Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about

When they might have won, had they stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow,

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor's cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,

It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit!

The Sylvester Stallone Story

This is a real story of how Sylvester Stallone turned from a nobody to a somebody. It's a true rag to riches tale that is sure to inspire anybody.

Most of you would have know Sylvester Stallone as the Star of Rocky and Rambo. But life wasn't so rosy for him in the beginning...

Stallone attended school in suburban Philadelphia where he first started acting. He then spent two years instructing at the American College at the American College of Switzerland in Geneva. When he arrived back in the United States, he became a drama major at the University of Miami where he also began to write.

He left college before graduation and moved to New York to pursue his acting career. He auditioned for almost every casting agent in town but with little success. He then decided to turn more towards writing and wrote many screenplays while waiting for his acting career to blossom.

In 1974, he got a break as one of the leads in "The Lords of Flatbush." He also received his first writing credit for additional dialog on this film.

However, despite this small break, he struggled to build momentum. He kept auditioning but was faced with rejection one after the other. He started writing more screenplays and received similar rejections.

Stallone had run out of money and he was living in a desperate situation. He could barely even feed his family. Then one day he was walking through the streets of New York and he wandered into the library to keep warm. This became a regular habit for him during the colder months.

At the library he began reading books from famous writers. This gave him a bit of an extra edge in his writing and so he pursued this more and more.

By this stage, he was desperate to get work but he wouldn't take an average job, he knew what he wanted. He wanted to be an actor and he was determined to make that happen.

One day, Stallone was sitting at home watching a fight between Weppner and Ali. Weppner was getting absolutely slaughtered but kept holding his ground and coming back for more. This underdog was really fighting for it despite the slim chance he would even get close to winning.

Stallone was inspired by Weppner and started writing. He wrote for over 24 hours straight and after this time, he had written the entire script for Rocky.

He began trying to sell the screenplay to many producers but was once again met with rejections. This went on for months.

He was so poor by this time that he decided he had to sell his best friend, his dog. Stallone waited outside of a local liquor store asking people if they would buy his dog. Eventually someone bought the dog for around $50. He was devastated that he had to do this.

He kept pursuing the story that he had written. Eventually someone agreed to do the movie. Stallone was ecstatic and told them that he wanted to play the part of Rocky.

However, they declined, telling him that he was a writer and not an actor. Stallone disagreed and told them he was an actor. He declined their offer of over $100,000 despite his desperate poverty.

You must be thinking now, is Stallone mad? Well, Stallone knew what he wanted and he would go all out to get it.

A couple of weeks later, they contacted him again and offered him a higher offer but still Stallone insisted that he played the part of Rocky. The offer kept rising so that he would sell them the film without playing the part. Even when the offer was as high as $400,000, Stallone declined.

He was certain that he was the actor and there would be no compromise.

Eventually, they gave in and offered Stallone a measly $25,000 and having him play the lead role. Stallone accepted the offer. Then the first thing he did was to go back to the liquor store to buy back his dog.

He waited 3 days for the guy to come by and finally there he was with his dog. He offered the guy $150 to buy back the dog but the man declined. The offer kept rising but again, Stallone knew what he wanted.

He ended up paying $15,000 for his dog and gave the man a role in the movie. The man and the dog are indeed in the movie.

The rest as they say is history. Rocky the Movie won the Academy Award for best picture in 1976. At the awards ceremony, Sylvester Stallone read out all the rejection slips from those who said the film would be sappy, predictable and a film that no one would want to watch...

True persistence pays off every time in every circumstance. Most people give up too easily. Persistence will fight off failure faster than skill or luck every could. Just look at Sylvester Stallone, he persisted and always knew what he wanted. Look at where he is today, he is living his dream. :)

It ain't about how hard you hit...

An inspiration scene from Rocky 6. Rocky teaches his son about life...

"...But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stop being you.

You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good. And when things got hard, you start to look for something to blame, like a big shadow.

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place... and I don´t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life.

But ain't about how hard you hit... It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward.

That´s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth.

But you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers saying: You ain´t what you wanna be because of him or her or anybody.

