11 Responses to “Aloha Friday 9/3”

1. Lestie Says:
   June 4th, 2009 at 2:03 am

   Hello everyone!

   “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”-Milton Berle

   Its such a good quotation Ron but sometimes building the door is not as easy as just LISTENING for the knock. Doors are usually in place and opportunities abound, its just that we (I/me!) are not listening or hearing or inclined to follow through for other reasons - life’s pace for instance, too slow or too fast, too static or too something anyway. And then there is the hard work attached to the opportunity that smacks us in the face and whacks us on the side of the head and gives us its all, but we are not there to receive it or to add the last vital ingredient of DO IT. And then sometimes there are so many doors, with too many knocks that they get ignored in the rush. Being in a perpetual state of overwhelm is a subject for another day, as there are so many choices and good chances for so much in this fantastic year of 2009 that to lose one’s way is easy. Lemon juice anyone?

   2009! Yikes! Nearly the end of the decade … where did it fly to?

   Cheers
   Lestie
   Johannesburg

2. Char Rhodes Says:
   June 4th, 2009 at 7:45 am

   So many doors…….so little time…..Ah?

3. Lestie Says:
   June 9th, 2009 at 7:14 am

   “Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.” Emily P. Bissell

   I wonder what she was referring to here? I had to read it several times to make sense of the quote and who knows if I did or didn’t. For instance, making it practical in my work or my life, I have to think of a great thought (or one that I think is great) and then try to connect a great action to that thought. If I have interpreted it okay , then its an easy route to use this quotation on that continuous and neverending road of self development. So, if I take a favourite proverb of mine as a great thought … if its to be then its up to me … then I guess thinking and linking the proverb means nothing unless I act on it. Aha! Thanks Ron, got it.

   Now, if I link that all to an global factor like recyling or responsible living, then the actions that are up to me as an inividual must impact on mankind if enough of us across the world care enough to act on say reducing waste which then leads to another great thought … waste not want not…

   But perhaps my thinking is too small? Too narrow? Too unimportant? Maybe a Ghandi or a Mother Teresa or a great philosopher or explorer or inventor is what she meant?

   Wouldn’t it be great if things were more simple. Maybe I have the whole thing wrong? Got to think about this one some more for sure.

   Cheers
   Lestie
   Johannesburg

4. Lestie Says:
   June 18th, 2009 at 6:24 am

   Hello All!

   “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” -George Bernard Shaw

   This is one way of putting it … I had a training mentor once who often used to quote from someone Anonymous “Don’t make the same mistake twice as there are plenty of new ones available!”

   One man’s mistake is another’s luck he used to say …

   Cheers
   Lestie
   Johannesburg

5. Lestie Says:
   October 28th, 2009 at 6:17 am

   People that read too much and use their own brains too little can fall into lazy habits of thinking.”
   -Albert Einstein

   Hi everyone,
   This quotation doesn’t seem to be the kind of thing Einstein would have said! But hey! People who read too much meaning people who just take other people’s ideas? People who don’t use their brains enough? As I see it the only way to learn to use your brain is to read, a lot, then take what you’ve read, assimilate it all, absorb what s useful into your lifestyle and actions then live. Lazy habits of thinking come from lazy habits in life, not from too much reading. I think we are lazy thinkers for many many reasons too. For many people life is very easy, things are just on tap and not much effort is needed to have a ‘nice’ time. Either that or perhaps you are so desperate about surviving, and keeping warm or putting food on the table that there is no time to read anyway. But maybe I have got this quote all wrong, sorry Albert! Original thought. Whence? Now there is a subject to debate.

   Cheers
   Lestie
   Johannesburg
   South Africa

6. Lestie Says:
   November 8th, 2009 at 6:48 pm

   “Eagles don’t flock. You have to find them one at a time.”
   -Ross Perot

   Wish I was an eagle. I want to be an eagle. I have the skills to be an eagle. And I have had flashes of ‘eaglehood’. I am even a loner and I love that too. Now where are my wings? Why can I not soar enough to enjoy the view? Is it because I insist on staying grounded for mysterious reasons? Is it because the birds I surround myself with and the feathers I use are keeping me ordinary in my life? I guess when it comes to pudding and proof the answer has to be yes.

   Cheers
   Lesties
   Jo’burg
   South Africa

   P S Seems I have a private site on your blog Ron!

7. Lestie Says:
   November 19th, 2009 at 2:39 am

   I will go to bed fulfilled if I have shown love and respect for others today.”
   -Karen Casey

   Hello everybody,

   Don’t you think this quotation is a bit doormatty? Of course taken out of context it just seems to have no fire, no grip, no pizzazz and no ‘lesson’ for me. Love and respect given to others, as I see it, are daily courtesies that should be second nature to anyone and not necessary to provide such fulfilment. I can hear the violins playing. Ag shame as they say here in SA, ag shame.

