Saturday, December 31, 2005

Random Quotes....



People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.
~Elizabeth Kubler-Ross~

The moon looks upon many night-flowers; the night-flower sees but one moon.
~William Jones~

Whatever you are, be a good one.
~Abraham Lincoln~

Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.
~Mark Twain~

The bird of paradise alights only on the hand that does not grasp.
~John Berry~

How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
~William Shakespeare~

It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
~Miss Manners~

All of us are watchers--of television, of time clocks, of traffic on the freeway--but few are observers. Everyone is looking, not many are seeing.
~Peter M. Leschak~

I would sooner live in a cottage and wonder at everything than live in a castle and wonder at nothing.
~Joan Winmill Brown~

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.
~Dr. Seuss~

Friday, December 30, 2005

On Death



Can death be sleep when life is but a dream
And scenes of bliss pass as a phantom by?
The transient pleasures as a vision seem,
And yet we think the greatest pain is to die.

How strange is it that man on Earth should roam,
And lead a life of woe, but not forsake
His rugged path; nor dare he view alone
His future doom which is but to awake.

~© John Keats~

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Desiderata



Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

~© Max Ehrmann-1952~

Monday, December 26, 2005

Fully Alive



I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.

~© Dawna Markova~

Saturday, December 24, 2005

You Are



You are strong...
when you take your grief and teach it to smile.

You are brave...
when you overcome your fear and help others to do the same.

You are happy...
when you see a flower and are thankful for the blessing.

You are loving...
when your own pain does not blind you to the pain of others.

You are wise...
when you know the limits of your wisdom.

You are true...
when you admit there are times you fool yourself.

You are alive...
when tomorrow's hope means more to you than yesterday's mistake.

You are growing...
when you know what you are but not what you will become.

You are free...
when you are in control of yourself and do not wish to control others.

You are honorable...
when you find your honor is to honor others.

You are generous...
when you can take as sweetly as you can give.

You are humble...
when you do not know how humble you are.

You are thoughtful...
when you see me just as I am and treat me just as you are.

You are merciful...
when you forgive in others the faults you condemn in yourself.

You are beautiful...
when you don't need a mirror to tell you.

You are rich...
when you never need more than what you have.

You are you...
when you are at peace with who you are not.

~© Author Unknown~

~Art used in signature tag © Jodee Rose~

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

A Creed To Live By



Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people believe
Only you know what is best for you.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.
It is this fragile thread that binds us to each other.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love.
The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly;
and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don't dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope;
to be without hope is to be without purpose.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been,
but also where you're going.
Life is not a race,
but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

~© Nancy Sims~

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

After A While You Learn



After a while you learn
The subtle difference between
Holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn’t mean possession
And company doesn’t mean security.
And you begin to learn that promises aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises and you begin to accept
Your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead
With the grace of an adult not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build your roads today
Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
And futures have ways of falling down in mid-flight.
After awhile you learn that even sunshine
Burns if you get too much so you plant your
Own garden and decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
That you really are strong
And you really do have worth
And you learn
And you learn…

~© Veronica A. Schoffstall 1971~

Monday, December 19, 2005

The Journey~Mary Oliver



One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug at your ankles.
Mend my life!
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations, though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

~© Mary Oliver~

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Words Of Wisdom


We cannot choose how many years we will live, but we can choose how much life those years will have. We cannot control the beauty of our face, but we can control the expression on it. We cannot control life's difficult moments but we can choose to make life less difficult. We cannot control the negative atmosphere of the world, but we can control the atmosphere of our minds. Too often we try to choose and control things we cannot. Too seldom we choose to control what we can …our attitude.

~© John Maxwell~

Friday, December 16, 2005

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud~William Wordsworth


I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: -
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -and gazed -but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.

~© William Wordsworth~

Thursday, December 15, 2005

e.e. cummings was a genius


now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened
===========================
it's so damn sweet when Anybody—
…makes you feel
…for once(imag
-ine) You
===========================
Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel …
the moment you feel, you're nobody-but-yourself.
To be nobody-but-yourself-in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else— means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
===========================
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.
===========================
unlove's the heavenless hell and the homeless home

~All quotes listed are © e.e. cummings~

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

All That is Gold Does Not Glitter


All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

~© JRR Tolkien~

~Art used in signature tag © Jim Warren~