dan ho

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise.”
~ Robert Fritz

Sometimes you have to make things happen, create the opportunity and not wait for one to appear.

Jade asked me what dan’ism was … well, these quotes and precepts are what I try to live by now.

Precepts

No fear. No doubt. No regrets

Don’t be afraid to try new things. Have confidence in the decision you made to try it. Don’t make decisions that you can’t live with.

Desire. Passion. Focus.

If you desire something, put your passion and focus into it! I actually made this up when I was dragonboating. I put my passion into paddling and the desire to cross that finish line made me put my full focus into my paddling in the summers.

When I decided I wanted to switch from computer programming, even though I was really good at it, to being a news photographer, a career I knew little about, I just put my desire, passion and focus together and went with it.

Backup plan? Well, while I had programming as a backup, I tried not to think about it. Prepare the backup, then forget about it. You won’t need it. Constantly thinking about your backup is having self-doubt.

Quotes

“Twenty years from now
you will be more disappointed
by the things you didn’t do
than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbour.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain

Do not be afraid to explore! Do not be afraid to play outside of your sandbox! I do have regrets unfortunately. The regrets are the things that I did not do. From now on, the no-regrets part of what I try to live by, is in trying to experience as much of life as I can.

“Not knowing history is to not have a compass on events. It’s like being in the middle of an ongoing conversation and not know what anybody has been saying.”
~ Caroline Myss

We should learn from past mistakes, to know where we are going. Our past helps guide us through to our future. If you have no past, you have no future. Afterall, your life is the sum of your experiences! Your actions are guided by those experiences.

“I’m a lover, not a fighter, but I’ll fight for what I love.”
~ Anon

Make love, not war! But defend what your love with everything you’ve got! Of course, pick the place of battle and weapon of choice carefully. Whether it be words, fists, or whatever else you’ve got!

“You grow old the moment you stop learning. The secret to eternal youth is to keep on learning.”
~ Anon

Keep learning! Old people always “don’t do this” or “don’t like to try that”. The world they live in is preconceived in their minds and the borders they set up to keep that world intact, is what keeps them old. Again, look at Mark Twain’s quote. It applies even to your dying day!

“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart”
~ Chinese Proverb

If you want to do something, just do it. Feel it. Go with it! Why do something and then hold back on doing it? That’s fear. That’s doubt. That’s lacking confidence.

“Only exceptionally rational men can afford to be absurd.”
~ Allan Goldfein

“Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
~ Albert Einstein

“The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.”
~ Bruce Feirstein

Don’t be afraid to use your imagination. To boldy go where no man has gone before. Afterall, before man first went into space, we all dreamt of what it would be like.

“If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise.”
~ Robert Fritz

Sometimes you have to make things happen, create the opportunity and not wait for one to appear.

“A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step.”
~ Chinese proverb

Don’t be afraid to get things done. Little by little, a mountain can be moved. (I’m sure there’s a quote for that latter part.)

“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
~ Dylan Thomas

Whatever you do, don’t give up!

So that’s what I try to live by. And that list grows every day. Because I keep learning.

“And every hour of every day I’m learning more
The more I learn, the less I know about before
The less I know, the more I want to look around
Digging deep for clues on higher ground…”
~ UB40 – Higher Ground