Curious about Fortitude: What Does It Mean to You? Do You Have and/or Practice It?

Definition of Fortitude: Power to resist attack; strength; firmness. That strength or firmness of mind which enables a person to encounter danger with coolness and courage, or to bear pain or adversity without murmuring, depression, or despondency; passive courage; resolute endurance; firmness in confronting or bearing up against danger or enduring trouble.

“I know of no higher fortitude than stubbornness in the face of overwhelming odds.” - Louis Nizer, English lawyer

Do you ever feel like you and your fortitude are being tested? I just had a week like that. I strongly believe, however, that this usually is an indication that this is the “storm before the inevitable opportunity appears.” I also have faith that there will be a solution to most adversities.

Last Saturday I got news that one of my fitness classes was being cancelled at the end of the month because of a lack of funding. However, in the meantime, at another club I was informed that I would be given a new class at the beginning of next month, along with more time teaching two of my current classes at a third club.

On Tuesday morning, my car disappeared. Many commented – even at the car rental place – about how calmly I was taking it. I accepted the fact that the car was taken for parts. However, it turns out that today I received a call from the police that it had been found and had obviously been used by some kids for joy-riding. Phew!

I did not find a lot of quotations from the experts, yet, the ones I did are great:

• “Affliction is the wholesome soil of virtue, where patience, honor, sweet humility, and calm fortitude, take root and strongly flourish.” - David Mallet, Scottish dramatist
• "Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude, and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful.” - Jacqueline Bisset, English actress
• “Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues.” - John Locke, English philosopher
• “Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason.” - Francis Bacon, English philosopher
• “I learned a lot in those first years in Miami, while struggling just for survival, by observing my father's fortitude.” - Desi Arnaz, American actor
• “I pray they will carry on in spite of that dreadful monster prejudice, and with patience, courage, fortitude and perseverance achieve success for themselves.” - Major Taylor, American athlete

And one to bring a smile to your face:

“Nothing is more admirable than the fortitude with which millionaires tolerate the disadvantages of their wealth.” – Jean Rostand, French scientist

The word fortitude just sounds like strength. Get used to having and practicing it. You will be glad you did.

Curious about the Power of Why: Do You Start with It? Do You Use It? And Why?

“For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?” - James Allen, British author

“You have to think anyway, so why not think big?” - Donald Trump, American businessman

When I first decided to use this three letter word for this week’s theme, I was mainly influenced by one of my favorite gurus, Eben Pagan. He was talking about learning styles and suggested that we start training, books and sales letters with a focus on Why. Why we need to learn this and why it will make a difference in our lives.

However, the more I thought about Why and started investigating the quotations using Why, the more I realized its power. Let’s think about the answers to some of the many Why questions we ask ourselves and others.

Why does something work? Why do goals that are founded and grounded with serious intentions produce results? Why are we motivated to take action? And, why do we procrastinate? Why are some people positive and others negative?

I am sure that you can make up a huge list of why questions that are common to you. Our children and grandchildren always have plenty. Why?

I found so many interesting quotations with so many different approaches, I want to share as many as possible in our time and space:

• “Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes, American writer
• “Curious people are interesting people, I wonder why that is.” - Bill Maher, American comedian
• “Why are we so full of restraint? Why do we not give in all directions? Is it fear of losing ourselves? Until we do lose ourselves there is no hope of finding ourselves.” - Henry Miller, American author
• “If you have ability in a certain area, why not capitalize on it and improve it and use it?” - Wilt Chamberlain, American athlete
• “The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.” - Robert Frost, American poet
• “If you never change your mind, why have one?” - Edward de Bono, English psychologist

And three more to think about:

• “To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.” - Kofi Annan, Statesman from Ghana
• “I have never smuggled anything in my life. Why, then, do I feel an uneasy sense of guilt on approaching a customs barrier?” - John Steinbeck, American author
• “Why don't they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth.” - Will Rogers, American writer

Think about the power of why in your life and business. I feel it will surprise you. Why?

Curious about Responsibility: How Affected Are You By It? And, Are You Willing to Take Responsibility?

“Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.” - Tony Robbins, American author“

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” - Eleanor Roosevelt, American First Lady

I chose the above quotations because both Tony Robbins and Eleanor Roosevelt have been great influencers in my life. I chose the theme for this blog – Responsibility – because of another influencer that I have been following for the past year – Mike Dillard, master network marketer.

