How about you???

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean—the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention,

how to fall down into the grass,

how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed,

how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

—Mary Oliver, from The Truro Bear and Other Adventures: Poems and Essays. (Beacon Press, 2008.)

PARAB

Fixable

"Finish each day and be done with it.

You have done what you could;

some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

     - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Read this each night before bed and before you take on your day!!!

No matter what we do on a daily basis, no matter the mistakes, poor judgements, missteps, or wrong choices, we can always fix it!!

The beauty of life, especially in this amazing country, is that every day that the sun rises we can begin again from scratch. 

The past is just that ...it is over, done with, and should be discarded.

Do not let the past linger and effect what you want to accomplish in life!!

Fix whatever it is you need to fix and start fresh today.  You cannot let the past define what you are and can be!!!

Remember, WE control what we are to become and WE control the amount of happiness and joy we let into our lives!!!

Start today and Stay Strong!!!!

Be Not Afraid

"Death is nothing else but going home to God, the bond of love will be unbroken for all eternity."
 
   - Mother Teresa

Stay Strong!!

Grain...

Grain must be ground to make bread. (Isaiah 28:28)

"Combat comes before victory.

If God has chosen special trials for you to endure, be assured He has kept a very special place in His heart just for you.

A badly bruised soul is one who is chosen."

From Streams in the Desert, L. B. Cowman.

Stay Strong and stay in the battle!!!

Later is Now!!!

"When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in the eternity before and after, and the little space I fill, and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of space of which I am ignorant, and which knows me not, I am frightened, and am astonished at being here rather than there, why now rather than then."

—Blaise Pascal

What a terrific and ponderous question!!!

If we really step back and look at this big picture, and realize the ridiculously short period of time we are on this earth, we should not ever fear doing anything at all!!!

It is such a blip in time that all we should aspire to do is to help each other get through the battles, the joyous events,,to live to fight another day and just strive to be a better person each day...even in small measures!!!!

Re-read the quote above...and go do what it is you fear to do!!  What you have put off for later, do it now and do it in complete confidence!!!

The clock is ticking and later is NOW!!!!  

What are you waiting for??  Do it!!

Stay Strong!!!

Belief !!!

"Always listen to the experts.

They'll tell you what CANNOT be
done and why.

Then go and do it."
   
       - Robert Heinlein

Follow your heart and do not let anyone ever tell you what you cannot do!!! 

All success is preceded by failures and missteps, it is the strong, determined soul who doesn't listen to others and never gives up!!!

Stay Strong

Rain?

"Is it raining, little flower?
Be glad of rain;

Too much sun would wither one;
It will shine again.

The clouds are very dark, it's true; But just behind them shines the blue.

Are you weary, tender heart?
Be glad of pain:

In sorrow, sweetest virtues grow, As flowers in rain.

God watches, and you will have sun,

When clouds their perfect work have done."

   - Lucy Larcom

Collect the small successes

"Life is made up of small pleasures.
Happiness is made up of those tiny successes.

The big ones come too infrequently.

And if you don't collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don't really mean anything."

   - Norman Lear

The Power to Create your own Reality!!

"Reality is what you believe it to be. It's what you put your thought and energy into, because your hands physically manifest thought.

So your world becomes what you feel and what you think."
  - Anonymous

I know it is not easy work, but if we could just convince ourselves that our minds, our daily thoughts and our directed mental focus, are the driving forces to creating our own circumstances, how easy and fulfilling would life become?

Every one of us controls this power and we choose to create either positive or negative circumstances based on what thoughts we allow to run through our minds!!

Strive to eliminate old habits, old negative beliefs, and past failures and old labels!!!

Replace them with positive and healthy thoughts of what you want to become, what you would like to be and experience - and lo and behold, THAT will become your reality!!!!

It is our choice!! Choose it today!!!

Stay Strong!!

Crummy Day

Today is a crummy day!!

For a plethora of reasons, this rainy Monday morning is a real crummy day!!!

I am not going to sugarcoat it, I could list 20 things this very moment that would bolster my case and really cement the fact that I believe today is a really crummy day!

It is amazing how easily, when we are not focusing and let our guard down, that negative thoughts simply flock to us and cascade into our consciousness!!!

Like moths to a flame, once we allow a slight opening for a negative thought to take hold and influence our current mindset, we can almost immediately become deluged and overrun with hundreds of other negative thoughts ...

....and good luck getting out of that tailspin!!!

So yeah, today is a crummy day.

However, at this moment, 11:08 am, I am stopping the spigot of negativity!!!

I am closing the flow of negative supporting evidence to reinforce just how crummy today is, and saying NO MORE!!

The flow has been halted as of this very moment.  I will not accept any more into my mind right now!!

Now I am flushing out the ones that snuck in and through and have been bouncing around in my head all morning!!!

They hold no weight and no worth or power over my attitude or mind!!

Get out!! 

Clean them out and replace them with goals, positive thoughts, upcoming plans or events! 

Or Prayer, mantras, ...whatever works for you!!

If none of these exist right now, just focus on the hope that your life holds!!   

The hope that tomorrow holds for all of us IF we choose to act!!

Go find someone who needs words of encouragement or help or a smile or just a pat on the back and a reminder that we are never alone, even when we feel that way.

Every crummy days can be salvaged and as long as we have a "later" or a "tomorrow" to point to, because today's crummy is just a mirage and within our final "approval" limits!!!!

You are in charge!!!  Take over now!!

Try it ..it works wonders!!!

Stay Strong!!

Measure the The Right Stuff

"If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy."
   - Anonymous

These are the only things that truly matter!!  And we are all LOADED with them!!

Focus on the abundance of these items and you will not worry so much about the small things that really are of zero consequence in the long run!!

Do not let Monday drag you down!!  Come out swinging and with gratitude for all you have in your life!!! 

In truth, it is a King's Ransom!!!!

Stay Strong!!!

Prayers Needed for Pete Frates, 27 year old, former Captain of BC baseball team.

Diagnosed with ALS.  Friend of my buddy Mike Leone.  Please Pray for his cure and his family's strength!!
Pete has a site and a blog set up...
Pete Frates #3 Fund
http://petefrates.com/