Here’s a word-art freebie from an Oprah Winfrey quote: “I don’t believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process.”

To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

Background Image by Liliia Rudchenko.

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“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!” Word-Art Freebie

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’re suffering from football withdrawal now that the Super Bowl is over, the Friday Night Lights series on DVD might be just what you need! Of course, maybe you’ve already seen the whole series. My husband and I just finished it … we’re suffering from Friday Night Lights withdrawal at the moment.

My family actually didn’t watch network television except for figure-skating competitions and the Super Bowl. Instead, we watched movies on DVD (video when our kids were little). Now that we’re empty nesters, my husband and I love to order critically-acclaimed series through Netflix.

Friday Night Lights TV Series

The Friday Night Lights TV series is based on a bestselling book and movie of the same name. Set in the fictional town of Dillon in West Texas, the show has a lot to say both about the importance of family and about the sacrifices and responsibility required to follow your dreams.

If you love American football or just enjoy sports movies in general, you’ll probably love Friday Night Lights. For teenagers and older, there are lots of great character lessons and heart-warming family situations to be found in the 5-season series – a series that even has a satisfying ending.

For teenagers, I recommend using the series as a basis for the discussions that are important for parents to have with teenagers. There are a lot of actions going on in the series that I wouldn’t have wanted my own children to participate in, but I think those actions need to be discussed openly during the teenage years.

Here are a few examples of inspiration and character education from Friday Night Lights:

Quotes from Coach Eric Taylor:

“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!” Team Motto

“Life is so very fragile. We are all vulnerable. And we will all at some point in our lives fall. We will all fall. We must carry this in our hearts. That what we have is special.”

 “Every man at some point in his life is going to lose a battle. He is going to fight and he is going to lose. But what makes him a man is at the midst of that battle he does not lose himself. This game is not over, this battle is not over.”

“You can’t beat yourself up because you’re taking chances on things.”

“He joins my team, he’s on my field, he’s got a family.”

“…what football celebrates is teamwork and character if executed properly, that’s what it celebrates.”

“A few will never give up on you. When you go back out on the field, those are the people I want in your minds. Those are the people I want in your hearts.”

 “…there’s a joy to this game, is there not? There’s a passion, there’s a reason why we’re all out here. Other than the fact the pride that it gives us and the respect that it demands we love to play the game so let’s go out there and have fun tonight.”

“There are more important things than football.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

It was recently announced that a movie script based on the Friday Night Lights TV series is almost finished. Yay!

Are you a Friday Night Lights fan?

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Here’s a word-art freebie from the Friday Night Lights motto: “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose!”

To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

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Since it’ll be Valentine’s Day in four days, this seems like a good time for love quotes. Rather than focusing on romantic love, I want to share unconditional love quotes … what the best romantic love (or any type of love) is about anyway.

Here are my favorite unconditional love quotes (with the exception of quotes from the world’s holy books):

“Unconditional love is the greatest gift of all.” Sylvia Massara, The Soul Bearers

“The only love worthy of a name is unconditional.” John Powell

 “The only way love can last a lifetime is if it’s unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love.” Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare

“Unconditional love, agape love, will not be swayed by time or circumstances.” Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare

“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” Thomas Merton

“Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another’s personhood.” Karen Casey

“This fire that we call Loving is too strong for human minds. But just right for human souls.” Aberjhani, Elemental: The Power of Illuminated Love

 “Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are.” Isabel Allende

“Love… What is love? Love is to love someone for who they are, who they were, and who they will be.” Chris Moore

“The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.” Brian Tracy

“Intense love does not measure, it just gives.” Mother Teresa

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

 “To give and not expect return, that is what lies at the heart of love.” Oscar Wilde

“Only when we give joyfully, without hesitation or thought of gain, can we truly know what love means.” Leo Buscaglia

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” Amy Carmichael.

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” Mother Teresa

 “Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get–only with what you are expecting to give–which is everything.” Katherine Hepburn

“Love is, above all, the gift of oneself.” Jean Anouilh

“Love is the doorway through which the human soul passes from selfishness to service.” Unknown.

 “He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Do all things with love.” Og Mandino

“Love creates an ‘us’ without destroying a ‘me.’” Unknown.

 “Where there is great love there are always miracles.” Willa Cather.

“All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.” Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

“Where there is love there is life.” Mahatma Gandhi.

“Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.” St. Augustine.

“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” Helen Keller.

“Once you have learned to love, you will have learned to live.” Unknown.

 “Love is its own reward.” Thomas Merton.

“A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.” Mother Teresa.

“The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

 “Love is life…and if you miss love, you miss life.” Leo Buscaglia.

“All you need is love.” The Beatles

What is your favorite unconditional love quote?

“All You Need Is Love” Word-Art Freebie

Image at top of post by Cornelia Kopp at Flickr Creative Commons.

Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.

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Here’s a word-art freebie from the Beatles’ lyrics “All you need is love.”

To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

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It’s always a good time to “try a little kindness,” but this is an especially good time. The 100 Acts of Kindness Project, which can be varied for any age group, lasts from Martin Luther King Day to Valentine’s Day.

If you want to start now, you don’t have to actually do 100 acts of kindness, although it’s possible to do 100 acts of kindness in a day if you really work at it! But the 100 Acts of Kindness Project is a great way to remind yourself to go out of your way to be kind.

