The holidays can be a difficult time of the year. Struggling against high expectations set by ourselves and others can have a huge impact on our holiday season. Working with chronically ill people, the struggle is real not only this time of year but every day. Trying to hold onto traditions like sending out Christmas cards, baking or hanging decorations can be a challenge. My role is to aide with support in however that looks, whether its listening or meeting for coffee and sharing. Encouraging people to get through the difficult times, leading by example with my actions and words.

I came across some thing that I wanted to share with you. Written by Kevin Choong, founder of an organization called MotivationK, it had such a profound effect on me after reading it, I knew that I needed to share with you all this week. He shares life lessons and motivational tidbits from Theodore Roosevelt, American politician and author, leader of the Republican Party and elected as the 26th president of the United States of America at the age of just 43 (He is the youngest American president in history). His famous ideology was “speak softly and carry a big stick.”

Here are some excerpts from his article:

1. Make the best use of what you have. No Excuses.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” –Theodore Roosevelt

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. No matter what you have or where you are, always try to make the best use of your circumstances to pursue your goal. Utilize every resource available to you. Look around you, what resources you have? Are there any alternatives? The key here is to start immediately with everything you have. This quote also strips away every excuse you might have for not doing something. Don’t say “I don’t have this or that, so I can’t do this or that.” If you want to do something, you can just do it with what you have or you can search for alternatives. Don’t ever let your circumstances stop you.

2. Self-Discipline is essential in our life.

“With self-discipline most anything is possible.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Self-discipline is the ability to control ourselves to do the right things. With self-discipline you can overcome procrastination. You can get yourself to do what you should have been doing. You have a clear idea on what you should be doing. Put it in a simple way, self-discipline is what makes you do the things that you should do, yet you aren’t willing to do. Just like waking up early in the morning to jog around the park no matter how tired you are the previous day. Your body will doubtlessly resist doing it, but with self discipline, you’re able to force yourself to stick to the plan. It allows us to focus on the goal, the end game, and that’s what going to make us succeed in the future.

3. Self-confidence is the key.

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Believing in yourself is really important in allowing you to live your life to the fullest. If you can’t believe in your own abilities, who will? How can you convince others if you can’t even convince yourself? To succeed, you must first believe that you can succeed. Do that, and you have won half of the battle!

“They succeed, because they think they can.” -Virgil

Even Virgil, Rome’s greatest poet, believed in the power of self-belief. Believe in yourself before anyone else can believe in you – that’s the key of success. You see, self-confidence plays an important role in our life. Without it, we will felt depressed whenever stuff doesn’t go our way, we lack the courage to pursue our dreams and we will give up the moment we face any hardship or obstacles.

4. Don’t afraid to try to succeed.

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Don’t be afraid to speak out whenever you have any ideas. Don’t be scared of failure. Always remember the simple fact that if you never try, you will never know what the result might be. Yes, there is a possibility that you might fail after you try, but you can rest easy knowing that at least you tried. Also, don’t give up even if you experience failure. Take it as a lesson in life. Did you know that Walt Disney got turned down 302 times before he got financing to build Disneyland? Yes, failure is hard to accept, it has always been. But failure is also an opportunity to grow. It’s part of the path towards success. Every successful person faced failure multiple times before in their lives. Why did they finally succeed? Because they dared to try. They dared to take action to make their dreams a reality. More importantly, they dared to fail. They are never afraid of trying and taking action in their path to success.

5. When it’s time to enjoy, enjoy. When it’s time to work, work hard.

“When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all.” –Theodore Roosevelt

This quote is speaks of an important lesson. When it’s time for entertainment, enjoy yourself, but when it’s time for to be serious, you got to stay away from all distractions. Pay full attention to the task at hand. FOCUS! The front part of the quote tells us that, it’s okay to take a break from your for some entertainment and to relax. You don’t need to burn yourself out. However, you have to maintain a working balance between work and entertainment. Don’t forget that you’re human too. “Play” when necessary. But when it’s time to work, you should put 100% of your effort on it. Focus on the tasks you’re doing. Stay away from anything that will distract you, Stay focused until you have done your job.

6. Grab every opportunity that comes to you.

“When you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” –Theodore Roosevelt

When any opportunity comes to you, grab it, even if you’re not fully prepared. Opportunities are rare and far between, so when you come across an opportunity, make sure you don’t miss it. Don’t hesitate. Don’t doubt your own ability! Seize the moment! Like what the last part of the quote says, after grabbing the opportunity, get busy and find out how to get things done. When you accept a job, you will want to do a good job. Thus, you will definitely find out how to do it. Why am I so sure? Because when there is a will there is a way.

“Either I will find a way, or I will make one.” – Philip Sidney

If you can’t find one? Just make one.

The message Roosevelt is trying to send is to grab every opportunity you have in your life, even if you aren’t prepared. If you don’t seize the opportunity, you may regret in the future. Do you see the positive mindset in the quote?

“Certainly, I can” You’ve just got to believe in yourself!

Paula is the president of the MLDSE, the co-chair of the Access to Care Services and Patient Support subcommittee of the Federal HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group, the Maine-partner of the national Lyme Disease Association, member of Maine’s CDC Vector-borne Workgroup and active in Maine’s Lyme legislation. You can reach her at paula@mldse.org and visit her website www.mldse.org