“Yes we can” has become a bit of a cliche over the last year and a half. But I’m here to remind you that, “Yes, you can.”
When I was little, everyone would always tell me that I could do anything that I wanted. Adults would tell me that I could achieve anything, go anywhere or be anything that I wanted when I grew up.
Well, I have grown up. And now those same people are the first to tell me that I can’t – that it’s too hard, too risky or just downright impossible. Why do we fan the flames of a child’s dreams, yet extinguish the desires of other adults?
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what family, friends or strangers might think. The whole world can say, “You can’t.” But it only takes one person to believe in you.
And that one person is you.
Just in case you need backup: I believe in you, too.
Don’t let everyone else define your reality or diminish your dreams. If you want it – if you really, really want it – and if you are willing to put energy and effort into manifesting your desires… well, I wouldn’t want to bet against you.
You might encounter a million red lights. But it only takes one green light – your green light.
December 15, 2009 at 3:50 pm
i guess it’s like finding or accumulating your inner energy and then turning it into something worthy
by the way, nice photos
December 15, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Damn. Paul slipped in while I was writing.
December 15, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Oooo! I’m the Prime commentor!
So, so true, Davey. I’ve always considered myself a “glass half full” kind of guy. Repetitive negativism drives me nuts.
OBTW, I’m a relatively new blog buddy. I noticed the shift in the environment of your current Christmas pix. Are you recycling old material???
December 15, 2009 at 8:53 pm
No, I’m at my parents’ house for the month!
December 15, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Nice point, but a bit cliche….
December 15, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Thanks for the sparkle magic, Davey… the photos are always a big plus for me.
December 15, 2009 at 4:08 pm
i dont want to sound like a jerk…but anyway you can put on some clothes…clothes make the man! I bet you really look sharp in some nice clothes…how about a pic of you in a really cool outfit…DAVEY “yes you can!” Grazie my friend
December 15, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I was thinking this tonight as I played tennis, 0-40 down, after 3 double faults, still had the belief to go for it. Served another double fault, but I still went for it, laughed it off, and got ready to play a good return game, and I did. Only took 18 years of playing to get to this frame of mind!
December 15, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Anyway, for some people a great deal can be gained from the lack or complete absence of support as it becomes a stimulus to prove yourself. There’s an extract from Chuck Palahniuk’s: ‘…it’s what makes me feel secure, I think, that lack of security.’ The same goes with support I reckon.
Unfortunately this doesn’t work for many of us, actually, including me. We ignore opportunities at times or consider things too risky just because we don’t feel enough encouragement, so thanks for offering your support +)
December 15, 2009 at 5:30 pm
now if only i could tune out all the voices saying “no.”
December 15, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Try this on: They’re only voices. They’re only people. They have no more and no less power than you do and the only power they have over you and your life is the power you allow them to wield. You have the ultimate say in your life. Will you choose to say “They’re all saying ‘no’, I might as well stop trying.” or will you choose to say “They’re all saying ‘no’ but I know that if I’m committed I can do this.”? We’re all human. Most of us have failed in some way and don’t want to see the people we care about fail too. What we don’t realize is that by saying ‘no’ we may prevent them from falling on their asses but we also prevent them from soaring like the eagles. Instead of letting their ‘nos’ really hit you, say “Thanks for sharing.”, reaffirm that you are the master of your own fate and resolve to do whatever it is you want to do. You can.
December 15, 2009 at 5:30 pm
thank you, though, for the vote of confidence.
December 15, 2009 at 5:30 pm
“May the Force be with me!”
Thanks for this reminder, David!
bye,
PS :
By the way, who’s going to play Santa Claus at your parent’s home?
Yes, you can!
December 15, 2009 at 5:51 pm
“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”
-Emerson
December 15, 2009 at 5:53 pm
“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
- Ayn Rand
December 15, 2009 at 9:42 pm
WOW, what an awesome quote.
It struck a cord deep inside me that is still vibrating.
Thanx, Jaime.
Peace, Love, and Truth,
Todd in VA
December 15, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I’m a brand new blog buddy, and I have to say that I truly enjoy your positive outlook on life and the world around us! And you’re not hard on the eyes either!! I think we are all learning a valuable lesson from you. Please continue to inspire us!!
December 15, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Without failure, there is no success.
