Article Title: Sharing A Few New Inspirational and Uplifting Thoughts (from My Notes)
Shared by: Craig Lock
Lions Head, Cape Town, the beautiful Mother City of South Africa with Table Bay and Robben Island in the distance (where Nelson Mandela, “a true champion of justice, peace and reconciliation” made huge sacrifices being imprisoned all those long years in his pursuit of his cause, his ideals, his dream for a “unified Beloved Country”)
Category (key words):Web Sites: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005GGMAW4http://goo.gl/vTpjk and http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/craiglock
(Personal growth, self help, writing, internet marketing, spiritual, ‘spiritual writings’ (how ‘airey-fairey’), words of inspiration and money management, how boring now, craig
Publishing Guidelines:
These thoughts (as with all my writings) may be freely reproduced electronically or in print. If they help or encourage others “out there” on the often very difficult yet always ‘amazing and magical journey of life’, then we’re very happy.
“We share what we know, so that we all may grow
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Sharing a Few New Inspirational and Uplifting Thoughts
(from my notes)
Submitters Note
Here are some of my notes and thoughts (in point form) that I’ve collected and written down over the years, which may be of interest and get you “tinking” about these “airey-fairey matters”. Just sharing some thoughts on writing, champions, motor racing in the Zone, Christianity (and Jesus), peace and the pursuit of peace, as well as many other subjects (from my notes). I find them empowering and inspirational on my own journey “on the path less travelled”. So will share with you and hope them may be uplifting, empowering and perhaps even inspirational to you too. Enjoy…
“In his wisdom God gives to each of us a limited, finite number of hours a year in which to achieve our goals, both material and spiritual. He gives us these hours in sequence, day by day, month by month. If they are wasted, however, they are neither repeatable or refundable. He gives the same amount to the rich and to the poor, to the young and to the old. Whatever successes we may achieve in this life will come from the purpose to which we put God’s priceless gift – TIME”.
– Leon A. Danco ,Ph.D (from Quote, Unquote by Craig Lock http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GS6X8O)
“There are so many challenges waiting for you to accept:
the challenge of a new opportunity
the challenge to beat yesterday’s record
the challenge to compete against yourself
the challenge to grow personally, a little more each day.
CHAMPIONS
Very few of us can be champions.
But what is a champion?
For me a champion is the ultimate winner. A consistent top performer on all occasions.
“The word champion covers everything. It means courage. It indicates skill. It denotes spirit. It signifies a willingness to take chances. It expresses an inner fire. It tells the story of everything in a life that is worth fighting to attain and keep.”
– Charles B.Roth (an American captain of industry)
“A champion is not a title, but a set of qualities: Champions aren’t made in the gym. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – an inner flame that burns brightly…with dedication, purpose, desire and passion. True champions LIVE the dream, the vision of who and what they can one day become…. even a long time before it happens.”
– me
“We must set out to do a good job,
irrespective of race, and do it so well
that nobody could do it better”.
– Dr Martin Luther King, Jnr.
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
– Leonardo da Vinci
My great passion, MOTOR RACING (AND RACING “IN THE ZONE”)
“There are only three sports: bull-fighting, mountain climbing and motor racing; all the rest are merely games.”
– Ernest Hemingway
“True champions, like an Ayrton Senna, are able to find a new level (of performance) – when required, they have the ability to ‘dig deep’ and find something very special inside themselves
“The aim is to be in the Zone every time you get in the car. But that day Ayrton was somewhere else beyond the Zone…heaven.”
– Lewis Hamilton
Suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was kind of driving by instinct, only I was in a different dimension. I was way over the limit; but still I was able to find even more. It frightened me, because I realised I was well beyond my conscious understanding.”*
– Ayrton Senna
You get to the stage when your almost looking down on yourself. When you get into that state, it s the best state ever.o
– Stirling Moss
From http://www.overdrivef1.com/news.html
“The Zone could simply be a gateway to the divine, one of God’s methods of reminding us of His – and our – glorious power. Omnipresence means that power must be everywhere, everytime. Including the racetracks. Including today.”
– Clyde Brolin writing in Overdrive; Formula One in the Zone (From http://www.overdrivef1.com/news.html)
“As we live and move and have our being from this vision, we create heaven in our own lives and heaven on earth.”
– Felicia Searcy
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THOUGHTS OF WRITERS ON THE WRITING JOURNEY
“I make art through using materials and words are my tools.”
“Art is at the highest reach of one s creative imagination.”
“Your only limits are your own imagination.”