Cowards do that and that ain´t you! You´re better than that!"...

So, are you a coward or a winner?

The Power Of A Positive Attitude

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of a positive attitude. Sometimes even when the chips are down, you must be positive. Seriously, will mulling over your problem or thinking the worst help you to solve the problem? No? Then why not adopt a positive mindset instead?

It'll cheer you up, give you hope and in the process clears your mind and help you think better. And do you know being positive will bring you luck too? Ha. Yah I know it sounds silly but luck can actually be explained by science. (More on luck in another article soon. :)

Being positive opens up your mind and you may spot opportunities that you may have missed otherwise. Positive thinking can also improves your health too. Your mind controls your body, if you THINK you feel lousy, your body will feel sluggish, you'll feel tired and have no mood to do anything.

But if you THINK you feel good, observe how GREAT you will feel. Suddenly, you are full of energy, there's a smile on your face and you're rearing to get some work done. :D (Notice how when you read this sentence you suddenly feel good. That's the power of the mind in action!)

So, if you are a negative person, it's time to change your mindset. You have a choice. Why not think positive starting from today?

It's all about Perspective

One day, according to an old story, a man with a serious illness was wheeled into a hospital room where another patient was resting on a bed next to the window. As the two became friends, the one next to the window would look out of it and then spend the next few hours delighting his bedridden companion with vivid descriptions of the world outside.

Some days he would describe the beauty of the trees in the park across from the hospital and how the leaves danced in the wind. On other days, he would entertain his friends with step-by-step replays of the things people were doing as they walked by the hospital.

However, as time went on, the bedridden man grew frustrated at his inability to observe the wonders his friend described. Eventually, he grew to dislike him and then to hate him intensely.

One night, during a particularly bad coughing fit, the patient next to the window stopped breathing. Rather than pressing the button for help, the other man chose to do nothing. The next morning, the patient who had given his friend so much happiness by recounting sights outside the window was pronounced dead and wheeled out of the hospital room.

The other man quickly asked that his bed be placed next to the window, a request that was complied with by the attending nurse. But as he looked out of the window, he discovered something that made him shake: the window faced a stark brick wall.

His former roommate had conjured up the incredible sights that he described in his imagination as a loving gesture to make the world of his friend a little bit better during a difficult time...

To live happier, more fulfilling life, when we encounter a difficult circumstance, we must keep shifting our perspective and eventually ask ourselves, "Is there a wiser, more enlightened way of looking at this seemingly negative situation?"

Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest physicists ever, once said that we live on a minor planet of a very average star located within the outer limits of one of a hundred thousand million galaxies. How's that for a shift in perspective?

Given this information, are your troubles really that big? Are the problems you have experienced or the challenges you might currently be facing really as serious as you have made them out to be?

Remember, it's all about perspective. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Adapted from, "Who Will Cry When You Die? - Life Lessons From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" by Robin S. Sharma.

Never Give up!

This is a rather inspiring video: Caught in the jaws of a lion, it seems that a Zebra was facing certain death. However something amazing happened. Watch how the Zebra actually fought back, tried to drown the lion at one point and eventually escaped!

Peter and The Magic Thread

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Peter. Peter was a very lively little boy. Everyone loved him: his family, his teachers and his friends. But he did have one weakness.

Peter could never live in the moment. He had not learned to enjoy the process of life. When he was in school, he dreamed of being outside playing. When he was outside playing he dreamed of his summer vacation.

Peter constantly daydreamed, never taking the time to savor the special moments that filled his days. One morning, Peter was walking in a forest near his home. Feeling tired, he decided to rest on a patch of grass and eventually dozed off.

After only a few minutes of deep sleep, he heard someone calling his name. "Peter! Peter!" came the shrill voice from above. As he slowly opened his eyes, he was startled to see a striking woman standing above him.

She must have been over a hundred years old and her snow-white hair dangled well below her shoulders like a matted blanket of wool. In this woman's wrinkled hand was a magical little ball with a hole in the center and out of the hole dangled a long, golden thread.

