31

It’s your road and yours alone.
Others may walk it with you,
but no one can walk it for you.

- Rumi -

This is a great Rumi quote which points out the individual efforts that are needed in any chosen path of our life.

We may receive support from others during the journey, but no one can do the journey for us. It is entirely up to us to make the journey.

This clearly shows the limit up to which others can support us and help us. But beyond that, the journey will be decided by our efforts only.

So, no one else can replace the efforts that we have to make in this journey of life.

32

Let it hurt, let it bleed,
let it heal and let it go.

- Nikita Gill -

Everyone is bound to get hurt at some point or the other in their life, and suffer on account of it.

And the wound caused by it will cause a lot of pain. But the wound will start to heal with the passage of time. So, we have to bear the pain that is caused and let it heal in its natural course of time.

And learn the lessons from that experience and then let it go without thinking too much about it and losing our mental peace. When we forget the bitter memories, we are letting it go and that will help us to be at peace with ourselves.

33

Laws control the lesser man
Right conduct controls the greater one

- Mark Twain -

Mark Twain shows us how great men are controlled by their own conscience and conduct rather than any external laws.

The need for external laws arise only when the society has fallen from right conduct and their behaviour has become corrupt.

So, laws have to be enacted to bring about order and justice in the society. So that, it will force people to adopt the right path.

But great men do not need laws to make them follow the right path. They are governed by their own conscience and conduct and they never deviate from the right path.

34

Storms make trees grow deeper roots

- Dolly Parton -

This is a golden quote that highlights the significance of the trials and tribulations of life.

If we were to live a life filled with only pleasant and good experiences, then we will turn out to be weak human beings. It is only through the encounters with the harsh things of life, we begin to grow stronger and wiser.

So, all the unpleasant experiences of life teach us valuable lessons, and the effort we make to deal with them, makes us strong.

So, all the storms of life play a key role in our growth as a human being.

35

Faith is taking the first step
even when you can't see the full staircase

- Martin Luther King, Jr -

Many a times in life, we won’t have a proper plan to reach our goal. But we just know that, we want to reach the goal and we may not entirely know how to go about it.

And the passion we have for it and our gut feeling will prompt us to choose an unclear path towards the goal.

In those moments, it is actually a leap of faith that we make hoping that the path becomes clear in the future and will ultimately lead to our goal.

This situation will arise in everyone’s life at some point or the other, where we will be filled with self-doubt and wonder if we should take the path or not.

In those kind of situations, we should realize that, there is always a certain amount of risk involved in all endeavours we make and we should be willing to take the risk if we really want to reach the goal.

And if we decide that the goal is worth the risk, then we just have to believe that, if we take the path and start working hard, things will start falling in place and the path becomes clear and we will reach our goal. So, if we feel strongly towards any goal in our life, then, we should pursue it even if the path towards the goal is not clear at that moment. As you start making sincere efforts, the path will become more and more clear.

36

Learn to fight alone

- Source: Internet -

Everyone has to be independent and self-reliant in our lives. It is important for us to work hard towards our goal with as little help from others as possible.

Though it is okay to seek and accept help when we really need it, but we should not make it a habit. If we keep depending on others for everything, then we cannot become self-reliant and we will never be strong.

So, fighting alone helps us to develop strength and learn valuable lessons. We will learn to carry our burden ourselves without bothering others. This is a very key practice in any self-growth strategy.

37

Everything you need is already inside you
Get Started

- Bill Bowerman -

This is a golden quote that shows us that all the resources we need to reach our goal are already present within us.

Most of the times, we tend to postpone our efforts citing lack of resources as the reason for not making the efforts.

In reality, we may be lacking the external resources, but the real resources are the internal qualities within us.

We need passion, focus, hard work, sacrifice, strength, resilience and attitude, in order to reach our goal. And these are the resources that should be engaged to reach our goal.

These are already present with in us and we should just start using them. Once these internal resources are engaged, they will help us to get the external resources and reach our goal.

38

Don't worry when you are not recognized,
but strive to be worthy of recognition.

- Abraham Lincoln -

Abraham Lincoln shows that we should always ensure that our actions and efforts are worthy of recognition.

We should work hard and imbibe the qualities that make a person great, irrespective of whether it brings recognition or not.

This ensures that we exhibit quality and sincerity in every action of ours and that we do it for the sake of doing things right and not just for the recognition that it brings.

This kind of detachment from recognition, and focussing more on quality and doing things the right way, makes quality a habit and we will exhibit it in all our actions.