Leonardo da Vinci once said: “Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”
– W. Somerset Maugham
“I write because I simply HAVE to.”
“Writers help readers to see the world differently.”
“I write because something inside myself, inner and unconscious forces me to.” That is the first compulsion. The second is one of ethical and moral duty.”
“I write about and believe in the immense resilience of humanity – I truly believe in the triumph of the human spirit.”
– craig
Monty Python on novel writing
For a bit of “wacky” humour click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogPZ5CY9KoM
“And now as I move into the next part of this journey, I know that it will soon be time for me to take my hands off this book and…”
Writing “in the zone”
“Suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was kind of driving by instinct, only I was in a different dimension. I was way over the limit; but still I was able to find even more. It frightened me, because I realised I was well beyond my conscious understanding.”
– the late, great Ayrton Senna
Writers, like racing drivers, challenge themselves and their readers in new ways, They find new niches. I want to continually test my own writing “limits”, the “boundaries of my imagination.”
I love writing about ‘ordinary’ (what’s that?) people doing extra-ordinary things. I find these stories hugely empowering and inspirational on my own journey “on the path less travelled”. I hope they may be uplifting, empowering and perhaps even inspirational to you too. Enjoy…
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They already somehow know what you truly want to become.”
“I want to write the way Gilles Villeneuve drove and power-slid his blood-red Formula One Ferraria with wild enthusiasm and a sense of abandonment, combined with the artists craft of a Stirling Moss, a Jim Clark, and especially that of the great Ayrton Senna, living on the razor-blade edge of life.”
All the world will be happier and better, when the men and women have the souls of artists, like that of an Ayrton Senna.”
– craig (as inspired by Rodin’s famous words)
for dearest mom and dad, your spirits lives on (forever)
thanks for all the support, encouragement and especially love
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SOME THOUGHTS ON CHRISTIANITY
“For me, God is a Creative Presence (far greater and deeper than my own consciousness). A Presence that I can experience on earth and allows me to be all that I am able to become.”
– craig
A passionately Jesus-centered approach to life
Above all, we are followers of Jesus, on a journey with him, following where he leads us. We center our lives on him u not on the religion of Christianity, not on Western civilization, and not on patriotism. Jesus is the great peacemaker. We affirm a Jesus-centered approach to life, because this highlights the treasure of the good news. His life, his teaching, his death, and his resurrection all describe and illustrate multi-dimensional reconciliation.
From: http://ricklove.net/?p=917
“I want to be a nobody for Jesus.”
– my good friend, Lindsay McIlraith
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The important thing in life is not to triumph but to compete; it’s not victory but combat – not to have vanquished, but to have fought well – not winning but taking part.
– Pierre de Coubertin (French Educator, primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1894. 1863-1937)
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THE PURSUIT OF PEACE (and BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS: Social, Economic, Political and Religious…one mind, one heart, one soul… one life at a time)
“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
– Robert Francis Kennedy quotes ( US attorney general and adviser, 1925-1968)
WALLS
“Man is a great wall builder
The Berlin Wall
The Wailing Wall of Jerusalem
But the wall most impregnable
Has a moat
flowing with fright
around his heart
A wall without windows for the spirit to breeze through
without a door for love to walk in.”
– OSWALD MTSHALI, Soweto (South African) poet
from the compelling book, My Traitor’s Heart by Rian Malan (published by Vintage 1990)
“Instead of the limits of borders (of countries and of our minds) let us and our leaders expand our sense of possibility… and together let’s look at building bridges to distant horizons, far and great. Lord, help us all lift our eyes a little higher.”
– craig
Let us tear down the walls of our hearts in order to tear down the walls of concrete”
– Fouad Twal (top Roman Catholic official in the Holy land and Palestinian citizen of Jordan)
“Every tiny action by seemingly ordinary people may be seen as a pin-prick in a small piece of card-board. Yet it is each ONE of these barely observable holes that makes a miniscule difference… through allowing a glimmer of light to shine through. And it’s the myriad of tiny flickers, thousands and thousands at a time that can shine the brightest light in the darkest of places.”
– craig
It was always seems impossible….
until it gets done.
– Nelson Mandela
This is my favourite and sums up my message of my “little” life…in trying in some small way to break down barriers between people.
