Filed under: friendship, hello, thoughts | Tags: Answers, Quesions, thoughts
“It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers.”
– James Thurber
What do you think? Give me your thoughts and I will give mine.
Filed under: Friends, God, friendship, hello, love, mind, spirituality | Tags: Faith, family, Friends, love, spirituality
A not so famous quote:
You are accountable and responsible to make it happen . . . to that end, please do so and don’t let me down.
-Speaker to be identified late in this blog.
What does this quote mean?
You are accountable and responsible.
Each of us is accountable and responsible for our lives. No one else is! We often think or blame others, especially when things don’t seem to be going right. But despite what it may seem at times, we control our paths, our lives, our destiny. If you are stuck – its no one’s fault but your’s. Your right to chose is absolute. No one can stop you from doing what you really want. You only think they can. You and only you control your path.
To make it happen.
You and only you can make it happen. Just do what it takes. Sometimes that means thinking outside the box, perhaps leaving your comfort zone. We are not bound by handcuffs. You possess the intelligence, the strength the do whatever needs to be done. Just look inside yourself and you will find it. Courage, desire, drive to make it happen. It’s in everyone one of us. Find it and behave accordingly.
Please do so.
So do it! Please do it! It’s a God given right to do it. God gave us free will so we could do it. The only boundaries on action are our ethics and values. So live not to disappoint – You.
And don’t le me down.
Who should you not let down – you, yourself and no one else.
So whose quote is this? I am told it is mine from many years ago on I a project I ran. I embedded in it into the fabric of the project’s success.
Was it or is it real? Yes. I today, try to live my life accordingly. Do I always succeed? No. Sometimes I am down and out – stuck on a path, perhaps a comfortable path. I may even be stuck for a while. But with prayer, with God’s support, with support from family and friends, I find the courage to take the right path, regardless of how tough. Thank you God for free will.
What do you think?
Filed under: God, hello, love, mind, spirituality | Tags: afterlife, future, life, past, present, spirituality
Live for now, for today! I have blogged on that point or topic in many bogs. See What’s on Your Mind – Thoughts 19, 20, 26, 30 and 32. I believe living in the present is the foundation for a happy life today and a happy life tomorrow. It determines your external life. Enough from me. But look what this wise men and women had to say.
-Get over it. The past is the past. (Suzie Orman)
-Duty and to-day are ours, results and futurity belong to God. (Horace Greeley)
-How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. (Annie Dillard)
-Abridge your hopes in proportion to the shortness of the span of human life; for while we converse, the hours, as if envious of our pleasure, fly away; enjoy therefore the present time, and trust not too much to what to-morrow may produce. (Horace Greeley)
-Lost yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever. (Horace Mann)
-Every man’s life lies within the present; for the past is spent and done with, and the future is uncertain. (Marcus Aurelius)
-If before going to bed every night, you will tear a page from the calendar and remark, “there goes another day of my life, never to return” you will becoe time conscious. (A.B. Zu Tavern)
-Let any man examine his thoughts, and he will find them ever occupied with the past or the future. We scarely think at all of the present; or if we do, it is only to borrow the light which it gives for regulating the future. The present is never our object; the past and the present we use as means; the future only is our end. Thus, we never live, we only hope to live. (Blaise Pascal)
-Look upon every day as the whole of life, not merely as a section; and enjoy and improve the present without wishing, through haste, to rush on to another. (Jean Paul Richter)
I never think of the future. It comes soon enough. (Albert Einstein)
-The best preparation for the future, is the present well seen to, and the last duty done. (Jawaharlal Nehru)
-I know today truly is a blessing and is the only time there is. (Wally Amos)
Filed under: Friends, God, friendship, hello, love, mind, politics, spirituality | Tags: life, spirituality
I have been coming across several lists of tips to follow for a better life in 2009. They are numerous and all good. I couldn’t list them all so here’s my top ten in particular order. Despite the hard times we find ourselves in presently, these tips will make your life easier and better. So here’s once again to a Happy New Year as begin 2009.
(1) Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
(2) Live with the 3 E’s – Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
(3) Make time to practice meditation and prayer. They provide is with daily fuel for our busy lives.
(4) Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip or issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
(5) Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
(6) Remember God heals everything.
(7) Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.
(8)Avoid doing things you would be uncomfortable hearing about on a national new progeam.
(9) If you don’t know the answer, say so. Don’t try to fake it.
and finally,
(10) If you make a mistake, admit it.
As we end 2008 and begin 2009, we often reflect by looking backwards and plan by looking forward. Often we look with regret and plan with new year resolutions we won’t keep. Why I ask spend time looking back? You can’t change what has happened. Maybe you see mistakes and learn from them? Look forward — maybe some planning is good. Though I don’t know what will necessarily happen tomorrow let a alone the next day or next week or next month. How about this. Live for now, for today. Instead of worrying about the past or worrying about the future, live for now, live for today. Oh, don’t be foolish. But make the moment you are in now COUNT! It could be your last and you want it to be good, be right, be rewarding, be wonderful. Live for now, that’s my resolution for 2009. So long to 2008. What do you think?
