God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
– R.Niebuhr

// thanks meliss

Will Smith:

I feel very, very confident that the keys to life for me are reading and running. The idea that there are millions and billions of people who have lived before us, and they had problems and they solved them and they wrote it in a book somewhere - there is no new problem that we can have that we have to figure out by ourselves. There’s no relationship issue, there is no issue with your parents or your brother or your government, there is no issue we can have that somebody didn’t already write a thousand years ago in a book. So, for me, that concept of reading is bittersweet because you know it’s in a book somewhere but you’ve got to find the right one that is going to give you the proper information.

I said reading and running and the running aspect is how can you connect with your weakness. When you get on the treadmill you deprive yourself of oxygen. What kind of person you are will come out very, very quickly. You’re either the type of person who will say you’re going to run three miles or you stop the treadmill at 2.94 and you hit it and you call 2.94 3 miles, or you get off after a mile, or you’re the type of person that runs hard through the finish line and when you get to 3.0 you realize, ‘God, I could really do 5,’ and you go ahead and do two more. And that little person talks to you and says, ‘Man, do you feel our knee? We should stop. I feel we should stop ourselves right now. This is not healthy anymore.’

When you learn to get command over that person on that treadmill, you learn to get command over that person in your life. That’s the same person that tells you, ‘Man, that girl’s got some big breasts. Listen, we don’t have to do nothing, let’s just go the hotel room together.’ That’s the same person. Getting command of that person has been really important.”

I’ve definitely noticed that little person in my head when I run. He used to bitch about everything. “Oh, your calves hurt! Oh, your back hurts! Oh, it’s hard to breathe.”

For me, I’ve learned to drown him out with music. I’d set checkpoints on distances that I have to complete without slowing down, and over time I’d get to those checkpoints thinking, “Hey, I think I can go a little bit longer.”

It’s funny cuz since I’ve started running, I’ve noticed the word “marathon” thrown around a lot more. I mean, I’m only running 1.2 miles at a time and a marathon is a freakin’ 26+ mile run. But there’s a lot of people that do marathons…and they all must’ve started out at a modest number like that at some point, right?

What’s the longest you’ve gone without bitching about something? – Mr. Traffic

Ralph Waldo Emerson:

To laugh often and much.
To win the respect of intelligent people,
and the affection of children.
To earn the appreciation of honest critics,
and endure the betrayal of false friends.
To appreciate beauty.
To find the best in others.
To leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,
or a redeemed social condition.
To know even one life has breathed easier,
because you have lived.
That is to have succeeded.

// thanks joyce

From Joyce’s Xanga

AFTER A WHILE…. you learn the subtle differences between touching a life, and changing a soul; You learn the subtle differences between holding a hand, and letting one go; You learn the subtle differences between failure and downfall; You learn the subtle differences between disappointment and regret; You learn the subtle differences between having faith and finding hope.

AND YOU LEARN…You learn that love doesn’t mean certainty and success doesn’t mean security; You learn that promises aren’t perpetual and words aren’t eternal; You learn that kisses aren’t assurrances, and hugs aren’t compromises; You learn that even sunshine burns if you ask for too much. So you begin to accept your defeats. With your head held high and your eyes straight ahead, you keep on going.

AND YOU LEARN…You learn to build your loads on today because tomorrow’s grounds are too uncertain. So you plant your own garden and decorate your own life. You sing your own song and lighten your own soul. You write your own novel instead of waiting for someone else to write if for you. You smile; you dance; you laugh; you celebrate and you love. And you learn that you really can endure. That you really are strong.

And you learn…and you learn. With every accomplishment, failure, triumph and defeat…you learn.

// from joyce’s xangina