Sunday, April 30, 2006

We Grow Old

TODAY'S QUOTE:
We grow old as soon as we cease to love and trust.
Madame de Choiseul

The reasons to suspend trust and forsake the quest for love are often overwhelming. I know this from first hand experience. There is nothing quite as painful as a broken heart, but there is nothing quite as joyful as real love. The fear of ending with heartache should make us more careful, yet to allow it to stop us from the attempt altogether is a total waste of a precious organ.
If I had given up long ago, I would have been hurt less often. I am also certain that I would be old and bitter like so many who stop trying long before they reach fulfillment. I would be safe from pain, yet a slave to loneliness. I would have more money, but be poorer by far.
I would be little better than the ones who have wounded me with such deliberate force. I would be an eternal victim to egos who only feed upon the pain they cause others. I would be hard-aged instead of ageless. I would not be me and I would rather be viewed as naive if that is the cost of believing that I am worth loving than simply accepting their estimation that I must pay an extra high price for love that never was worthy of the cost they demanded.
The defect has to belong to them and the price they pay is the loss of my love and trust, not the loss of my belief in its existence. Just because there is no water to be found in one location does not mean that all the earth is water-free and the same can be said for people.

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Saturday, April 29, 2006

Fears Path

TODAY'S QUOTE:
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
Frank Herbert

This quote is deeply stated and impossible to deny. I must not fear, yet I do. We all fear something, some of us fear many things, and a few fear most everything. In all its forms it cripples in ways nothing else ever will. Feeling it is mandatory, embracing it is voluntary, and the lessons that go into learning the difference between validation and saturation are brutal.
Fear is like a knife that only you have control of, either point it outward and let it clear a path or wave it all around and wound yourself. I choose to point it elsewhere. I face it outward from a wall of determination to really live and it propels me forward. I face it head on when necessary to overstep a stumbling block. I may tremble from head-to-toe all through the exercise of exorcism. I may even continue trembling for a time after I am done with the doing of whatever I feared, but so what if I do? I think dying of fright is unlikely.
I know people who barely live because of the restrictions it places upon them, but they do not seem to struggle much. I suppose they feel safe behind the walls it inspires, yet I thank God every day that I only felt trapped. It isolates us from everything if allowed. It holds us hostage when we let it control our actions or the lack thereof. It steals a life more quickly and completely than anything else. Why load the thiefs get away car with the only real treasures we ever truly possess?

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Friday, April 28, 2006

The Gift Of A Morning

TODAY'S QUOTE:
What happiness there is when I awake to find near me the gift of a Morning!
Abbie Graham

The morning is such a magical thing to me, every dawning a new life. Whatever yesterday held is past and a new start is always possible. Most days I have a smile on my face before I even open my eyes, because I know that whatever was is done and whatever can be is mostly up to me. Given a choice I want to be happy, so I just choose that way to begin as many mornings as I can manage.
Sometimes things happen that try to rearrange my attitude, but I always make it a mighty struggle for control of what is mine. Make a conscious decision to be happy just because you have another opportunity to get it right, or at least a little righter than you did yesterday and it is really hard to not be at least a little happy. And face it folks isn't a little happy better than the alternative of the flip side. If the choice is yours... and it truly is... why not choose glad over sad or mad?

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Thursday, April 27, 2006

Great Beautifiers

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks.
Charles Dickens, 1812-1870, British Novelist

Gravity gets us all, eventually. Why help it do its damage? A smile lifts the face up. A frown drags it down. Really, just think about it for a second and you will be forced to agree that forcing your profile downward cannot be considered a very intelligent thing to do. The sad spiral does not end there, a heavy spirit makes feet drag and spines curl and a hangdog expression is not the most inviting thing to show to the masses.
A young girl still lives inside of me, in times of happiness she has control of my body. She skips, she giggles, she hides the years and shines from sparkling eyes. When I am sad she hides and the years come to the surface for all to see. Nobody is as horrified by its appearance as I am. I invite her to dance in my shoes. I am determined to live my life looking through her eyes. I am happy in her presence and others are too.
The older one has been wounded by years of heartache. She is part of me, but not the most important part. Her name is Grace and she has seen a lot more than is healthy, but all along the way she shared space with a young girl named Hope. The two walked side-by-side through thick and thin. Whether limping through a valley, or soaring above the clouds they have traveled hand-in-hand.
Grace is the wise one, Hope is the prettier of the two. Struggle on girls, put your best feet forward, and turn a happy face to the world. Make gravity struggle for space. Life takes enough without either of you handing over what is not required. Smile girls, and fight the good fight. Show the world that there is more to life than just the right to survive, there is also the right to thrive. I have Faith that with Grace and Hope anything is possible.