This is how good human beings work and this habit will make us a good human being.

39

The flower that blooms in adversity
is the rarest and the most beautiful of them all

- Walt Disney Pictures -

This is a beautiful quote from the animation movie, Mulan, produced by Walt Disney Pictures.

This quote captures the beauty of the effort that is made in adversity and how it makes a person glorious.

Every one of us have goals in life and we are all making efforts to reach our goals. And along the way, we get help from others and we are presented with opportunities and a good environment. And it makes it easier to reach our goals.

But the path is not the same or easy for everyone. There are people who receive no help in their life and no opportunity comes their way. They don’t have an ideal environment and no financial support to pursue their goals.

Under those circumstances, most people would have given up. But, there are human beings who make a tremendous effort against huge odds and succeed in life.

These are the efforts that stand as a testimony to the glory of the human spirit and its triumph in adversity.

These are the special flowers that bloom in adversity and they are the most beautiful ones.

40

A man must be big enough
to admit his mistakes,
smart enough to learn from them,
and strong enough to correct them.

. - John C Maxwell-

Mistakes play a very significant role in our lives.

It is impossible for anyone to not make mistakes in their lives. Every one of us commit mistakes and we learn a lot from them. In fact, most of our learning comes from our mistakes. Maxwell shows us here, how we must approach mistakes, so that, we not only learn from them, but also grow as a human being.

We should have the honesty and courage to admit our mistakes. We should have the wisdom to learn from them. And we should have the tenacity and strength to correct them.

Thus, if we approach the mistakes in the right way, then, we get the opportunity to gain an “all round growth” as a human being.

With that said, we will now take a break from quotes and take a look at some more important topics.

Habits
Habits are what make us what we are. Our habits can literally make all the difference and decide our success in our lives.

It is important to cultivate good habits when we are young, since it is easy to pick up a habit when we are young and we also tend to carry them for the rest of our lives.

So, youth is the right time to cultivate habits. And if we did not cultivate good habits in our youth, then we can surely cultivate them in later years as well.

But, it would require more efforts. Nevertheless, it is very much possible to cultivate good habits at any point in our lives, if we are willing to make the necessary efforts.

And when it comes to bad habits, they start in a very harmless fashion initially, when we do it just for fun. But later, it gradually gets integrated into your psyche and turns into a compulsive habit without which a person cannot live a normal life.

At first the habit might look like it is not doing any damage to us, but it is gradually making inroads into your mind and body, and setting you up for a far greater damage later.

So, it is extremely important to quit habits that are going to destroy us.

So, let us look at the two methods that will help us to quit bad habits.

The first method is to stop the habit abruptly. This method will cause a lot of stress to the body and the mind. And if you can deal with the stress, then you can go for this method.

But, if you cannot deal with the stress, then this method may cause some damage to the body. So, depending on how the body and the mind react, you can decide if this is the right method for you. You can seek the help of rehabilitation centers if you cannot deal with the stress. You will have to take a break from your regular work since the withdrawal process will disrupt your normal life. Rehabilitation centers can provide help and support during this period and help you to overcome the habit.

The second method is to gradually withdraw from the habit.

This method is relatively easy on the body and mind. We can slowly reduce the quantity, time and duration of the habit, and if we are really committed to the process, then we can slowly and surely withdraw from the habit. But it is essential to keep track of your progress and make consistent efforts to kick the habit.

Though this method is relatively easy, it requires a lot of initiative and commitment from our side to succeed in this method.

And another important topic is the three c’s of life.

Character, courage and compassion
The three c’s of life are character, courage and compassion, and they play a big role in determining our life and destiny. It is possible to live a righteous life, only if we have the three c’s.

At a material level, it may be possible to lead a successful life without the three c’s. It is possible to amass wealth and get rich or other achievements in life without the three c’s.

But wealth acquired without the three c’s will only be used for selfish purposes. It will not be used for helping others or to bring about changes in the lives of fellow human beings. And it will definitely not help us grow and evolve into better human beings.

So, for any achievement to last and stand the test of time, we need to lay a foundation with character, courage and compassion. So, it is imperative that we develop these qualities if we want to live a meaningful and fruitful life.

The three c’s are the real yardsticks to measure the spiritual growth of a person. All other yardsticks only measure the material progress of a person. But the three c’s are directly related to the spiritual progress of a person.

So, in order to grow into better human beings, let us cultivate the three c’s and live a meaningful life. Now, let us get back to some more wonderful quotes.

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