Your work is to discover your world
and then with all of your heart give yourself to it.
- Buddha -
So, what are YOU working on lately? 
Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute
Your work
November 21, 2008
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The Butterfly
November 17, 2008The Butterfly
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly
One day a small opening appeared
He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours
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 farther.
So the man decided to help the butterfly
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, shriveled wings
He continued to watch the butterfly
He expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge
And the body would contract
Neither happened!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling
Around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
It was never able to fly.
The man acted with well-intentioned kindness
But he didn’t understand the consequences.
The restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get
Through the tiny opening, were nature’s way of forcing fluid
From the body of the butterfly once it achieved it’s freedom
From the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.
If nature allowed us to go through life without any
Obstacles, it would cripple us.
We would not be as strong as we could have been
And we could never fly
Have a great day, great life, and struggle a little.
Then fly!
Another inspiring story from Yuni, by the famous Greek writer/philosopher Nikos Kazantzakis.
So, are you ready to fly? Spreading your wings? I have just begun and it’s a great view up there
Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute
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Inspire others
November 4, 2008“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
- John Quincy Adams -
What are you doing to inspire others?
Are you stepping up?
Are you giving back?
Are you a leader?
Want to join the club of leaders, but you don’t have a clue how? Get in touch, I’ll tell you what you can do about it…
Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Lifecoach
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The Wise Woman
November 1, 2008A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream.
The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.
The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.
But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone.”
I picked up this story on this inspirational website Yuni. Apparently the story is written by an unknown author.
Sometimes it’s not the wealth you have, but what’s inside you that others need…
Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Life Coach
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Change The World
October 15, 2008Change The World
When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.
I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.
When I found I couldn’t change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.
Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.”
This inspirational story has been written by an unknown monk in 1100 A.D.
So, do you want to change the world?
I know, I do. I have started with myself. The rest will follow
Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Life Coach
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Live life fully…
October 4, 2008“Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”
- Anthony Robbins -
I am a fan of Tony and this quote is one of my favourites! Some people are just too scared to do anything and end up having a mediocre life. Others just go for it and achieve everything they dream of. Why? Good question!
Most successful people start with setting goals. They take action towards their goals. They revise their goals along the way. Yes, that’s another difference : they change while enjoying their journey. Others don’t even start…So how do you expect to get to the finish without crossing the startline?:-)
Anyway, everyone has the right to make mistakes and the duty to learn from them. A lot of people only look at the negative part of their experiences and forget about the positive outcome as well!
What’s your choice? Acting normal or being weird? Having fun or weeping at home? A life worth living or worth forgetting about? Choose now and join in on the positive side of life and get a life!
Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute
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Seriously
September 30, 2008“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
- Elbert Hubbard -
What a great quote this is! We often take ourselves way too seriously, don’t we? Most of our problems are problems of our own mind. We can focus as easily on the solution as on the problem, but most of us tend to stick with the problem. The others, not you, of course
Haven’t you experienced it before that in front of a challenge that you were terrified, having difficulties to find a way out and it looked like you were stuck and your whole life depended on it, while afterwards, when reflecting on it, how could you have been so seriously about this? It wasn’t such a biggie after all…Sure, it was a lesson to be learned! And did you learn the lesson or what? What do you mean: NO? So you had to go through this a couple of times? Right, so did I, but no longer…
Do you take yourself so seriously all the time? Why? Are you that important? Really?
Loosen up, have fun and enjoy more
In fact: Enjoy Every Day,
Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute
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Be who you are
September 12, 2008“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
- Dr. Seuss -
Well said and think about your own situation. Are you always who you really are? Why not? We sometimes don’t share our opinion, because we are afraid of the reactions of others. We don’t tell our friends what we should tell them. So, how real is your friendship really?
This quote made quite some impact on my life. I can truly say, that I step up more and more and tell my personal opinion to the world, whether they like it or not. Some people say I am more direct than I used to be. Others let me know that they appreciate it that I openly share my thoughts.
What about you?
Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Lifecoach
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Vele dingen
July 1, 2008Vele dingen gaan verloren omdat niemand erom vraagt.
- Engels gezegde -
En het klopt als een bus. Soms laten we dingen liggen, omdat we er niet naar vragen. Onlangs participeerde ik in een business game. Een belangrijke les voor mij was niet alleen de teamspirit creëren op zo’n korte tijd, maar ook dat we een groot stuk van ons potentieel onbenut hebben gelaten, omdat we aan de anderen te weinig goede vragen hebben gesteld! Evidente zaken hebben we gewoon “vergeten”. Prachtig was dat…
Dit citaat komt trouwens uit Kwalicitaten 2, een boek van Yves Van Nuland, dat ik onlangs van hem cadeau kreeg. Waarvoor dank!
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Freedom?
June 28, 2008Freedom is not woth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
- Mahatma Ghandi -
Wonderful quote! When we make mistakes, we land hard and feel the pain. It’s often our incentive to find ways to never experience that pain again. So, we adjust, we learn and move forward. Of course, once and a while we fall back again, but still we have the courage to move on. Most of the time this results in great progress again!
If you are not allowed to make mistakes, you direct your energy to what you know, to what is safe and secure. This means that there is no room for exploration, research or innovation. Playing around, having fun and making mistakes are no longer part of your life. Your learningcurve is reduced to void. This woud be a life without freedom for me, so Ghandi is right!
By the way, who’s perfect? Right, everyone makes mistakes!
Enjoy every day,
Bert Verdonck
Create, Connect & Contribute
No Comments » | Wise Words | Tagged: freedom, Mahatma Ghandi, make mistakes, perfect | Permalink
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