success
The road to success is always under construction; share your equations for success — and learn some new ones.
Sunday Afternoon
It had been a long winter. Cathy took the dog on a long walk for the first time in months. Short walks had been more common, but out of the routine they had previously established. Several long walks, ten miles a day had dropped significantly with the cold. A change in weather, the warmth that had sprung up meant a return to normal. With winter’s end in sight, warmer days, and clearing snow meant there were more people out and about along the path than they had seen in weeks, months. This fact would have been annoying at first, a distraction to her dog, Addie, or a constant stream of people bringing obstacles to maneuver around. But, with more people out, there had been an effect she had missed. Money.
By Cathy Gordon5 years ago in Motivation
The Broken Wall
I slammed the sledgehammer into the wall and felt the chalky material give way. All around me was destruction, and it felt fitting – symbolic even. This was the razing that came before the remaking. I was doing to this house what I had done to my life.
By Priscilla Leigh5 years ago in Motivation
Black Girl with the little black book
Here's the story of a Black Girl with a little black book. One late winter day, Jade was sitting on a family member's couch, thinking of how life could be better for her. Jade was already homeless and living with a family member was a very uncomfortable situation for her. She loved her family and they were very much help but Jade needed her own space. Jade was a very strong, independent young woman, she just couldn't find her way. Times were passing and Jade just needed a lil extra boost, she kept wondering where is my blockage coming from, why I can't think of the creative things I once thought before. So One evening Jade asked one her family members to take her to the store, Jade didn't know what she going to the store for, she just needed to get out of the house. Indeed Jade went to the store. Inside the Store Jade was just roaming to see if she could think of new ideas. Jade thought to herself, " I can start with pen and paper", So she found a isle full of sources, different notebooks, different pens, different reading books. Jade was walking and searching, she was so amazed by the different things she seen, that's when she said herself "I have to find the perfect notebook, so many colors and sizes." Jade didn't have much money so she couldn't just buy herself nice things or the things she really wanted. So she stumbled across this little black book, small enough for her and it didn't cost as much as the other books. She also bought herself one pen. Jade was excited, she had just made her first steps into creating new ideas. Jade and her family member went back to the shared home. Jade rushed out the car to go write in her new book. There was a lot of people in the home so, Jade had to wait while everyone was sleep to start brainstorming. As soon as everyone was sleep Jade took her little black book and pen, and went outside. Just as Jade picked up the pen to begin writing, her and hand fingers just went to work. She started writing down everything, from her now house to her new car to her new life, everything just came to her senses. It's like her hands just wrote the book for her. She couldn't believe her eyes, she had filled up the whole notebook within that one night. From that point on everything Jade wrote in the book begin to happen. She was blessed with a new home, a new car, and even started her own family, she followed her career pursuits, she was very successful and was able to take care of her whole family. Jade was so thankful for the little black book, she went and started a business for little girls and young women to begin pursuing their lives with little black books.
By Jaquita Burrell5 years ago in Motivation
Leonard
Leonard Franks had a massive collection of blank notebooks. Without a bookshelf each one migrated to the coves of his apartment. The more elegant ones scooted closer to the desk with hopes to be seen first, their smooth matte surfaces coming in every color from plum to buttered corn. The ones covered with “Look to the Stars…” and “Live Inspired” napped in drawers of nightstands or could be caught gossiping under the sofa. Whatever their antic of choice one thing was for certain, they were always multiplying. Leonard was always in the market for one more; something about those blank pages in the bookstore made him feel the potential of his thoughts having a place where they mattered.
By Karly Fischer5 years ago in Motivation
A Series of Challenging Events
If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you will need to first recognize that this story has long been an unhappy one. My name is Landen Sauget and what I’m about to share with you are a series of challenging events. Do stick around, things do get better.
By Pear5 years ago in Motivation
Moonlight
The warm breeze caresses the shades as the moon light shines through the window pane. It is a quarter to 3:00am and the air is filled with magic and wonder. Summer nights are always the best nights but something about this night is especially intriguing. Plagued with insomnia Melissa sits at her computer desk writing the night away in her favorite petite sized black note that her great grandmother gifted her before she passed away 2 years ago. Melissa and her grandmother were the best of friends. She would always encourage Melissa to follow her dreams no matter how far out of reach they seemed. Her grandmother was a well known poet in Miami. She was originally from Cuba but came to Miami when she was 21 to pursue her dream of becoming a poet in a big city. WWriting is the only thing that seems to free Melissa’s mind these days. It hasn’t been easy since she has passed away but Melissa is determined to keep her grandmother’s legacy alive by continuing her lineage as a poet. Melissa is a 22 year old aspiring poet who is currently pursuing creative writing at Miami University. She is currently a senior in her last semester of college. As she is about to wrap up her last stanza, she hears a knock at the door. “Who is it?” She asks. No one answers. “May I help you?” Melissa asks. Once more, no one answers. Haha, very funny. Now who is this playing games at my door at this time of morning!? Diane is that you? Diane is Melissa’s roommate who is a big jokester and loves to coin herself as the “queen of pranks.” To Melissa’s surprise her pleas are met again with silence. Melissa walks over to the door to open it. “Diane! You are so an….” When Melissa opens the door, no one is present. Melissa now a little spoked rubs her eyes and shouts down the hall of her apartment “Diane!” Diane responds with a groggy tone from her room “Omg what?! Why are you up Melissa? Melissa responds. Someone was knocking on the door and I asked 2 times whoo it was and no one answered. I was for sure it was you playing tricks on me. “Girl no way was that me. Do you see what time it is? I have a huge final in the morning. I don;t have time for games let alone being awake at this ungodly time of night. Melissa who is now officially spoked exclaims “ Then if it was not you who on earth could it have been!” “Well love, we do have a whole other roommate. Diane responds in a sarcastic tone. Melissa now annoyed says “No way that could be Tara, she has been staying at her boyfriend's house for the past couple of days.” Well Melissa, it wasn’t me, maybe you should call it night. Could it be that your mind is playing tricks on you because you haven't gotten any sleep for the past 2 days? Melissa, now a little calmer, responds with a sigh. “Yeah girl you are probably right. Let me finish this last stanza and try to ease myself to sleep.” “Yeah girl you do that and let me know if you need a melatonin. I got a bottle of 5mg.” “Thanks Diane, I appreciate that.” Diane, now a little less edgy, responds “ Anytime girl, anytime.” Melissa slowly closes her door and finishes up her last stanza.
By Alexandria Abraham5 years ago in Motivation
Black Book Miracle
I flagged down the cab and told the driver “Penn Station please”. As we pulled up to the station, I grabbed my stuff & handed him $10.00 & told him keep the change”. “Really” I heard him reply as I ran down the stairs to the train. Searching for the track my train was on I thought I dropped something but kept running anyway. Looked in my wallet for my ticket to discovered that I must have given the driver $100.00 instead of $10.00 that I was looking at. As my eyes welled up with tears thinking that that $100.00 was supposed to last for a week until payday. The conductor asked me as he collected my ticket “Are you okay?” “Yes, thank you” I answered quietly. Once home, I decided to see if there change at the bottom of my bag for breakfast. I dumped my stuff in the bed. “$2.60 that’s not even enough for coffee. “I really need to clean this bag”. At the bottom of the mess, I find a little black Moleskine Classic Notebook. “Where did this come from? Maybe when I grabbed my stuff from th4e taxi.” I opened up the book to see the name Jane Johnson 212.999.6677. I’ll give her a call to let her know that I found her book. “Hello, Is this Jane Johnson?” “Yes” she replied. Did you lose anything earlier today? “Yes, I did! Oh God did you find my notebook” she asked. “Can you describe what kind of book it is?” I asked. “A black Moleskine Classic Notebook. Please tell me you found it!” “Yes, I did” I replied. “I would love to give it back to you I said. “I’ll pay you anything for it to be returned” she said. “That won’t be necessary”. I replied. “I live on Long Island & can’t get into the city”. If you would like to pick it up, I will meet you to give it back to you.” “My life’s work is in that book.” She replied. We talked about where & when to meet and set up to meet at a