On Tuesday, 5th August 2009, I started a habit of sending a quote as soon as I woke up in the morning. My friends and I were just into my 4th year of university and thanks to the effects of the global economic crisis, our spirits weren’t incredibly upbeat about the prospect of hunting for full time jobs during the year. So, the idea here was to make sure we all started the day with a positive thought.
For the first few months, I used to send my friends an SMS and then I gradually began posting these on this blog. Over time, this evolved into a free daily email service that community members could subscribe to and is now even available as a once-a-week email on Fridays for those who do not wish to receive an email every day. I also post them on my short form blog – www.alearningaday.me.
Sending these quotes is typically the first thing I do on a weekday. It helps me start the day with a smile and also makes sure I have a byte sized learning as soon as I’m up. I hope to make my quote repository available someday soon so you can use them to find quotes you want as well.
Aside from the many wonderful quotes I’ve gathered over the past 4 years, I’ve learnt 2 very valuable lessons.
First, I’ve learnt to appreciate more quotes than I used to by looking for the spirit of the quote. I’ve learnt to take them with a pinch of salt. Taking them literally always leads to the sort of debates that follows contradictory sayings like “many hands make light work” and “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Neither is wrong – what’s most important is to think of the spirit of the quote and apply context.
Second, I’ve learnt that life is more fun when you view it with a belief in abundance. A year or so into sending these quotes, I began worrying about running out of great quotes. So, I began saving up – every time I came across a good quote, I’d stash it away for the future. Such miserly behavior was ridiculous and took away all the fun. The switch thankfully flipped a few months later and suddenly, quotes became fun again! 1000 quotes down, I’m sure the best is yet to come..
For all those of you who’ve supported these quotes by liking them, sharing them, and subscribing to them – you’ve played a big part in helping me learn. Thank you for that.
A Learning a Day 