In a recent “Ask Mike” e-newsletter, he pointed out that what transpires in our lives and businesses is our responsibility.

He had received an e-mail letter in which the writer was complaining and whining about the fact that his upline had not helped him and he wondered what Mike would suggest how he should handle this obstacle to success. After all, it was the upline’s fault.

I loved Mike’s answer. Basically, he told the letter writer that it was his own lack of responsibility that was holding him back. In no uncertain terms, Mike talked about the choices we make. He told about his own slow ascent to “making it” in the network marketing industry. It took him five years of responsibly working at it, not giving up and learning everything he could to become a success.

If I have learned anything over the years, I know that we are responsible for the choices we make. We can blame others and cite circumstances beyond our control. However, we are responsible for how we handle setbacks and those external events that give us challenges.

The experts all agree:

• “Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility... in the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have... is the ability to take on responsibility.” - Michael Korda, American writer
• “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” - Abraham Lincoln, American President
• “Big pay and little responsibility are circumstances seldom found together.” - Napoleon Hill, American journalist
• “The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life.” - Brian Tracy, American speaker and motivator
• “Responsibility walks hand in hand with capacity and power.” - J. G. Holland, American novelist
• “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” - Denis Waitley, American author

And, just a couple more – there were so many excellent choices:

“The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That's the day we truly grow up.” - John C. Maxwell, American clergyman

“Responsibilities are given to him on whom trust rests. Responsibility is always a sign of trust.” - James Cash Penney, American businessman

In these challenging times, we can easily become victims of the “doom and gloom” of the recession, or we can take the challenge and be responsible for our outcomes. I am not saying it is or will be easy. It is our responsibility and choice. Let me know how you are doing.

Curious about Structure: Do You Use It to Advantage? How Does Structure Figure in Your Life and Business?

“I must stress here the point that I appreciate clarity, order, meaning, structure, rationality: they are necessary to whatever provisional stability we have, and they can be the agents of gradual and successful change.” - A. R. Ammons, American poet

“For pragmatic reasons, I love the routine. I love the structure of it. I love knowing that my days are free. I know where I'm going at night. I know my life is kind of orderly. I just like that better.” - Andrea Martin, Canadian actor

This weekend I attended our O.O.P.S! (Ohio Order for the Preservation of Storytelling) annual Conference. Besides having a blast reconnecting with many storytelling friends, I attended all of the helpful workshops. The one that initiated my attention on “Structure” was presented by our featured teller, Bil Lepp.

Bil shared how he structures his fantastic tall tales (he won West Virginia’s Liars’ Contest five years in a row). He even took his workshop an extra step by illustrating one structure in a story he told later at our evening concert.

As I drove home, I concentrated on all of the ways structure figures into my life and business along with the lives and businesses of others. I was considering the fact and idea that even though structure plays a role in my stories and story performances, it also helps with daily routines.

My group fitness classes are made up of structures that emphasize preparation for ADL (Activities of Daily Living), strength, endurance, agility, co-ordination, balance, and cardiovascular fitness. We lift weights, twist and move, perform squats, enjoy play balls, work with the large stability ball and even practice Yoga poses and deep breathing. My time is flexible and yet possesses a structure that works. Yes, the computer vies for my attention and does get a lot of it, but I do feel that I have control because of a workable structure.

How about you? How do you make use of structure? How about the experts? What do they say? Read on:

• “Structure is more important than content in the transmission of information.” - Abbie Hoffman, American activist
• “A scene has to have a rhythm of its own, a structure of its own.” - Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian director
• “Beware of over-confidence; especially in matters of structure.” - Cass Gilbert, American architect“
• Color is a very critical thing. I've found that architects don't like colors. Engineers too. And so somebody has to stand in. Because this is the finish of it. It is the emotional part of a structure. I had great satisfaction in doing that.” - John Hench, American artist
• “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” - Martin Luther King, Jr., American activist
• “It's possible to become so comfortable with one's style and structure that one ceases to grow.” - Lynn Abbey, American author

And, two more for fun:

“I work with structure, but I go outside the box and give it my own spin. I adore the challenge of creating truly modern clothes - where a woman's personality and sense of style are realized.” - Vera Wang, American designer

“With sixty staring me in the face, I have developed inflammation of the sentence structure and definite hardening of the paragraphs.” - James Thurber, American comedian

Does structure work with and for you? Let me hear how?