Great Quotes - Nelson Mandela
This FIT TIP was inspired by Terri Glenn, who works for the
Houston Rockets. I was fiddling around in her office a few years ago (while she
was working diligently, of course) and I saw a quote by Nelson Mandela hanging
on her bulletin board. I had to have it.
This is an awesome quote because it speaks to all of us.
It's not unusual for people to envy and look up to others who have had
success in their lives. Many times, we wonder how they "DID IT", or how they
"MADE IT" and deep down inside we wish that we could be just like them.
The simple fact of the matter is that we ARE just like them.
We are all cut from the same cloth.
Whoever you look up to, whomever you respect, whether it is Billy Graham,
Oprah, Martin Luther King, Jr., Christopher Reeve, it doesn't matter. Any human
being that has ever displayed GREATNESS in life was made of the
same flesh, bone and blood that you and I are made of.
You are as capable as anyone to display GREATNESS in your
life. Start looking at yourself differently. Start believing that you are
capable of extra-ordinary achievement. Visualize yourself as a person who can
change your life, and other lives, for the better.
All too often it is fear that stands in the way of our hopes and dreams.
Typically, that fear is fueled more by what we “imagine” rather than by what
actually “is”. Our timid imaginations keep us down, force us to question and try
to convince us that where we “ARE” is good enough. If we
continue to fall prey to these thoughts and beliefs, then we will continue to
live a life of mediocrity, never realizing true happiness and joy, never
reaching our full potential.
Don't you realize that we ALL experience fear? At some time
in our lives, each one of us is afraid of something. As children, it's the fear
of darkness and monsters under our bed. But, as we grow up, the darkness and
monsters are replaced by fears of exposure, solitude, even chaos.
Perhaps the key to overcoming “normalcy” in life is related to the ability to
overcome that which is “normal” in life. It's not that we aren't afraid…it's
that we ACT anyway. No one ever suddenly becomes fearless before running into a
burning building to save a life. The simple fact of the matter is that fear is
present in demanding situations, it's just that there is a stronger fear of the
alternative. Be afraid of the alternative…be afraid of living an ordinary life.
You know what you want out of this life of yours. You know what, or who you
want to be. If you want that golden ring you're going to have to take both hands
off of the handle bars. Reach for it. Go ahead, you can do it.
And one more thing...Nelson Mandela spent nearly his entire life fighting
against all forms of racism. In 1964, he was convicted of sabotage and treason
by the South African government and spent nearly 27 years in prison.
Twenty-seven years in prison all because he felt that no man (black or white)
should be expected to bow down to another. He was released from prison at the
age of 72, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Mandela could have lived a life of bitterness, after all, he was unjustly
imprisoned and his best years seem to have been stolen away. He could have
developed the mentality of a victim, but he didn't. He lived a life of
inspiration and hope, even when he was wrongly held captive. One website stated
that Mandela, “lived a life that symbolizes the triumph of the human spirit over
man's inhumanity to man.”
Powerful.
He said (and continues to say) many great things in his life…here is one of
them:
LIBERATION FROM DOUBT / FEAR
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest
fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our
darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a
child of God.
You're playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's
nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel
insecure
around you.
You were born to make manifest the glory of God that
is within you. It's not just in
some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we
let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to
do
the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence
automatically liberates others.
- Nelson Mandela
- In the United States, as many as 12% of all deaths per year (nearly 250,000)
may be indirectly related to the lack of exercise (Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention).
- According to the American Dental Association, the best prevention for
periodontal disease is to brush twice a day and floss at least once per day.
- About 1 out of 3 people, who die from heart disease, die suddenly.
- The American Heart Association recommends that you limit your cholesterol
intake to less than 300 mg per day. Those with high LDL levels, who are taking a
cholesterol lowering medication, should consume less than 200 mg daily.
- One egg yolk contains about 215 mg of cholesterol. To help lower cholesterol
intake, substitute 2 egg WHITES for each egg yolk in recipes that call for eggs.
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