Also, Random Acts of Kindness Week through the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is coming up February 13-19. And, of course, February is “heart” month.

The Heart Project is a way you can show kindness and help the American Heart Association this month by donating $5 and receiving a beautiful eBook with 100+ heart-related photographs and projects by over 70 bloggers (including me). (Note: there’s also a printed book for $20 and a way you can simply donate to the AHA.)

Kindness Ideas and Inspiration

Kindness Projects Pinterest Board

Kindness Ideas from The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation

100 Ideas for Kindness from Karma Cooler

Make a list: Ways to Be Kind from Family Matters

100 Acts of Kindness Project (my post at Living Montessori Now)

Make the World a Happier Place with Acts of Kindness (my post from last year)

“No Act of Kindness” Word-Art Freebie

“Never Forget Kindnesses” Word-Art Freebie

“Practice Random Kindness” Word-Art Freebie

Best Kindness Quotes

“Try A Little Kindness” – Glen Campbell

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photo Credit: Photo at the top of the post by Wade M at Flickr Creative Commons.

Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.

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In honor of the Chinese New Year and the 100 Acts of Kindness Project, here’s a word-art freebie from the kindness quote by Confucius: “Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.”

To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

Chinese Calligraphy for Kindness on Old Parchment  by Kheng Ho Toh.

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This is a big week in figure skating … the week of both the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and the European Figure Skating Championships. A time like this reminds me of the importance of self-confidence. Not only does competition help individuals gain confidence, but the athletes with the most confidence typically perform best.

And it isn’t true just for sports. A job interview or almost any type of performance under pressure will be much more successful with self-confidence.

Here are some of my favorite confidence quotes:

“Under pressure you can perform fifteen percent better or worse.” Scott Hamilton

“Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.” Theodore Roosevelt

“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.” Zig Ziglar

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” Marie Curie

“Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.” Robert Collier

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” Sven Goran Eriksson

“With confidence, you can reach truly amazing heights; without confidence, even the simplest accomplishments are beyond your grasp.” Marianne Williamson

“Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, you can do a bigger thing well too.” David Storey

“Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act.” Jack Welch

“Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.” Wendy Wasserstein

“If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” Mark Victor Hansen

“Self-confidence is the memory of success.” David Storey

“Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.” Jack Nicklaus

“Confidence doesn’t come out of nowhere. It’s a result of something… hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication.” Roger Staubach

“Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.” George Herbert

“You’ve got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.” Chris Evert

“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started.” Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.” Samuel Johnson

“Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.” Lao Tzu

“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.” Vince Lombardi

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” Helen Keller

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Dale Carnegie

“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” Norman Vincent Peale

“Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.” Brian Tracy

“Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory.” Diane Arbus

“At a young age winning is not the most important thing… the important thing is to develop creative and skilled players with good confidence.” Arsene Wenger

“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.” Joe Namath

“Confidence is everything in this business.” Reese Witherspoon

“My theory is that if you look confident you can pull off anything – even if you have no clue what you’re doing.” Jessica Alba

“The big gap between the ability of actors is confidence.” Kathleen Turner

“Everybody wants to be somebody. The thing you have to do is give them confidence they can. You have to give a kid a dream.” George Foreman

“You weren’t an accident, You weren’t mass produced. You aren’t an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman.” Max Lucado

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” Henry David Thoreau

What is your favorite confidence quote?

Photo Credit: Photo by Delphine Devos at Flickr Creative Commons (License).

Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.

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Here’s some word art from a Helen Keller Quote: “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

Watercolor background by Tomas Jasinskis.

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A truly amazing character trait sports can help develop is courage. The most inspiring sports stories involve courage, and I’m sure that’s the case with the most inspiring life stories as well.

Tebowing Courage

Even though the Denver Broncos’ football season is over now, courage has been in the sports news a lot this year, thanks to the Tim Tebow phenomenon. I’m one of those who loved watching Tebow show the courage to express his faith so publicly.

Of course, some may ridicule the concept of “Tebowing.” (“Tebowing: (vb)- to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone around you is doing something comepletely different.” [Tebowing.com]) But in a Fox Sports article, Tim Tebow tells one of the best things about people Tebowing.  He says:

“It’s not my job to see people’s reasons behind it, but I know [of a kid] with cancer that tweeted me, ‘Tebowing while I’m chemoing’ — how cool is that?” Tebow said. “That’s worth it right now. If that gives him any encouragement or puts a smile on his face, or gives him encouragement to pray, that’s completely awesome.”

Courage in Facing Fear

And I loved hearing about the courageous last-minute game moves Tim Tebow has become known for.

An article from Yahoo! Sports has an interesting take on Tebow’s many late-game comebacks. It says:

What Tebow does, better than just about any other quarterback, is approach danger. Embrace danger.

I’ve seen that many times in figure skating as well. The skaters who show fear in events where fear is completely understandable have the worst performances. The skaters who aggressively and seemingly fearlessly attack their programs have the skate of their lives at the biggest and most difficult competitions.

I’d like to have more of that type of courage myself. How about you?
“Saddling up Anyway” Word-Art Freebie

Inspiration from Soul Surfer, Bethany Hamilton (and word-art freebie)

Photo at top of post by Magic Mermaid at Flickr Creative Commons.

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