Just Get Up and Go

"Nobody cares if you're not a good dancer. Just get up and dance. The same holds true for racing. Whether first or last, we all cross that same finish line. Just get out there and run."

- Dean Karnazes

Win the Future

"We shouldn't just give our people a government that's more affordable. We should give them a government that's more competent and efficient. We cannot win the future with a government of the past."

- President Barack Obama, State of the Union January 25, 2011

Happiness

"It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere."

- Agnes Repplier

Jar of Hearts

Don’t you know I’m not your ghost anymore.
You lost the love I love the most.
I learn to live half alive and now you want me one more time.

Who do you think you are?
Running around leaving scars.
Collecting your jar of hearts.
Tearing love apart.
You’re gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul.

So don’t come back for me.

- Christina Perri, "Jar of Hearts"

Wonderstruck

"This night is sparkling, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew.
This night is flawless, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you."

- Taylor Swift, "Enchanted"

For My Friends and Family

If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea
I'll sail the world to find you
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see
I'll be the light to guide you

Find out what we're made of
What we are called to help our friends in need

You can count on me like one, two, three
I'll be there and I know when I need it
I can count on you like four, three, two
And you'll be there 'cause that's what friends
Are supposed to do, oh yeah, ooh, ooh

If you toss and you turn and you just can't fall asleep
I'll sing a song beside you
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me
Everyday I will remind you...

...You'll always have my shoulder when you cry
I'll never let go, never say goodbye.

- "Count on Me", Bruno Mars

No Curtain Call

I have no time for fear or people in my ear
Head down and running so fast, try not to dwell on the past
I'm fighting through this pain and things I cannot change
Running right into the flame rather than running away.

As it's winding down to zero I am yours like a hero
I'll see this through, there's so much me and you
Take this enemy together, fight these demons off forever
Forever, forever, forever

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, I won't stop until it's done
No curtain call, I will not fall
This may be the one we've been waiting for
No curtain call, just take it all

- "No Curtain Call", Maroon 5

Hotel Hell

Dwight: Welcome to the Hotel Hell. Check in time now. Check out time is never.
Jim: Does my room have cable?
Dwight: No, and the sheets are made of fire!
Jim: Can I change rooms?
Dwight: No, we're all booked up. Hell convention in town!
Jim: Can I have a late check out?
Dwight: I'll have to talk to the manager.
Jim: You're not the manager...even in your own fantasy?
Dwight: I'm the owner....the co-owner. With Satan!
Jim: Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.
Dwight: But I haven't told you my salary.
Jim: Go.
Dwight: Eighty thousand dollars a year!

Gonna Smack You

"If you swear you're giving up on love, that's when it hits you the hardest. I guess resistance creates intensity. I think love's gonna smack you over the head- or whevever it smacks you- no matter what you do."

- Jake Gyllenhaal, in Parade

Taken Me In

"Running has taken me in, and continues to comfort, heal and challenge me in all kinds of magical ways. I am not a 'good runner' because I am me. I am a good 'me' because I am a runner."

-Kristin Armstrong

Dog Days

"Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back
Struck from a great height
By someone who should have known better than that

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses
'Cos here they come."

Florence and the Machine, "Dog Days are Over"

Courage

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

Muhammad Ali

First Step

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Judging

"I asked my heart if it could please infuse my soul with a more generous perspective on my mind's workings. Instead of thinking that I was a failure, could I perhaps accept that I am only a human being- and a normal one, at that? The thoughts cam up as usual- OK, so it will be- and then the attendant emotions rose, too. I began feeling frustrated and judgmental about myself, lonely and angry. But then a fierce response boiled up from somewhere in the deepest caverns of my heart, and I told myself, "I will not judge you for these thoughts."

From Eat, Pray, Love

Expectations

"Other people may not have high expectations of me, but I have high expectations for myself."

-Shannon Miller

Firework

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow
And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go, oh
As you shoot across the sky

"Firework", by Katy Perry

Soul Mates

"Your problem is you don't understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave."

From Eat, Pray, Love

Beating Your Dreams

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Neil Kendall

Investment

"When I think about running, it feels like the best 45-minute investment I make in a day. It's enjoyable, it makes me feel better, and it's probably paying dividends way into the future. Running is a really easy choice."

John Fixx, son of running legend Jim Fixx

Sixty Seconds

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson