.
We do not choose our parents.
We do not choose our historical epoch,
the country of our birth,
or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.
We do not, most of us, choose to die;
nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death.
But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
- Joseph Epstein

We all have free will, but only within the harsh constraints of predestination.
Within the limits placed upon our lives by the circumstances of our genes,
our place and condition of birth, the parenting we receive,
and other events beyond our control,
we are defined by the free will we can still exercise.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Make Your Dreams Come True

Do What You Can Do

Choose to Soar
      

Dealing with Overwhelm

 

A hero is an ordinary individual
who finds the strength to persevere
and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve

If we don't see a failure as a challenge to modify our approach,
but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect,
we will immediately feel overwhelmed.
- Anthony Robbins

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Improve what you can
and accept all the rest of life
just as it comes.
Know that fear is your worst enemy -
perhaps your only enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you feel overwhelmed...

1. Ask yourself, "What is the smallest list of tasks that I MUST accomplish TODAY?"
2. Work on that short list right now. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
3. Don't worry about anything not on the short list. Read How to Stop Worrying if you need help with this.
4. Don't blame yourself for feeling overwhelmed, for having gotten yourself into this situation, or for anything else. If you have failed at some task, that does not make you-the-person a failure. If you need help getting in touch with your own worthiness read How to Feel Good About Yourself.

Further reading: How to Cope with Loneliness

All Life is a Risk

How to Feel Better About Yourself

Don't Borrow Trouble

How to Gain Self Confidence
      

Hold To Your Dreams

 

Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations.
For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.

- Henry David Thoreau

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,

then they seem improbable, and then,
when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
- Christopher Reeve

Winners Dream Big Dreams.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We come this way but once.
We can either tiptoe through life
and hope we get to death without being badly bruised
or we can live a full, complete life achieving
our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.
- Bob Proctor

Further reading: Don’t Quit

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

What You Become

Boldly Sail the Storms of Life

       

Our Circumstances are only the Starting Point

 

Our circumstances define the playing field, not the outcome.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Life consists not in holding good cards
but in playing those you hold well.
- Josh Billings

Customs form us all.
Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed beliefs,
are consequences of our place of birth.
- Aaron Hill
Yet within these quite extreme constraints, progress, success, and happiness are still possible.

You play the hand you're dealt.
I think the game's worthwhile.
- Christopher Reeve

All men and women are born, live, suffer and die;
what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams,
whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things,
and what we do to make them come about.
We do not choose to be born.
We do not choose our parents.
We do not choose our historical epoch,
the country of our birth,
or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.
We do not, most of us, choose to die;
nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death.
But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
- Joseph Epstein

We all have free will, but only within the harsh constraints of predestination.
Within the limits placed upon our lives by the circumstances of our genes,
our place and condition of birth, the parenting we receive,
and other events beyond our control,
we are defined by the free will we can still exercise.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Make Your Dreams Come True

Do What You Can Do

Choose to Soar
      

Dream Big Dreams

 

Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations.
For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.

- Henry David Thoreau

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,

then they seem improbable, and then,
when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
- Christopher Reeve

Winners Dream Big Dreams.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We come this way but once.
We can either tiptoe through life
and hope we get to death without being badly bruised
or we can live a full, complete life achieving
our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.
- Bob Proctor

Further reading: Don’t Quit

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

What You Become

Boldly Sail the Storms of Life

       

Circumstances Mark the Beginning, Not the End, of Our Battle with Life

 

Our circumstances define the playing field, not the outcome.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Life consists not in holding good cards
but in playing those you hold well.
- Josh Billings

Customs form us all.
Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed beliefs,
are consequences of our place of birth.
- Aaron Hill
Yet within these quite extreme constraints, progress, success, and happiness are still possible.

You play the hand you're dealt.
I think the game's worthwhile.
- Christopher Reeve

All men and women are born, live, suffer and die;
what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams,
whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things,
and what we do to make them come about.
We do not choose to be born.
We do not choose our parents.
We do not choose our historical epoch,
the country of our birth,
or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.
We do not, most of us, choose to die;
nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death.
But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
- Joseph Epstein

We all have free will, but only within the harsh constraints of predestination.
Within the limits placed upon our lives by the circumstances of our genes,
our place and condition of birth, the parenting we receive,
and other events beyond our control,
we are defined by the free will we can still exercise.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Make Your Dreams Come True

Do What You Can Do

Choose to Soar
      

Do Not Lose Hold of Your Dreams

Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations.
For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.

- Henry David Thoreau

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,

then they seem improbable, and then,
when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
- Christopher Reeve

Winners Dream Big Dreams.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We come this way but once.
We can either tiptoe through life
and hope we get to death without being badly bruised
or we can live a full, complete life achieving
our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.
- Bob Proctor

Further reading: Don’t Quit

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

What You Become

Boldly Sail the Storms of Life

       

Our circumstances define the playing field, not the outcome.