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Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Last Night's Cornbread

TODAY'S QUOTE:
You've got to continue to grow, or you're just like last night's cornbread--stale and dry.
Loretta Lynn

Growth is a blessed thing that is too often treated like a chore. Sure, sometimes it sticks its nose into a safe rut and mucks things up. Sometimes it causes system wide panic and discord, replacing hibernation with a sudden total awareness that is almost blinding in its intensity. Change is filled with sensations, both good and bad. Nothing is meant to stagnate, standing water breeds bugs and frozen-in-place people are bugs by default.
They are like a record skipping over the same tired tune over and over. Children go through normal stages of growth; once we reach adulthood that should continue, but too often it just screeches to a sudden stop. I am sure that everyone knows someone who had a favorite time of life that they seem determined to remain inside of even though it is long past. The 60's are used a lot by many such theme role players and although it is entertaining to view them from time-to-time it is sad to think anyone is more fond of moments past than excited about ones yet to come.
If I have to be like a baked item, stale corn bread is a poor choice. I would hope that I am a bit more like angel food cake. It is sweet to taste. It keeps well if wrapped right. It can be topped with many different things and adapts well in the process. And it has such a pretty name... What would you choose? Choose wisely and do not be satisfied to be half-baked. Make life a rich banquet, not simply a meal of leftovers.
I received the following in an email. Enjoy and share!

Near my friends home is a field, with two horses in it.
From a distance, each looks like every other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing.
Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing.
If nearby and listening, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to her halter is a small bell. It lets her blind friend know where she is, so he can follow her.
As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see how she is always checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly walk to where she is, trusting that she will not lead him astray. When she returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, she stops occasionally and looks back, making sure her friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.
Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need.
Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others see.
Good friends are like this. You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
Please listen for my bell and I'll listen for yours.


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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Fountain Use

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle.
Robert Anthony, Think, Think On and Think Again

This is true and very cleverly put; truisms stated with humor are much easier to digest than the dry white bread kind that most times hit home then bounce away without leaving an echo behind. I love the ones that are memorable by the fashion they wear and this one is dressed most delightfully.
Some people are gulpers, some only sip and some just gargle before they then spit. Some of us retain knowledge, some let it go, some of us learn, and some never know. What we ingest is important, but how we take it in changes its flavor. Nothing is truly learned just by rote, nothing is retained that does not enter your throat. So drink hearty from the fountain of life and swallow as much as your system can hold. Real life belongs to the thirsty and success to the bold.

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Monday, April 24, 2006

Wing Building

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Sometimes you have to take the leap, and build your wings on the way down.
Kobi Yamada

Life inspires all kinds of fears and boundaries, trusting yourself enough to leap over them and risk a hard fall is not an easy task, but the alternative is half a life with no soaring possibilities. I could have let hundreds of hurts and abuses stop my hunger to fly. I could have been content to rut dwell. I could have done as many do and felt so sorry for myself that I spoiled all I touched with the taint of self pity and impotent sorrow, but I did not.
Falling is always a possibility, none of us are guaranteed a fall free life. To attempt anything always has the risk of failure, but to not attempt anything is certain failure by default. What a waste that is to never try or to stop trying because once you fell or a hundred times over you hit the ground. So yeah...so what...one success is worth any number of failures or there would not be lunatics like me still leaping off into the great unknown and hoping for a softer landing.
Beating someone over the head with the results of a failed flight is futile, and it is also a bit neurotic. I hit hard not so long ago, but I do not waste my time on the one who held their arms out and said trust me and jump. He got his pound of flesh and I got the hell away from him. I was at fault too so what good would it do to point fingers now and bellow. Not me!! Let him enjoy someone else's pain he is not privy to mine.
I was delusioned by my own wishes and hopes. I believed when I should not have, but who is the bad one here? Not me so why keep on paying the price for a crash landing. I see others going on and on and endlessly on over less costly flights and I just want to push them off the nearest cliff and show them what a real unexpected crash feels like. Why waste your life moaning about what never was and never will be to someone who never cared as you wanted them to.
I got up and dusted myself off, told the person what I thought then moved on. He heard it once and that was plenty, saying it over and over would not change a blessed thing. I will not give one more moment to a lost cause, there is too much of real value to contemplate to rent space in my head to a fools dreams.
So all you dreaming fools who are stuck at your point of impact, follow me back up to the soaring spot and take flight for a better cause than the one that landed you in a heap. The world has no respect for the cry babies who never make another attempt, but everyone loves the underdog who refuses to stop trying.


