Wordful Wednesday

GRATITUDE

Albert Schweitzer:
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

Albert Schweitzer:
To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.

Alfred Painter:
Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.

Brother David Steindl-Rast :
Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more.

Buddha:
Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

Cicero:
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.

Denis Waitley:
Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.

Edward Gibbon:
Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.

Eric Hoffer:
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

Francois de La Rochefoucauld:
Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors.

Frederick Turner:
To those who followed Columbus and Cortez, the New World truly seemed incredible because of the natural endowments. The land often announced itself with a heavy scent miles out into the ocean. Giovanni di Verrazano in 1524 smelled the cedars of the East Coast a hundred leagues out. The men of Henry Hudson's Half Moon were temporarily disarmed by the fragrance of the New Jersey shore, while ships running farther up the coast occasionally swam through large beds of floating flowers. Wherever they came inland they found a rich riot of color and sound, of game and luxuriant vegetation. Had they been other than they were, they might have written a new mythology here. As it was, they took inventory.

H. U. Westermayer:
The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.

Henry Ward Beecher:
Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

Johannes A. Gaertner:
To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

John F. Kennedy:
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

Leroy [Satchel] Paige:
[D]on't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.
New York Post, October 4, 1959

Marc Estrin:

Kindness trumps greed: it asks for sharing. Kindness trumps fear: it calls forth gratefulness and love. Kindness trumps even stupidity, for with sharing and love, one learns.

Marcel Proust:
Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Margaret Cousins:
Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.

Meister Eckhart:
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.

Melodie Beattie:
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Rabindranath Tagore:
Power takes as ingratitude the writhing of its victims.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:
I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Conservatism makes no poetry, breathes no prayer, has no invention; it is all memory. Reform has no gratitude, no prudence, no husbandry.

The Conservative
Seneca:
There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.

Thomas Erskine:
In the New Testament, religion is grace and ethics is gratitude.

William James:
The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.

Wordful Wednesday

The following quotes are from Richard Bach. He wrote a book named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I read it in 1972. I was totally taken by it. I bought a Jonathan Livingston Seagull keychain and used it for years. I want to go back and read it but am afraid the magic and innocence will be gone for me. I will get there some day.

You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature,

the playful spiritual being that is your real self.

Don't turn away from possible futures before you're certain you don't have anything to learn from them.

You're always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"

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Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"

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Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.

Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible,

but the mark of a false messiah.

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"

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The simplest questions are the most profound.
Where were you born?

Where is your home?

Where are you going?

What are you doing?

Think about these once in awhile, and watch your answers change.

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"

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You are never given a wish without being given the power to make it true.

You may have to work for it, however.

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"

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Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there.

What you choose to do with them is up to you.

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"

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Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"

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A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed,

it feels an impulsion....this is the place to go now.

But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds,

and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons..

- from "Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah"

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The gulls who scorn perfection for the sake of travel go nowhere, slowly.

Those who put aside travel for the sake of perfection go anywhere, instantly.

- from "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

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For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating.

For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.

- from "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

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If our friendship depends on things like space and time,

then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood!

But overcome space, and all we have left is Here.

Overcome time, and all we have left is Now.

And in the middle of Here and Now,

don't you think that we might see each other once or twice?

- from "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

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That's what learning is, after all;

not whether we lose the game,

but how we lose and how we've changed because of it

and what we take away from it that we never had before,

to apply to other games.

Losing, in a curious way, is winning.

- from "The Bridge Across Forever"

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We're the bridge across forever, arching above the sea,

adventuring for our pleasure, living mysteries for the fun of it,

choosing disasters triumphs challenges impossible odds,

testing ourselves over and again, learning love and love and LOVE!

- from "The Bridge Across Forever"

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If it's never our fault, we can't take responsibility for it.

If we can't take responsibility for it, we'll always be its victim.

- from "Running From Safety"

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Can miles truly separate us from friends?

If you want to be with Rae, aren't you already there?

- from "There' No Such Place As Far Away"

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You have no birthday because you have always lived;

you were never born, and never will die.

