Nikki Crick Freelance

For when the world is coming at you from all sides!

Dare to dream

Whatever you can do
Or dream you can do
Begin it
Boldness has genius,
Power and magic in it
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Everyone who is successful must have dreamed of something.
Maricopa

It's never too late to be what you might have been.
George Eliot

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you'll land among the stars.
Les Brown

If you can imagine it ... you can achieve it.

If you dream it ... you can do it!
Anonymous

There are no impossible dreams, just our limited perception of what is possible.
Beth Mende Conny

Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.
Henry Ford

Get started

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao-tzu

Every accomplishment, great or small, starts with a decision.
Anonymous

The beginning is the half of every action.
Greek proverb

If you really want something, you can figure out how to make it happen.

Cher

Well begun is half done.
Anonymous

Persistence pays

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.
William Feather

No one ever climbed a hill just by looking at it.
Anonymous

When you cannot get a compliment in any other way, pay yourself one.
Mark Twain

Slow and steady wins the race.
Aesop

If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right.
Mary Kay Ash

The only place where success comes before work is the dictionary.
Vidal Sassoon

Never, never, never, never give up.
Winston Churchill

All things are difficult before they are easy.
John Norley

It's not the hours you put in your work that counts,

It's the work you put in the hours.

Sam Ewing

Hard work spotlights the character of people:

Some turn up their sleeves,

Some turn up their noses,

And some don't turn up at all

Sam Ewing

Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel

Setbacks can be opportunities

An old country doctor was celebrated for his wisdom. "Dr. Sage," a young man asked, "how did you get so wise?" "Weren't hard," said the doc. "I've got good judgement. Now, good judgement comes from experience," he continued. "And experience - well, that comes from having bad judgement."

Anonymous

The Butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further.

Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shrivelled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shrivelled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. And we could never fly...
Anonymous

Form good habits; they're as hard to break as bad ones.
Anonymous

The rewards in life go to those who are willing to give up the past.
Anonymous

Motivation is what gets you started. Good habits are what keep you going.
Anonymous

Self-control is like a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger it gets.
Anonymous

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.
Aristotle

Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters.

Nathaniel Emmons

Life is trying things to see if they work.
Ray Bradbury

Don't listen to friends when the Friend inside you says, "Do this."
Mahatma Gandhi

The true method of knowledge is experiment.
William Blake

Trust yourself: You know more than you think you do.
Benjamin Spock

The control centre of your life is attitude.
Anonymous

Do you reach beyond to touch the sky,
     or lag behind, afraid to try?
Do you reach beyond to learn anew,
     or hesitate - the same old you?
Do you reach beyond to test your limit,
     or do you tell yourself, I'm timid?
Do you reach beyond to lead the pack,
     or do you waste time looking back?
Do you reach beyond and strive to find
     better ways to stretch your mind?
Do you reach beyond to care and share
     and help some others do and dare?
Do you reach beyond, expect the best,
     or have you given up the quest?
Do you reach beyond and claim your space,
     here and now, this time, this place?
Do you reach beyond and try to soar,
     or, sadly, play it safe once more?
Suzy Sutton

Just for fun

He was only a chocolate chip cookie, but I loved him... I met him at a party. There he was at the end of the buffet - a loner, the last one on the plate. He had a certain something - a sweetness, a sensuality. He was one hot cookie.

I felt as if I'd always known him, always hungered for him. When he looked at me with those warm brown eyes, I melted. Before I knew it, I had my hands on him, my mouth on him - in public. After that night we were inseparable.

With him, I could be myself. He didn't seem to care what mood I was in, how I looked, even if I gained weight. Together we had the recipe for happiness. No one satisfied me like Chip.

Then things changed. My friends said he was no good for me. He started to give me heartburn. I felt crummy, but it had to end.

Now we've gone our separate ways. I hardly think of him any more. Oh, if I see a certain TV commercial, a particular magazine ad, a coupon for 10 pence off - that old longing returns. And when we run into each other in the supermarket, we nod.

We're friendly, but it's over.
1986 Hallmark Cards, Inc.