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Sunday, April 23, 2006

Vulnerable Strength

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.
Sigmund Freud

The things that wound us also make us stronger. Overcoming obstacles demands a strength that has to be reached for, nothing comes automatically during this painful process. Limitations are most often self-applied and can only be removed in the same fashion. Determination to get past the past is the sharpest tool we have for digging our way out of any hole we find ourselves trapped inside of and the strength applied will determine just how long we will be stuck there.
It sucks sometimes to be in charge of such things, because it is so much easier to blame others for our issues than it is to take responsibility ourselves. We may like to use the blame game to gain sympathy or assign guilt, but in the end it always rests at our door. To me it seems much more sensible to just take my lumps and go forward no matter who was at fault to begin with. Hell, I would much rather climb a mountain barefoot than stand at its base with a rock in my shoe and cry about a blister that is stopping me from taking any steps at all.
Let your fears make you braver. Let your troubles make you stronger. Let blame be a thing rarely used and forgiveness be a guide out of the dark places we all sometimes find ourselves inside of. Weakness or strength is all up to you, and exercise is the only thing separating the two.

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Saturday, April 22, 2006

The Last Analysis

TODAY'S QUOTE:
In the last analysis, what we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do.
Stephen R. Covey, Author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

The last analysis will sum up the total and the echo we leave behind will come from tones that mostly play from this point. Mistakes will be forgiven if we are forgiving of others. Hurts will be comforted if we never meant to cause them and try never to repeat the act that inspired them. Fences will be mended, bridges will be built, and lines will be crossed if we give our attention to adding more than we take away from life and loved ones.
To any who read here that I have hurt it was never my intention to do so. To someone I miss more than I can ever explain, just know that every single day I hold you in my heart with pride at all you have accomplished. We may never speak again, which is something that rips at heart strings, but I will never stop loving you. Take pride in who you are, because I feel that when I think of you.
I am so far from perfect, yet daily I reach toward some better being. I will never stop trying to be more than I am today. I hope in the final analysis that I can measure up to more than I began with.
I received this link in an email and share it with you all. It is a message worth repeating and living.

http://www.inlibertyandfreedom.com/Flash/Think_It_Over.swf

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Friday, April 21, 2006

Rather Become

TODAY'S QUOTE:
"Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value."
Albert Einstein

Value equates true worth; a man or woman who knows and shows their true worth is successful in ways having nothing to do with piles of money or tons of possessions. I would rather be valuable enough to be valued than successful enough to be wealthy. I would rather become a better person than a richer one.
I have seen clear and horrid examples of what greed does to a human being. I have had chances to follow in their footsteps, hell I have been invited to march beside two such men. The first I convinced to leave that path and stayed by his side. The second I left him to his greedy ways without trying to alter his idea of success. One thing both of them taught me quite clearly is that I cannot live in comfort in a house of greed.
Give me a mate with heart and I will not worry about what else they possess. A true measure of a man is not in what he owns or owes. Rich man, poor man is relative, whatever the greedy think to the contrary. A poor man with a true embrace is worth more to me than a ton of rich ones who only know how to hug dollars. If greed has to be a part of the mix, let him be greedy for my company and I will be greedy for his.

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Thursday, April 20, 2006

Despicable Respect

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.
Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French Author/Philosopher/Nobel Prize Winner

This should be self-evident and more likely than not it is, yet some of us still dance to the beat of such dreadful drummers as if by default. People who inspire any positive emotion through negative means are expert manipulators. They see themselves as above the rules that apply to everyone else, and when by our actions we prove them right how can we blame them for feeling that way?
Anyone who inspires intense emotional or physical fear should be avoided at all cost, but it has been a lifelong habit of mine to court such disasters. My awareness of that trend has never been more vivid to me than it is right now. And the breaking of a cycle has never been more possible than it is at this moment.
Awareness makes it impossible to just blindly go on thoughtlessly making the same mistakes. And it is a lot harder to do a misdeed when internal voices are screaming at us to get a clue and stop all foolishness. Taking stock of what you have stored in your cupboard makes tossing out the bad things a mandatory endeavor, and what could be worse to keep a firm hold on than respect for anyone who earned it by fear.

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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

The Right To Disagree

TODAY'S QUOTE:
The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, American Congresswoman

People cannot always agree, and think just how boring it would be if they always did. At first glance that may seem like a negative, but it really is not so much of a bad thing as we like to imagine. Simply parroting other peoples opinions would be little better than having no opinion of your own worth stating or defending. Be glad we are not always like-minded.
Disagreements are normal, but difficulties do often arise over the way it is done. No right minded person can really believe that shoving your beliefs down someone else's throat will change their mind. What someone gently rebels against when it is stated at a whisper, they will flat-out revolt against if bellowed.
Each of us has the right to think as we choose. We all have the right to state our beliefs, live them, and defend them. What we do not have the right to do is force feed others into sharing our unique slant on them. If we challenge someone else's right to their own opinion we compromise our own, making it an important exercise to defend the rights of all to protect the rights of all.