You are not the child of the people you call mother and father,

but their fellow-adventurer on a bright journey to understand the things that are.

- from "There' No Such Place As Far Away"

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Fly free and happy beyond birthdays and across forever,

and we'll meet now and then when we wish,

in the midst of the one celebration that never can end.

- from "There' No Such Place As Far Away"

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Nothing happens by chance, my friend...

No such thing as luck.

A meaning behind every little thing, and such a meaning behind this.

Part for you, part for me,

may not see it all real clear right now,

but we will, before long.

- from "Nothing By Chance"

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Wordful Wednesday

We can let circumstances rule us, or we can take charge and rule our lives from within. Earl Nightingale

Who hath not known ill fortune, never knew himself, or his own virtue.

Mallett

We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world. Helen Keller

I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do. Eleanor Roosevelt

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is th beginning of wisdom. Bertrand Russell

You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there. Unknown

Decision is the spark that ignites action. Until a decision is made, nothing happens.... Decision is the courageous facing of issues, knowing that if they are not faced, problems will remain forever unanswered. Wilfred A. Peterson

Always direct your thoughts to those truths that will give you confidence, hope, joy, love, thanksgiving, and turn away your mind from those that inspire you with fear, sadness, depression. Bertrand Wilbertforce

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing that you will make one. Elbert Hubbard

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat. Napoleon

Wordful Wednesday

You can shed tears that he is gone,

Or you can smile because he has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that he'll come back,

Or you can open your eyes and see all he's left behind.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see him,

Or you can be full of the love you've shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live only for yesterday,

Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember him and only that he's gone,

Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind,

Be empty and turn your back on the world.

Or you can do what he would want-smile,

open your eyes, love and go on.

--Anonymous

Wordful Wednesday

Let nothing disturb you.

Let nothing frighten you.

All things are passing.

God alone is changeless

He who has patience wants for nothing

He who has God has all things.

God alone suffices.

--St Teresa of Avila

KJ has an apt. with the neurosurgeon on October 28. She is going to take the Diamox for 2 weeks and see if it helps. It's in God's Hands now. Please keep her in your spiritual, emotional, mental and physical prayers.

Wordful Wednesday

There are no words written that will melt the heart like the ones I just heard, "Mommy, I wish you were here with me..."

Yeah, Kiereney Jo, me, too. And even though it's almost 11 p.m. I'm ready to jump in the truck and come and get you. But we have blood cultures we're waiting on where you are and at least you can get medical care there. I know it's scary to continue to have a 103 temperature but you've got to be my brave little soldier, take the meds, drink the water, know that God is going to watch over you and I am a phone call away.

I know you've been reading my blog from your bed via your telephone and you've read all the wonderful blog friends that are praying and pulling for you. And yes, I will tell them thank you from you and tell them that you said that you read a quote that Life can be summed up in three words-it goes on.

As I'm posting I'm looking at the bookcase and seeing all the childhood books I bought because I wanted to read them to my grandchildren some day. As you know, I've been reading Goodnight Moon to Macon at night...she's the closest grandchild/dog I've got at the moment. She, however, got bored so we had to quit reading. But since you're reading this I'm going to include parts of my favorite books and you pretend you can hear my voice reading to you. Snuggle down, hold on to your stuffed bear and pony and know that you are very much loved by your mom.

Remember The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein?

And after a long time the boy came back again. "I am sorry, Boy," said the tree, "but I have nothing left to give you...my apples are gone."

"My teeth are too weak for apples," said the boy.

"My branches are gone," said the tree. "You cannot swing on them..."

"I am too old to swing on branches," said the boy.

"My trunk is gone," said the tree. "You cannot climb..."

"I am too tired to climb," said the boy.

"I am sorry," sighed the tree. "I wish that I could give you something...but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry..."

"I don't need very much now," said the boy, "just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired."

"Well," said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, "Well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."

And the boy did.

And the tree was happy.

Remember the Love You Forever book?

"I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

My baby you'll be."

And my favorite...