A mother gives her daughters jade and lapis jewelry bought by their father over 25 years ago before her daughters were even born.
A 25 year old daughter gives her parents each a framed poem titled “Mom” and ” Dad” that she had written in the 8th grade. The parents had never seen the poems before; the daughter discovered them recently in an attic clean-up.
Daughters give their Dad a twelve month calendar made especially for him with pictures of his daughters and his pet cat.
A Dad gives his daughters a bag a their favorite childhood candies — Reese’s peanut butter Christmas trees, Christmas Kit Kats, Life Savers Books, Holiday M and M’s among the candy.
Does this sound wonderful? It was. It was my Christmas this year. We decided to give gifts from the heart instead all the expensive gifts avoiding the holiday on slaught and hype. We were worried it wouldn’t work. But it did. It was the most wonderful Christmas we have had. God Blessed us!
What do you think?
Filed under: Friends, God, friendship, hello | Tags: family, life, love, spiritual
Yesterday, December 28 was the first anniversary of my father’s death following a long battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. (See my poetry blog for more on my Dad.) The day for me began with Sunday church service. For reasons unbeknown to me (and quite unexpected), I teared up as the service began with the singing of the song “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!” It was a solemn beginning. But the day brighten as went for coffee and yogurt at Starbucks. This was followed by a visit to a local bird sanctuary. (The bird sanctuary rescues injured and ill birds; nurses them back to health and sends them back into their natural habitat.) We then went to the Great Swamp; a national wildlife sanctuary and did a three mile walk. As the trek was concluding, the sky seemed to open up with one of the most beautiful sun sets I have ever seen. It was bright and full of color — reds, oranges, blacks and blues. I was reminded of the “light” and that my father had ascended into it just a year ago. Though it did not make me feel sad, rather the opposite. It reminded me is has eternal life now with no suffering, pain, etc., just eternal happiness. I couldn’t help but be happy there seeing the sunset with my family. I am a lucky man for having had such a wonderful father; for having a such a wonderful family, friends and despite the hardships and tough times, a wonderful life. It’s a Wonderful Life — the movie, remember it ends with the song “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!” What do you think?
We just shoveled out from our first storm of the season. It arrived with nine inches of snow and ice, just two days before the equinox (December 21). Old man winter is here! Last night (the official first day of winter) cold (-4 with wind chills) and winds (45 miles per hour) arrived. Today we won’t be over 25. Long johns, furried slippers, shoveling, fires in the fireplace all are part of this winter arrival. Winter – it’s all about attitude or so I tell myself. You can either love it or hate it. I think more recently I fell into the hate it category. With all going on this year, e.g., poor economy, etc., it would be easy to take that same attitude. But I am not. No, I love winter! Think positive. Shoveling is good exercise. Right! I’m trying. After all, spring is only three months away. What do you think?
Filed under: Friends, God, animals, books, cats, friendship, hello, mind, music, politics, spirituality | Tags: books, God, life, spirituality
I started reading Rick Warren’s bestseller “The Purpose Driven Life”. This is the second time for my reading this book; I had read it previously in 2005. The point of the book is you must have a to drive your life. Drive is defined as “to guide, to control, or to direct.” According to the author life without purpose is meaningless. And life driven by something other than purpose (i.e., guilt, resentment, anger, fear, materialism, need for approval) is a life in motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. Trivial, petty and pointless — life without purpose. I’m only to Chapter 3 of the book. (You read a chapter a day over a 40 day period. Do you know the significance of 40? A topic for another “Thought”.) But I am already thinking about my purpose. Given that I only read the book and became a subscriber to it’s philosophy a short three years ago, why do I need to think about my purpose? Why do I want/need to read the book again? Do I need to discover my purpose again? Renew it? Change it? Maybe I do; maybe I don’t. We’ll see as I progress over the next 37 chapters and days. Regardless, I do believe that purpose provides a purpose. Huh? That is clear to me. Does purpose drive you? Does purpose direct you? What do you think? More later from me as I progress through “The Purpose Driven Life.”
Filed under: hello | Tags: animals, books, friendship, God, music, nature, politics, spirituality
This a blog about anything. I will post daily what’s on my mind. Given the diversity of knowledge and interests that exists in the human brain, the daily piece will be about whatever is on my mind that day. It could be on any topic–current issues, books, music, TV and movies, health, spiritual and religious, etc. Do I have any special talents to comment on these and other subjects? Yes. It is life’s experiences. These include education, work related, family related among my many daily encounters. That makes me an expert on all or an expert on none depending on how you look at it. Regardless, I have something to say and I invite you to say something back. Let’s help each other by expressing our collective views. Learning is the key to growth. And blogging is a way for us all to express opinions, views, questions, etc., and along the way grow our knowledge and experiences. I look forward to this. I hope you will help me make it fun and worthwhile.
