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Posts from the ‘Quotes’ Category

Aug 16

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Find Fun

“Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.”- Chuck Palahniuk

Everyday is filled with opportunities for fun and frolic, despite chaos that may surround you. Lighten up and simply enjoy those moments that remind us of the many blessings that we overlook. You need not look far to find fun, just to be open to it.

Mom, Dad, Lily and I celebrated Molly’s seventh birthday today with a lot of toys and a few frosty paws ice cream cups. I can remember driving with Dad to Elkhart Lake Wisconsin to pick Molly up like it was yesterday. Time flies. Joy is ours if we choose it. If you can’t find fun, let it find you.

“If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.” – George MacDonald

“If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.” – George MacDonald

Aug 7

The Mirage

“Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Exhausted from another long day of many lately, I glanced at Psalm 23 that’s posted on my refrigerator next to an array of favorite photos and quotes. The dichotomy of “through the valley of the shadow of death” and “my cup runneth over” hit me.

Worn and weary, we see the shadows more than the overflowing cup. Parched in the desert, our cup is empty. That’s the mirage. Our cup is overflowing when we lie down in green pastures and beside still waters near our oasis of blessings with a renewed gratitude. My cup runneth over. The mirage is the desert.

Aug 3

4 Comments

Plop

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” – Guillaume Apollinaire

A few miles in to our daily run or our walk to visit the neighborhood chickens, Lily strays off the path to plop in a patch of grass for a momentary rest. Molly patiently waits by her side until she’s ready to move on. They take in the moment. The moment is enough.

Pause each day and plop long enough to rest, reflect and ready yourself for those next steps. Accept and appreciate the joy to be found in each moment.

“The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” – Richard Bach

“The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” – Richard Bach

“Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies.” – Erich Fromm

Jul 31

3 Comments

E=MC2

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” – Albert Einstein

Energy = Mass x Speed of Light squared, a most famous Einstein equation. What are you spending your energy on? A good question we should ask early and often to make sure we invest our energy to what’s important and relevant on this oh so short journey.

We tend to overcomplicate and waste our energy on going through the motions to merely get through the day, to follow the “rules”. Keep questioning and find your dream, your spirit. Make a plan to get there, day by day, moment by moment. In regard to those loud, mediocre minds, disregard. If you are uncomfortable or unfulfilled, there’s a reason, listen,

“When the solution is simple, God is answering.” – Albert Einstein

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – Albert Einstein

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – Albert Einstein

Jul 30

4 Comments

Great Expectations

“We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.” – Voltaire

There’s an emptiness in expectations unfulfilled. Disappointment arrives on the heels of expectations we cast outside of ourselves – people, plans, places, circumstances. Looking longer and deeper, we discover that the hollowness is not in the result, but rather in the expectations we set in the first place.

Our contentment and fulfillment comes from within. Put great expectations on what you can do and be, not on passing things outside of our control. Move quickly from the disappointments that are apart of life and remember that they are not life. Amplify the gain and gifts, reset expectations. Better yet, live.

“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.” – Henry David Thoreau

“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.” – Henry David Thoreau

Jul 18

4 Comments

Feeding Chickens

“The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” – Thomas More

“Simply enjoy life and the great pleasures that come with it.” – Karolina Kurkova

“Simply enjoy life and the great pleasures that come with it.” – Karolina Kurkova

About a month ago, my neighbors a few blocks away set up a chicken den in their front yard in the middle of the city. My first thought was “how did they get the neighbors to agree to that? It’s so impractical.” The impractical has now turned into one of my favorite ordinary daily acts that I share with Molly and Lily at dawn and dusk.

The neighbors have now brilliantly put out a bucket of chicken feed so passersby can feed the chickens and be a part of their “silly” dream. Each time we pass and throw some chicken feed, they all come running to get their share. And every single time, Molly and Lily watch in wonderment.

Find your “feeding chickens” act and enjoy the simplicity of the ordinary gifts just around the corner. “Silly” dreams fulfilled make a life well lived.

Jul 16

2 Comments

Rise and Shine

“Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.” – Alan Cohen

Each day we must choose light over shadow, rising above to shine bright. There’s an ease that comes with letting go of our assumptions, frustrations and judgments. Surrender to joy each day. Rise and shine. And when you stumble and wilt, re-rise and re-shine. Defeat only comes when we stop trying.

“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?”- Nhat Hanh

“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?”- Nhat Hanh

Jul 14

Constant

“I gave in, and admitted that God was God.” – C. S. Lewis

When we look back on where we’ve been and where we are now, it makes sense. The unexplainable becomes understandable. Randomness forms a pattern. Our experiences give us perspective and hope, but we still want to know the end before we start.

We lose the present dwelling too long in the past simultaneously worrying about the future. Learn from the past and if needed change the pattern to create a new future. Savor the sweet times and let faith lead you through the tough ones, both are guaranteed in this life. Faith is the one constant in an often inconsistent and unexplainable world. It’s knowing that the bridge is there, even when hid by the clouds. And the clouds always dissipate to reveal the sun that was there the entire time.

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”– Oswald Chambers

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”– Oswald Chambers

Jul 12

4 Comments

Seize

“Lose not yourself in a far off time, seize the moment that is thine.”- Friedrich Schiller

“The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions - the little, soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions – the little, soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Today is yours to define. We are so much more than our problems. A simple smile casts light and warmth beyond ourselves and shows us the blessings in our midst. With gratitude and generosity, seize the day.

Jul 10

7 Comments

Gaze

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” – John Muir

As you enter this day, slow down to gaze, stay longer, listen with your heart. We miss the beauty of all that surrounds us when we pass by merely with a glance. The world changes through the eyes of gratitude, awe and brilliant color.

“There is that in the glance of a flower which may at times control the greatest of creation's braggart lords.” – John Muir

“There is that in the glance of a flower which may at times control the greatest of creation’s braggart lords.” – John Muir

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