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Motivation Mondays: CROSSROADS

07/11/2016
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“At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past.” Maurice Maeterlinck

Motivation Mondays: CROSSROADS

Motivation Mondays: CROSSROADS

You are now at a crossroads. This is your opportunity to make the most important decision you will ever make. Forget your past. Who are you now? Who have you decided you really are now? Don’t think about who you have been. Who are you now? Who have you decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully. Anthony Robbins
Every journey taken always includes the path not taken, the detour through hell, the crossroads of indecision and the long way home. Shannon L. Alder
When you feel life at crossroads, you need a higher perspective view. Toba Beta

 

When was the last time you were at a crossroads in your life? How did you push through? We have periods in our lives when we have to make crucial decisions about what to do about a situation; about what path to take to resolve a difficult impasse. It is in those moments that we must stand in our light and take conscious and decisive action so we can move forward with our life and our plans. The challenge of the crossroad is that the choice or the answer isn’t clear. We have to act on faith and trust that the outcome will work to our advantage. At different points in my life when the road wasn’t so direct and I knew that I had to choose a path, I dove in following my gut response and, in many instances, the outcome was beneficial. Yet at other points in my life, the outcome was not what I expected but the lessons learned were rich and rewarding. If we see events in our lives as transitory not a grand finale, we would see that regardless of an outcome, there is hope for a new day to take stock and move forward with renewed vigor and wisdom. All of life is about crossroads that arise to meet us along the way and we can embrace them or reject them… the outcome will remain with us.

A Story – In Your Hands
A young man caught a small bird, and held it behind his back. He then asked, “Master, is the bird I hold in my hands alive or dead.” The boy thought this was a grand opportunity to play a trick on the old man. If the master answered “dead”, it would be let loose in
to the air. If the master answered “alive”, he would simply wring its neck. The master spoke, “The answer is in your hands”.

A Story – Transient
A famous spiritual teacher came to the front door of the King’s palace. None of the guards tried to stop him as he entered and made his way to where the King himself was sitting on his throne.
“What do you want?” asked the King, immediately recognizing the visitor.
“I would like a place to sleep in this inn,” replied the teacher.
“But this is not an inn,” said the King, “It is my palace.”
“May I ask who owned this palace before you?”
“My father. He is dead.”
“And who owned it before him?”
“My grandfather. He too is dead.”
“And this place where people live for a short time and then move on – did I hear you say that it is NOT an inn?”

 

 

“We have to get used to the idea that at the most important crossroads in our life, there are no signs.” Ernest Hemingway”

Motivation Mondays: CROSSROADS

Motivation Mondays: CROSSROADS

I think you will agree that life’s plans are not always tied up in neat little packages. Occasionally we find ourselves at unexpected crossroads with more than one opportunity from which to choose… Linda Lee Chaikin
The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location. Flannery O’Connor
There are moments in our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroads; afraid, confused, without a roadmap. The choices we make in those moments will define us for the rest of our days. Of course, when faced with the unknown, most of us prefer to turn around and go back. Lucas Scott

 

When do you decide to turn away from an original plan because the fog makes your choice unclear?  We can choose to wait, contemplate the choice or dive right in. Whether we have a 5, 10, or 20 year plan, we can’t guarantee that all our plans will come to fruition. Sometimes we might make a wrong turn, take a short cut, or meet an unforeseen roadblock. When that happens, we must wait and contemplate a way out, go right through the crossroads or find another door in.  The important step we must take is to ACT. Life is full of surprises and unless we push through our fears and move forward, we will never know how the outcome could help us achieve our goals and dreams… When we feel we are at an impasse, we must not give in to fear and lethargy. Whatever happens, we must never be silent even while we wait; especially where injustice has left its mark… that is where growth lies. Work through your fears and make a decision.

A Story – Full awareness
After ten years of apprenticeship, Tenno achieved the rank of Zen teacher. One rainy day, he went to visit the famous master Nan-in. When he walked in, the master greeted him with a question, “Did you leave your wooden clogs and umbrella on the porch?”
“Yes,” Tenno replied.
“Tell me,” the master continued, “did you place your umbrella to the left of your shoes, or to the right?”
Tenno did not know the answer, and realized that he had not yet attained full awareness. So he became Nan-in’s apprentice and studied under him for ten more years.

