The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them. - Thomas Merton
Tracks
Take one cup of love, two cups of loyalty, three cups of forgiveness, four quarts of faith and one barrel of laughter. Take love and loyalty and mix them thoroughly with faith; blend with tenderness, kindness and understanding. Add friendship and hope. Sprinkle abundantly with laughter. Bake it with sunshine. Wrap it regularly with lots of hugs. Serve generous helpings daily.”
Among the things you can give and still keep are your word, a smile, and a grateful heart.
Many marriages would be better if the husband and wife clearly understood that they’re on the same side.
If you go out looking for friends, you’re going to find they are very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere
There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.
Some people find fault like there is a reward for it.
The more you are grateful for what you have the more you will have to be grateful for.
Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.
Life is a classroom — only those who are willing to be lifelong learners will move to the head of the class.
Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don’t hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people.
When you put faith, hope and love together, you can raise positive kids in a negative world.
Of course motivation is not permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis.
Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.
~Zig Ziglar
Rest in peace!
A Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime
People come into your life
for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person. When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at
an inconvenient time, this person will say or do
something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met,
our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you
sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on. Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season. LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order
to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in
all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
Sometimes walking away has nothing to do with weakness, and everything to do with strength. We walk away not because we want others to realize our worth and value, but because we finally realize our own. — Unknown
Sometimes walking away has nothing to do with weakness, and everything to do with strength. We walk away not because we want others to realize our worth and value, but because we finally realize our own. — Unknown
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. ~Plato
“Secretly, the wise man and the fool both have the same number of thoughts on occasion. But the wise man (in his wisdom), realizes that all thoughts are not meant to be spoken.
The wise men realize that thoughts that help others through being said are the only thoughts that should generally be shared. Be they funny or intelligent thoughts.
Incomplete thoughts, and those that do nothing but try to inflate your own ego have no place in the wise-man’s mouth. Leave those to the fools, and let only wonder be uttered from your lips.
Be wise. Speak less; speak better.”
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. ~Confucius
To be HAPPY
H - honestly look at your life and define what your morals, principles and values are and then display them in every thing you do.
A - acknowledge and accept the fact that you cannot change another person. That is out of your control. You can only change yourself and you are only responsible for yourself and your actions.
P - praise yourself for all the good things that you have done in your life. Practice random acts of kindness towards yourself and then towards others.
P - practice changing the phrase “mistakes in life” to “Lessons in Life”. Pledge to ask yourself in any given situation the following “What can I learn from this situation?” Learn your lesson and then move on to the next life lesson.
Y- You are worthy of happiness. Let go of guilt and embrace your value as a individual doing the best in life that they can do with the knowledge they have at the time. As you know better you will do better. You deserve happiness. Embrace it now.
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. ~Eleanor Roosevelt
10 RULES FOR BEING HUMAN
1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, “life.”
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately “work.”
4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There’s no part of life that doesn’t contain its lessons. If you’re alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6. “There” is no better a place than “here.” When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here.”
7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life’s questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10. You will forget all this.
by: Cherie Carter-Scott via Louise Smith The Lessons Of Life
”Why do we have to grow up? I know more adults who have the children’s approach to life. They’re people who don’t give a hang what the Joneses do. You see them at Disneyland every time you go there. They are not afraid to be delighted with simple pleasures, and they have a degree of contentment with what life has brought - sometimes it isn’t much, either.”
Happy 110th Birthday, Mr. Disney!
On this Veterans Day make a point to give thanks to those who have and are serving to ensure our freedoms.
Story: The Sack Lunches
I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. “I’m glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,” I thought.
Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation.
“Where are you headed?” I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.
“Petawawa, we’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Afghanistan.”
After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time …
As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. “No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks. I’ll wait till we get to base.”
His friend agreed.
I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty-dollar bill. “Take a lunch to all those soldiers.” She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. “My son was a soldier in Iraq; it’s almost like you are doing it for him.”
Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, “Which do you like best—beef or chicken?”
“Chicken,” I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.
“This is your thanks.”
After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room.
A man stopped me. “I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.” He handed me twenty-five dollars.
Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked. I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, “I want to shake your hand.” Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand. With a booming voice he said, “I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.” I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.
Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.
When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!
Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base.
I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. “It will take you some time to reach the base … It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.”
Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers.
As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little …
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount of “up to and including my life.”
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.
~ Author Unknown
**For every man and woman who has ever served America, we salute you. We love you, thank you and feel so blessed to have you protect us, our country and our freedom. Thank you Veterans for ALL you do. Happy Veterans day!**
How to Really Love a Child
Be there.
Say yes as often as possible.
Let them bang on pots and pans.
If they’re crabby, put them in water.
If they’re unlovable, love yourself.
Realize how important it is to be a child.
Go to a movie theater in your pajamas.
Read books out loud with joy.
Invent pleasures together.
Remember how really small they are.
Giggle a lot.
Surprise them.
Say no when necessary.
Teach feelings.
Heal your own inner child.
Learn about parenting.
Hug trees together.
Make loving safe.
Bake a cake and eat it with no hands.
Go find elephants and kiss them.
Plan to build a rocket ship.
Imagine yourself magic.
Make lots of forts with blankets.
Let your angel fly.
Reveal your own dreams.
Search out the positive.
Keep the gleam in your eye.
Mail letters to God.
Encourage silly.
Plant licorice in your garden.
Open up.
Stop yelling.
Express your love.
A lot.
Speak kindly.
Paint their tennis shoes.
Handle with caring.
Children are miraculous ~Sark
You may be faster than me…..
Success: To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded! ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