coffee shop near my house. I see a little lady looking around. I ask if she is Ms. Johnson. “Yes, I am” she said. “Here you are” as I handed her the book. She hugged the book like it was a long-lost child. “You don’t know what you have done for me.” She told me. “This information will save many lives” She said with tears in her eyes. “It’s taken me over 40 years to compile all of this. I wrote in code, so no one else could read it. Please let me reward you.” She spoke. “No, it’s my pleasure to return it to you!” I answered knowing that I only had about $2.60 left to my name. “May I have your name & address so that I can send you a small gift?” she asked me. “Sure, I guess that would be okay!” We exchanged information & said out goodbyes. A week later the doorbell rang. When I answered it there was a tall older man in a business suit. “Marie Nelson?” he asked. “Yes” I replied. “I have a check here for you from Mrs. Johnson.” “Oh, I couldn’t possibly take it. I just did want I was supposed to do! Please take it back & tell her it’s not necessary.” “I am sorry but I can’t do that. You see Mrs. Johnson passed away a few days ago. She had no relatives. She left everything to you! Her estate is worth 2 Billion dollars!”
By Verna Miles5 years ago in Motivation
Pot of Gold
It was pitch dark, Mariyam groped for her glasses and almost miraculously found them. She put the glasses on and suddenly the darkness seemed less threatening and more familiar. As she grew less disoriented, She remembered how she was shifted to the recovery room after being on a ventilator for almost a week. Her back still hurt with the effects of the virus. She tried to put her head up and read the time. It was almost six in the morning. "Old habits die hard.” she smiled at her body clock for never failing her. She looked around to find a nurse or an attendant but there was no one. She thought they must be tired too fussing around her for more than a week or maybe now they were attending another patient gasping for breath and struggling to win the battle called life. She finally perked her head up on the pillows and was able to see the contents of the table next to her bed. To her utter surprise there was a big bouquet, nicely wrapped. Those were her favorite flowers. Mariyam got so overjoyed that she picked up the bouquet and tried to find a card from the sender. She was even more intrigued to see a little black book, almost hidden in the middle of the flowers. Unless someone would examine the bouquet closely, they could not have found it. She wondered who could have sent this bouquet and notebook. With the curiosity of a little girl, she grabbed the black book and started to Turn the pages. She touched the surface of the blank pages with her finger tips. For once in her life, her hands seemed coarser compared to the suppleness of the paper. The blank void of the notebook demanded to be filled with words. Words that defined her, words that meant everything to her ever since she was a young girl. The brand new note book reminded her of the promise of every blank book she had written so passionately into. But the promise of the gold pot was never fulfilled at the end of those rainbows. At the ripe age of 50, she was still struggling to find her voice. She was still struggling to be noticed by the producers. She somehow failed to make any useful connections in the industry. Her failure to launch as a successful playwright had affected the academic ambitions of her daughter. She was most heartbroken when she thought of not being able to support her kid in any way. With all these thoughts rushing through her mind like scenes changing on a fast paced train window, she decided to write something. She grabbed the pen that she had been using to fill out the endless hospital paperwork. As she started writing her name, she felt a crease under the paper and she turned the pages over to find and smooth out that crease. To her utter surprise there was an envelope that had been fixed in the cover of the notebook. With her heart galloping, she opened the envelope. Mariyam could not believe her eyes, there were crisp new $500 bills! What in the world was this? Who could have sent her this money? She practically jumped out of her bed and frantically made sure the door was locked. She then opened the envelope with the doubt that it had been her over imaginative mind playing tricks on her. But the money was still very much there, she counted and recounted. Each time, she counted, she could not believe that it was $20,000. This was beyond her wildest imagination. This money could take care of all her worries. It was enough to pitch in her daughter’s monthly university expenses and to start working on her dream project. The book she had been wanting to publish, the play she so much believed in. This money seemed like all she ever desired from life. For a moment, she stood next to her bed, staring at those bills and wondering if all this was actually happening.