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A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.
If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.
If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.
In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. "
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."
So, my friend, why not take a while to just simply RELAX. Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while. Life is short. Enjoy it! Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it
* Never buy a car you can't push.
* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
* The second mouse gets the cheese.
* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
* Birthdays are good for you. T he more you have, the longer you live.
* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
* We could learn a lot from crayons...Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

The Hard Path

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Following the course of least resistance makes for crooked rivers and crooked men.
Lanny Henninger

The easy way often leads to places a bit dark for my taste. Most landscapes along those roads are shadowed by dishonesty. Some are lined with sad memorials of those wounded or destroyed to make the path smoother or quicker to a destination that could have been reached, by gentler means.
I have not always walked the right path, and there have been many detours along the way. Some wrong turns have been my own doing, others were taken by mistake or by believing some well-placed misinformation. Whatever the reason, directing my steps back toward where they should have been left firmly placed all along is my responsibility.
I hope in time to be rock solid in my ability to avoid being easily sidetracked. I will do my best to have a purpose behind as many footsteps as I can possibly manage. What is the sense in getting somewhere and being so defensive about the transportation used to get there that it steals the joy of your arrival.

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Monday, April 17, 2006

The Value Of Wishes That Don't Come True

TODAY'S QUOTE:
It is not good for all our wishes to be filled; through sickness we recognize the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest.
Greek saying

Life is a series of contrasting events, each demanding different emotions to get through, rise above, out distance, or live to the fullest. Joy is a part of life, but sorrow has its fair share of miles on this journey. We may wish that things were effortless, yet if the road was the same for the whole trip we would be bored or brain-numb within a few short miles.
It makes no sense to court the bad things, but maybe if we looked at them a bit differently their worth might become something sensible. When a negative occurs if we take some time to reflect what positive can be learned from it, instead of simply blindly reacting to the pain it inspires then it will be instantly fruitful. The pain will still be a reality, but its intensity will be muted and our ability to shoulder its weight will be strengthened by assigning it a purpose.
Things done for a reason are simply much easier to do. When no other purpose can be readily applied, using personal growth always works. We graduate from one crisis to another by means of inner strength gained on the hard paths of our past. And the peaceful times between are all the sweeter from the struggle we each make to get there.

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Sunday, April 16, 2006

The Better Part

TODAY'S QUOTE:
The better part of one's life consists of his friendships.
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, 16th President of the United States

Real friends are treasures, giving pleasure without asking anything more complicated than to simply share your space. We often received more unconditional love from friends than from anyone else. Best friends are like extensions of self: the cream of the crop: the top of the heap, and their special touch my life has soothed me through many brutal times.
I did not have a lot of time today to work on this post, but I did not waste the time either. On this day set aside to celebrate a resurrection, I was celebrating the resurrections of self in the lives of two friends. On some days it is either, spend time here at the cost of missing a chance to soothe and comfort someone in need, or aid one or two personally at the cost of briefer posts. Today I think I chose wisely. Happy Easter All!!!

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Saturday, April 15, 2006

Self Truth

TODAY'S QUOTE:
If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people.
Virginia Woolf, 1882-1941, British Novelist and Essayist

Truth can be very dry and hard to swallow if simply stated in a wooden tone, but dry facts in a tidy row are really not all that neat below the surface. Humans are complex creatures; by default their truths are layered with factual things that nobody else ever sees, unless invited inside. Some never share what is hidden, some never even find it for themselves. We all know of its existence, whatever tactics we use to find it, share it, or ignore it.
Telling the truth, at least to yourself, is vital to understanding the self you possess. Brutal truths are most unpleasant, but saying them to yourself keeps it from being such a shock when someone else brings it to your attention. And someone else surely will, trust me, someone else surely will!!
They may only possess just a fraction of the facts that exist, but that rarely stops them from making full use of them. Half-truths are used as often as anything else in the blame game, and can do as much damage as an outright untruth. If you know the whole truth it insulates you against the cold breath of judgment or the hot breath of conviction. But the form is not in the mail, so fact-finding is self-motivated, self-activated, and self-empowering.
There is a freedom to admitting the bad then changing it to something more worthy. There is a special comfort to picking yourself up and walking a few steps further out of a truth that darkness your path into a truth of a lighter shade. Some facts are only habits that have not been broken yet. There is a balance that only comes from accepting your truths, both bad and good. Seeing the root as well as the bare facts changes their meaning somewhat and makes them easier to accept and change whenever necessary.

