Motivation

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”   -Mark Twain

Life Is Like A Cup of Coffee - Inspirational Video Movie

Youtube

Hi there.  I have had some questions in regard to instructional/motivational videos on my youtube site.  You need to go to youtube and search DrToddSojonky (just as I wrote it)  there are dozens of videos discussing motivation, addiction, counselling, meditation, etc.  Find it and check it out.  Peace. TJS

Inspiration

It cost Canadians approximately four dollars each to support our athletes in these olympics.  Money well spent for the excitement, entertainment and joy they have given so many people.  Go Canada!  Hockey GOLD!!!

"You miss 100% of the shots you never take."    ---Wayne Gretzky
 
 
"Hockey captures the essence of Canadian experience in the New World. In a land so inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter we are alive."       ---Stephen Leacock

Failure

A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.

B. F. Skinner

Why are people rude?

A friend of mine asked me what makes people rude? In a recent Readers Digest survey of people who were polite they made what might be seen as an obvious discovery. When they asked people why they were polite nearly all of those surveyed said, "It's how my parents raised me." It's true! We model how our kids will behave. Rude people had rude parents. Looking from a counselling perspective I might add that some people are rude because they are stressed, depressed, addicted, or simply confused. When we view our world as one of conflict everything we experience is a battle and if we are in a battle someone has to lose. So how do you deal with rude people? BE KIND. Kindness in the face of rudeness empowers you and takes power away from those who are rude. Try it! Say please and thankyou, open the door for someone, buy coffee for the next person in line and teach politeness to the people in your life! Attitudes are contagious! Make yours worth catching!

Truth

Rather than love, than money,than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices.

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden

The Flight of the Eagle

I have been inspired by the writings of J. Krishanmurti. Krishnamurti became one of the most important thinkers of our time. He challenged the mindless pursuit of wealth, sex and power which blind so many of us. Few of us take the time to live with a deep passion which dedicates itself to the understanding of the whole process of living. Instead we are caught in physical and psychological habits. Most of us are not even aware of the habits we have. If we could develop our ability to pay attention to our lives and to pay close attention to our habits then the habits will dissolve. Being aware of our habits often causes them to end completely.

Instead of chatting about things that do not matter engage your friends in discussions about the energy each of us has and how we share it between ourselves. How we are vitally connected as beings with powerful energy! Kishnamurti suggests we think past communication to the idea of communion. Communication is verbal and communion is nonverbal. Two people who know each other can understand each other without saying words. It is the power of this energy that transforms lives. Take the time to listen to your life and the lives of those around you.

"The eagle in its flight does not leave a mark; the scientist does. Inquiring into this question of freedom, there must be not only scientific observation, but also the flight of the eagle that does not leave a mark." -Krishnamurti

Hopes fulfilled.....

"One of the most agonizing problems within our human experience is that few, if any, of us live to see our fondest hopes fulfilled. The hopes of our childhood and the promises of our mature years are unfinished symphonies." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

At first the thought is unnerving. Like somehow our living is futile. Like if we don't achieve our dreams then we are incomplete. This is not true. The cathedrals that took hundreds of years to build were built with thousands of hands and over many generations. In fact, there are stories of three generations of the same family working on one cathedral. I believe that dreams are built through the decades and the good we do lives far beyond our lifetime.

The tragedy is that we get lost in our hopes and miss the doing. The placing of 'hope stones' each day in our life. One by one they build a beautiful picture rising into the sky framed by the brilliant blue of creation. It may not be finished but like a symphony the music lives on.