By Tee Zee Productions5 years ago in Motivation
The small black notebook
The small black book fell on the floor and disappeared. I couldn’t find it. I looked everywhere - under that ridiculous plush couch that converts into impossible-to-sleep-on bed. I looked under a desk that my son covered with a blue masking tape (long story). I looked under a rebounder (our neighbor downstairs has patience of a saint). “Well…” I exhaled, “it seems to be gone. But where on Earth did it go?”
By Anastasia Fazal5 years ago in Motivation
The LBB
The LBB By Tim Gesner Needra was a writer. Yes, she was a lot of things, but she thought of herself as a writer more than anything. When Needra was young her mother read to her the most amazing stories. Needra loved it when her mother read to her. She loved the pictures, she loved the voices her mother made when she read. But the words! Words were mysterious. They were magical. Needra tried making up her own words by carefully copying some letters onto a scrap of paper and taking them to her mother to read them to her. “What’s this word, Momma?” “Oh. I don’t know…” Her mother said, a smile playing on her lips. “Let’s see if I can pronounce this. Hmmm, I think it says ‘Needra’. What’s it supposed to be?” “It’s my name Momma!” Needra almost shouted. “Oh, I see it now! You spelled ‘Needra’. You spelled it very nicely too.” And even though Needra’s name was actually Leeandra, Needra was the only name she would answer to from that point on. That week, her father came home a little later than usual and he presented Needra with a book for her to write in! “Now not every book is made to write in, Needra,” her father had said very solemnly, but still smiling gently, “but this one is.” They showed her how each page of the book had a letter of the alphabet on it. Needra knew the alphabet song but didn’t know what each letter looked like. Momma showed her how, if she sang the song, it would show her what each letter was as she turned the pages. There were also dotted lines, where if you connected the dots, you could make your own letters! Daddy said her letters were very nice when she copied the word “FROG” out of the book. Needra often saw her mother writing in a little book. It looked old, and shiny, a deep dark brown. “Are you writing your alphabet too?” asked Needra. “No Baby, I’m just writing. This is my writing book. It’s kind of like yours, but there’s no pictures and I already know how to make all the letters into words. Momma writes down important things that have happened, things she is thinking about, even little stories sometimes.” “Stories?!” Needra’s whole world turns upside down for a moment. “YOU can write stories?” “Of course I can Baby, anyone can, and that means YOU too!” Momma poked Needra softly right over her heart. Little Needra didn’t realize it at the time, but from that moment on she was a writer.
By Timothy Gesner5 years ago in Motivation
No Need For Greed
Lexi woke up with a start and glanced at the clock. How could it be morning already? She heard her older son laughing in his room so that was a good sign, at least he was already up. Some mornings it was a real job to get him out of bed. She took a moment to see if she could hear her other son and sure enough the delightful theme song of his favorite phone game came wafting out of his room. She took a quick moment to check her emails and messages and seeing nothing of real importance, shook the sleep away as best as she could and headed to the bathroom.
By Jenny Beiersdorf5 years ago in Motivation
Taking a Leap of Faith
My alarm clocked roared at 6:00 in the morning like it did every day, I quickly turned it off and put my feet on the floor. As I was getting ready for my day I received a reminder on my phone saying, ‘Annual Review Due Tomorrow.’ I quickly tossed my phone on the counter and became anxious. I had been working at this job for nearly a year and had been dreading this moment for months. Every time I would go to write my review I would delete the words that I had carefully chosen knowing fully they were lies. Every day I’d force myself to walk into the building and begin my day with a smile.
By Makenzie Serafini5 years ago in Motivation
