Positive Notes

I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it may be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles a rainy day and lost luggage.

I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.

I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life."

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone.

People love that human touch - holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.
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TODAYâS INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE:

"My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am."

~ Author Unknown

TWENTY FIVE QUESTIONS THAT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE

1.If I had an extra hour of free time a day, how would I spend it?
2.Am I as healthy as I want to be? Do I treat my body as well as I could?
3.Am I holding on to an old grudge that could be a stumbling block to new opportunities?
4.Have I given up on any dreams or goals I wish I hadnât? Can I pick up where I left off?
5.If I could start my life over again knowing what I know now, what would I do differently? What would I NOT change?
6.Can I see things from a different perspective? When did I last walk in someone elseâs shoes?
7.Is there room for more love in my life? What steps am I taking toward that end?
8.Am I having enough fun, even a little bit, so I can lighten up mine and someone elseâs dayâ?
9.Are there any apologies I need to make? Is there anyone Iâve lost touch with and want to call? Whatâs stopping me?
10.Have I been buying into the victim trap, where I always blame others for everything that is believed to have gone wrong? Or can I begin to learn to forgive and take some responsibility for my actions?
11.Whatâs the best part of me that no one else sees?
12.Whatâs my outlook? Do I embrace new experiences or do I avoid the unfamiliar and stick to what I know?
13.Do I have an interesting hobby? If not, why not?
14.Do I spend too much time worrying about things I cannot control?
15.Do I feel valued as a parent? A son or daughter? A spouse? An employee? A friend?
16.Do I put too much pressure on my loved ones? On myself?
17.Am I happy with my relationship with God? Am I committed spiritually as I would like to be?
18.How do I feel in my own home? Comfortable and safe, or tense and on guard?
19.Do I hold too much anger in my heart? Are there any grudges Iâm willing to let go?
20.Are my personal priorities in order? What am I neglecting?
21.Who are my heroes, and am I anyoneâs hero?
22.Do I make the most of everyday? Do I celebrate the little things÷a smile or a sunny day?
23.Could I push myself harder at home or at work? Could I stand to ease up a little?
24.Am I good about granting myself lifeâs little rewards? Do I stop and celebrate when I achieve a goal?
25.What twenty-five things do I want to accomplish before I die?
--Author unknown

TODAYâS INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE:

If you want happiness for an hour -- take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day -- go fishing.
If you want happiness for a month -- get married.
If you want happiness for a year -- inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime -- help someone else.

~ Chinese proverb

Dare Mighty Things

In the battle of life, it is not the critic who counts; nor the one who points out how the strong person stumbled, or where the doer of a deed could have done better.

The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he or she fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
--author unknown
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TODAYâS INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE:

"Life is a constant series of questions. Then when you finally get all the answers, it's over. So I plan to keep on asking questions. I'll die with my mouth still moving."

~ Bob Perks

Dream and Reality

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours ... In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty, nor weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost: that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.
~ H. D. Thoreau ~
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INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

ãHave thy tools ready; God will find thee work.ä÷Charles Kingsley

Resolutions

Don't wait for the New Year to make Resolutions!
Try these...
Give up complaining :: focus on gratitude.
Give up pessimism :: become an optimist.
Give up harsh judgments :: think kind thoughts.
Give up worry :: trust divine providence.
Give up discouragement :: be full of hope.
Give up bitterness :: turn to forgiveness.
Give up hatred :: return good for evil.
Give up negativism :: be positive.
Give up anger :: practice patience.
Give up pettiness :: put on maturity.
Give up gloom :: enjoy the beauty that is all around you.
Give up jealousy :: pray for trust.
Give up gossiping :: control your tongue.
Give up sin :: turn to virtue.

~ Author Unknown ~

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TODAYâS INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE:

"Do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special. Do not set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart - cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless."

from "A Creed to Live By" by Nancye Sims

TERROR OVER BAGDAD

Tanks roll through and
terror of the finger sets
Off ear-splitting rounds and
the lick of fire devours;
Slow smoke drifts up
to an aching climb over Baghdad
And with slow tears
terror of the eye, watches
the ash of the fallen foe.
And the little left standing are
ghostly traces
against a darkened sky
Rubble, rubble, rubble.

Terror of heart
seeps through veins
draining away, wounded;
Terror of unmoving lips
whisper the Lordâs prayer.
Terror of a pair of hands watches
the lost labor of a lifetime,
still grasping its hold
in pained memory
DREAMS are now
heaped in piles of used-up souls,
And the relic
FALLS
in the hands of God and country.

Few fighters rise to heroism
and love, but, like love
it÷the war÷consumes
all it touches, feeding
until it has taken too much
and destroys mostly
what it needs to live.

--Glasceta Honeyghan, 2003