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Posts tagged ‘Thoughts’

Jul 28

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Just When You Think…

“If I had my life to live over, I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I’d have fewer imaginary ones.” – Don Herold

Just when you think you’ve had it tough, you get a whack to the head on how blessed you really are. This morning, I joined my “sole sisters” – Jeanne and Linda at the Challenge Cancer run. Jeanne is celebrating almost 10 years breast cancer free and 13+ years melamona free for me. Other survivors stepped forward to get recognized. A nine year old boy – 6 years cancer free, diagnosed at 18 months old. And then a young woman who was just diagnosed in April with brain cancer, still going through chemo.

We often focus on our burdens, instead of our blessings. Many times our burdens are our blessings. They teach us to accept what we can’t control and let the rest go for God to handle. We may not have the choice on what we go through, but we do have the choice of how we go through it.

Celebrate your life today, tomorrow and next week – burdens, blessings and the whole darn mess.

“If things go wrong, don’t go with them.” – Roger Babson

Jul 26

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Whisper

“None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.” – Thomas Carlyle

“The flowers that sleep by night, opened their gentle eyes and turned them to the day. The light, creation's mind, was everywhere, and all things owned its power.” - Charles Dickens

“The flowers that sleep by night, opened their gentle eyes and turned them to the day. The light, creation’s mind, was everywhere, and all things owned its power.” – Charles Dickens

Be quiet long enough to hear yourself and listen to others. Leave your opinions, judgement and criticism by the wayside. Like a gentle breeze through fragile flowers, whisper.

Jul 24

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A Good Day

“What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.”
– Leo Buscaglia

While I enjoy traveling, the ingredients that make up a good day don’t require getting on a plane. The recipe: hanging out at home with the girls, sleeping in without an alarm (except for several kisses on the forehead from Lily and Molly’s nose in my face at 5:30 am), no schedule, no meetings, no email, reading, going out for a long run that’s not rushed, taking a nap (I’ve been up since 5:30 am), a quiet walk at the end of the day.

With the limited number and the distance between vacations, we need to “work” in the good days, good hours, good moments throughout the week. What makes a good day for you? Create your checklist and start checking. And while creating those moments, always remember that we have the power to give “good day” moments to others as well – with a smile, a hug, a kind word.

Your good days are now. Don’t let them pass you by.

“I expect to pass through life but once.  If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” – William Penn

Jul 22

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Above the Clouds

“We’d never know how high we are, till we are called to rise; and then, if we are true to plan, our statures touch the sky.”  – Emily Dickinson

“Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.” - Winston Churchill

“Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it.” – Winston Churchill

Sometimes our plans don’t always work out the way we plan. Last week, my excitement to escape for a quick vacation came to a grinding halt when our flight was cancelled two hours before leaving. Since it was a quick trip to Las Vegas, losing one of three days is substantial. We were able to get another flight with a stop in Portland, only losing five hours.

Floating above the clouds, I was gently reminded of the importance of rising above the clouds to get a fresh perspective. To know what’s really important and what’s not worthy of more than a moment of our time and attention.

We have daily inconveniences and detours disguised as opportunities to take a different view, to be more patient, to slow down, to stop multitasking every moment away. And the true measurement isn’t in what happens to us but in how we deal with it.

Jul 17

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Accept the Gift

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say “thank you?”
– William A. Ward

Each day is a gift. Open it.

“Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.” - Ruth Ann Schabacker

“Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.” – Ruth Ann Schabacker

“Joy is the feeling of grinning inside.” - Melba Colgrove

“Joy is the feeling of grinning inside.” – Melba Colgrove

Jul 13

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Cherry On Top

“Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you. It is meant to, and it couldn’t do it better. Every seed destroys its container or else there would be no fruition.”
– Florida Scott-Maxwell

Fruition – the satisfaction that comes from completion. The sweet taste of the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae. The new tree was planted about 5 feet from where the 50 year old silver maple was taken down a few months ago. A “baby” sugar maple in its place.

Lots of steps to get to this final touch. A new start from a last step. And 50 years from today, someone will be looking up at the towering sugar maple in appreciation as much as the girls and I celebrate the birth of its beauty and potential today.

May 30

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What are you going to do different?

“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” – Cecil Beaton.

We try to own so many things that aren’t ours to own – other people’s problems, thoughts, ideas, attitudes. The only thing we truly own is our attitude, actions, reactions, outlook, thoughts – our life and what we do with it.

What will you do differently today, tomorrow, this week to make your life better? – run your first mile, read a new book, pray your first prayer, call an old friend. We spend too much time trying to own what’s out of our control, ignoring what’s ours right in front of us.

It takes one step to move us out of complacency, to move us forward. Do something, anything, different.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein

May 16

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Wellspring

“Happiness is not in our circumstance but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are.” – John B. Sheerin

“Friendship, love, health, energy, enthusiasm, and joy are the things that make life worth living and exploring.” - Denise Austin

“Friendship, love, health, energy, enthusiasm, and joy are the things that make life worth living and exploring.” – Denise Austin

“The secret is this. You make your own happiness.” - Harold Klemp

“The secret is this. You make your own happiness.” – Harold Klemp

Be a wellspring of encouragement, enthusiasm and excitement. Our days can feel like a desert, leaving us thirsty and dry. We can be an oasis. Our happiness and contentment is mulitpied by giving ourselves to others in simple yet meaningful ways. The world is starving for recognition, acknowledgement and “likes.” Say a kind word (or many), smile (alot) and shine (everyday).

May 8

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And the Clouds Break

“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” – Lord Byron

Every three months for the past two years, we drive to the Mayo Clinic to see if cancer has developed in my Dad’s esophagus. He was diagnosed almost three years ago with stomach cancer and Barrett’s Esophagus. Today, they took a biopsy and now we wait, like we’ve done before. There’s never a conclusion, just a continuation of wait, pray, hope and be grateful for good news every three months. The gift in this reality is that each day becomes a blessing, not to be squandered on the futile.

As we drove home tonight with thoughts racing through my mind, probably the same thoughts others had in the car, I glanced to the left and the sun burst through the dark clouds. And it occurred to me that this is really the essence of life. There are moments of sunshine and moments of clouds, but most days are a mix of both. We can choose to see the sunshine or we can choose to see the clouds. I choose the light.

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” - Rabindranath Tagore

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” – Rabindranath Tagore

May 1

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Explore

“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

While doing my morning routine, I glanced out the window to discover Lily was scaling the limb of the tree that fell last week. “Explore” immediately came to mind. Explore your world everyday.

"Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness." - Bryant H. McGill

"Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness." - Bryant H. McGill

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