Good night room.

Good night moon.

Good night cow jumping over the moon.

Good night light and the red balloon.

Good night bears

Good night chairs

Good night kittens.

And good night mittens.

Good night clocks

And good night socks

Good night house

And good night mouse

Good night comb

And good night brush

Good night nobody

Good night mush

And good night to the old lady whispering "hush"

Good night stars

Good night air

Good night noises everywhere.

Next time I see you we will read The Velveteen Rabbit, okay?

Good night, Kieri...love you more than 16 bejillion orange and brown M&Ms that is keeping with my Fall decor...you know how I am a match freak.

You might be almost 22 but you will always be my baby girl that I can read to when your life is turned upside down. We have history together that I can't have with anyone but you. Sleep tight.

Wordful Wednesday

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. --Albert Einstein

It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself --Muhammad Ali

Enthusiasm is nothing more or less than faith in action. --Henry Chester

All effort is in the last analysis sustained by the faith that it is worth making. --Ordway Tead

Faith is the very first thing you should pack in a hope chest. --Sarah Ban Breathnach Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach

You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it. --Samuel Butler

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope or confidence. --Helen Keller

Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory. --Norman Vincent Peale Positive Thinking Every Day

Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best minds. Men live the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter, and with their hands on the door-latch they die outside --Ralph Waldo Emerson

The mason asks but a narrow shelf to spring his brick from, man requires only an infinitely narrower one to spring his arch of faith from. --Henry David Thoreau

He who loses money, loses much; He who loses a friend, loses much more, He who loses faith, loses all. --Eleanor Roosevelt

The leader seeks to communicate his vision to his followers. He captures their attention with his optimistic intuition of possible solutions to their needs. He influences them by the dynamism of his faith. He demonstrates confidence that the challenge can be met, the need resolved, the crisis overcome. --John Haggai

Leaders are the custodians of a nation's ideals, of the beliefs it cherishes, of its permanent hopes, of the faith which makes a nation out of a mere aggregation of individuals --Walter Lippmann

Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light. --

Helen Keller

Scientists were rated as great heretics by the church, but they were truly religious men because of their faith in the orderliness of the universe. --Albert Einstein

Nine requisites for contented living: Health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth enough to support your needs. Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them. Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished. Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor. Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others. Faith enough to make real the things of God. Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Minister, Civil Rights Leader

I do not pray for success. I ask for faithfulness. --Mother Teresa

Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking --Kahlil Gibran

A little faith will bring your soul to heaven; A great faith will bring heaven to your soul. --Charles Spurgeon

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today; Let us move forward with strong and active faith. --Franklin D. Roosevelt

A little more patience, a little more charity for all, a little more devotion, a little more love; with less bowing down to the past, and a silent ignoring of pretended authority; brave looking forward to the future with more faith in our fellows, and the race will be ripe for a great burst of light and life. --Elbert Hubbard

To sleep is an act of faith --Barbara G. Harrison

Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible. --

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 - 1955) Educator

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. --St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

A faith that cannot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets. --Arthur C. Clarke

Humanity's first sin was faith; the first virtue was doubt --Unknown

Wordful Wednesday

Today's thought is STRENGTH.

Life can be filled with challenges. Sometimes you just feel totally beaten up and need comforting arms and encouraging thoughts to soothe your soul.
Look within yourself to find your strength. We gain strength through practice and making efforts to learn from mistakes.
It's also during your darkest or fearful moments, that you gather your courage and call upon your greatest strength to pull you through those days. That's when you learn to stretch your strength.
You're a woman of strength and let these strength quotes speak to you!