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Friday, April 14, 2006

A Wrinkle Free Heart

TODAY'S QUOTE:
To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent--that is to triumph over old age.
Amos Bronson Alcott

We reflect externally what is happening internally; our profiles are pinched or softened in perfect measure with our attitudes and natures. The older we are the more wrinkled our canvas gets, but hopefully we are more skilled at applying colors and tones that are ageless.
Hope is essential to quality of life, no matter your situation, station, or age. We all need it to accomplish more than simple survival. Hope for a better tomorrow has gotten me through many a bad day and I 'spect it will get me through many more before their total number is spent.
Kindness is a gentle thing, expanding whomever it touches, while returning a joy beyond expression to the giver. The openness required to perform a kindness soften our sharpest edge, creating a glow that everyone can see.
A cheerful nature soothes soul deep, brightening even the darkest corner. Smiles are fountains, frowns are drains; the former makes pretty lines, while the latter digs deep wrinkles. Laughter feeds every layer and is an ageless undertaking. Nobody is ever too young or too old to deserve its special comfort, which heals as it flows.
One of the most reverent things you can do is validate your right to a happy life. Knowing yourself well enough to understand who you are and who you hope to become is an almost spiritual journey that anyone can make. If you want to really cheat old age stay young inside, childlike in nature, and true to yourself.

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Thursday, April 13, 2006

Remarkable People

TODAY'S QUOTE:
"People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success."
Norman Vincent Peale

This is so true, since the messages we give ourselves are the ones we most often listen to, even if they happen to be incorrect. Defeat is a mostly self-inflicted condition, pre-ordained inside of the brain, taken to heart then created in real time. Success can be our destination only if we see it clearly and believe in its reality.
The most wondrous things begin inside of the brain, it is just a shame that so many of them end there, as well. We are given such a powerful tool, but often it is wasted upon the clueless; it is not that the power is not present, it is that it is never plugged into.
Positive fuel makes going to a positive destination a certainty, while negative fuel gets you nowhere at the astonishing speed of thought. Deciding upon a power source is a moment-to-moment exercise we need to make, or someone else will try to make it for us, or worse yet our mind will take us on a ride we never intended. Be remarkable enough to use the power inside to reach a place of balance, it is a trip worth any effort and deserving of the best fuel possible.

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The Old Phone
When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was "Information Please" and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone's number and the correct time.
My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone!Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. "Information, please" I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear.
"Information." "I hurt my finger..." I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.
"Isn't your mother home?" came the question.
"Nobody's home but me," I blubbered.
"Are you bleeding?" the voice asked.
"No," I replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts."
"Can you open the icebox?" she asked. I said I could. "Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice.
After that, I called "Information Please" for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts. Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called, Information Please," and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown- ups say to soothe a child.
But I was not consoled. I asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?"
She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, "Wayne always remember that there are other worlds to sing in."
Somehow I felt better. Another day I was on the telephone, "Information Please."
"Information," said in the now familiar voice.
"How do I spell fix?" I asked.
All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. "Information Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.
A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, "Information Please."
Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. "Information."
I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, "Could you please tell me how to spell fix?"
There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now."
I laughed, "So it's really you," I said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?"
"I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your call meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls."
I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister. "Please do", she said. "Just ask for Sally."
Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, "Information." I asked for Sally.
"Are you a friend?" she said.
"Yes, a very old friend," I answered.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part- time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago." Before I could hang up she said, "Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne?"
"Yes." I answered.
"Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you." The note said, "Tell him there are other worlds to sing in. He'll know what I mean."
I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant. Never underestimate the impression you may make on others. Whose life have you touched today? Why not pass this on? I just did.... Lifting you on eagle's wings. May you find the joy and peace you long for. Life is a journey ... NOT a guided tour.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

No Use Fighting Fact

TODAY'S QUOTE:
There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat.
James Russell Lowell, 1819-1891, American Poet/Critic/Satirist

The things that cannot be changed should not be struggled against, but some people never fully come to terms with any unhappy fact. Adjusting to whatever it is, in whatever way possible, has to be a conscious decision or it just never occurs. Acceptance puts us right in the path of altering the things that we can, which improves our quality of life... But acceptance is a voluntary response.
When I come upon an inevitable obstacle I certainly react, I just do my best not to over-react. Once it is clear that its shape cannot be altered by anything I do there is no sense in standing with my nose up against it, moving on somehow is the only way to get anywhere.
I do not simply forget that such things exist; acting as if my world was trouble free would be foolish indeed, yet I do act as if I am more than the troubles I run into. The things you give space to in your mind only grow in importance. I may notice them out of the corner of my eye or see their shadow reaching in my direction, but I also see the rest of the landscape and the sunbeams lighting the path are much more breathtaking in contrast, so I concentrate upon them. I just refuse to be led by dread!

