As you well know by now, I am a quote girl. I believe in their power to inspire and entertain.

In my experience, the right quote delivered at the right time can truly change someone’s life. Pithy but profound nuggets of big-picture wisdom can give anyone direction, courage and inspiration.

A new gem I just discovered is “Dance First. Think Later.” This book is a collection of 618 “rules to live by” compiled by siblings Kathryn Petras and Ross Petras. Can I just say that I adore the diversity of the quotes? They cite figures from  Marilyn Monroe to Colette to Alfred Hitchcock and beyond.
“Dance First. Think Later.” is the perfect gift for family members, colleagues, recent graduates, newlyweds, new home owners, or anyone looking for a direction. (I personally took it to work and added it to that collection.) A sampling of the wisdom you can find:

Rule No. 176

“Be aware that most people are operating on a very condensed version of the Ten Commandments: the part about murder.” – Mark Bricklin, Journalist (Ouch! Something to think about though.)

Rule No. 97

“If you’re not in the parade, you watch the parade.  That’s life.” – Mike Didka, Football Coach (My new personal favorite quote.)

Rule No. 406

“A life directed chiefly toward fulfillment of personal desires sooner or later always leads to bitter disappointment.” – Albert Einstein, Physicist (So unbelievably true!)

Rule No. 103

“The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.” – Julia Child (Bravo, sister!)

Good news! I am giving away a copy of “Dance First. Think Later” to one of my lucky readers!

Here’s how to enter:

• Either “like” Hip As I Wanna Be on Facebook

OR

• Tweet out I entered to win “Dance First. Think Later” from @mammamania : http://bit.ly/dGI2ra

Please leave  a comment letting me know that you did one of these steps. Bonus entry if you leave me your own personal favorite quote! This contest ends on Sunday, February 27th at noon.

FTC Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own. This book is so right up my alley!

My apologies for a not-so-thought-out post today.  I admit this weekend is hectic for me – I’m literally working the entire weekend.  (A gala for work and a visit to the Eastern Shore for Maryland Life Magazine) But I feel so drawn to this blog and the wonderful friends that reach out to me on it that I just felt compelled to leave you with a couple of thoughts.   And you know me… I’m obsessed with motivational quotes!  Enjoy and get inspired!

“One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his greatest surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t.” -Henry Ford

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.” - Helen Keller

Luv ya!

I wasn’t going to blog today because I am still feeling a little drained from my last alltoohonest post.  But then, obsessive quote collector that I am I came across these little ditties and just had to throw them out there for you.  Hope you like them!

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy or unfulfilled, for it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”  –Scott Peck

“Small sparks exist inside all of us should we be brave enough to acknowledge them and patient enough to let them bloom.” –Cherry Kwunyeun

AND THEN I FOUND THIS and holy cow was it appropriate:

“No one can cause you to have any kind of emotional reaction without your first giving them permission to do so. You alone are responsible for your feelings and emotions. When you know what you plan to do with your life, you will not allow annoying situations to deter you from your goals for long. If you set ambitious goals for yourself and work enthusiastically toward them, you will quickly realize that you don’t have time to allow petty annoyances to upset you and keep you from your objectives.” – Napolean Hill

I got such a good response from last week’s “Inspiration Thursday” that I decided to make this a permanent feature.

This week’s inspirational musings:

• Do. Or do not. There is no try. — Yoda
• All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal or fattening. – Alexander Wollcott
• Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden
• Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish. – Albert Einstein
• Let your greatest fear be that there is no PMS and this is just your personality. – Anon (Submitted by my pal Gail Richards. Love it!)
• Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. – Abraham Lincoln

I’ve mentioned before that I am a quote collector. The right quote at the right time is it takes to get me through the day. (Besides alcohol, I mean. I’m still new at my job but I am pretty sure that drinking alcohol at my desk would be a career limiting move.)

Here are a couple of goodies to get you through YOUR day:

We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do. – Brigham Young

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.  - Dale Carnegie

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Anonymous

The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done. - Allard Lowenstein, twentieth-century American diplomat

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. – Matthew 7:7-8 (see also verses 9 -12)

I am a quote collector.  When I find a good quote I snag it immediately.  I tend to carry mini-notebooks with me for just this purpose. (Which has resulted in a tiny notebook obsession, but we won’t go there yet.) I find that on some days, all it takes is a good quote to empower you.

Happy Friday!

• “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” - Coco Chanel
• “There will invariably be people who do not accept you. And in that case you must be your own BADASS self without apology.” – Unknown
• “You grow up the day you have your first real laugh-at yourself.” –  Ethel Barrymore
• “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can!” –John Wesley
• “You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.” –Rick Warren
• “My sport is your sport’s punishment.” – Unknown (For all of the runners out there!)