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.-- Christopher Reeve

Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.-- Author Unknown

Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.-- August Wilson

Go within every day and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out.-- Katherine Dunham

If your heart acquires strength, you will be able to remove blemishes from others without thinking evil of them. -- Mohandas K. Gandhi

In the darkest hour the soul is replenished and given strength to continue and endure.-- Author Unknown

It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do.-- Elbert Hubbard

It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more 'manhood' to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind.-- Alex Karras

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.-- Maya Angelou

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.-- Tao Te Ching

Life is very interesting... in the end, some of your greatest pains, become your greatest strengths.-- Drew Barrymore

Our strength grows out of our weaknesses.-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.-- Mahatma Gandhi

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.-- Arnold Schwarzenegger

Strength is a matter of the made-up mind.-- John Beecher

The important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution.-- Author Unknown

The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.-- Robert Kiyosaki

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. -- Rachel Carson

We acquire the strength we have overcome.-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot.-- Eleanor Roosevelt

When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.-- Audre Lorde

When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.-- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Women are like teabags. We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water!-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Wordful Wednesday

Love is patient, love is kind.It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.Love never fails.

~I Corinthians 13:4-8~

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For everything there is a season,And a time for every matter under heaven:A time to be born, and a time to die;A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;A time to kill, and a time to heal;A time to break down, and a time to build up;A time to weep, and a time to laugh;A time to mourn, and a time to dance;A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;A time to seek, and a time to lose;A time to keep, and a time to throw away;A time to tear, and a time to sew;A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;A time to love, and a time to hate,A time for war, and a time for peace.
~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8~

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There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.

~George Sand~

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A loving relationship is one in which the loved one is free to be himself - to laugh with me, but never at me; to cry with me, but never because of me; to love life, to love himself, to love being loved. Such a relationship is based upon freedom and can never grow in a jealous heart.

~Leo F. Buscaglia ~

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Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage.--

~Lao Tzu ~

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Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth.-- ~Author Unknown~

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I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

~Maya Angelou~

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The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

~Thomas Merton~

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When you smiled you had my undivided attention. When you laughed you had my urge to laugh with you. When you cried you had my urge to hold you. When you said you loved me, you had my heart forever.

~Author Unknown~

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You never lose by loving.

You always lose by holding back.

~Barbara De Angelis~

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Wordful Wednesday

"Throw back the shoulders, let the heart sing, let the eyes flash, let the mind be lifted up, look upward and say to yourself... Nothing is impossible!"~ Norman Vincent Peale

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"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."~ Henry David Thoreau

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"Each day is a new life. Seize it. Live it."~ David Guy Powers *******

"Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible. "~ Cadet Maxim

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"Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. "~ Henry Van Dyke

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" Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. "~ Mark Twain

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"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."~ Alexander Graham Bell

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"Fall seven times, stand up eight."~ Japanese Proverb

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"If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again. "~ Flavia Weedn

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"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.Life is beauty, admire it.Life is bliss, taste it.Life is a dream, realize it.Life is a challenge, meet it.Life is a duty, complete it.Life is a game, play it.Life is a promise, fulfill it.Life is sorrow, overcome it.Life is a song, sing it.Life is a struggle, accept it.Life is a tragedy, confront it.Life is an adventure, dare it.Life is luck, make it.Life is too precious, do not destroy it.Life is life, fight for it."~ Mother Teresa

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Wordful Wednesday

Success is a journey, not a destination.

~Ben Sweetland

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Happiness is not a state to arrive at,

but rather a manner of traveling.

~Samuel Johnson

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Make voyages.

Attempt them.

There's nothing else.

~Tennessee Williams

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Any road is bound to arrive somewhere if you follow it far enough.

~Patricia Wentworth

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A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step.

~Chinese proverb

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Adventure is worthwhile in itself.

~Amelia Earhart

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The cream of enjoyment in this life is always impromptu.

The chance walk;

The unexpected visit;

The unpremeditated journey;

The unsought conversation or acquaintance.

~Fanny Fern

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Give curiosity freedom.

~Eudora Welty

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Nothing ventured

nothing gained.

~Geoffrey Chaucer

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In the long run

the pessimist may be proved to be right,

but the optimist has a better time on the trip.

~Daniel L. Reardon

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The end is nothing;

the road is all.

~Willa Cather

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Wordful Wednesday

No act of kindness,

however small,

is ever wasted.

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The Gift

The gift of encouragement

Should be given each day---

Pass it out freely

And in gentle ways.

