Catalyst Quotes

“What You Do Speaks So Loud”

“The Pope is coming.

Whether you run a hotel or a retail store or a parts supply store (or whatever business you run), things change when you find out the Pope is coming for a visit.

The fresh flowers get delivered, the beds are made a little tighter and your best staff is waiting out front.  Everything is a little bit cleaner and shinier.  Maybe, a few staff brings in their kids to sing a song or two.

The thing is, everyone enjoys this extra work.  It’s fun to stretch a bit.  It doesn’t feel quite as much like work when you’re doing something special.

You probably guessed the punch line: The Pope isn’t coming to your place of business this trip.  He won’t be reading your blog or calling your customer service line either.  Sorry for the confusion.  Go ahead and rent out that room or give away that table you were saving.

But since it’s so much fun, why not do it for someone who isn’t the Pope?  Like your next customer?    (Seth Godin)

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”       (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

“I Sent An Angel to Watch Over You”

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”     (The Alchemist, Paolo Coelho)

“My secret is that I need God — that I am sick and can no longer make it alone.  I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love.”    (Douglas Coupland)

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind.  To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again.  To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”     (Henry David Thoreau)

“If you are depressed you are living in the past.

If you are anxious you are living in the future.

If you are at peace you are living in the present.”       (Lao Tzu)

“Tonight I sent an angel to watch over you, but it came back.  When I asked why, it told me that angels don’t watch over other angels.”        (Unknown)

“Do For Ourselves or Do For Others?”

“Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny — he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed.  You are not here accidentally — you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you.  The whole intends to do something through you.”       (Osho)

“You must constantly ask yourself these questions:

Who am I around?

What are they doing to me?

What have they got me reading?

What have they got me saying?

Where do they have me going?

What do they have me thinking?

And most important, what do they have me becoming?

Then ask yourself the big question:  Is that okay?”       (Jim Rohn)

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”     (John Powell)

“Don’t wait until everything is just right.  It will never be perfect.  There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions.  So what.  Get started now.  With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”       (Mark Victor Hansen)

“What we do for ourselves dies with us.  What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.”       (Albert Pine) 

“Some of Us Have Great Runways”

“Instead of making others right or wrong, or bottling up right and wrong in ourselves, there’s a middle way, a very powerful middle way. . . . Could we have no agenda when we walk into a room with another person, not know what to say, not make that person wrong or right?  Could we see, hear, feel other people as they really are?  It is powerful to practice this way . . . . true communication can happen only in that open space.”        (Pema Chodron)

“Mystically speaking, there’s no difference between you and another person.  A weird concept, perhaps, but nevertheless valid.  This explains why you can’t hurt another person without hurting yourself.  You share the same Source energy with everyone, and consequently, you must begin to think and act in a way that reflects your awareness of this principle.”     (The Power of Intention, Dr. Wayne Dyer)

“Knock,

And He’ll open the door.

Vanish,

And He’ll make you shine like the sun.

Fall,

And He’ll raise you to the heavens.

Become nothing,

And He’ll turn you into everything.”       (Rumi)

“Spirituality is all about depth, the depth beneath the surface, the meaning and significance that don’t always meet the eye.  . . . The surface realities of our jobs are a little like the foam on a glass of beer.  It’s an unsatisfied person who just sucks off the foam and never drinks deeply of the beer itself.  If we could all enjoy a deeper view of what life is all about and connected to that, a deeper view of the work we do; if we could free ourselves of those illusions that dance across the surface of our daily endeavors; and if, as a consequence, we could experience the positive energy that comes from living a robustly spiritual approach to life day to day, we would find a much greater sense of satisfaction and fulfillment in our work.  And, connected with that, I am convinced that as a result we would do better work ….”        (If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris)

“Some of us have great runways already built for us.  If you have one, TAKE OFF!  But if you don’t have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.“       (Amelia Earhart)

“This Is To Be My Symphony”

“Life is without meaning.

You bring the meaning to it.

The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be.

Being alive is the meaning.”       (Joseph Campbell)

“Live with compassion. Work with compassion. Die with compassion. Meditate with compassion. Enjoy with compassion. When problems come, experience them with compassion.”         (Lama Zopa Rinpoche)

“Commitment is a line you must cross … it is the difference between dreaming and doing.”  “Pride is a personal commitment; it is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity.”   (Anonymous)

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden, and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.”       (William Henry Channing)

“Imagine Where You Want to Be; Your Reservations Have Been Made”

“In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing. . . . But somehow we cannot start. . . . Every moment we expect the spell to break . . . but it does continue, pulse after pulse, and we float with it. . . .”       (William James)

“My great mistake, the fault for which I can’t forgive myself, is that one day I ceased my obstinate pursuit of my own individuality.”          (Oscar Wilde)

