Let me ask all of you a question. Have you ever made a decision to do something and it seemed as if Murphy’s Law seemed to take affect? For those of you that do not know, Murphy’s Law is the phrase used to associate what could ever go wrong, will go wrong. Has not it ever seemed that despite your careful planning, organization, delegation, etcetera, the thing that you wanted to happen, you prayed would happen, just did not happen? Well, what did you do? Did you decide to continue on the path that you decided to take because you knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was indeed the correct decision? Or, did you decide, sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t?

I am here to tell you, quitting is not an option! Napoleon Hill, a very famous millionaire, was mentored by billionaire Dale Carnegie. His belief was whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Let us reiterate that, whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. This means, that if you can come up with the idea, conceptualize it, form it, think it, organize it, it can be achieved. This means that if you have belief in it, in yourself, whatever you think will come about. Again, quitting is not an option! Why? If you had the tenacity and the foresight to envision it initially, you conceived it. If you had the audacity to think that it could be done, it was possible, no matter how crazy or absurd it sounded, you believed. Again, what can be conceived and believed, can be achieved.

Also, remember and take note, the longer you work and keep working in the right direction, the closer you are to success. Napoleon Hill, in his tape, Think and Grow Rich, stated that Henry Ford worked on the automobile continuously, his invention that would later revolutionize the way America viewed transportation. Thomas Edison also worked continuously on the lightbulb. Both men were questioned about the impact frustration had on them during their various trials and tribulations? They both stated that instead of entering into the mindset that they would never reach their goal, they viewed it as just one more idea that would not work! Again, the longer you work in the right direction, the closer you are to success. Too many people give up when success of reaching their goals is just within their grasp. What is so ironic about it, they give up and leave it for someone else to pick up and take. Ladies and gentlemen, quitting is not an option.

Here are a few items that I believe we all need to pursue the course of our lives each and every day.

1. Desire - urge to do, to change, to be
2. Faith - belief in the unseen
3. Conscious - inner feeling - intuition (women’s intuition, men’s intuition/gut feeling)
4. Knowledge - learn, research, find out
5. Imagination - dream what if, why not, how about
6. Planning - what needs to be done not just how to do it
7. Decision - decide, take action, take a chance, put your feet out there
8. Persistence - staunch advocacy, steadfast, determined

I am reminded about a story that I received over email, entitled:

A Story to Live By

by Ann Wells (Los Angeles Times)

My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau and lifted out a tissue-wrapped package. "This, he said, is not a slip, This is lingerie." He discarded the tissue and handed me the slip. It was exquisite; silk, handmade and trimmed with a cobweb of lace. The price tag with an astronomical figure on it was still attached. "Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion." He took the slip from me and put it on the bed with the other clothes we were taking to the mortician. His hands lingered on the soft material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me, "Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion." I remembered those words through the funeral and the days that followed when I helped him and my niece attend to all the sad chores that follow an unexpected death. I thought about them on the plane returning to California from the Midwestern town where my sister's family lives. I thought about all the things that she hadn't seen or heard or done. I thought about the things that she had done without realizing that they were special. I'm still thinking about his words, and they've changed my life. I'm reading more and dusting less. I'm sitting on the deck and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to savor, not endure. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them. I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event-such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, the first camellia blossom. I wear my good blazer to the market if I feel like it. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries without wincing. I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties; clerks in hardware stores and tellers in banks have noses that function as well as my party-going friends'. "Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I'm not sure what my sister would have done had she known that she wouldn't be here for the tomorrow we all take for granted. I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food. I'm guessing-I'll never know. It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew that my hours were limited. Angry because I put off seeing good Friends whom I was going to get in touch with-someday. Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write-one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them. I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that it is special. Every day, every minute, every breath truly is...a gift from God.

Live each and every day as if it were tomorrow. Don’t wait around for a second chance, a second tomorrow. Make a mental note that each day, you create history, your history, your family’s history. What is it that you wish those to remember? Fear is as fear does. False Evidence Appearing Real. Don’t wait around. Don’t second guess yourself. Quitting is not an option. We are all scared or we all fear something at one point of time or another. We must break through that false, yes, false barrier!

Rejection. We all have been rejected at some point in time of our lives. Rejection is not personal. Many try to make it so. Keep in mind that when you are rejected, it is not you, it is your concept that is not believed. Go back and rework your concept, your presentation, your demeanor, your everything. Again, quitting is not an option. Whenever you have a problem or concern with anyone, do not first question the problem or someone else, question you. You and only you have control over your destiny.

As a wise young woman, my sister, Kamilah Walker shared with me,

"pick your friends like you pick your fruit." Don’t spend major time with minor people. If there are people in your life that continually disappoint you, break promises, stomp on your dreams, too judgmental, have different values and don't have your back during difficult times...that is not a friend. To have a friend, be a friend. Sometimes in life as you grow, your friends will either grow or go. Surround yourself with people who reflect your values, goals, interests and lifestyle. When I think of any of my successes, I'm thankful to God and to my family and friends that enrich my life. Over the years my phone book changed because I changed for the better. At first you think you're going to be alone, but after a while new people show up in your life that make your life so much sweeter and easier to endure. Remember what your elders used to say, "birds of a feather flock together." If you're an eagle, don't hang around chickens....chickens can't fly."

I am reminded by the endeavors of my forefathers, here in America as Native Americans, immigrants from Scotland and Ireland, as well as my ancestors from the continent of Africa. I am constantly reminded of the framers of the Constitution of the United States of America, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Poet Laureate Dr. Maya Angelou, Civil Rights and Animal Advocate, womanist, Alice Walker, my own grandparents and parents. If they were able to live through all of the turmoil, upheaval, Journey of Tears, bitterness between England and the American colonists, race riots, family turmoil, writing amongst tears and joys, toiling in the hot sun on farms and in cotton fields, cleaning up in the homes of others for enough money for education, willing and dealing to lay a foundation for his children, how could I ever, I mean ever think that quitting is an option?

Quitting is not an option. It is not an option for me nor is it an option for you.

We only have one life to live, one chance in this life to be all that we can be. To do all that we can muster, and to say all that we must say to inspire and change the lives of others. This is our state, our country, our world. Let us make an impact by conceiving, believing, and thus achieving.