| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Middlemarch by George Eliot: and so well, that she did not know it to be precisely her own.)
"The best in Middlemarch, I'll be bound," said Mr. Featherstone,
"let the next be who she will. Eh, Fred? Speak up for your sister."
"I'm afraid I'm out of court, sir. My evidence would be good
for nothing."
"Middlemarch has not a very high standard, uncle," said Rosamond,
with a pretty lightness, going towards her whip, which lay at
a distance.
Lydgate was quick in anticipating her. He reached the whip
before she did, and turned to present it to her. She bowed
and looked at him: he of course was looking at her, and their
 Middlemarch |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum: So he began breathing as hard as he could, puffing out his chest as
much as possible with each indrawing breath, and by doing this he
managed to raise the stake with each powerful breath, until at last
the Kalidah--using the muscles of his four legs as well as his deep
breaths--found itself free of the sandy soil. The stake was sticking
right through him, however, so he found a rock deeply set in the bank
and pressed the sharp point of the stake upon the surface of this rock
until he had driven it clear through his body. Then, by getting the
stake tangled among some thorny bushes, and wiggling his body, he
managed to draw it out altogether.
"There!" he exclaimed, "except for those two holes in me, I'm as
 The Magic of Oz |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: was cool. He was light-headed only from extreme
weakness. Suddenly he seemed to become aware
of me, and in his own voice--of course, very feeble
--he asked regretfully:
"Is there no chance at all to get under way, sir?"
"What's the good of letting go our hold of the
ground only to drift, Mr. Burns?" I answered.
He sighed and I left him to his immobility. His
hold on life was as slender as his hold on sanity. I
was oppressed by my lonely responsibilities. I
went into my cabin to seek relief in a few hours'
 The Shadow Line |