Let's Talk About Words

        Today's positive quotation by Paul Klee states, "A single day is enough to make us a little larger or, another time, a little smaller." Sometimes it feels like there is not enough time in a day, in a week, in a month or even in a year to make a difference. I have work, family and other  responsibilities that drain my energy and use up my time, but all it takes is one moment. Whether it is asking the cashier at the store how his or her day is, helping a neighbor with their garbage cans or just telling your loved ones how much they mean to us, we can do one thing that matters . I have seen people talk on their cell phones the whole time a cashier rings them up instead of treating them like a person. It doesn't have to be some big event or grand gesture to do something nice for someone else. Think of one thing that you can do today and then do it. Read my words and see my quotes at http://susanmarieschulhof.blogspot.com

      Shakti Gawain was quoted as saying, "When you're following your energy..., the distinction between work and play dissolves." Over the course of my life, I have worked in retail and in a restaurant, had two different jobs in social work, taught in an elementary school and even tried a job in sales. I enjoyed all of them in some capacity, but I was never really happy in my work until I started at Bright Horizons Family Solutions in 2001. I won't lie and say that every day is great or exclaim that I love getting up every day at 5:30am, but I receive so much joy being an infant teacher that those issues fall to the wayside. I believe that I am a much better mother, daughter and overall happier person because I have a career that I am passionate about and love doing. We work 40 plus hours a week out of 168 hours at our job, so it makes sense that we should find a job that brings us pleasure, most of the time. It is truly a great day, when you can play...

        The quote by Will Rogers states, "Even if you are on the right track , you will get run over if you just sit there." Although you might not get run over, you also won't achieve your goals if you don't move. When I started this blog 39 days ago, I wrote down 3 goals that I wanted to achieve.  They were, in short: 1. Write and publish a fiction book 2. Travel and hike 3. Inspire and mentor/teach others I have written 35,000 words of Riding Waves , and Jim and I are thinking about planning a trip to the Grand Canyon next summer. Hopefully, I am inspiring some people that read my words and see my quotes ; plus I am training other infant teachers for Bright Horizons Family Solutions, so I believe that I am at least on the right track . Now what? How do I make sure that I am moving forward? I know that wishing won't make my goals happen so I need to set some smaller goals and put some time constraints so that I can measure my success and make sur...

         Today's topic in The Daily Book of Positive Quotations is about taking responsibility for your life. Linda Picone explains that many people think that their life would be different if only they were given the opportunity. I agree with Linda that the chances are that those people were given opportunities that they did not take. As I reflect on my life, there were many paths I could have taken, some that I did take and others I did not. It was a big decision for me when I chose to self publish my  book  Fun4Babies . I also made a conscious choice to take on more responsibility at work that ultimately led to the opportunity of mentoring and training other teachers. Opportunities may present themselves, but they do require action. If you spoke to most athletes, writers, singers or CEO's of companies, you will hear of a long list of choices they made to get to where they are. Rarely would you hear a story of success without work on their part....