THINK ABOUT IT
LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE
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Monday, April 10, 2006

None So Old

TODAY'S QUOTE:
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862, American Essayist/Poet/Naturalist

The zest for life is essential to its quality. Quantity is an uncertainty, yet growing old is optional in so many more ways than we often realize. Aging is mandatory, but only our body must go from dust-to-dust while our spirits are everlasting. Souls full of expression have no measure of time, no clock to punch, or any calendar that applies to their longevity.
I have seen hundred year old eyes light up with a child's delight and as if by magic the years tumbled from their face. I have seen sweet ageless smiles and heard timeless laughter from elderly people that made us peers in every way when I returned whatever they offered. Meeting another soul is not the same as appearances might imply, enthusiasm on both parts makes numbers instantly irrelevant to the formula.
Enthusiasm means passion and there is no purer passion than the eagerness to really live. In one way we are held hostage by the body we inhabit, yet our body is not large enough to really hold a timeless soul. All parts of you are housed there; the child, the teen, and the adult in all its many forms and fashions interact, overlap, and intertwine if we validate their existence with attention.
Arnold Glasow called enthusiasm, "The energy that boils over and runs down the pot."
Norman Vincent Peale called it, "Fire under control."
Either way it takes a flame and fuel which each of us has to supply. Keep the fire burning...no matter what your age...and be truly ageless.

THINK ABOUT IT
LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE
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Sunday, April 09, 2006

The Power Of Touch

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
Leo Buscaglia

Touch is intensely powerful; our energy touches others for ill or good, altering the vibrations of those around us. All of us are fed or starved by good touch or bad, and what we pass to others is often simply the echoes of what was just given to us. We should consider the importance of choosing for ourselves, instead of simply paying it forward whatever its content.
Lifting someone up above where you are then pulling yourself up to their level makes more sense than dragging them down to share a common misery. Any smile shared makes the joy all the richer and can be given by a tone of voice or words on paper. I hand out extras to people who do not seem to have one handy, finding that a lot better than stealing one that will not fit my face anyway. Without intention, I might not ease a frown or I may even cause one, but I attempt to make as many conscious decisions about my mood as necessary to keep it in some sort of balance.
We cannot control how other people use their power of touch, but we can determine how we allow it to affect us. We can have control of how we touch and what we leave behind or leave it to chance and willingly give as good as we get even if the ones we are giving it to do not deserve its burden. Sharing of emotions should be selective, not just hosed upon everyone; few will thank you for covering them in shit and some will even get truly hostile.
Touch gently the ones you touch and forgive the ones who do not return the favor. Do not change your nature to mirror the unnatural, even for a moment. Think about the echoes you want to leave behind and in that way make your personal space more peaceful. Success is not always certain, but it is always possible. Once you begin thinking about touch in a deeper way, it gets used as a tool more often than a weapon and its true potential is more fully realized.

THINK ABOUT IT
LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE
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Saturday, April 08, 2006

Think Big

TODAY'S QUOTE:
As long as you're going to be thinking anyway, THINK BIG.
Donald Trump

A healthy brain has no weight or height restrictions about what size of thoughts it can contain. Minds stretch if we exercise them, but left to their own devices they rarely do anything more taxing than run in tight circles. The law of supply and demand is well enforced there; ask little and get next to nothing, require more and the skies the only limit in sight.
Some notions are embraceable, some too lame to deserve the effort. We think without thinking, too often drifting from place to place as the wind of drama or gossip pushes us this way or that. I guess in most cases it can be said that we waste more than we use. This quote reminds us that we not only can, but should direct our thoughts toward larger mental visions.
There is nothing quite like suspending any barriers you have erected and letting your mind have flight. The training is not an over night endeavor, but an ongoing occupation. We owe it to ourselves to get the most out of life, so having the best of thoughts should be one of our first and foremost goals to try for every day.
A few days ago I stumbled upon a meditation site and I have been using it daily. The feeling of peace and clarity it leaves me with is worth the mention. I shared it with a few friends who have had similar results, so I am posting it here for thebenefitt of any who would like to try its soothing space. http://www.meditainment.com/ click on visit the secret garden and enjoy.

