So I realize it has been a while since I have been in here. In my own defense, I have said this before. Most of the ideas I get come to me at work. Once I am home I feel like that kid Henry in that baseball movie “Rookie of the Year”. You know the point where he falls down and his arm strength disappears as strangely as it came, and that big guy at the plate is yelling at him, “you got nothing”. Any way that is why I haven’t been here.
I have been doing a lot of reading lately. I want, er, am going to be a writer, and they say that great writers read. So I have been doing plenty of that. The book “The Angel Inside” is an inspirational story of a young man on vacation in Italy and the man he meets. A man that sees his frustration with life, and his need for inspiration. It is the story of Michelangelo, Il Gigante, and creating beauty and power.
The author Chris Widener put quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I felt they were worthy putting in here.
Chapter one: Finding the angel inside of you. “Every person has the tremendous capacity to be both king and warrior, a person of value and a person of accomplishment- of beauty and power.”
Chapter two: The power of following your passion. “There comes a time in every person’s life when they must decide whether they will follow what they want for their life, or what someone else wants for their life.”
Chapter three: Being confident in your strength. “If you are to be successful, you must find self-confidence in the things you do well, and then pursue them.”
Chapter four: Beauty through details. “The masters, the ones who succeeded tremendously and set the standard for others, are those who master the details.”
Chapter five: Your hand creates what your mind conceives. “Our worlds are created through the synchronization of the creative brilliance of the mind and the diligent steadiness of the hand.”
Chapter six: The importance of planning and preparation. “The lesson is not to move too fast. Fast enough to get where you want to be, but slow enough to do it right the first time.”
Chapter seven: All accomplishment starts with one swift action. “Action is the beginning of accomplishment. Without it, you have only wasted dreams and good intentions.”
Chapter eight: Embracing the stages of chipping, sculpting, sanding, and polishing. “We must go through the same progression. Chip away what doesn’t belong, sculpt our lives and give them form through the people we associate with and the information we take in, allow the rough spots of our lives be sanded away through adversity and suffering, and then only then, are we ready to be polished and let our power and beauty show in all of it’s glory.”
Chapter nine: Being content: Sometimes success takes years. “Sometimes success just takes years, it takes methodical action over time.”
Chapter ten: No one starts with the Sistine Chapel. “Live your life and do your work in the embodiment of excellence,and all the opportunities will flow your way. People cannot, they will not turn an eye away from excellence.”
The book was a mind opening experience and I would like to thank Chris Widener for his insight and wisdom.
boomersperch 
Discussion
No comments yet.