May God Bless You...

Author Unknown

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you will work for justice, equality and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.

Getting Started

Author Unknown

No matter how intelligent or able you may be, if you don’t have a sense of urgency, now is the time to start developing it. The world is full of very competent people who honestly intend to do things tomorrow, as soon as they can get around to it. Their accomplishments, however, seldom match those of the less talented who are blessed with a sense of the importance of getting started now.

The Only One

Author Unknown

Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your partner changes, when your company changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life.

Humility

Author Unknown Humility is perpetual quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or vexed, or irritable, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing that is done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised, it is to have a blessed home in myself where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Creator and Sustainer in secret and be at peace, as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and about is seeming trouble.

Love Is Powerful

Author Unknown

Hope is not the closing of our eyes
to difficulty, risk or failure.
It is trust that if we fail now,
We shall not fail forever.
And if we are hurt,
We shall be healed.
It is a trust that life is good
and love is powerful.

A Blessing

Anonymous

May you always be blessed with walls for the wind. A roof for the rain, a warm cup of tea by the fire. Laughter to cheer you. Those you love near you. And all that your heart might desire.

Daily Acceptance Prayer

I accept myself completely.
I accept my strengths and my weaknesses,
my gifts and my shortcomings,
my good points and my faults.

I accept myself completely as a human being.
I accept that I am here to learn and grow,
and I accept that I am learning and growing.
I accept the personality I've developed, and
I accept my power to heal and change.

I accept myself without condition or reservation.
I accept that the core of my being is goodness
and that my essence is love,
and I accept that I sometimes forget that.

I accept myself completely, and in this acceptance
I find an ever-deepening inner strength.
From this place of strength, I accept my life fully and
I open to the lessons it offers me today.

I accept that within my mind are both fear and love,
and I accept my power to choose which I will experience as real.
I recognize that I experience only the results of my own choices.

I accept the times that I choose fear
as part of my learning and healing process, and
I accept that I have the potential and power
in any moment to choose love instead.

I accept mistakes as a part of growth,
so I am always willing to forgive myself and
give myself another chance.

I accept that my life is the expression of my thought,
and I commit myself to aligning my thoughts
more and more each day with the Thought of Love.
I accept that I am an expression of this Love.
Love's hands and voice and heart on earth.

I accept my own life as a blessing and a gift.
My heart is open to receive, and I am deeply grateful.
May I always share the gifts that I receive
fully, freely, and with joy.

The Far Vision and the Near Look

An Indian guide, who displayed uncanny skills in navigating the rugged regions of the Southwest, was asked how he did it. "What’s your secret of being an expert tracker and trail blazer?" a visitor asked him.

The guide answered, "There’s no secret. One must only possess the far vision and the near look. The first step is to determine where you want to go; then you must be sure that each step you take is a step in that direction."


Author Unknown

How To Stay Young

1. Throw out non-essential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. An idle mind is the devil's workshop. And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life is ourselves. Be alive while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but not to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the peole you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

And always remember: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Why God Made Moms

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don;t know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.
2. She had to know him background. Like is he a crook> Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be the boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you get to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4. Moms have magoc, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside, she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Just For Today

Author Unknown

Just for today I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle all my problems at once.

Just for today, I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Just for today, I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my "luck" as it comes, and fit myself to it.

Just for today, I will try to strengthen my mind, I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

Just for today, I won't find fault with anything, nor try to improve or regulate anybody but myself.

Just for today, I will have a quiet half-hour all by myself, and relax.

Just for today, I will be unafraid. Especially, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful, and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

Irish Blessing

May the blessings of light be on you--light without and light within
May the blessed sunshine shine on you and warm your heart until it glows like a great peat fire--so that the stranger may come and warm himself, and also a friend
And may the light shine out of the two eyes of you, like a candle set in two windows of a house, bidding the wanderer to come in out of the storm

May the blessings of the rain be on you--the soft, sweet rain
May it fall upon your spirit, so that all the flowers may spring up, and shed their sweetness on the air
And may the blessings of the Great Rains be on you: May they beat upon your spirit and wash it fair and clean and leave there many a shining pool where the blue heavens shines reflected--and sometimes a star

And may the blessings of the Earth be on you--the Great Round Earth
May you ever have a kindly greeting for those you pass as you're going along the roads
May the earth be soft under you when you lie out upon it, tired at the end of the day
And may it rest easily over you, when at last you be out under it. May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be quickly through it, and up, and off, and on its way to God.

The 11th to 20th Commandments

11th. Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

12th. Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.

13th. Thou shalt not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one has yet succeeded in accomplishing this.

14th. Thou shalt handle only one problem at a time, and leave the others to the Lord until their turn comes up.

15th. Thou shalt not take troubles to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.

16th. Thou shalt not try to carry the problems of the world on your shoulders, for nobody (except for One) has a back that is broad enough.

17th. Thou shalt be a good listener, for God often speaks to us through the mouths of others.

18th. Thou shalt not try to relive yesterday; for good or ill, it is forever gone. Live in the now and rejoice in it.

19th. Thou shalt firmly dismiss feelings of frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will interfere with positive action.

20th. Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the smallest, for our biggest blessings are composed of many small ones.

Rules for Living

1. Anything that is worth doing is worth doing well.

2. The great essentials of happiness are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

3. Keep skid chains on your tongue; always say less than you think. Cultivate a low, persuasive voice. How you say it counts more than what you say.

4. Never let an opportunity pass to say a kind and encouraging word about somebody.

5. Praise good work, regardless of who did it. If criticism is needed, criticize helpfully, not spitefully.

6. Make promises sparingly, and keep them faithfully no matter what it costs.

7. Be interested in others, their pursuits, their work, their homes and families. Make merry with those who rejoice, with those who weep, mourn. Let everyone you meet, however humble feel that you regard him as a person of importance.

8. Be cheerful. Don't burden or depress those around you by dwelling on your minor aches and pains and small disappointments. Remember, everyone is carrying some kind of a load.

9. Keep an open mind. Discuss, but don't argue. It is a mark of a superior mind to be able to disagree without being disagreeable.

10. Pay no attention to ill-natured remarks about you. Remember, the person who carried the message may not be the most accurate reporter in the world. Simply live so that nobody will believe them. Disordered nerves and bad digestion are a common cause of backbiting.

11. Don't be too anxious about the credit due you.

12. Do your best, and be patient. Forget about yourself, and let
others "remember." Success is much sweeter that way.

13. Observe and get to know where it hurts, then don't use it to hurt or abuse anybody.

14. Let argguments fly out open windows. Give no answer to contentious arguments or irresponsible accusations. Let such things fly out open windows until they spend themselves. If you try to answer or reason back, you only serve to gratify and ignite pent-up hostility and anger.

15. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.

16. Do not harm little children.

17. Refrain from saying the unkind or negative thing, particularly when provoked or fatigued.

18. Do not give opinion or advice unless you are asked.

19. Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.

20. When in another's house, show him/her respect; or else do not go there.

21. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the person and he cries out to be relieved.