Our circumstances define the playing field, not the outcome.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Life consists not in holding good cards
but in playing those you hold well.
- Josh Billings

Customs form us all.
Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed beliefs,
are consequences of our place of birth.
- Aaron Hill
Yet within these quite extreme constraints, progress, success, and happiness are still possible.

You play the hand you're dealt.
I think the game's worthwhile.
- Christopher Reeve

All men and women are born, live, suffer and die;
what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams,
whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things,
and what we do to make them come about.
We do not choose to be born.
We do not choose our parents.
We do not choose our historical epoch,
the country of our birth,
or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.
We do not, most of us, choose to die;
nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death.
But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
- Joseph Epstein

We all have free will, but only within the harsh constraints of predestination.
Within the limits placed upon our lives by the circumstances of our genes,
our place and condition of birth, the parenting we receive,
and other events beyond our control,
we are defined by the free will we can still exercise.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Make Your Dreams Come True

Do What You Can Do

Choose to Soar
      

Live Into Your Dreams

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,
then they seem improbable, and then,
when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
- Christopher Reeve

Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations.
For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
- Henry David Thoreau

We come this way but once.
We can either tiptoe through life
and hope we get to death without being badly bruised
or we can live a full, complete life achieving
our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.
- Bob Proctor

Winners Dream Big Dreams.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Hold Fast to Your Dreams

Boldly Sail the Storms of Life

Don’t Quit

What You Become
       

Playing the Cards You're Dealt

Life consists not in holding good cards
but in playing those you hold well.
- Josh Billings

You play the hand you're dealt.
I think the game's worthwhile.
- Christopher Reeve

All men and women are born, live, suffer and die;
what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams,
whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things,
and what we do to make them come about.
We do not choose to be born.
We do not choose our parents.
We do not choose our historical epoch,
the country of our birth,
or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.
We do not, most of us, choose to die;
nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death.
But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
- Joseph Epstein

Customs form us all.
Our thoughts, our morals, our most fixed beliefs,
are consequences of our place of birth.
- Aaron Hill
Yet within these quite extreme constraints, progress, success, and happiness are still possible.

We all have free will, but only within the harsh constraints of predestination.
Within the limits placed upon our lives by the circumstances of our genes,
our place and condition of birth, the parenting we receive, and other events beyond our control,
we are defined by the free will we can still exercise.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Our circumstances define the playing field, not the outcome.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Do What You Can Do

Choose to Soar

Making Dreams Come True
      

When You Feel Overwhelmed...

A hero is an ordinary individual
who finds the strength to persevere
and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve

If we don't see a failure as a challenge to modify our approach,
but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect,
we will immediately feel overwhelmed.
- Anthony Robbins

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

Improve what you can
and accept all the rest of life
just as it comes.
Know that fear is your worst enemy -
perhaps your only enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you feel overwhelmed...

1. Ask yourself, "What is the smallest list of tasks that I MUST accomplish TODAY?"
2. Work on that short list right now. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
3. Don't worry about anything not on the short list. Read How to Stop Worrying if you need help with this.
4. Don't blame yourself for feeling overwhelmed, for having gotten yourself into this situation, or for anything else. If you have failed at some task, that does not make you-the-person a failure. If you need help getting in touch with your own worthiness read How to Feel Good About Yourself.

Further reading: How to Cope with Loneliness

All Life is a Risk

How to Feel Better About Yourself

Don't Borrow Trouble

How to Gain Self Confidence
      

Acting on Big Dreams

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,
then they seem improbable, and then,
when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
- Christopher Reeve

New ideas pass through three periods:
1) It can't be done.
2) It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing.
3) I knew it was a good idea all along!
- Arthur C. Clarke

Winners Dream Big Dreams.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We come this way but once.
We can either tiptoe through life
and hope we get to death without being badly bruised
or we can live a full, complete life achieving
our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.
- Bob Proctor

A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.
- Mark Twain

We have a choice of how we view the obstacles on our life path.
One choice makes us slaves to circumstance,
while the other empowers us, and motivates us
to follow our dreams - and our happiness.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Boldly Sail the Storms of Life

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

What You Become

Don’t Quit
    

Feel Overwhelmed?

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles
possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.
- Albert Schweitzer

A hero is an ordinary individual
who finds the strength to persevere
and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve

If we don't see a failure as a challenge to modify our approach,
but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect,
we will immediately feel overwhelmed.
- Anthony Robbins

Whether we allow external events to shape our lives
at a core level is very much within our own control.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you feel overwhelmed...

1. Ask yourself, "What is the smallest list of tasks that I MUST accomplish TODAY?"
2. Work on that short list right now. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
3. Don't worry about anything not on the short list. Read How to Stop Worrying if you need help with this.
4. Don't blame yourself for feeling overwhelmed, for having gotten yourself into this situation, or for anything else. If you have failed at some task, that does not make you-the-person a failure. If you need help getting in touch with your own worthiness read How to Feel Good About Yourself.

Further reading: I Say NO - I Say YES