“I had a good chance to meet a yogi who was so spiritual and happy all the time. I wondered how he managed his thinking and I learned a lot from him. I saw him and I thought, ‘This is the way.’ You believe in a God, but not in a religious way. We human beings like to give him names, whether that is Jesus, or whatever else. But my view is that God is ONE, whether it is Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, almost anything, and that he is everywhere. He (or she) has (no gender), colour, no religion, no race, nothing. It’s incredible how close he is to you and to everybody. You just call him (her/It) and he’s there. That’s it, simple.
This is the reality we so often forget.”
– Balbir Singh, former physio-therapist to Michael Schumacher (and student of psychology). (With my little additional few words in brackets)
“The greatest mountain we need to climb lies in our our own minds”. It’s not the highest mountain that we conquer, but ourselves, our own mentality. Overcoming perceived limits to reach (attain) the pinnacle of our own minds.”
– craig (as inspired by the words of Sir Edmund Hillary, conquerer of Mount Everest (1919-2008)
“Power is meaningless, when you are an enemy of the people.”
Remember those words, President Assad of Syria!
Click on the classic, the great song Imagine by John Lennon… and just feel the sense of empowerment and inspiration filling our spirit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7qaSxuZUg
Totally unmusical craig
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
– Theodore Roosevelt quotes (American 26th US President (1901-09), 1858-1919)
“The important thing in life is not to triumph but to compete – it’s not victory but combat – not to have vanquished but to have fought well – not winning but taking part.”
– Pierre de Coubertin (French Educator, primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1894. 1863-1937)
“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”
– Pierre de Coubertin (French Educator, primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1894. 1863-1937)
“Those who say it s impossible, should stand aside and make way for those who say: With the right will, commitment, dedication, persistence, courage and especially faith, one sunny day IT IS POSSIBLE!”
– craig
This is my favourite and sums up my message, my life…in trying in some small way to break down barriers between people.
“I had a good chance to meet a yogi who was so spiritual and happy all the time. I wondered how he managed his thinking and I learned a lot from him. I saw him and I thought, ‘This is the way.’ You believe in a God, but not in a religious way. We human beings like to give him names, whether that is Jesus
or whatever else. But my view is that God is ONE, whether it is Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, almost anything, and that he is everywhere. He (or she) has (no gender), colour, no religion, no race, nothing. It’s incredible how close he is to you and to everybody. You just call him (her/It) and he’s there. That’s it, simple.
This is the reality we so often forget.”
– Balbir Singh, former physio-therapist to Michael Schumacher (and student of psychology). (With my little additional few words in brackets)
from a great book by Clyde Brolin ‘Overdrive: Formula One in the Zone’
www.overdrivef1.com
SOUTH AFRICA
“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”
– Steve Biko, from a Speech in Cape Town, 1971
A Story of Hope and Triumph
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bhg4RLHe04&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBKNXsFI_3s&feature=related
A Story of Hope and Triumph
http://peaceittogether.com
http://www.win-peace.org/
children for peace
http://www.thenextbigjewishidea.com/ideas/entry/inter-faith-youth-soccer-league
“Sometimes you have to give up the life you had planned… in order to live the life you were meant to live.”
“I don’t believe so much in goals, but rather in going after your dreams.”
– me
“Having pursued the goals, the dreams set before us and run the race with persistence and endurance, after giving it all. Then one day standing on the summit of life, breathing in the pure sweet oxygen of achievement, totally satisfied in running the greatest race, the race of life one that ANYONE can run and win.”
– craig 11/11/11
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THOUGHTS ON HOPE
“With or without a Nobel, I will still do what I do, because I am a symbol for hope on the African continent, in a place where there is little to be hopeful for.”
– Nobel Peace prze winner, Leymah Gbowee (from Lbera)
“Hope gives one a dream.” (must include that uplifting thought in a book someday)
“When love endures, hope inevitably follows.”
– craig
“I truly believe in the triumph of the human spirit; so love writing about and sharing stories of the mmense resilience of humanity.”
“The greatest mountain we need to climb lies in our own minds”. It’s not the highest mountain that we conquer, but ourselves, our own mentality. Overcoming perceived limits to reach (attain) the pinnacle of our own minds.”
– craig (as inspired by the words of Sir Edmund Hillary, conquerer of Mount Everest (1919-2008)
“Be the spark that light that lights the flame of hope in others.”
The Story of the Four Candles
The Four Candles burned slowly.
Their ambiance was so soft you could hear them speak…
The first candle said, “I Am Peace, but these days, nobody wants to keep me lit.”
Then Peace’s flame slowly diminished and went out completely.
The second candle said, “I Am Faith, but these days, I am no longer indispensable.”
Then Faith’s flame slowly diminished and went out completely.