“It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth – and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up, we will then begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.”     (Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross)

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred . . . unforeseen incidents, meeting, and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.”     (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

“Do you really want to be happy?  You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you’ve got.”       (Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh)

“Close your eyes and imagine where you want to be.  Imagine the complete journey you need to take in order to get there.  Now go pack.  Your reservations have been made.”        (Michelle Ustaszeski)

“Change Your Life”

“There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, ‘Yes, I’ve got dreams, of course I’ve got dreams.’  Then they put the box away and bring it out once in awhile to look in it, and yep, they’re still there.  These are great dreams, but they never even get out of the box.  It takes an uncommon amount of guts to put your dreams on the line, to hold them up and say, ‘How good or how bad am I?’  That’s where courage comes in.”        (Erma Bombeck)

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan.  And guess what they have planned for you?  Not much.”       (Jim Rohn)

“You change your life by changing your heart.”       (Max Lucado)

“We can change our lives.  We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish.”       (Tony Robbins)

“The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”     (George Bernard Shaw)

“We All Make Choices”

“Do not look for rest in any pleasure, because you were not created for pleasure:  you were created for joy.   And if you do not know the difference between pleasure and joy you have not yet begun to live.”       (Thomas Merton)

“Today I will master my emotions.  If I will bring rain and gloom and darkness and pessimism to others then they will react with rain, gloom, darkness and pessimism.  If I bring joy and enthusiasm and brightness and laughter to others they will react with joy, enthusiasm, brightness and laughter.

Each day, when I awaken, I will follow this plan of battle before I am captured by the forces of sadness, self-pity and failure —

If I feel depressed I will sing.

If I feel sad I will laugh.

If I feel ill I will double my labor.

If I feel fear I will plunge ahead.

If I feel inferior I will wear new clothes.

If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice.

If I feel incompetent I will remember past successes.

If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals.”     (Og Mandino, ‘The Greatest Salesman in the World ‘)

“We keep so busy talking, we are so keen to act that we forget that in the heart lies all we need untapped, intact.”          (Angelus Silesius)

“We all make our choices in life; the hard thing to do is live with them.”   (‘The Words’ movie)

“Begin It Now”

“My Mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.”       (Forrest Gump)

“The start of something new brings the hope of something great.  Anything is possible.  And you will pass this way only once.  Do it right.”       (Macintosh Ad, 1991)

“The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.  Hard work is the price we must pay for success.  I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.”      (Vince Lombardi)

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”   (C. S. Lewis)

“The man at the top of the mountain did not fall there.”       (Author Unknown)

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.  Begin it now.”       (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

“Recipe for a Happy Year” – REVISED

On December 29, 2012, I posted “Recipe for a New Year”; however, after looking through some of my files and additional paperwork, I found the same ‘recipe’ with additional wording.  Please accept my apologies for posting the previous incomplete recipe and please take a look at this one.  This has more meaning to it. 

Also, to all of you who have followed my blog as well as those who occasionally find my blog and read it, I wish you, your families and friends a glorious New Year filled with joy, love, good health, promising opportunities and inspiration to find your true self and the beauty of your soul.          – Alex Pena, aka General Manager of the Universe

“Take twelve fine, full-grown months.  Select only those which are thoroughly free from all old memories of bitterness, rancor, hate and jealousy.  Clean them completely free from every clinging spite.  Pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness.  In short see that each of these months is freed from all the past so that they are as fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of time.

Next, cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts with one specifically into 28 parts. They will keep for only one year, so do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time. Far too many people spoil the entire lot in this way.  Rather, prepare but one day at a time.

Into each day put twelve parts of faith, eleven of patience, ten of courage, nine of work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), eight of hope, seven of fidelity, six of liberality, five of kindness, four of rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad – don’t do it), three of prayer, two of meditation and one part only of well-selected resolution.  For spice and sweetening, according to our scruples, add about a teaspoon of good spirits, and a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play and a heaping cup of good humor.

Pour love, ad libitum, into the whole and mix with vim and vigor. Cook thoroughly in a fervent heart.  Garnish with a few smiles and a sprig of joy. Then be sure to serve with quietness, unselfishness and cheerfulness – and a Happy Year is a certainty.

Remember – with a smile and a prayer – twelve new and wonderfully glorious months have been issued in your name to do with as you wish. Father Time has signed your note, so that you have been issued a “credit card” for the entire year!

If you make a mistake, be sure you don’t make the same one over again. Laugh at difficulties, and they will soon vanish.  Attempt heavier responsibilities, and you will find them growing lighter. Face a bad situation and it will clear up.  Tell the truth and find an easier way out.  Do an honest-to-goodness day’s work every day and reap the rewards.  Believe men are honest, and you will find them living up to your expectations.  Trust in God and He will surprise you with His goodness.”        (Author Unknown)