We only live in the present. Thus saying we want or want to do something means we don’t have it and can’t do it.
Thinking that I am going to do this, it is coming my way. It exists in the future, and since energy is constant, it makes it possible to achieve this.
We create out reality, our future. And it can range anywhere in the spectrum, from tragedy, depression, to happiness, to achievement.
Once you realize that you are creating this, rather you are co-creating your reality with everybody else to a collective present reality, you then accept that you can do anything you choose (not that you want).
December 15, 2009 at 6:27 pm
That is so my life and my family. I just take a deep look inside myself and ask myself everyday, “What makes me happy”, and I do it. Friends help also! Love:Matthew McCarty
P.S. I luv you davey wavey
December 15, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Sobriety is what I tell myself that I can do. I’ve been sober 37 days now.
I just keep to my own saying “True to my body, true to myself”
and it works for me. Next I’m hitting up NASA.
December 15, 2009 at 8:34 pm
The text of this poem needs no help from me. Peace…
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
December 15, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Ha! Just when I was doing a little life planning, I check your blog. Perfect timing
December 15, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Thank you for the motivation.
December 15, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Davey. I love you.
December 15, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Davey i just wanted to let you know that you are awsome!!!! I have been following your site for a little while now but never posted… I am bi and tonight I told the first person (one of my best friends)… it was a almost like an out of body experience. Thanks for helping me realise that I had enough confidence in myself to do it.
December 15, 2009 at 11:14 pm
This post is like a sign for me, because yesterday i told my parents that i dnt wanna attend the university that theyre making me attend. Asusual they said no, i cant work and study at the same time, that the uni is too expensive, all this crap. But this post reminded me that i can do it, maybe not right now but later i can
thank you davey. You’ve got some really inspiring posts. Keep up the good work
December 16, 2009 at 12:34 am
This is definitely one of my favorite posts of yours. I really needed this one (:
December 16, 2009 at 1:27 am
Thank you.
December 16, 2009 at 4:34 am
You all ought 2 c this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5mSrRGuf5U
Luv this guy!
December 16, 2009 at 7:28 am
Thank you Davey, for your expressed confidence in “all-of-us!!” i Love you, Davey!! And “Merry Christmas” to-All
’! – - – davvi
December 16, 2009 at 8:48 am
how true this is for me.my Parents told me very early in life-yes-i could do anything.then-later on-my Mother would say-you just have to settle for less-that the future is not really in your hands.that their are circumstances beyond your control.guess what?my hopes and aspirations-im plugging along-and the result-a major change to my life will begin next month-January.yes-i can.yes-you can.inspiring words-DW.Thank You so much for these words of inspiration.Hugs and Kisses.
December 16, 2009 at 8:58 am
When people critise us, it’s coming from their own inner critic. They’re not really saying u can’t, but they can’t. They’re projecting their own fear of failure upon u. So do whatever it is that they say u can’t & mabye ur success will inspire them 2 go after whatever it is they think they can’t do.
December 16, 2009 at 9:48 am
Davey– we have the same Humidifier !!!! We are connected !!!!!
December 16, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Yes, I can! I can have Shane if i try hard enough to get his attention. I can do well for A-levels next year if i study hard & smart enough. I can continue to score goals in my sch’s soccer team.
Then at the end of it all. I’ll pat myself on the back & say “Atta girl.” Then i’ll thank you Davey & give you a big hug! <3
December 16, 2009 at 2:19 pm
If I listened to all the ones that said you can’t I’d be typing out this on a machine with a 5″ floppy disk (no hard drive)and mailing it to my brother circa 1978. Internet was being used by the military back then and was only in its infancy in the University system. I had a boss who would telephone me on his car phone ( a full house sized telephone) I would hang up on him and tell him to go to a real phone (he called me at home via an “emergency interupt”, which my friends later determined that all calls of that sort are bullshit and they will have no part in them ever again.) I wanted to get hold of him via that phone to resign, I couldn’t get through. When he did call me on a real phone because I didn’t show up at work. I said I already cleared out my things and my friends witnessed me throw your key down a storm drain. You can get their statement from one of them that you interupted an important call from, the others I’ll give them your number and they will call you. If you decide you will deduct for changing the locks, I’ll have you arrested for not reimbursing me for what I had to pay one of your vendors out of my pocket. All the people you have scamed owing them money I have their contact information. The marshall thanked me for the information on your gate at your house and said “We will have provisions at our disposal for that.” My boss had nothing to say. I told him my bank (United California Bank) was going to send you a letter about “check kiting” that they acused me of doing when it was really you when I paid that vender. They said the accounts you have with them are terminated. Check kiting was what people did in the old days using the 3-4 day float period before a check was actually deposited till when the funds were dispersed. Unscroupulous people used that as their modus operandi. When banks found out about it they would dump you like a hot potato rather than prosecute. There is no more can’t. Need more proof?