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LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE
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Friday, April 07, 2006

Find Time

TODAY'S QUOTE:
People who cannot find time for recreation are obliged sooner or later to find time for illness.
John Wanamaker, 1838-1922, American Merchant

The body rebels if the mind, heart, and soul are not tended correctly. Stress builds up mountain-tall then finding no release starts ripping whatever tissue it can find and its reach is unlimited. If you swallow glass it wounds and if you wallow in stress it disables; stress is attached to most everything, but to bind it to yourself seems slow suicide.
Stress management is rubbish hauling before it gets to mammoth proportions. A big portion of our success or failure in keeping the pile to a reasonable level is balance or the lack thereof. Without some outside interest beyond the stressful situations we find ourselves in there is no balance and what we do not release affects everything.
I usually have several different projects going at once, overlapping each other and within easy reach, always things I want to learn more about or have a passionate desire to master. I do not just sit and watch television or listen to music, although they are in the background; I fill every moment I can with more than just the option of letting life get to me. Idle hands and a run away mind often make more trouble in an already troublesome situation. Giving only what each problem demands is good for heart, mind, and soul. And with the balance gained it is much easier to maintain a healthy body.

THINK ABOUT IT
LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE
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THE SISTERHOOD

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Heart Visions

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.
Carl Jung

This is so true; awakenings are internal lightning strikes, some smaller than others...but all of major proportion to a persons quality of life. People who sleep walk are unaware of their sad state. Any awakening is from a zombie like state, so should be considered a most joyous occasion no matter what comes next, and come it surely will. In the case of lightning strikes, usually they foretell an approaching storm.
I experienced my first awakening just hours before a stormy period of exploration began, in a marriage that had been little more than a dictatorship up until that point. I went through countless changes upon impact then more followed at a steady pace and are still occurring to this day so many years later.
The feeling of electricity remains, I very rarely forget how alive I am. Other wake up calls have been answered, some most unpleasant in nature and sensation, but I always rejoice in the fact that I am awake at all. My heart has been broken, yet my belief in myself remains untarnished. I am no better or worse than most people, but I am more aware of my moving internal parts than most people I meet.
I recommend turning inward and watching for lightning strikes. I shudder to think of what shape I would be in now without the first bolt-upright moment of awareness I experienced in 1993. I still have miles to go on the road it set me upon, but I welcome every step. Some days I feel every breath I take; however you look at it that is priceless, no matter the cost to earn the pleasure.

THINK ABOUT IT
LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE
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THE SISTERHOOD

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

A Good Part Behind

TODAY'S QUOTE:
He who is outside the door has already got a good part of his journey behind him.
Dutch Proverb

Finding a door, or building one is a journey all in itself. Struggling toward a place of reckoning is half the war, but being the first battle gives it the point position. The time spent wrestling yourself door-side is a true test of what kind of commitment you will give to reach and embrace whatever changes wait beyond its barrier.
Without alterations life just stays the same, or maybe a better way of saying it is that without growth there is no need to alter anything. The battles with yourself are some of the hardest you will ever fight, but they are of such a noble origin that it is an honor to face the test and empowering to achieve victory.
It is much easier to just go on with a negative than it is to change it into a positive. Simply said, growth takes guts. The battlefield is internal, opponents two sides of the same being; one side aches to explore, the other set in its ways and stubborn toward change. Others can support your efforts, but the battle is really yours alone to win or lose. The credit or blame rests at your feet, making it all the more vital that you succeed.
When you stand poised to cross the threshold, the strength gained to get that far will enable the next step taken. Lifting your foot is not an easy undertaking, but it is much easier than what was suffered to get to the stepping over place. Few people who reach this far ever fail to travel on. The worst is over and true victory a doorway away.

THINK ABOUT IT
LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Dream Gripping

TODAY'S QUOTE:
When you have a dream you've got to grab it and never let go.
Carol Burnett

