Positive Thoughts - For Reflection

[yzernie]

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." - Vince Lombardi

[teamchaos]

What an awesome thread. Just spent the last hour reading everything.

Here are a couple of my favorites;

You can either make dust or eat it - Mario Andretti

Opportunities are often missed because they are dressed in overalls and looks like work. - not sure

And of course

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out and proclaiming. "Wow, what a ride!" - author unknown

[The Kimster]

Yesterday is history...
Tomorrow is a mystery...
Today is a gift... Thats why they call it the present.

[kornica]

I dont think i have ever seen a more heartfelt thread on the internet in my life. You guys seem like a great bunch and hopefully one day during my summer leave i will get a chance to come down and ride with some of ya's.

I dont really have any good words of wisdom but a couple i have learned here in the military is.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with 1 step......and alot of complaining!

There is no such thing as incomming "friendly" fire...

[Motodad393]

"Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of." - Anonymous

[VAL]

The sweetest revenge is success
and
The formula for success is 10 % inspiration, 90 % perspiration.

[VAL]

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling

[Motodad393]

Hey Val,
IF - What an excellent poem. I had to memorize this as a kid in Junior HS and recite it in public. I was scared, but this was my mothers favorite poem and she helped give me the confidence to accomplish this "nerve wrecking task" when I was in JHS. Ahhh - fond memories of a mom long since past!

Originally Posted by VAL

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling

[VAL]

Originally Posted by Motodad393

"Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of." - Anonymous

Man, am I in trouble, I have a ton of bad habits AND a comfy bed.

[Dano426]

Remember... the light at the end of the tunnel may be you. -- Aerosmith-Amasing

[SikspakD]

If you ain't first, you're last- Ricky Bobby

From now on, its Magic Man and El Diablo. CAL:Who is El Diablo? Ricky:It's like a fighting chicken, with claws! CAL: Oooh, with the claws? That's cool.

I love that movie.

[Motodad393]

"One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks." - Jack Penn

[teamchaos]

Originally Posted by SikspakD

If you ain't first, you're last- Ricky Bobby

From now on, its Magic Man and El Diablo. CAL:Who is El Diablo? Ricky:It's like a fighting chicken, with claws! CAL: Oooh, with the claws? That's cool.

I love that movie.

You gotta love Ricky Bobby. "that boy has two first names!"

[Motodad393]

"Spring is wonderful. It makes you feel young enough to do all the things you're old enough to know you can't." - Franklin P. Jones

[stillridin]

I,ve been away with work a few weeks,and to come back to read a thead like this is just what I needed. I love coming here to read the new posts and theads.

Originally Posted by dirtdemon4life

Not a quote but a personal experience from about two weeks ago. Whether or not you beleive in this war, or agree with the politics, this 'moment' really was the culminating moment of why I am happy to be where I am and have faith in what we are doing.

I was out on a mission, and being that we do our 'stuff' under the cover of darkness we were sitting around since it was about 4 in the afternoon. We were at a border fort, and on the other side of a berm was a feild where maybe 60 kids where playing soccer and running around. I went up there and sat watching them all play. I'll try saying this in a modest way, but the kids here look at us as celebrities. They love us. It could be because we hand out candy, or it could be because we hand out hope. Anyway, a group of kids gather down in front of me, maybe 25 yards out. One kid in particular kept turning around to look at me. I'm standing with my arms crossed just watching away, when I notice that he crossed his arms, looked back, and giggled. So I put my hands down in front of me, and he does the same, then starts whispering to his friends. The oldest one was no more then 10 years of age and some of them start doing it too. I caught on, and changed how I stood and he repeated. This went on for about 5-10 minutes. This kid had that glow of just a care free 8 year old that is just happy to be out with his friends, and enjoying a good time mocking some funny lookin' foreign guy in cammies with a gun. Eventually I waved and they all waved back and ran away. I don't know what he's told about us, or where he came from. But that moment, it didnt matter..he was just a boy bein a boy. Just like my little brother back home.

Whats the point of all this? People say this is a never ending war, and that its a lost cause due to the people being this way forever. Do I know if it will change? No. But I do know that I was just a 19 year old boy, playing around with a 7 or 8 year old boy. I do know that what happened 2000 years ago in this foreign land, didnt matter in that moment. I do know that I dont care what some 70 year old sheik thinks because that didnt matter in that moment, and because he wont be there 30 years from now when that kid is 37 or 38. I do know that it takes influence to make change, and that a small match can light a huge fire.

It's crazy what a true genuine smile of a kid will do to someone...

-Max

That was a great story. Isn't it funny how you can read something like this and picture in your mind everthing Max is saying.Thanks Max,Thanks OK where the heck is Char? That girl can write. I didn't miss it did I?

[stillridin]

My Bad! I just went back and realized you changed your picture. Sorry! No more wacked out bird.

[char393]

Each friend represents a world in us that did not exist until they arrived.

Perhaps slightly cheesy... But there's some truth in it.

[DRGSin393]

Originally Posted by SikspakD

If you ain't first, you're last- Ricky Bobby

From now on, its Magic Man and El Diablo. CAL:Who is El Diablo? Ricky:It's like a fighting chicken, with claws! CAL: Oooh, with the claws? That's cool.

I love that movie.

duuude..you missed the point of this thread!

[gwcrim]

1- It's better to try something and fail than to try nothing and be a success.

2- Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

3- If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

[Motodad393]

"Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." - Lou Holtz