To business that we love we rise betime,
And go to ’t with delight. — Antony and Cleopatra, Act IV, Scene IV


My Time – Like I said “Sometimes it’s a blast, sometimes, it’s a paycheck”.  When it’s a blast, I can’t wait to get back to it, even when it’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.  If you see me coming home covered in dirt, bleeding, and bruised, but with a smile on my face, you can be pretty sure I’ll be up early the next morning to get back to it with that same smile on my face.

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em. — Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene V

My Take – There are very few heroes in our world that are prepared to be heroes.  Most people who have that title put on their name woke up the day they earned it and got on with life just like everyone else.  It was when life threw something extraordinary at them and they reacted to it in a way that few others could or would that they became heroes.  I always try to remember that my heroes are almost always ordinary people who had something in them that let them do extraordinary things.

This above all — to thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. Hamlet, Act I, scene III

My Take – If you can’t keep promises to yourself, how well will you honor promises to others?  If you’re not honest with yourself, can you be honest with the people in your life? 

Conversely, if you are dishonest with others, can you be honest with yourself?

Cry Havoc! and let slip the dogs of war. — Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene I

My Take – You know, sometimes it’s just more appropriate to just quit the pretense of civility and let them have it with both barrels.

My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain. — King Richard, Act V, Scene III

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.  — The Tempest, Act I, Scene II

When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
But in battalions.  – Hamlet, Act IV, Scene V

My Take – Most of us can handle one thing coming at us at a time without breaking much of a sweat.  But it always seems that the world shotguns us.  I know several people who found out their wife was pregnant, their parents were sick, and they were being outsourced within the space of a couple weeks.  When life throws that much crap at you, all you can do is your best and lean on the help of your friends and family.  Don’t worry, you’ll be there for them to lean on when life inevitably sucker punches them at the same time it’s shanking them in the back.  That’s yet another reason to always have a tribe.

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes… Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I

My Take – You can’t depend on premonition or omens, but you should be able to look at your surroundings and know what’s about to happen.

How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world. — The Merchant of Venice, Act V, Scene I

My Take – To a lot of people, a good act, even just a kind word to be polite, can mean a lot.  We are bombarded, both by the media and in our lives, by darkness and conflict.  By being good to someone, you bring a little light into their lives.