There's no need for ribbons

To make it look grand---

Just the simple encouragement

Of a kind, helping hand.

~Joan Stephen

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Give Me A Kind Heart

Give me a kind heart that will endure,

One that's strong and secure

To help someone along the way,

May this be my goal every day.

Let me lend a helping hand

To someone whose life has not gone as planned,

Reaching out to one in need.

May this be my daily good deed,

To provide a guiding light

For someone lost in the dark of night.

Let me take time to care

For someone experiencing despair.

Whatever I do, everywhere I go,

Your Will, Dear Lord, let me know.

~Eve Kiley

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Let Me Be A Light

Let me be a light, O God,

That shines for all to see;

If someone needs to find the way,

An example may I be.

Of love and kindness and brotherhood,

Of all that's gentle, of all that's good.

~Theresa Mary Grass

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Kindness

It is the history of our kindnesses

that alone makes the world tolerable.

If it were not for that, for the effect of

kind words, kind looks, kind letters...

I should be inclined to think our life

a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

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Wordful Wednesday

Words of Hope

"Hope" is the thing with feathers-

That perches in the soul-

And sings the tune without words-

And never stops-at all

~Emily Dickinson

*****

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.

Where there is hatred let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light; and

Where there is sadness, joy.

~St. Francis of Assisi

*****

Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear but around in awareness.

~James Thurber

*****

Hold on to what is good

even if it is a handful of earth,

Hold on to what you believe

even if it is a tree which stands by itself.

Hold on to what you must do

even if it is a long way from here.

Hold on to life

even when it is easier letting go.

Hold on to my hand

even when I have gone away from you.

~Native American Prayer

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Weeping may endure for a night

But joy cometh in the morning.

~Psalms 30:5

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In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.

~Robert Frost

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When I despair, I remember that through history the way of truth has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall---think of it, always.

~Mahatma Gandhi

*****

Sorrow comes in great waves...

but it rolls over us,

and though it may almost smother us, it leaves us.

And we know that if it is strong, we are stronger, inasmuch as it passes and we remain.

~attributed to Henry James

Wordful Wednesday

Peace is everywhere.

Peace is in the waves and the flowing air, the quiet earth and the shining stars.

Peace is in church and in temple and in the mosque and the synagogue.

Peace is in the forest and the hills and the desert.

But when we are full of fear or anger, frustration or stress, how can we find it?

How can we achieve this deep peace when life isn't going our way; when a loved one dies, or our business fails, when our spouse wants a divorce or our child is caught in drug addiction?

How can we feel this peace that poets and mystics talk and write about so eloquently and invitingly?

And how can we possibly pass it on to others?

No matter what is going on in the outside world, we can look deep into our own hearts.

Peace is always there.

This precious, mysterious, mystical God-given gift lies within us always waiting to be found.

It is as close as this moment, this instant, this breath.

Peace is right here for us to feel and nurture and share with the rest of world.

I am so grateful to know that no matter what is going on in my life today, I can always find peace in my heart.

And once found, it is my privilege and joy to share it with others.

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A Beautiful Heart

Once long ago and far away was a very special valley.

The outside world did not know about this special valley

or the very special people that lived within it.

You see, what made these people special was the fact that they wore

their hearts on the outside of their chest for everyone to see.

There were big ones and small ones, pretty ones and some not so pretty.

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town

proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.

A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.

There was not a mark or a flaw in it.

Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever

seen.

The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful

heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said,

"Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine."

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart.

It was beating strongly, but full of scars,it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in,but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges.

In fact, in some places there were deep gouges

where whole pieces were missing.

The people stared - how can he say his heart is more beautiful they thought?

The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and laughed.

"You must be joking," he said.

Compare your heart with mine,mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tares."

"Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking but

I would never trade with you.

You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love -I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them,often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart,

but because the pieces aren't exact,I have some rough edges, which I cherish,because they remind me of the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away,and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me.

These are the empty gouges - giving love is taking a chance.