The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for October and November 2016 are:

OCTOBER
10/03 –  2-4 Rosh Hashana,  6 German-American Day,
10/10 –  10  Columbus Day, World Mental Health Day, 11 International Day of the Girl,  12 Yom Kippur
10/17 –   16 World Food Day / FAO World Food Day
10/24 –  24 United Nations Day,  28 National Chocolate Day, 29 National Cat Day, 30 Diwali
10/31 —  31 Halloween

NOVEMBER
11/01/6 –   01 All Saints Day/Day of the Dead,  02 All Soul’s Day, o3, Culture Day, 05 Guy Fawkes Day
11/07   –  07 Chocolate + Almonds Day, 11 Martinmas/Remembrance Day/Veterans Day/Armistice Day, 13 World Kindness Day
11/14 – 14 Full Moon, 15 Republic Day, 16 Day of Repentance 20, National Black Consciousness Day/Revolution Day
11/21 –   21 World Hello Day, 23 National Cashew Day, 24 Thanksgiving Day
11/28  –   29 New Moon/E-Greetings Day/National Day of Listening

Are You Looking for Ways to Stay Creative in 2016?

PostaDayPostaWeekCollage1
– Join the Daily Post Post-a-day or Post-a-week Challenge.

BHWritingLab_052016_post_PROMPT1A

— Join the BlogHer Writing Lab

More Below!
“How many crossroads are you allowed to have in life? I seem to have a lot of crossroads. I think maybe I crossed back across the same road too often.” Queen Latifah

Motivation Mondays: CROSSROADS

Motivation Mondays: CROSSROADS

You may be at a crossroads in your life. You may have issues to deal with; people you need to forgive. You can go one of the two ways. You can ignore what you now know to be true and keep burying that bitterness in your life, pushing it deeper and allowing it to poison and contaminate you and those around you. Or you can make a much better choice by getting it out in the open and asking for help to totally forgive and let it all go. Joel Osteen
There are two ways to go when you hit that crossroads in your life: There is the bad way, when you sort of give up, and then there is the really hard way, when you fight back. I went the hard way and came out of it okay. Now, I’m sitting here and doing great. Matthew Perry

 

What are your crossroads? What do you fear? As we work towards a new dawn in our lives, we must not allow the cacophony of others derail our plans to become focused on achieving our goals. Part of being motivated is that we must get up and move our feet. Motivation doesn’t quite work well from an armchair and our motivation to push through obstacles can only be accomplished when we take decisive action. Don’t rest on your laurels, don’t wait for extra signs and the perfect day, just go do it… and let the chips fall where they may. You will be richer for it.

A Story – The order of things
A rich man asked a Zen master to write something down that could encourage the prosperity of his family for years to come. It would be something that the family could cherish for generations. On a large piece of paper, the master wrote, “Father dies, son dies, grandson dies.”
The rich man became angry when he saw the master’s work. “I asked you to write something down that could bring happiness and prosperity to my family. Why do you give me something depressing like this?” “If your son should die before you,” the master answered, “this would bring unbearable grief to your family. If your grandson should die before your son, this also would bring great sorrow. If your family, generation after generation, disappears in the order I have described, it will be the natural course of life. This is true happiness and prosperity.”

 

Hello again world!

Have a decisive week ahead!

Any Zen Antics stories via Goodweb.cn

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Positive Motivation Tip:  Push through your fears and cross that road.

Motivation Mondays is open to anyone who wishes to share a motivational quote, photo, personal challenge or a post that encourages others to start the week on an upbeat note.
Basic Instructions: Each week, I will have a motivation word to help us create a response. (See listed words for the months above/below)
Email address: You may email or share your post as a comment and I will add it to the round-up of related posts. email it to: contact(@)mirthandmotivation(.)com
Category tag: – Share your post using Motivation Mondays
Twitter hashtag: – Use this on Twitter #MotvnM
Dedicated Page: There is a dedicated page for Motivation Mondays. It has the same instructions and will include other helpful tools and a link to the round-up
Facebook Page: MotivationOnMondays Join our page and add your post and/or any motivational piece you think will be helpful to others.
Facebook Community: We have a Facebook community forum to compliment the page. It serves as another way to share uplifting posts and thoughts. Please join in and add your voice.

Badge: – I created a fun badge using PicMonkey’s free photo editing tools. You can create your own, use WordPress’ integrated tool on your blog or you are welcome to use mine. (see dedicated page)
Tag: – Motivation Mondays
Hashtag: – #MotvnM
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PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos –     Ukraine crossroad in winter, via Wikipedia, and/or  Crossroads,  Crossroad, via Pixabay

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet

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from → Global Events, Motivation Mondays, Positive Advice, Posts & Photos 2016
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