"Peter", the old woman said, "This is the thread of your life. If you pull the thread just a bit, an hour will pass in seconds. If you pull a little harder, whole days will pass in minutes. And if you pull with all your might, months - even years -will pass by in days."

Peter grew very excited at this discovery. "I'd like to have it if I may?" he asked. The elderly woman quickly reached down and gave the ball with the magic thread to Peter.

The next day, Peter was sitting in the classroom feeling restless and bored. Suddenly, he remembered his new toy. As he pulled a little bit of the golden thread, he quickly found himself at home, playing in the garden. Realising the power of the magic thread, Peter soon grew tired of being a schoolboy and longed to be a teenager, with all the excitement that phase of life would bring.

So again, he pulled out the ball and pulled hard on the golden thread. Suddenly, he was a teenager with a very pretty young girlfriend named Elise. But Peter still wasn't content. He had never learned to enjoy the moment and to explore the simple wonders of every stage of his life.

Instead, he dreamed of being an adult. So again he pulled on the thread and many years whizzed by in an instant. Now he found that he had been transformed into a middle-age adult. Elise was now his wife and Peter was surrounded with a houseful of kids.

But Peter also noticed something else. His once jet black hair had started to turn grey. And his once youthful mother whom he loved so dearly had grown old and frail. Yet Peter could not live in the moment. He had never learned to "live in the now." So once again, he pulled on the magic thread and waited for the changes to appear.

Peter now found that he was a ninety-year-old man. His thick dark hair had turned white as snow and his beautiful young wife Elise had also grown old and had passed away a few years earlier. His wonderful children had grown up and left home to lead lives of their own.

For the first time in his entire life, Peter realised that he had not taken the time to embrace the wonders of living. He had never gone fishing with his kids or taken a moonlight stroll with Elise. He had never planted a garden or read those wonderful books his mother had loved to read.

Instead, he had hurried through life, never resting to see all that was good along the way. Peter became very sad at this discovery. He decided to go out to the forest where he used to walk as a boy to clear his head and warm his spirit.

As he entered the forest, he noticed that the little saplings of his childhood had grown into mightty oaks. The forest itself had matured into a paradise of nature. He lay down on a small patch of grass and fell into a deep slumber.

After only a minute, he heard someone calling out to him, "Peter! Peter!" cried the voice. He looked up in astonishment to see it was none other than the old woman who had given him the ball with the magic golden thread many years earlier.

"How have you enjoyed my special gift?" she asked.

Peter was direct in his reply.

"At first it was fun but now I hate it. My whole life has passed before my eyes without giving me the chance to enjoy it. Sure, there would have been sad times as well as great times but I haven't had the chance to experience either. I feel empty inside. I have missed the gift of living."

"You are very ungrateful," said the old woman. "But still, I will give you one last wish."

Peter thought for an instant and then answered hastily. "I'd like to go back to begin a schoolboy and live my life over again." He then returned to his deep sleep.

Again he heard someone calling his name and opened his eyes. "Who could it be this time?" he wondered. When he opened his eyes, he was absolutely delighted to see his mother standing over his bedside.

She looked young, healthy and radiant. Peter realised that the strange woman of the forest had indeed granted his wish and he had returned to his former life.

"Hurry up Peter. You sleep too much. You will be late if you don't get up this very minute." his mother nagged. Needless to say, Peter dashed out of his bed on this morning and began to live the way he had hoped.

Peter went on to live a full life, one rich with many delights, joys and triumphs, and it all started when he stopped sacrificing the present for the future and began to live in the moment...

Unfortunately, the story of Peter and the Magic Thread is just that, a story, a fairy tale. We here in the real world will never get a second chance to live life to the fullest.

Today is your chance to awaken to the gift of living - before it is too late. Time really does slip through your fingers like tiny grains of sand. Let this new day be the defining moment of your life, the day that you make the decision once and for all to focus on what is truly important to you...

Adapted from, "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny" by Robin S. Sharma.

Remember, Life is not a destination, it is a journey...

The Banker and the Fisherman

An investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, "Only a little while."