Sadly the third candle spoke, “I Am Love and I haven’t the strength to stay lit any longer.”
“People put me aside and don’t understand my importance.
They even forget to love those who are nearest to them.”
And waiting no longer, Love went out completely.
Suddenly…
A child entered the room and saw the three candles no longer burning.
The child began to cry,
“Why are you not burning? You are supposed to stay lit until the end.”
Then the Fourth Candle spoke gently to the little boy,
“Don’t be afraid, for I Am Hope, and while I still burn,
we can re-light the other candles.”
With shining eyes, the child took the Candle of Hope
and lit the other three candles.
Never let the Flame of Hope go out.
With Hope in your life, no matter how bad things may be,
Peace, Faith and Love may shine brightly once again.
“We are choosing hope over fear, unity over division, a new vision for the world. And so it is the triumph of life over death, of love over hate, of light over darkness…”
This is my favourite and sums up my message, my life…in trying in some small way to break down barriers between people.
“I had a good chance to meet a yogi who was so spiritual and happy all the time. I wondered how he managed his thinking and I learned a lot from him. I saw him and I thought, ‘This is the way.’ You believe in a God, but not in a religious way. We human beings like to give him names, whether that is Jesus
or whatever else. But my view is that God is ONE, whether it is Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, almost anything, and that he is everywhere. He (or she) has (no gender), colour, no religion, no race, nothing. It’s incredible how close he is to you and to everybody. You just call him (her/It) and he’s there. That’s it, simple.
This is the reality we so often forget.”
– Balbir Singh, former physio-therapist to Michael Schumacher (and student of psychology). (With my little additional few words in brackets)
from Overdrive: Formula One in the Zone by Clyde Brolin and God and Formula One by this writer: See http://www.amazon.com/GOD-AND-FORMULA-ONE-ebook/dp/B005Z6BFX0
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“I am Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and Burgher,” he concluded. “I am a Buddhist, a Hindu, a follower of Islam and Christianity. I am today, and always, proudly Sri Lankan.”
Well said!
– Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lankan cricketer
“Power is worth nothing, while you stand as an enemy to the people.”
“When (or perhaps if ever) you arrive in heaven, let faith and love be the wings that carried you there.”
– as adapted from the inspiring words of Jonathan Edwards, former minister in New England, Massachusetts
“The Greatest Race: Living by (with) faith, hope and love is the highest podium any person can reach, God s podium that anyone stand on.”
– craig
“As we live and move and have our being from this vision, we create heaven in our own lives and heaven on earth.”
– Felicia Searcy
“If a man is called to be a street-sweeper,
he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted,
or Beethoven composed music, or
Shakespeare wrote poetry.
He should sweep streets so well
that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say,
here lived a great street sweeper
who did his job well.”
– Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
Shared by craig (“Information and Inspiration Distributor, Incorrigible Encourager and People-builder”)
About the submitter:
In his life mission Craig hopes to help, encourage, motivate, uplift and perhaps even inspire people to be their best through realising their full potentials. His dream is seeing people finding, striving for the “seemingly impossible” and one day perhaps even realising their personal goals and dreams having great FUN along the journey. Craig has a ‘passion’ for writing books that tell stories about people doing positive things in this often so hard, sometimes unkind world, occasionally so cruel, yet always amazing world He loves ‘telling tales’, sharing true stories that leave the reader feeling uplifted, empowered and perhaps hopefully even inspired.
The various books that Craig “felt inspired to write” are available at:http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005GGMAW4http://goo.gl/vTpjk and http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/craiglock
“A book is small enough to hold in your hand; but when you read it, the walls fall away and you’re in a room as big as the world.”
A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.” – Chinese proverb
“A book, like a dog, is man’s best friend, but inside it’s too dark to read.” – Woody Allen (I “tink”)
“Together, one mind, one soul at a time, let’s see how many people we can impact, empower, encourage and perhaps even inspire to reach their fullest potentials. Change YOUR world and you help change THE world…for the better”
THESE THOUGHTS MAY BE FREELY PUBLISHED
PPS
“When (or is it perhaps if??) you arrive in a place (or rather state ) known as heaven, let faith and love be the wings of the chariot that carried you there.”
– craig (as adapted from the words of Jonathan Edwards, a former minister in Massachusetts (New England
“When you were born,
you cried and the world rejoiced.
Live your life so when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice.”
– Indian saying
Thanks, dearest mom, your spirit will live on…forever
WHO IS "THE REAL, THE TRUE, THE LIVING" JESUS? 
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