“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

–Henri Matisse

This year, Oprah gave the commencement address to Stanford graduates. I watched her speech and think her advice on success, failure and finding happiness is good enough for all of us to consider.

She stressed that success isn’t only about money (though she admits that’s part of it)–your work must be meaningful and rewarding in ways that reach beyond your bank account too. She says, “Follow your feelings, if it feels right, move for it. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.” And that’s advice that I think you can follow every single day–you’ve got to learn to trust your intuition and not to rely on anyone else’s opinions in making decisions.

See what Oprah says about failure and finding happiness after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

“No matter how hard the loss, defeat might serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out.”

-Al Gore

“Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.”

-Henry Ford

“…we spend far too much time and energy contemplating our inadequacies. We forget that we are all perfect in our imperfection.”

—Kate Dillon

If you don’t have a life list, you should start one right now. It’s easy and fun–simply make a list of all the things that you want to do in your lifetime, both big and small, fun and serious. Or you could make it more specific like 30 Things to Do Before You’re 30. Maybe you want to swim in the Mediterranean sea, run a marathon, write a book, fall in love, see Madonna in concert or cut your carbon footprint in half. A life list is an active way to remind ourselves to keep dreaming and achieving. Without setting goals, we could float through life for years without ever trying anything new or feeling the thrill of doing something challenging or exciting.

While you could just keep track of your goals in a journal or a file on your computer, it’s more fun to have encouragement and support along the way. I just started recording a life list on 43 Things. It’s a simple site that asks you “What do you want to do with your life?” and in turn allows you to record up to 43 goals, compare with others on the site, cheer each other on and sign up to receive email reminders.

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“One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.”

-Chinese Proverb