Tag Archives: wisdom

When We Long For A Life Without Difficulties

“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.”  -Unknown Diamonds are made under pressure…  which is really to say – no pressure, no diamonds.  No Diamonds??!!  Frankly just typing the words “no diamonds” makes me break into a cold sweat… A […]

It’s A Dis-Service To Keep Someone In a Job They Aren’t Good At

One thing I learned many years ago is that you do a dis-service to an individual by leaving them in a role where they are not succeeding.  Some people don’t succeed due to their own faults, and others don’t succeed simply because they are not the right match for the position they have been placed […]

We Never Really Grow Up, We Just Learn How To Act In Public

“We never really grow up, we just learn how to act in public.” The other day my adult daughter commented she’s noticed that me being a grandmother has really brought out the little kid in me.  She said it’s been fun for her to watch me getting down on the floor and playing with my […]

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

I’ve spent my day sick and unable to get anything done, which is a real bummer considering I just got back from being gone ten days and then immediately went up to Logan to speak at the University so today was supposed to be my first day of catch up, but that’s clearly going to […]

Accepting Help Is Its Own Kind Of Strength

Accepting help from others has never been my father-in-law Boyd’s strong suit.  In fact I would say accepting help from anyone is probably one of the hardest things in the world for him.  He’s always been the strong one. He’s been a tough as nails farmer all his life and he works harder physically than […]

How Lucky Can You Be?

Tonight I came across an audio file of a talk given back in 1964 by one of the greatest men I have ever known to walk this earth. When he passed away back in 2008 I was incredibly sad, but his influence in my life continues on to this very day. His name was Gordon […]

Learn From The Wisdom Of Those Who Have Experience

“When you are willing to listen and learn, some of life’s most meaningful teachings come from those who have gone before you. They have walked where you are walking and have experienced many of the things you are experiencing. If you listen and respond to their counsel, they can help guide you toward choices that […]

Each New Sign Along The Highway Of Life Reads, “It Only Gets Better From Here”

“Fear is an idea crippling, experience-crushing, success-stalling inhibitor inflicted only by yourself.” – Stephanie Melish We are the ones who create our own fears. We decide what we are afraid of by the thoughts we allow into our minds. We think our fears into existence and then we allow them to exist and grow in […]

“All it takes to change a man is perseverance,” said no one with a straight face, ever

“How or who, baby…how or who…”, that is my husband Rollin’s very favorite saying.  How do I know it’s his favorite? Because I’ve heard him say it multiple times every day for the last ten and a half years of marriage.  Let me explain: Every time that I ask my husband Rollin to do something […]

What Advice Would A 80 Year Old Person Give About The Way Life Should Be Lived?

Last week I shared that my father celebrated his 80th birthday. As I was reading different bits of advice offered by people who had turned 80 years old and I came across this article titled:  What Advice Would A 80 Year Old Person Give About The Way Life Should Be Lived?  The article was written […]

How A Great Leader Melts The Iceberg Of Ignorance

“Only 4% of an organization’s front-line problems are known by top management, 9% are known by middle management, 74% by supervisors and 100% by employees…” Sidney Yoshida calls this “The Iceberg of Ignorance” in his study that was presented at the International Quality Symposium. Front-line employees that are working in the trenches are always going […]

You’ll never get the same moment twice

“Life becomes more meaningful when you realize the simple fact that you’ll never get the same moment twice.” When my daughter-in-law came to drop off my adorable grandbaby this morning so I could babysit him for her while she went to work and I saw her lugging in the car seat and diaper back and […]

We can learn it the easy way or we can learn it the hard way and only we can decide which it will be

“Don’t touch that, it’s hot” my mom said as she pulled out a fresh tray of cookies from the oven – yet immediately I started thinking “I wonder how hot it really is? It’s probably not that hot. I think I’ll just see for myself just how hot it is.” You would think that nursing […]

Don’t let your emotions overpower your intelligence

“Never let what you feel make you forget what’s real. Facts over feelings. Don’t let your emotions overpower your intelligence.”  -unknown Learning the lesson shared in that quote is something that took me making a few really bad personal life choices in my early adult life and going through the horrible pain that resulted from […]