   Cheers all
   Lestie
   Johannesburg
   South Africa

8. Lestie Says:
   November 25th, 2009 at 7:07 am

   “In the factory we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope.”
   -Charles Revson

   Hello Everybody,

   This quotation from this famous cosmetic house is so true and reminds me of the oft quoted maxim that we used in the 70s which is just as useful and important today as it was then and that is:

   “TO SELL THE SIZZLE AND NOT THE STEAK!”

   Just think of it. You can go home after movies for the cup of coffee. That’s easy and cheaper I guess than dropping by your favourite Coffee lounge. But, if there is a really nice atmosphere along with a cheery service and a good piece of carrot cake, well then that’s enough sizzle to go with the coffee and get me there for sure!

   So much in selling is not the product itself but what the product does for the customer.

   Cheers
   Lestie
   Jo’burg
   South Africa

9. Lestie Says:
   December 1st, 2009 at 3:09 am

   Hi Everyone,

   “You are where you are today because youve chosen to be there.”
   -Harry Browne

   Sorry Harry Browne but you are talking tosh!

   There comes a time in many people’s lives when no matter how hard they try or work and so on, they are caught in a set of circumstances where there are just no means to change stuff, no finance to click fingers, migrate, see doctors, afford transport, move, do better, go learning, work harder. They are red-lined by banks, society eschews them, scoffs and mocks, and very few want to help. And I am not talking about tramps and street dwellers or indigent refugees, though they are part of an equation too. I am talking about people in the daily grind just keeping up with breathing. One lady I know can’t go on diet because she lives just above the poverty line as it were and the food she needs to lose the weight is too expensive. Sounds daft I know, but there it is. I haven’t pressed her for details but I believe her. I have chosen an odd example on purpose as I am not a social worker.

   This kind of quotation gets to me because it is patronising irresponsible and unintelligent. I do not think that Harry dear has ever been on the canvas as in being down and certainly he has not been out.

   I am doing quite a lot of work at the moment with depressed poor people. They are proud whenever they can be. But their chances of changing are slim and they certainly did not choose to be where they are. Sure, they may have made life mistakes, poor judgements etc but who hasn’t? And choose to be where they are, no way.

   Greetings
   Lestie
   Jo’burg
   South Africa

10. Lestie Says:
    December 5th, 2009 at 3:09 am

    Hi there all,

    “Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”-Bertrand Russell

    Hey Ron,
    This quotation took my attention but for another reason. I wanted to note that though people must have opinions today they do not seem to voice them. Or maybe it’s just the people around me at the moment. I get so frustrated with the cat and mouse game that underlies many conversations today.

    What do you think (about something) is more usually answered with a I dunno what do YOU think? which is followed by nothing much new being thought other than we neither of us had a thought to share or that we would share. It seems that people are wanting to blend in, fit in, stay a part of the mediocre middle, afraid of offending or stepping on toes or just plain engaging people that no-one really says anything. I am not sure, what do you think. Okay that sounds okay I will think that too. Oh you don’t, okay then I can reverse just as easily and quickly. Okay. Porridge!

    I do not know if I have put a thoughts across well enough but I wish someone would pass an opinion and then act or do or move on something. Eccentricity in my circle? Ah Bertrand, that would be a treat!

    Cherrs
    Lestie
    Jo’burg
    South Africa

    P S Seems too that people are too busy to live these days. Rather than getting a life I say live it, the one you have. More on this another time perhaps. There is so much one can say on the topic. Ah well.

11. Lestie Says:
    December 8th, 2009 at 3:36 am

    Hello everybody!

    Greetings for one of the most exciting times of the year for me. It just bristles with opportunity and happiness, I can taste it!

    “Older and wiser voices can always help you find the right path, if you are only willing to listen.”
    -Jimmy Buffett

    I would like to take a litlte of this quotation and say that we need to listen to ourselves too. It’s something we don’t do usually. Every year we get our own older voice and our own wiser voice talking to us but we are often too busy to consider what it is saying.

    Listen to your own whispers I say, there’s gold there no matter how old you are; it’s all relative. And what is so nice is that you can start again anytime since it’s so easy to have a inner conversation and draw on the specials for the day. Not a Pollyanna, no sir, I am not.

    And then imagine if we did what Jimmy Buffet suggests? More magic even if it just makes you think. He doesn’t say do what the older and wiser voices say you must do, he just says LISTEN. I shall put this on my New Year’s TO DO list. LISTEN again and try harder. Don’t shoot the smug messenger now, please, I can do that by myself.

    Cheers!
    Lestie
    Johannesburg
    South Africa

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