What Are Your Guiding Words?

"Trust yourself.  Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.  Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement." 

--Golda Meir

This is one of the quotes that I used during a staff retreat this past week.  It was one of many that I included in two vision boards.  My goal was to give my colleagues a new perspective and offer words to wisdom from heroes all of whom had made an extraordinary difference in the world.

Throughout the week, I spoke with several younger staff and realized that I am, to them, the older generation.  Twenty years ago, when I started in this field, I looked up to my older colleagues as mentors and teachers.  They had done incredible work and the lessons they taught me I still use today.  Now I find myself in the role of teacher and as my mentors did for me, I hope to guide, inspire, and bring out the best in those around me.

In her quote, Golda Meir said, "Trust yourself."  I wish I learned this earlier, but I got it now - the strength in being 50.  She goes onto say, "Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life."  I believe this takes a lifetime of learning to continually integrate your values into our days, years and as life happens to us, we hold onto those values to help us through our trauma, crises, and those moments on shaky ground.

And my favorite part of the quote, "Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement."  Try.  Take those moments of letting yourself dream big and think big and know that the possibility is a probability.  The past five years I have redirected my energy to lead me to what I want and stay away from the voices that remind me of what is missing in my life.  It was the greatest fix to what I saw as the problems in my life.  And now, as Golda Meir said, I listen to those tiny sparks and nurture them so that I can create, feel productive in our community and know my purpose in the world.

What is your favorite quote and how does it help you in your daily life.