InspirEmail

InspirEmail No 269 - October 28th, 2013 - Destined or Determined
'Inspirational messages to refresh the spirit and boost the emotional bank account'

Destined or Determined

A sky-diving instructor was asked, 'How many successful jumps must a student make before he or she can become certified?'

He answered, 'All of them.'

Sky diving, however, is the exception. Is your life built on a series of successes? Do you usually attempt something new and immediately succeed, then succeed again and again? Or more likely, do you find that it is the other way around?

Our successes are often built on smaller failures. We fell off the bike a few times before we learned to ride. And we produced a few culinary failures before we baked a successful layered cake or prepared a satisfactory omelet.

Tom Hopkins observes, 'The number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying.' And Winston Churchill stated, 'Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.' They both agree that discouragement, rather than failure, is the enemy of success. Those who can remain hopeful and focused, though they fail, are those who will eventually succeed.

In all, Emily Dickinson is said to have written nearly eighteen hundred poems. Though fewer than a dozen were published in her lifetime and the first volume of her poetry was not published until four years after her death, Dickinson's success is attributed to the fact that she did not allow discouragement to keep her from her poetry.

As she wrote so beautifully:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all


Hope never stops. Where would we be today had Emily Dickinson lost her enthusiasm for writing? Though largely unrecognised, she kept her desire alive and we now remember her as one of the great poets of all time.

It's good to remember that success may be just beyond the next failure, and you'll get there, not because you're destined to, but because you're determined to.

Written by Steve Goodier

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There's nothing you cannot do

There's nothing to fear, you're as good as the best.
As strong as the mightiest, too.
You can win in every battle or test.
For there's no one just like you.

There's only one you in the world today.
So nobody else, you see.
Can do your work in as fine a way.
You're the only you there'll be.

So face the world, and all life is yours.
To conquer and love and live.
And you'll find the happiness that endures.
In just the measure you give.

There's nothing too good for you to possess.
Nor heights where you cannot go.
Your power is more than belief or guess.
It is something you have to know.

There is nothing to fear, you can and you will.
For you are the invincible you.
Set your foot on the highest hill.
There's nothing you cannot do.

Author Unknown

- Inspirational Quote -

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting
pursuit of your goal, a commitment to excellence that will enable you to attain the success you seek

Mario Andretti

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A monthly positive inspirational story and quote to refresh your spirit and boost the emotional bank account. InspirEmail was first published in November 2005 and each issue can be viewed in the Archived InspirEmail Directory located below the latest issue of InspirEmail


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