Dry Off & Get Going!

"Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference."

Nolan Bushnell
Founder of Atari

Thought For The Day

"Every decision you make - every decision - is not a decision about what to do. It's a decision about Who You Are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do."

Neale Donald Walsch
Author of Conversations With God

Thread of a Dream

When I was researching the history of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge as a major illustration for the ideas of success and motivation, I became engrossed with the story of how the first bridge was built over Niagara Falls. You see, to build a bridge over a giant gorge, first you have to get a line over the canyon, from one side to the other. Easier said than done at Niagara Falls.

The engineers couldn't cross the falls in a boat to take the line from one side to the other because the boat would go over the falls. And the airplane hadn't been invented yet. The distance was also way beyond the bow-and-arrow range, which had been a common method at the time of getting the first line across to build a bridge.

The designing engineer, Charles Ellet, pondered the question until he came up with a revolutionary idea. He decided that, while solving the problem, he would also have some fun and generate some publicity for the project. Ellet sponsored a kite flying contest and offered five dollars to the first person who could fly a kite across the gorge and let it go low enough to the ground for someone to be able to grab the string. In 1849, five dollars was a prize similar to a small lottery today. The boy who won the prize relished his accomplishment until his death, nearly 80 years later.

It all began with an idea and one thin kite string. The kite string was used to pull a cord across, then a line, then a rope. Next came an iron-wire cable and then steel cables, until a structure strong enough to build a suspension bridge was in place.

I'm struck by how that string is like a single thought. The more vivid and clear the thought, and the more you come back to it, the stronger it becomes - like the string to the rope to a cable. Each time you rethink it, dwell on it, or layer it with other thoughts, you are strengthening the structure on which to build your idea, like building a bridge over Niagara Falls.

But unlike a kite, there is no string attached to how high and how far your goals may take you. They are limited only by the power of your imagination and the strength of your desire.

Denis Waitley

Denis Waitley is one of America's most respected authors, keynote lecturers and productivity consultants on high performance human achievement. Visit his website at www.deniswaitley.com

No Line On The Horizon

U2's newest album was released yesterday, and I was the first one at the store.

I sat in the parking lot and listened to the first 3 tracks before I could put the car in gear. Pretty awesome start to the album.

I really, really like it, although I don't love it - yet - but could grow on me. I didn't hear any anthems like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" or "Please". And I didn't hear any love songs like "One" or "With or Without You", or "All I Want is You."

It is definitely U2 though, and there are some thumping, blood pumping beats by Adam and Larry. Two songs, "No Line on the Horizon" and "Get On Your Boots" are already on my workout playlist.

I've only listened to the album twice all the way through, so I'm going to need to listen some more.

In my opinion, this is not one of their top 5 albums. I'm going to slot it at 6, behind Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, All That You Can't Leave Behind, How to Dismantle an Atomic bomb, and Rattle and Hum.