This is certainly true if you ever expect it to succeed. Nothing happens with a dream kept safely deep inside of a mind that never believes in its possibilities. A glimmer of hope will strengthen into soul-deep certainty with some tender care. Every dream begins as a glimmer before it becomes the blaze that forges a purpose strong enough to give your very being over to its health.
I have a dream. I have a certainty. I have a purpose. But without faith it is just a collection of thoughts, and without action it is just mind trash, pretty but useless to anyone. Lately I have learned many hard lessons about dreaming things into reality. There is a responsibility that comes with any soul-deep dream; it is a sacred trust if the things touching others have your name and image attached.
Dream big, reach high, but never allow others access if your soul is in turmoil about them in any way. A dream taken too high, before the one in whose heart it resides is ready to control it with confidence, is bound to failure. The site gifted to me over a year ago was instantly abandoned by the man who built it, even though he was well aware he left me with hands tied. His dream was to build a website and he did a wonderful job. My vision and his skill shaped every page and it is a delight to see.
Every day since his abandonment, I have struggled to keep it going and find someone to take his place.
I thought that had been accomplished finally, but the truth is I am much worse off than before help arrived. Abandoning my dream is impossible, so I have to abandon the main site that I have no skill to add to or take anything away from. But...in no way am I abandoning my dream. I have another site http://www.sisterhoodsupport.com and I am perfectly capable of handling it on my own. It will not be as fancy, but it will be: my hands...my dreams... my hopes...my vision, but not for me only; it all revolves around you.
This journal is the core of it all and anywhere it rests secure, I will be satisfied. My dream to lend a hand is not something I can simply set down and walk away from. It was born of agony...my own and my families, my friends and their families. It was brought to life from deaths...my husband, my nephew, 2 of his children, and my son's best friend. It was given breath by murder and suicide...and a sacred promise made at a grave side.
A dream with such a visible road to this place is much too deeply rooted to ever leave in the dust. And dragging it through the mud is too awful to contemplate. So I did not down-size my dream, but I am downsizing its focus, until my skill reaches a point of expansion, or the hands willing to help do not set alarms ringing inside of me.
Bookmark this page and you will be at the heart of whatever space I inhabit. Click on the title and visit the place it is housed. Journey's End is as much a state of mind as it is a location on the web.

Monday, April 03, 2006

The Great Mystery

TODAY'S QUOTE:
People like you and I, though mortal of course like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live...We never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.
Albert Einstein

Life is magical. All the world is a stage, yet many never take time to wonder about whatever role they have been cast into. I used to simply read the parts handed me, without complaint. It was much easier to conform, but the casting couch only earned me a supporting role with all the responsibility and none of the fame. Then I started to question something quite basic.
Why in the hell was someone so incapable of directing their own actions in charge of mine? Suddenly realizing that I had no real life made everything that came before seem mostly lame, compared to what could have been accomplished if I had been more than wooden. I had allowed so much simply because I did not realize I had a choice.
We all have choices, sometimes we make the right ones and sometimes not. Wisdom usually comes in spurts, often following a tragedy. But to find a life after a lifetime of role playing gives a childlike view of the delights of the world at large. The vastness of the earth we live on, and all the things we miss seeing even if we travel non-stop for a lifetime is beyond imagining. There is knowledge that never gets absorbed no matter how long we put our noses into books.
The choices of destinations and knowledge are unlimited, yet we all too often seem satisfied to stay permanently rooted to one spot in both body and mind. The children in us grows old and careworn, living lives programmed by others. When we cease to wonder life loses some of its wonder. Magical moments become mundane without attention to detail.
Put your nose to windowpane once in awhile and notice your choices. Choose some for the adult inside, but do not forget the child who asks so many questions. Through their eyes you will see the glory of life and embrace its wonder.


THINK ABOUT IT
LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Affording To Be Stupid

TODAY'S QUOTE:
It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Well, I was three paragraphs into today's post when a awful noise caught my attention. I noticed the change outside the window, the landscape suddenly bathed in a strange hue only produced by storms. The wind was rumbling like the wheels of a fast moving train and for the moment I was trapped inside the far end of a mobile home while the air was becoming a visible enemy.
Tree limbs bounced up and down in a mad dance, some appearing to grow in length as trees responded to the mighty push of air against wood. I did a dance of my own and sang out words of warning to the teen in the shower. By the time he was dressed enough to allow me into his space and beyond, hail was banging an angry tune upon tin. Lighting split the sky with fierce intensity and the long and short of it is, I ran back and without a second thought unplugged all electronics.
Now I sit here and frown softly because words I can never hope to get back are gone for good, but my eyes are sparkling too. How can I mourn lost words when I still have a roof above me and floor below. The things lost and gone are most times better put to rest so that things found and solid can be appreciated.
Today the quote will speak for itself it seems, and I will talk of other things. Trying to recapture what is gone is not how I choose to live my life or spend my time. The storm is over now, but sure to come again sometime soon. In life, situations ripe for storms are plentiful. Things lost are soon replaced with other things.
I have lived through enough storms to realize that I have the power to weather most anything if I choose to salvage all that remains and get over the loses I cannot control. Mistakes in judgment and such, (unplugging the computer without saving what I had written, or countless examples I could but will not mention), are part of being human. Learning from mistakes makes them worth the agony, avoiding the same ones later is a sure sign that what was paid is all that will be required.
We can avoid some storms, while others are upon us out of nowhere. We can concentrate on what blows away or gather together whatever remains. We can do most anything we set our minds to do, but we have to choose wisely. What you give attention to gains its own energy, fueling a positive strengthens us and giving power to a negative drains us. Duh!!! Seems a no-brainer when you think about it, sooooo...

THINK ABOUT IT
LET IT GROW
THEN DECIDE