My Wish For You

I hope your Christmas and the coming year, is full of love, peace, joy, laughter, memorable moments and a whole lot of stuff to smile about.

"May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, The gladness of Christmas give you hope, The warmth of Christmas grant you love."

Author Unknown

"When you have brought up kids, there are memories you store directly in your tear ducts. " ~Robert Brault

"Christmas Gift Suggestions:"

"To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.”

Oren Arnold

Some other suggestions:
To a stranger, a smile.
To the ones you love, time.
To others, acceptance.
To every day, thanks and effort.
To your soul, renewal.
To all, prayer.
To life, faith, hope, determination...

Memorable moments and laughter are good ideas too.

"Life is to be enjoyed, not endured" ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

Stormy Weather

“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass,it’s about learning how to dance in the rain!” ~ Vivian Greene

"Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella." ~ Terri Guillemets


Bad weather comes and goes just like life's ups and downs.It's the way you look at the weather that defines how you feel about it. For rainstorms, you have umbrellas and for life storms, you have prayer.

Minutes Add Up

Each day
brings
promise
chances
realizations
opportunities
and
1,440 minutes
to
make it
memorable
and worthwhile

It Is What It Is

"These are the worst of times; these are the best of times." ~ When it's all said and done, it's how we look at our life that defines how we feel about it / interpret it. I for one lean more towards the best of times side because they are the times that I'm a part of, the times that make me who I am and my life what it is. I consciously try to make the best of them as well as find the good in them (even though from time to time, that is easier said than done). I bet if you do the same, you'll find that the best of times out weigh the worst of times in your life too because whatever the situation it is what it is and it could be worse.  

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

~ Henry David Thoreau

  "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

~  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Don't Settle

As the days pass and you think of the coulda, shoulda, wouldas, remember that once a day comes and goes and time passes, you don't get a do over, a rewind, a delete so make the best of each day you're blessed with. Follow your dreams, spoil yourself, finish what you start, give your all , try new things, take chances, show your love and appreciation for yourself, life and others. Don't settle because:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

— Mark Twain

 

Inspire

A smile, a word of advice, a hug, belief in someone, time, praise, encouragement, love, friendship, acceptance, faith, hope...
share what you have
give what you can
Make a Difference:)!!!

Remember

"Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgement of the facts of a situation. Then deciding what you're going to do about it." ~ Kathleen Casey Theisen

"No matter what accomplishments you make,(have made)somebody helped you." ~ Althea Gibson

"Children have more need of models than of critics." ~ Carolyn Coats

"In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us." ~ Flora Edwards

Stay Positive

"For every mountain, there is a miracle." ~ Robert H. Schuller

"Problems are possibilities in disguise."  ~ unknown

"Why let worries weigh you down when hope can lift you up?" ~ unknown

"Believe in yourself and have faith in your abilities."  ~ Norman Vincent Peale

Choose Your Battles

Some battles seem unending but they must be fought. Others are fought endlessly when a truce should be made and some are misunderstandings, differences of opinions or the end result of some one's instigation. Whatever the cause, source and / or reason, take the time to choose your battles wisely. Not all things are worth fighting for or over but if you find that something / someone is worth fighting for / over, know why you're fighting and what you're fighting for and make sure it's worth it.  

Daily Encounters

They say that everything happens for a reason. As I grow older I see that this holds true. Whether its with sports, with the people we come across throughout our days or simply everyday happenings they all intertwine to form our destiny. Even though we cannot say for sure where we will end up, the paths we take and the choices we make in life will guide us to that destination. One way or another we will come across our soul mates or meet our life long best friend, or maybe even help a stranger that may even return the favor down the line. Life is a journey, full of known unknowns, so with every step be aware and be mindful of the things you do. Like Forest Gump says life is like a box of chocolates..you never know what your gonna get.
-bhudd.. leggo

Its Up To You

If your life is full of stuff that makes you unhappy, you have the power to free yourself from whatever it is that contributes to you feeling that way or you can accept it and block your own happiness.

