Most beginnings are small and appear insignificant, but in reality the beginnings are the most important things in life.

Beginning brings with it the most powerful word for a ‘go-getter’: Action.
Even the smallest action can lead to great success and accomplishment.

Beginnings can start with small steps, and with each next step you develop more knowledge, wisdom and confidence.

Without a beginning the greatest ideas would never be. Take a look at the things you want to achieve, a new diet, new look, new business… whatever it is and take a small step in it’s direction. All you need is just that one step and don’t look back; if you look back you may stumble. Just look forward and before you know it each step will be easier. You can do it!

The ‘beginning’ … the most precious part of any story. The beginning holds the promise of tomorrow.

Daisy Says: In the beginning there is you.

Sir Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”

And he’s right.

Pride is the single greatest hindrance to our success. You may think that is a strong statement yet at the same time agree with me that it is true.

A week ago I decided that I did not want to have our usual training in the office and it was a unanimous vote that we would do a ‘pot-luck picnic’ at a park.

This gave me the opportunity to connect with some of my business partners; it offered a casual get-together outside of the office environment. Sometimes changing your scenery opens the creative flow in a team.

I was so delighted when I saw Jorge there; he is a very charismatic man with fireball passion.

As it happens life caught up with him and he just couldn’t help feeling left behind, even though he kept up with emails it was a hard to get himself to come around was

hard for him. The picnic changed everything… with open arms the whole team received him and we had a great sense of unity.

After seeing that we accept ‘him’, that we are not here to judge his life but enjoy his ‘essence’, he graced us with his company yesterday. We ate, we laughed, we had so much catching up to do that we talked til past midnight – almost had to boot him out the front door!

Pride gets us from both ends. Sometimes we are too proud to make the changes that we know need to be done to become a better person. And the other side of that coin is

that we may become too proud of our achievements and lose focus of our direction. There is such thing as healthy pride, where we take ownership of our own personal actions and feel great because we put our best effort forward.

There is a story in the Bible of one angel that was more glorious and more powerful than all the other angels. This angel, Lucipher being his name, became proud of himself and his accomplishments and began to reason in his own mind that he was equal to God. He even began to believe that he could run Heaven better than God. Needless to say this angel started a riot, was able to convince a third of the other angels to join his cause and fought a civil war against God. You guessed it, he didn’t win.

God and his army of remaining loyal angels threw the rebellious angels out of heaven. The Bible says that the battle still continues and all of us are caught in the crossfire.

Makes you wonder the saying: The devil made me do it!

When unhealthy pride gets out of control it keeps us from moving towards success. Usually a proud person will not ask for help, worse than that, they will not even admit that they need help.

If you find yourself trapped with unhealthy pride… get over yourself! It’s doing you no good you’re stealing away from your own character. Keeping your pride in check can be as simple as humbling yourself to the greatness of life. Sometimes people think that being humble is a diminutive venture… on the contrary it allows you to open your heart and heal when you ask for help… or when you give credit where credit is due.

Each of us owe our own success to the many who have gone before us and to those who are walking along side of us.

Daisy Says: If there is something to be proud of… be it your humility.

Many people give me funny looks and have said “oh my gwad no WAY is that your real name! It’s not is it? it IS! Oh my what an injustice!” as if my name is so bizarre that their brains can’t get around it. Many people expect some exotic name to roll out of my lips.

What I find most interesting that… while I may physically have some interesting features that may not ‘match’ my name… my personality is ALL of the name my parents finally chose for me. I LOVE the name though as it’s pretty simple and after people meet me they NEVER forget who I am!

Have you ever looked at your birth certificate? I’m surprised how many people haven’t. The first time I saw my birth certificate I was probably ten years old, and I recall I kept staring at it quietly. The longer I looked at it, the sadder I became.

It was a sadness that felt empty.

I had no name. I was carried out of the hospital without a name. It wasn’t until a month later that my name was officially recorded. Many years passed when I had developed the maturity to ask my parents why they didn’t have a name for me. I figured, nine months is plenty of time to come up with a name.

I still find it amusing knowing the nature of my parents and I can visualize the stand-off between both of them not wanting to give in. My dad wanted to continue the culture heritage that had been passed down from his great grandma, to grandma to mother and name me Maria and my mom wanted a more fun non Hispanic name ~ their little girl was born in America and she wanted the name to reflect that journey. My dad is a passionate man, and he insisted the name be Maria… my mom is like a rock and she wouldn’t budge it would be Daisy.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

There are 94,473 people in the U.S. with the first name Daisy.

Yes, I sit here and smile. I could see this young Latino family in a New York hospital doing what Latinos do best… being in the moment of the argument, and I can see the hospital staff just not knowing what to do …and yes, letting them walk out in the winter streets of NY with a nameless child bundled in their arms.

A little over a month they return with a name: Daisy Maria.

The origin of the name Daisy: Anglo-Saxon meaning: The day’s eye.

I am not going to say who won here, *smirk* but I’m glad my dad acquiesced to my mothers’ unmoving rock.

Now… help me out here. By looking at me for the first time…. what name do I look like most? What name would you give me? Don’t hold back!

Daisy Says: It’s not the name that matters, but the legend you leave behind that name that will be remembered.