We cannot wait for great visions from great people, for they are in short supply. It is up to us to light our own small fires in the darkness.
Interpretation
We must take initiative and create our own opportunities rather than rely on others.
This quote emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and initiative in achieving our goals. Rather than waiting for significant insights or inspirations to come from influential figures, we are encouraged to find our own motivation and ignite our passion, even in challenging or uncertain times. It speaks to the power of individual action and the potential impact of small efforts in overcoming difficulties.
In practice
In a motivational speech to encourage team members to take ownership of their projects.
The companies that survive longest are the one's that work out what they uniquely can give to the world not just growth or money but their excellence, their respect for others, or their ability to make people happy. Some call those things a soul.
The first step is to measure whatever can easily be measured. This is OK as far as it goes. The second step is to disregard that which can't be easily measured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what can't be measured easily really isn't important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can't be easily measured really doesn't exist. This is suicide.
Why don't we teach our children in school what they are? We should say to them, 'You are unique... you have the capacity for anything. You are a marvel'.
To learn anything other than the stuff you find in books, you need to be able to experiment, to make mistakes, to accept feedback, and to try again. It doesn't matter whether you are learning to ride a bike or starting a new career, the cycle of experiment, feedback, and new experiment is always there.
I believe that a lot of our striving after the symbols and levers of success is due to a basic insecurity, a need to prove ourselves. That done, grown up at last, we are free to stop pretending.
Creativity needs a bit of untidiness. Make everything too neat and there is no room for experiment.
To have the chance to see your music be elevated and to have almost universally positive response to that music, makes me feel better every day. I feel more confident and inspired, and that's fun.
Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills. Your steps and breath like the wind of dawn smother houses. The city shudders, Stones exhale— you are life, an awakening. Star lost in the light of dawn, trill of the breeze, warmth, breath— the night is done. You are light and morning.
I always try to be myself. Ever since I was an introverted kid, I'd get on stage and be able to break out of my shell.
It was Jesus who gave me peace when the shark severed my arm. I trust in Jesus whenever I'm going through a hard time. I see all the beautiful things that have come out of my situation. I'm able to share my story with young girls who have few role models, and I can help others cope with what they have been through.
When I'm hard at work, when I'm deep in it, there is no other feeling. For me, my work is at all times building a nation out of thin air. It is manning the troops. It is painting a canvas. It is hitting every high note. It is running a marathon. It is being Beyonce. And it is all of those things at the same time.
As this New Year begins, ask God to help you tune your life every day to His Word, so you can bring harmony and joy to those around you.
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