Although these gouges are painful,they stay open reminding me of the love I have for these people too,and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting.

So now do you see what true beauty is?"

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks.

He walked up to the old man,reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out.

He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.

The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and

then took a piece from his old scarred heart and

placed it in the wound in the young man's heart.

It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart,not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever,since love from the old man's heart flowed into his.

They embraced and walked away side by side.

~ author unknown ~

Wordful Wednesday

Sometimes you've just gotta laugh and these made me laugh. Enjoy!

30 Unique Descriptions of Losers

Useful descriptions of people you deal with every day...

1. The cheese slid off of his cracker.

2. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

3. Got into the gene pool when the lifeguard wasn't watching.

4. A room temperature IQ.

5. Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold them together.

6. A gross ignoramus---144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus.

7. A photographic memory, but the lens cover is on.

8. Bright as Alaska in December.

9. One-celled organisms outscore him in IQ tests.

10. Donated his body to science---before he was done using it.

11. During evolution his ancestors were in the control group.

12. Fell out of the family tree.

13. Gates are down, the lights are flashing but the train isn't coming.

14. Has two brains: one is lost and the other is out looking for it.

15. He is so dense, light bends around him.

16. If brains were taxed, he'd get a rebate.

17. If he were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered twice a week.

18. If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you'd get change back.

19. If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the ocean.

20. It's hard to believe that he beat out 100,000 other sperm.

21. Some drink from the fountain of knowledge-he just gargled.

22. Takes him an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes.

23. Was left on the Tilt-a-Whirl a bit too long as a child.

24. Wheel is turning but the hamster is dead.

25. An experiment in Artifical Stupidity.

26. A few beers short of a six-pack.

27. Dumber that a box of hair.

28. A few peas short of a casserole.

29. Doesn't have all his corn flakes in one bowl.

30. One Fruit Loop shy of a full bowl.

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20 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level of Insanity.

1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.

2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.

4. Put your trash can on your desk and label it "In",

5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over the caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.

6. Finish all your sentence with "In Accordance With the Prophecy."

7. In the memo field of all your checks write "For Sexual Favors".

8. Don't use any punctuation

9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

10. Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.

11. Specify that your drive-through order is "to go".

12. Sing along at the opera.

13. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.

14. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.

15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.

16. Have your coworkers address you by "Your Grace".

17. When the money comes out of the ATM scream, "I won, I won!"

18. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot yelling, "Run for your lives, they're loose!"

19. Tell your children over dinner, "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."

20. Send this to someone to make them smile. It's called therapy.

Wordful Wednesday

Every woman is a mother, whether they have given birth or not.

Think about it...to mother someone is to care.

We have each mothered a niece, a nephew, a friend's children, a sister or brother, a coworker, a neighbor's child the lost child at Wal Mart and the list goes on...

I think I'm "preaching to the choir" today because I needed a reminder of what a mother is made of because my mothering has been stretched to the limit lately on my own blessings.

Erma Bombeck is one of my favorite writers. The world took a hit when she went on to be with God.

Here's one of my favorite writings of hers:

When the good Lord was creating Mothers, he was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said,"You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one. "

And the Lord said "Have you read the specifications on this order? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 movable parts, all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up. A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. And six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands? No way."

"It's not the hands that are causing me the problems," the Lord said, "It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have." "That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, "What are you kids doing in there?"when she already knows. Another pair here in the back of her head to see what she shouldn't but what what she has to know, and, of course, the eyes here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, "I understand and I love you"without so much as uttering a word."

"Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve gently, "come to bed." "I can't," said the Lord. "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already, I have one who heals herself when she is sick, can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger, and get a 9-year-old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of the Mother very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.

"But tough!" the Lord said excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this Mother can do or endure."

"Can it think?"asked the angel.

"Not only think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the Mother's cheek.

"There's a leak," the angel said. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

"It's not a leak," said the Lord. "It's a tear."

"What's it for?" asked the angel. "It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride."

"You are a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber, and said "I didn't put it there."

By Erma Bombeck