Daily Quote

You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.

-Paulo Coelho

Decisions, decisions

“When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”

–Paulo Coelho, “The Alchemist”

Make decisions wisely and once made give them 100% of your focus.

– Make your mark

Weekend inspiration

We are all alchemists-

sometimes we have to transform disappointment, loss or rejection into a new beginning. I think of new beginnings as signposts that illuminate what Seamus Heaney called “The essential Rhythm”

20 sec reading: the giant tree

by Paulo Coelho on October 17, 2012

By Paulo Coelho

A carpenter and his apprentices were travelling through the province of Qi in search of building materials. They saw a giant tree; five men all holding hands could not encompass its girth, and its crown reached almost to the clouds.
‘Let’s not waste our time with this tree,’ said the master carpenter. ‘It would take us for ever to cut it down. If we wanted to make a ship out of that heavy trunk, the ship would sink. If we tried to use it to build a roof, the walls would have to be specially reinforced.’
The group continued on its way. One of the apprentices remarked:
‘Such a big tree and no use to anyone!’
‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ said the master carpenter. ‘The tree was true to its own destiny. “If it had been like all the others, we would have cut it down. But because it had the courage to be different, it will remain alive and strong for a long time yet.’