What I’ve learned over the last 46 years

Tomorrow I will turn 46 years old. 46…why does that sound SO old?  I suppose its because I remember as a child looking at adults who were 46 years old and thinking “they are SO OLD” 😉 Most past birthdays I have dreaded getting another year older, and I suppose there is a big part […]

Can’t Never Could

In reviewing some important information tonight I came across the words “Can’t Never Could” and I couldn’t help but wish I had woken up to those words this morning. One of my first thoughts this morning as I woke up and thought about everything I needed to get done I had the thought, “I can’t […]

What you fill your mind with

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner. You […]

Wisdom from a 94 year old WWII Veteran

Over the weekend my family and I traveled down to Moab, Utah to spend a little time together. We also went to go and visit my Great Uncle Mel Dalton (he is my Grandmother’s brother). My Great Uncle Mel is 94 years old and he has lived an incredible life. Over the last year I’ve […]

A Lifetime In A Day

“A funeral is not a day in a lifetime, it’s a lifetime in a day.” One thing in life is certain, and that is that each of us will eventually pass on from this life. When that day comes for each of us, the best we can hope for is to have words spoken about […]

As I Began To Love Myself…

As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY”. As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody As I try to force my desires on this person, […]

Don’t ever let a person acting horribly get you down

There are a lot of really good people in this world, and there also some people who choose to be really horrible. To all you good people out there I want to say, “NEVER LET ANY PERSON WHO IS CHOOSING TO BE HORRIBLE GET YOU DOWN!” Sorry to yell with my all caps there, but […]

What You Forget You Can Never Retell

“Preserve your memories, keep them well, what you forget you can never retell.” – Louisa May Alcot Tonight my sweet Mother came over to my home and we sat and scanned in several stacks of her Father’s (my Grandfather’s) papers he had written back while he was alive. As I sat scanning the different documents […]

Learning the Hard Way

The older we get the more we realize how much better life is if we are just willing to learn things the easy way – like by listening to those who have been there and done it and who have the experience to give us advice on avoiding pitfalls we will face. In the early […]

Imagine Your Life Without It

“If you want to appreciate what you have, imagine your life without it.” It’s an unfortunate thing, but it is all too often the case – In life it is so easy to fall into the trap of not appreciating all that we have. Whether it’s a person, or an experience, or a material possession, […]

Change is not a four letter word…

“Change is not a four letter word…but often your reaction to it is!” – Jeffrey Gitomer Change is scary..it’s trading the known for the unknown. It’s leaving something behind without knowing if what lies ahead. It’s wondering “Will I like it as much?” “Will it ever be as good as it was?” “What if it’s […]

The Core of Intelligence

“The ability to speak does not make you intelligent.”- Master Qui-Gon Jin I remember growing up thinking that all adults were so intelligent. After all, they used really big words and they talked with such confidence on so many topics. But then I grew up and started figuring out that just because someone knew a […]

Our life tomorrow is the result of our attitudes and the choices we make today

Each day we go through life making choices. Sometimes they are carefully thought through choices and sometimes they are impulsive. Sometimes we make them based on what we want for the future and sometimes we make them based on what we want right now. And while we all get to make our own choices, we […]

Profit From Failure

You probably read today’s title and wondered how it is possible for anyone to profit from failure. It is success we profit from, is it not?  The profits from success may be far more obvious to everyone, but I would submit that we can profit just as greatly from failure if we choose to. My […]

Of Prize Fighters and Presidential Elections

I spent the last two days down in Las Vegas at a meeting. It was the Leavitt Equity Partners Annual Meeting , a venture fund founded by Mike Leavitt (former Governor of Utah and Former Secretary of Health & Human Services HHS) that I am an investor in. I flew in to Vegas the night […]

Determination, Work, and A Whole Lot of Courage

As those of you who follow my blog know, I try to write each day about something I learned during each day I am writing. So being that it is Super Bowl Sunday, I decided to write a lesson that comes to mind as I am sitting watching the game with my family (okay let’s […]