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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SISTERHOOD SUPPORT

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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SISTERHOOD SUPPORT

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.

THINK ABOUT IT

LET IT GROW

THEN DECIDE

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SISTERHOOD SUPPORT

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Poor Substitutes

TODAY'S QUOTE:
"Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth."
Aesop

Most people want to be seen in the best possible light, but if there is nothing behind the image it is just a mask that any stiff breeze can toss aside. Some false faces are painted vivid and bright, yet fade quickly without any inner illumination. Sometimes outer beauty only becomes evident after meeting the spirit housed inside. A fair appearance can turn ugly with one puff of wind, and a homely one can be made gorgeous by a flattering illumination. If I had to choose between outer beauty and inner goodness I would much rather be ugly as sin on the outside than blackened by it soul deep.
The clothes do not make the man, although our eyes may be drawn to a fashionable appearance. The costume of a man does not insure manhood. Charm can be parroted, but grace is beyond a birds understanding. In life the actions you perform during quiet moments are more telling than anything done while on display.
When highlighting the advantages we possess it is much more illuminating to adjust the glow from within than to line the stage with floodlights. And it has been my observation that a shifty soul looks out through darting eyes that never gaze deeply into any mirror. They may contemplate one feature at a time or evaluate the total picture, but avoid direct eye contact with themselves. People who cannot look with honesty upon their own reflection need not try to evaluate anyone else's, but they are often the first to criticize.
Look more deeply and gently upon others, overlooking the obvious. Place more importance with what is visible behind eyes than fashion of dress. A king dressed in rags is still regal, but no matter how richly dressed a jester is he remains foolish in actions and intent. Real class comes from inside. And real beauty is so much more then just skin deep.

THINK ABOUT IT

LET IT GROW

THEN DECIDE

Deliberate Actions

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.
Andrew Jackson, 1767-1845, 7th President of the United States

Looking before you leap is a sane sort of jumping, but hesitating for too long in a leaping stance can put you off-balance enough to inspire a hard fall. Changing back and forth between stop and go is even worse, since every beginning and ending is packed full of intense emotions. I cannot like feeling either extreme, so it is all the more distasteful if my own actions are the cause of the upset.
Getting the dial set to the right amount of thinking time is tricky. Meatier issues take longer to digest than fluffy ones. Considering a heavy one for too long can scare a person half to death, or all the way to the asylum. Dwelling upon a light one at length can cause brain cells to shrink, attention spans to shorten, and childlike behavior to develop.
Setting the speed at which you think figures into this formula too. Racing from notion-to-notion gives little insight, half asked questions have no real answers. Loping slowly seems about as ridiculous as speaking slowly in a loud fashion to a blind person. Too fast and you out-distance the answer, too slowly and you never get to it. An ideal medium can be found and maintained with practice and will power.
Strength of will is the portion of self with the most control over what kind of thoughts we have and how we deal with them. A strong mind is necessary to obtain a healthy balance; wrestling a thought out of mind, or killing it altogether takes muscle. After a surprisingly short time the number of bothersome notions will be close to nothing and the ones you do have will be weak as well as lame.
Pondering better thoughts more efficiently will help in thinking before leaping situations. When a target is in mind it is much safer to jump. And going in is more likely to be a successful endeavor with productive planning, even if it is brief than it would be with mindless panic inspired by over-thinking.

THINK ABOUT IT

LET IT GROW

THEN DECIDE

How Deep Can You Go

TODAY'S QUOTE:
To reach a great height a person needs to have great depth.
Source Unknown

It is impossible to make an ocean by stringing together a series of shallow puddles. Petty minds think only of petty things; indulging in or condoning the use of gossip leaves little space to fill with weightier notions. To some a brief moment of feeling like a know it all is completely satisfying, but mucking about in other people's business only means you must have too little of your own worth the bother. Simply repeating twisted facts and half truths about someone else is not a difficult task, any fool can do it and most of them do.
We often expend a ridiculous amount of time and energy on the most foolish of pastimes. Idle minds will fill with whatever is nearest at hand for easy amusement with little or no return. The fact that reaching greater heights takes time and effort kinda keeps it from being more popular than it is, but there is nothing quite as liberating as a healthy brain stretch. Real depth takes digging then each shovel full has to be deposited somewhere before the next can be scooped up.
The past must be pardoned before the present can be faced or the future contemplated. Nobody can walk in all three places at once, although many of us attempt it again and again. Plant your feet firmly in today and see how deep you can go. Once you find your bottomless space then soaring to greater heights is a breeze.

THINK ABOUT IT

LET IT GROW

THEN DECIDE

Real Success

TODAY'S QUOTE:
If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.
Anna Quindlen, American Journalist/Novelist/Columnist

Soul noises from faint whispers to full-blown screams will guide any quest for success, if we allow it. Refusing to listen to our built in warning system makes wasted vibrations out of sound advice. Sometimes the mind says we cannot do something and the soul disagrees, yet we let thoughts stop us from even trying. Sometimes the heart wants to believe a lie so badly that it lowers the volume or mutes it altogether while a soul is already weeping for a heart not as yet broken.
Until recently I lacked real understanding of just how powerful the noises are and how much easier everything would be if I listened more carefully. I am adjusting my hearing to a much deeper internal spot than ever before, and flipping the volume as high as it will go. Once something is understood it has to be put to practice or we never grow in wisdom.
Bending in order to belong is always wrong. Any end that is justified by any means is not one worth lending your soul to. Uncomfortable success is only satisfying to someone who does not care what they do to achieve it. They are welcome to their hollow rewards, I will listen to my soul and take whatever success I can reach without setting off any alarms.

THINK ABOUT IT

LET IT GROW

THEN DECIDE

Soul Warmth

TODAY'S QUOTE:
Love is like the sun coming out of the clouds and warming your soul.
Source Unknown

Soul heat warms from the inside out. When we radiate it outward toward others it is always an intense exchange. The type of love determines its expression, and its size dictates the strength but even the smallest amount is powerful. This world can seem such a cold place, so every degree of warmth given or received is precious fuel.
Love is the heat that heals. The more you give the more you possess. The less conditions put upon its use the better it heats the ones it touches. There is nothing quite as comforting as love when you least deserve it, and the ones who love you in an unconditional fashion make you want to become more lovable.
But, do not think that I believe that once you love someone, you are stuck with them no matter what they do to you or others. I know that loving is something you need to give yourself first, so that allowing someone access to abuse is impossible. Love you have to beg for is not worth the effort, because there is nothing quite as chilling to the soul as empty words with no real emotion behind them.
Finding the true balance is difficult, but certainly not impossible. I am paying a lot more attention to how love makes me feel than I used to. This quote will help with clarity if I am ever in doubt again. If I am not warmed by it then there is a limit to the amount of fuel I will use to keep the fire burning. If I am warmed then there is no limit necessary.

THINK ABOUT IT

LET IT GROW

THEN DECIDE