Life, Etc.

Below are various stories and treats I’d love to share with you. Enjoy! And let me know what you think, okay? — Shandel

The Golf Balls of Life

You may have heard another version of this life lesson. Stick with it until the kicker ending.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things — God, family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else — the small stuff.

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

“Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

Quotes from the mouth of General George S. Patton, Jr. – I love this great leader in WWII.  My dad quoted him a lot to us growing up!

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.

Go forward until the last round is fired and the last drop of gas is expended…then go forward on foot!

The test of success is not what you do when you’re on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying.

Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

There’s a great deal of talk about loyalty from the bottom to the top. Loyalty from the top down is even more necessary and is much less prevalent. One of the most frequently noted characteristics of great men who have remained great is loyalty to their subordinates.

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.

Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.

Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.

“A man must know his destiny. if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, twice, or at the very most, three times, fate will reach out and tap a man on the shoulder. if he has the imagination, he will turn around and fate will point out to him what fork in the road he should take, if he has the guts, he will take it.”

You cannot be disciplined in great things and indiscipline in small things. Brave undisciplined men have no chance against the discipline and valour of other men. Have you ever seen a few policemen handle a crowd? – May 1941, in an address to officers and men of the Second Armored Division.

Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.

A piece of spaghetti or a military unit can only be led from the front end.

Pressure makes diamonds.

Make your plans to fit the circumstances.

A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood.

May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won’t.

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.

You’re never beaten until you admit it.

It is only by doing things others have not that one can advance.

Always do everything you ask of those you command.

All glory is fleeting.

Perpetual peace is a futile dream.

A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.

Success demands a high level of logistical and organizational competence.

Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.

Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn’t give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost nor ever lose a war.

Battle is an orgy of disorder.

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

Better to fight for something than live for nothing.

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.

Do your damnedest in an ostentatious manner all the time.

I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.

If a man has done his best, what else is there?

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.

If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened.

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.
Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.

I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.

The test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead!

There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear.

There is only one sort of discipline, perfect discipline.

Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets.

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.

You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals.

“A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later.”

“America loves a winner, and will not tolerate a loser, this is why America has never, and will never, lose a war.”

“A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.”

“By perseverance, study, and eternal desire, any man can become great.”

“Do everything you ask of those you command.”

“Do more than is required of you.”

“Fixed fortifications are monuments to man’s stupidity.”

“Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.”

“I always believe in being prepared, even when I’m dressed in white tie and tails.”

“I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.”

“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”

“If I do my full duty, the rest will take care of itself.”

“In case of doubt, attack.”

“It’s the unconquerable soul of man, not the nature of the weapon he uses, that insures victory.”

“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. ”

“Live for something rather than die for nothing.”

“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won’t.”

“Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.”

“Never let the enemy pick the battle site.”

“No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.”

“Say what you mean and mean what you say.”

“Success is how you bounce on the bottom.”

“The leader must be an actor.”

“The soldier is the army.”

“There is only one type of discipline, perfect discipline.”

“War is simple, direct, and ruthless.”

“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.”

“You’re never beaten until you admit it.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate an enemy, but it is just as fatal to overestimate him.”

“Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tire, more hungry. Keep punching.”

“In landing operations, retreat is impossible, to surrender is as ignoble as it is foolish. above all else remember that we as attackers have the initiative, we know exactly what we are going to do, while the enemy is ignorant of our intentions and can only parry our blows. We must retain this tremendous advantage by always attacking rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, and without rest.”

“An Army is a team; lives, sleeps, eats, fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is a lot of crap.”

“War is the supreme test of man in which he rises to heights never approached in any other activity.”

“No sane man is unafraid in battle, but discipline produces in him a form of vicarious courage.”

“In war the only sure defense is offense, and the efficiency of the offense depends on the warlike souls of those conducting it.”