The best is yet to come

The Best Quotes To Build A More Optimistic Thought-Life

What will you choose?

Self-improvement is never easy, and it takes intentionality. So I continue to build a quote library to improve my thought-life.

I’m an intentional optimist. I had a solid Christian father. Yet, he harbored a pessimistic outlook on life, especially in his business. In the years his company was prospering, he declared it would not last. Also, for years, I attended a church where they expressed each year had five seasons, not just four. The fifth season being, ‘the flu season.’ Wow, that’s relevant to today, isn’t it? I determined not to take part in this fifth season.

So my optimistic outlook on life did not come naturally. I determined my optimistic outlook would be an intentional goal. I delete pessimistic thoughts. Oh, I’ll take note of them, but I don’t offer these detrimental notions room and board in my brain. Besides my daily Bible reading, I assembled a library of quotes to build my thought-life. My quote book continues to expand day by day.

I’m sure you want a better life than what you have now. Good, better, best, there’s always more growth needed in our lives. So let’s have a go at it.

Five quotes to change your concept of what life has to offer you.

1. Change your thoughts and you change your world. Norman Vincent Peale

All the negative thoughts entering your mind do not have to take up house. You have the choice of what you nurture to maturity in your thoughts. It’s your brain, determine what stimulus will empower your thoughts.

The Holy Scriptures tell us: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:…”Proverbs 23:7a.

It is this. If you desire to change your world, you must first change your thoughts.

2. “Your mind will give back to you exactly what you put into it.” – James Joyce

This quote is simple but the work involved is difficult. The laptop I’m typing on has 8 GB of memory, why would I besmirch this pristine memory with garbage? It is the same with our minds. Our minds have much more memory built-in, why clutter it with useless junk? Over time our thoughts determine our actions. The difficult work involved in building a useful thought life takes intentional effort. You must set boundaries around what enters your mind. Temptations usually enter through a door hanging half-way open. You need to shut the door to unmindful things. It’s not easy but gives great rewards.

3. In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.— Robert Frost

“It came to pass” used in the bible to denote change is about to happen in the scripture narrative. An axiom says; “Tough times do not last, but tough people do.” A maxim I like to use when dining at my local eatery; “Life’s short, eat dessert first.” Robert Frost has it right, through both the good times and bad times, there remains a new tomorrow for us, the living.

Life goes on, it’s a ride, make it a good one. And don’t just hang on, go for the gold. Something better is going to happen for you, Believe it.

4. “Nothing changes if nothing changes.” — Unknown

An old friend slapped his friend on the back and said; “So what’s happening with you today?” His friend replied; “Same old, same old.” What a disgruntled way to view life, wouldn’t you agree? But sad to say, many people go through their daily lives this way. Never willing to take a stab at making a change for living a rich full life. A life of plenty stands behind the door marked, CHANGE.

I took the plunge when invited to teach the scriptures to Bible students in India. I had never been to India, never taught using an interpreter, and never ate curried chicken and rice. Whew! Three never’s, stood in my way. I pushed the door, labeled ‘change’, opened it to discover a rich full life was mine for the taking. Accept the challenge to go from a ho-hum life to pure excitement. You will never know what a change will bring into your life unless you open the door marked change. Go ahead, push the door, it swings, no key needed.

5. “Don’t die with the music still in you.”– Wayne Dyer

I heard a man declare, it went something like this. The wealthiest plot of land in your city is not the oil well, not the diamond mine, nor is it the bank in the city’s square. It’s the cemetery! In the graveyard lay the bodies of men and women with unwritten books full of knowledge and wisdom. Manuscripts never inked the printed page. Thousands of unwritten and never scored songs. Songs to lift the spirits of the downtrodden rot under the dirt of a world so needful to hear their melodies sung. The businesses never started, the charities never pursued. All this buried unused wealth. And the books never were written.

Yes, the buried unknown wealth of music stilled by death. The coffins seal up the intentions never brought to life.

Don’t let this happen to you. I know you intend to do something, why not start your engine now? You were born to succeed, born to bring happiness and prosperity to your part of the world.

I leave you with the thoughts of regret people experience when facing death.

We each have the opportunity to build a better thought-life and limit our regrets. It must begin now. No moments to waste. Life will soon be over, don’t die with the music still in you and the book not written.

I wish you success in life.

In Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware. She notes five regrets people in palliative care spoke of most. I urge you to click on Bronnie’s article. Her writing will challenge you to act now on your intentions to do whatever you desire to do. Here’s her five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Bronnie closes her article with this line:

“Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.”

Yes, it is your choice. What are you going to do?

Thanks for reading,

Richard