One Way To Look At It

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." ~ Anne Bradstreet

Love

Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy, It does not boast, It is not proud.... ~ (1 Corinthians 13:4) 

Love has the strength to make you grow. It has the power to carry you through your darkest hours, yet in the same sense, Love is capable of putting you in your lowest place. It is great and almighty for It has the power to hold your heart in its hands. It promises to protect and cherish; however, at times, it seems that those promises are meant to be broken. It can shatter as hard as glass or stand tall like a mountain. Love is all seeing and all knowing, existing all around us. It is present in our hearts, enabling us to hear its cries, yet we refuse to listen. We ignore the warm feeling of its gentle touch and its sweet smell because we are afraid of It. We force ourselves to lock it away, refusing to accept what it has to offer. It waits patiently with open arms until we are ready to allow ourselves to succumb to its beauty. When the moment comes and we learn to trust, we find that Love is as vulnerable as we are. Upon opening our eyes to what is in front of us, we realize that Love is willing to put forth all its strength if we give it a chance. In turn, we discover that it exists in our minds and in our hearts and what we really fear is what we think it is instead of accepting who it is and what it has to offer.  ~ Bailie Hagerman

Find Your Way

"From small beginnings come great things." ~ Proverb

"Our visions begin with our desires." ~ Audre Lorde

"What you see depends mainly on what you look for." ~ John Lubbock

"Man can only receive what he sees himself receiving." ~ Florence Scovel Shinn

Quotes About Life, Change, Fear...

These quotes were taken from a book of quotations compiled and arranged by S.F. Deger and Leslie Ann Gibson. I found them to be thought provoking and interesting. I thought I'd share them with you because life is full of changes and fear can keep us from trying new things.

"Courage is fear that has said its prayers" ~ Dorothy Bernard

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. ~ Anais Nin

"An error gracefully acknowledged is a victory won." ~ Caroline L. Gascoigne

"Everyday life confronts us with new problems to be solved which force us to adjust our old programs accordingly." ~ Dr. Ann Faraday

"You don't have to be afraid of change. You don't have to worry about what's being taken away. Just look to see what's being added." ~ Jackie Greer

"Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely." ~ Karen Kaiser Clark

"Fear is created not by the world around us, but in the mind, by what we think is going to happen. ~ Elizabeth Gawain

"Sometimes what you want to do has to fail so you won't." ~ Margueritte Harmon Bro

The Life We Live

In the course of our lifetime, we have the opportunity to take chances, make choices, follow our heart, live our dreams, make friends, be a friend, fall in love, dream and make a difference. As we find our way we'll make mistakes, not so good choices, be a slacker from time to time but, if we treat others the way we want to be treated, keep our word, do our best, admit our faults, learn from our mistakes and never give up, we'll find that life is full of so much and whatever course our life takes, we'll still see it as the blessing it is. So, dream big, choose well, do good, be good and have faith.

This Time Of Year

This time of year our children do their best to pacify us a little more than usual. They attempt to be on their best behavior and every now and then, they do their chores without being told over and over again. However, in my house no matter the day or the season, one thing hardly ever changed; their room.

Their Room
scattered remnants decorate their floor
while the scent of yesterday drifts through the air
there was a time that we cleaned together
and
everything had a place
now
life has brought collections of possessions/memories
theirs clash with mine
I see yesterday
while thinking about today
their things are strewn everywhere
I close the door
only to open it
when I realize
all to soon
everything will have a place again

When I wrote this, I remember looking at my kids and thinking how much they had grown, how much they had changed and wishing I could turn back the hands of time while realizing my babies would soon leave home and start life on their own. My son has since went to heaven and I still have a little more time before Brit moves on to the next stop in her life :)!!! but, I can go into their room and see / feel the love that resides there, the memories that were made there and hear the laughter that echoed throughout the house and turned to giggles when I told them to "keep it down in there." It was their place, they had each other and not even the threat of Santa leaving them coal mattered when it came to their room and their time together.

A Few More Reasons

A Smile Can
open doors
make you feel better
melt someone's heart
get you in trouble
get you out of trouble
brighten a room
make someone's day
restore hope
leave an everlasting memory
make you smile
and
break barriers...
because
"There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all." ~ Anonymous

Starting Tonight

They say it takes thirty days to make something a habit.I don't know how true that is but, I'm about to find out. I've been putting off exercising for far to long so, since today is Dec. 1st, I figure it's as good a day as any to give it a try. It is my hope that I develop a new found habit of taking better care of myself that I can carry into the coming year. I'll keep you posted on how it goes and if by chance there's something you want to do but have been putting it off, why don't you join me?