December 16, 2009 at 2:43 pm
HI. Well that is so true believe in yourself and no matter what everyone ells says YOU will succeed!!!
December 16, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Typical sunshine optimism, not really balanced by any basis in reality.. True, if one doesn’t believe in oneself and one’s ability to transcend, nothing much will happen; but there is the opposite side of the coin which is unjustified optimism that leads to certain failure.. many people would like to do something different/better with their lives, but not everyone is suitably equipped (with the right disposition, knowledge, goals, attitudes) to achieve each and every one of their dreams in full. While (some) children are instructed to dream big and follow those dreams, the important thing in adulthood is to temper one’s dreams with reality, and realize that risks are necessary to make change, but risks do not necessarily guarantee reward. Sometimes the change will be worse (a la “don’t quit your day job) if the person doesn’t have the ability to pursue or the commitment to bring about their ultimate dreams. For instance, I’d like to be the next big famous singer, and I could move to California or somewhere and try playing the local circuit, waiting for my big break but if no one discovers me or cares for my voice or my material or considers me unmarketable it probably won’t happen. I’d also like to believe I could win the lottery and be instantly rich, and while there is a definite chance that could happen, it makes little sense to spend half my paycheck trying.
December 16, 2009 at 7:02 pm
huh?
December 16, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Where would India be today had Gandhi listened to the people who told him his optimism and positivity were unjustified? Where would South Africa be had someone told Mandela to temper his dreams with reality? How about President Obama? He dared to dream and to act upon it and for the first time in history a black family lives in the White House.
You make the point that risks don’t guarantee rewards. On the surface that seems plausible. On the other hand, if we never risk we’ll never even have a chance at the rewards. If we always play by the set rules and act only on what’s predictable, probable or what’s happened in the past we’re doomed to live the status quo forever. What’s the fun in only playing games we know we can win when we could challenge the seemingly unbeatable foe for the chance at glory? Win or not we took the chance. Courage, audacity and fortitude are our rewards.
It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt
December 18, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Hey Davey,
I know what you mean. When I was a child my father would tell me at least once a day that it didn’t matter what I wanted in life that it didn’t matter what everyone told me was important. He would tell me I could be anything I wanted an Astronaut, a musician, I could discover the cure for cancer. He also told me to never do something because someone else told me it was the right thing to do or that I would be better if I did what they did. He taught me to make my own decisions and to think for myself, that he still does. But now he talks about, know your limitations and it can’t always be the way you want it. He says, some people just can’t do what other people can. The funny thing is, is that I’m 29 now and you know I still seem to have more respect for and belief in “I can do or be anything I want to be.” It’s interesting because my dad now 55 is inspired by my ability to believe that no matter how impossible something may seem, there is always a way. Brings to mind something he used to tell me, “where there is a will, there is a way” For me my life path has lead me to a place where all I can think about on every day is how can I make even just one life better, my dad says I have a good heart(metaphore), but really he’s the one who let me, helped me believe that no matter what, it all works out, the things that need to happen will.(what a great stress reducer, lol)
It’s funny my dad acts like I discovered these things alone on my own, I think he must have forgotten that he was the one who first shared them with me!!!! (Love You, Dad!)
Kenneth R. Livingston
December 20, 2009 at 1:49 pm
thanks for believing in me!
December 23, 2009 at 6:08 pm
That’s for sure.Sometimes we feel like everything is going away,that we’re losing what we have, but certainly is not like this;just, it’s necesary to sit and put your things in order and give to yourself a break.
February 5, 2010 at 9:26 am
I needed this today Davey! Thank you
I want those jeans… anyone know what brand they are? *blessed*