The banker then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The fisherman said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The banker then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, go for walks with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends. As you can see, I have a full and busy life."

The banker scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat! With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats.

Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to
a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to the capital city. After that, who knows, maybe you could take on the world!"

The fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the banker replied, "I'd say about 15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the fisherman.

The Banker laughed and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?" the fisherman continued prodding.

The banker said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, go for romantic walks with your wife, and in the evenings you could sip wine, play guitar and sing songs with your friends!"

To which the fisherman mused, "Now isn't that strange? Isn't that what I'm doing now?"

Hmm... something for you to think about eh? Makes you wonder why you are in the rat-race in the first place...

Most of us live our life in reverse. We spend our days striving to get the things that we think will make us happy but not realizing that happiness is not a place we can reach but rather a state which we create ourselves.

Think about your life now, are you happy? Or are you telling yourself, "Once I get that promotion, I will be happy". Remember, happiness comes from within. Happiness might not be that elusive after all.

Everest

There was a super-fit man who wanted to climb Everest. To make his dream a reality, he trained his body to perfection until he was all muscle. He thought this would be enough. It wasn't until he actually found himself on the mountain, at base camp that he realized his stamina fell short of the mark.

His training was good, meticulous even; he could run a fast marathon, lift heavy weights and captain his body and mind through the most excruciating physical workouts.

But what he hadn't prepared for (actually, you can't really prepare for) was the actuality of being on the mountain. Because on the mountain, the air is thin. The lack of air makes breathing - even for the fittest athletes - difficult.

And the higher you go (as in life) the thinner the air gets. This is why on the higher echelons of Everest (and of life) there are very few people.

Now, although this man had been told many times in his preparations that the air on Everest was thin and it would make progress slow and breathing difficult, he never really heeded the advice. Until, that is, on day one when his chest was as tight as a fat kid's school shirt and he couldn't catch his breath.

He complained to his companions, all experienced climbers, that he couldn't breathe properly and they duly advised him (and reminded him) that, when you are on the mountain, this was normal.

"No", he insisted. "You don't understand. I'm a fit man. I am conditioned. I should be able to breathe easier."

Patiently the message was reiterated. "There is very little air on the mountain. The higher you go the less there is. The inability to be able to get your lungs full is normal." Again, he complained. He was fit. Not being able to breathe was not normal to him.

As much as his companions tried to reassure him, he would have none of it. He was convinced that his breathlessness was an early sign of some mysterious mountain illness. He bitched so much that in the end one of the climbers pulled him to one said and said firmly,

"Listen! We're on Everest. It's a high mountain. There is no air. If you want more air, climb a smaller fucking mountain."

And here endeth the lesson.

Every now and then, we need to be told to "stop the bitching and get on with it." On our way to reach higher peaks, we often find ourselves ready to throw in the towel, complaining about the discomfort, the lack of help, the inadequate industry support.

Well, I don't know about you but I don't want to climb small mountains. I want to ascend into the clouds with the legends. And if that means less air, then so be it.

Adapted from "Everything that happens to me is good" by Geoff Thompson

Lead Out Loud

This is an Inspiring video with lots of inspiring messages. Never belittle yourself. You are much more than you think. :)

You want something, go get it. Period.

This is surely one of my favorite movie of all time, Will Smith's The Pursuit of Happyness, based on the true story of Chris Gardner. This is a particular inspiring scene when Smith's tell his son NO ONE can tell him what he cannot do. If he wants something, just go and get it. Period.

This applies to everybody. NO ONE is able to tell YOU what you cannot do. Only you yourself can do that. Remember, everyone can give up on you except yourself. Remember, when there's life, there's hope. Preserve and one day you will succeed!

Inspiring Heroes

See how these heroes defy the odds and how they never gave up during times of adversity. These are mostly of Indian heroes though Bill Gates is inside the video too! But we all have to admire how they overcame the impossible. If they can do it, why not you? You can be your own hero too!

Never say never

Never take no for any answer. You will be suprised how these famous people were once rejected by others. But they never gave up and one day, finally found success. Remember, success comes to those who preserve.