LIVING

Self Reliance

H. Armstrong Roberts, 1988

“In the words of the ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. Lord Takanobu said, ‘If discrimination is long, it will spoil.’ Lord Naoshige said, ‘when matters are done leisurely, seven out of ten will turn out badly. A warrior is a person who does things quickly.’”

“When your mind is going hither and thither, discrimination will never be brought to a conclusion. With an intense, fresh and unyielding spirit, one will make his judgements within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break right through to the other side.”

-Yamamoto Tsunetomo, excerpt from Hagakure, The Book of the Samurai, pg. 47.

“Women are like tea bags, you never know how strong they are until they are placed in hot water.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt


John Lennon, 1966.
Hulton Picture Company

After the last couple of weeks, these are the words that have kept me buoyant, made my spirit feel more determined and my vision razor sharp as I course my way through the exponential changes that are occurring to me daily.

But rather than shy away from these changes, I’ve chosen to embrace them as I would a lover, with integrity and passion. After all, if starting over were easy, or if running a business were easy, I don’t think anyone would do it; it’s the innate challenges that keep all of us going because each day is different and with it, a new opportunity to become better at whatever it is we’ve chosen to do with our lives, be it a baker, a manager, an athlete, a mother. No matter what hat I wear, I want to do it with genuine flare.

As we say down here in Texas, you know when you’ve met someone who is genuine leather and when you’ve met someone who’s vinyl.

Personally, I always want to be remembered as the genuine article.

Cheers & Happy Sunday!


Milton H. Greene
Marylin Monroe

October 19th, 2008 — 11:05 am

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