Strength through Adversity

The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them.

~Bernard M. Baruch

Will Power

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.
~ Abraham Lincoln

Dreaming with a Broken Heart

God is closest to those with broken hearts ~ Jewish Saying

Escape

She realized as a girl of eight that if she sat down and wrote her stories, she could escape the parts of life she didn't like, embroider the parts she did and thus control the life she had.

~ Dudley Clendinen

What Matters Now

What Matters Now

What Matters Now is the work of more than 60 people with big ideas and something to say. It will inspire you to make some changes in 2010, and to keep doing work that matters.

A Star Is Born

Calamity Jane

I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one" ...Calamity Jane 

Sheryl Crow - Everyday Is A Winding Road

Road Trip

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving

 ~ Lao Tzu

Smile

A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give. ~Author Unknown

Rocky Balboa Motivational Speech - Kinetic Typography

Yoda Wisdom

Do or do not, there is no try

~Yoda

Heroes

I love these cards. Check out the website when you get the chance: www.bonairdaydreams.com

The Parable of the Trapeze

Turning the Fear of Transformation into the Transformation of Fear

Sometimes I feel that my life is a series of trapeze swings. I'm either hanging on to a trapeze bar swinging along or, for a few moments in my life, I'm hurtling across space in between trapeze bars. Most of the time, I spend my life hanging on for dear life to my trapeze-bar-of-the-moment. It carries me along at a certain steady rate of swing and I have the feeling that I'm in control of my life. I know most of the right questions and even some of the answers.

But every once in a while as I'm merrily (or even not-so-merrily) swinging along, I look out ahead of me into the distance and what do I see? I see another trapeze bar swinging toward me. It's empty and I know, in that place in me that knows, that this new trapeze bar has my name on it. It is my next step, my growth, and my aliveness coming to get me. In my heart of hearts I know that, for me to grow, I must release my grip on this present, well known bar and move to the new one. Each time it happens to me I hope (no, I pray) that I won't have to let go of my old bar completely before I grab the new one. But in my knowing place, I know that I must totally release my grasp on my old bar and, for some moment in time, I must hurtle across space before I can grab onto the new bar. Each time, I am filled with terror. It doesn't matter that in all my previous hurtles across the void of unknowing I have always made it. I am each time afraid that I will miss, that I will be crushed on unseen rocks in the bottomless chasm between bars. I do it anyway.

Perhaps this is the essence of what the mystics call the faith experience. No guarantees, no net, no insurance policy, but you do it anyway because somehow to keep hanging on to that old bar is no longer on the list of alternatives. So, for an eternity that can last a microsecond or a thousand lifetimes, I soar across the dark void of "the past is gone, the future is not yet here." It's called "transition." I have come to believe that this transition is the only place that real change occurs. I mean real change, not the pseudo-change that only lasts until the next time my old buttons get punched.

I have noticed that, in our culture, this transition zone is looked upon as a "no-thing," a no place between places. Sure, the old trapeze bar was real, and that new one coming towards me, I hope that's real, too. But the void in between? Is that just a scary, confusing, disorienting nowhere that must be gotten through as fast and as unconsciously as possible? NO! What a wasted opportunity that would be. I have a sneaking suspicion that the transition zone is the only real thing and the bars are illusions we dream up to avoid the void where the real change, the real growth, occurs for us.

Whether or not my hunch is true, it remains that the transition zones in our lives are incredibly rich places. They should be honored, even savored. Yes, with all the pain and fear and feelings of being out of control that can (but not necessarily) accompany transitions, they are still the most alive, most growth-filled, passionate, expansive moments in our lives. We cannot discover new oceans unless we have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

So, transformation of fear may have nothing to do with making fear go away, but rather with giving ourselves permission to "hang out" in the transition between trapezes. Transforming our need to grab that new bar, any bar, is allowing ourselves to dwell in the only place where change really happens. It can be terrifying. It can also be enlightening in the true sense of the word.

Hurtling through the void, we just may learn how to fly.

At this moment in my life..this is exactly how I feel and the words I needed to hear . Thank you Danaan Parry for writing this parable.

Written by: Danaan Parry

Photo Source: http://www.travel.nationalgeopraphic.com/

Source: http://www.beingabetterleader.com/

Find out more about Danaan Parry at : http://www.earthstewards.com/

Never Quit

Whenever you make a mistake or get knocked down by life, don't look back at it too long. Mistakes are life's way of teaching you. Your capacity for occasional blunders is inseparable from your capacity to reach your goals. No one wins them all, and your failures, when they happen, are just part of your growth. Shake off your blunders. How will you know your limits without an occasional failure? Never quit. Your turn will come.”

~ Og Mandino

Secret of Life

Trust yourself,
then you will know how to live.

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Step by Step

No great thing is created suddenly
~Epictetus

In other words, be patient with yourself. Keep on keepin on and before you know it you will be amazed at what you have accomplished.


Photo Source: http://www.great-wall-of-china.org/

Sisters

You can kid the world. But not your sister.
~Charlotte Gray

When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?
~Pam Brown

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~Isadora James

Prayer to Great Spirit~ Native American

Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind, whose breath gives life to all the world.

Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.

Help me to remain calm and strong in the face of all that comes towards me.

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

Help me seek pure thoughts and act with the intention of helping others.

Help me find compassion without empathy overwhelming me.

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,but to fight my greatest enemy- Myself

(My fears and my doubts). Make me always ready to come to you with clean

hands and straight eyes...so when life fades, as the fading sunset,my spirit may come to you

without shame.

~ Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark

Photo Source: http://www.casacreole.com/

Gladiator

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man 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, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

~Theodore Roosevelt

Photo Source : http://www.yinvsyang.com/

Sovereign Of The Self

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself

~Pietro Aretino

Picture Source: http://www.londononline.co.uk/

What do you pack to pursue a dream and what do you leave behind?
~Sandra Sharpe

Fears

Fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life, and the procedure, the process is its own reward.

Women In Art

Sign of the Times...

Miley Cyrus - The Climb - Official Music Video (HQ)

This song has a great message~nicely done.

Invisible Chains

Well I know it wasn't you who held me down

Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains

And we never even know we have the key~Eagles, Already Gone

Be authentic...

Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken~ Oscar Wilde

Life Imitating Art

Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, to work, to play, and to look up at the stars~ Henry Van Dyke

Maurizio Peddis Photography on Flickr

Amazing photography..what a subject. Nicely done, Maurizio Peddis.

My first friend

Friends are like gems, they're ALL priceless

Two versions of a favorite song

Interesting meaning behind this song.
Sting's songs can be compared to each other to gain a good understanding of what he's attempting to convey with his lyrics. He may be singing about an aspect of himself, or it may just be a character that recuringly appears in different stories. This song is similar, at least in theme, to Fortress Around Your Heart. Fortress is a story about someone who has protected their heart for so long, and built such high walls to guard it that they have essentially created their own prison. Shape of my Heart is the introspective version.

He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn't play for the money he wins
He doesn't play for the respect
He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance

Let's call him the cardplayer. Whether he is playing cards or not is irrelevant. The game is a metaphor for the life that he has created for himself. He doesn't play this game with the same motivations as the average player. The game is his journey for truth, "to find the answer, " and is comprised of choice and chance. "The hidden laws" are only evident after play has occured. The player must "lead a dance" with his partner, the "sacred geometry of chance." Knowledge vs fate. A poker face may be great for a game of cards, but if you can't take it off when you're with a lover then you're in trouble.

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart

The cardplayer understands how to fight and achieve. There is only one thing that is completely alien to him. Hearts are not his strong suit. He emphasizes his bewilderement by repeating like a mantra what he does know, but his own heart (and also the love of another person) is out of reach. The obvious symbolism here is the heart representing emotion and love. The "shape" of the heart on the card is a fantasy; the reality of a human heart is quite different.

He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades

Again our cardplayer is reassuring himself of what he can do. I though it interesting to find out that in a tarot deck the jack of diamonds represents the rebel and the queen of spades, betrayal. But to understand what the king is all about we need to remember one of Sting's other songs, which he did with the Police: King of Pain. Our cardplayer is hiding his pain, a pain from the past that he is trying to let go of. Could it be what hardened his heart in the first place?

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape, the shape of my heart

And if I told you that I loved you
You'd maybe think there's something wrong
I'm not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one
Those who speak know nothing
And find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who smile are lost

Our character lives his life in a shell, unable to express himself to those around him. Those that know him would be caught off guard to the point of believing him to be a different person if he said, "I loved you." He is not deceitful, he only has one face, but that face is hidden behind "the mask." He is afraid of a life involving people and interaction, and he believes that those who choose that road pay a terrible price. They "curse their luck in too many places and those who smile are lost," meaning that life just ends up leaving you bitter without even your smile.

Clearly the player has resigned himself to who he is, and that's not going to change.


Source: www.everything2.com

Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches.

~Eric, from the movie The Princess Bride

Nature

Nature is the art of God.
~Sir Thomas Browne


Picture Source: www.authorstream.com

Things worth fighting for...

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up. ~ Vince Lombardi

Right now, I've been fighting to get physically strong and create a healthier lifestyle for myself.

I have completed the first four weeks of the Body for LIfe Program and am learning that I can TRUST MYSELF when I tell myself I'm going to do something. Honoring self promises increases confidence and just translates positively to other areas of your life.I have it in my mind that I can do this and realize that this is something that I have wanted for a long time. I love going to the gym these days and pushing myself further everyday.

Paul McCartney and Wings - With a little luck

All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck - who keeps right on going - is the man who is there when the good luck comes - and is ready to receive it~ Robert Collier

May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck, brightened by a song in your heart, and warmed by the smiles of the people you love.

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"”
~Robin Williams

Letting Go......

To let go does not mean to stop caring, it means I can't do it for someone else.To let go is not to cut myself off, it's the realization I can't control another.To let go is not to enable, but allow learning from natural consequences.To let go is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.To let go is not to try to change or blame another, it's to make the most of myself.To let go is not to care for, but to care about.To let go is not to fix, but to be supportive.To let go is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their destinies.To let go is not to be protective, it's to permit another to face reality.To let go is not to deny, but to accept.To let go is not to nag, scold or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes and cherish myself in it.To let go is not to criticize or regulate anybody, but to try to become what I dream I can be.To let go is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.To let go is to fear less and love more
Remember.... The time to love is short


~ author unknown

Love

Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two. ~Captain Corelli's Mandolin.


Love is the beauty of the soul. ~St. Augustine

Sometimes your nearness takes my breath away; and all the things I want to say can find no voice. Then, in silence, I can only hope my eyes will speak my heart ~ Robert Sexton

What I feel for you seems less of earth and more of a cloudless heaven. ~ Victor Hugo

Source: Fine Art America/Artist Joe ChaVan/Digital Art

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

Chapter One
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost .... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.


Chapter Two
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.



Chapter Three
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit ... but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.



Chapter Four
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.



Chapter Five
I walk down another street.

A wonderful collection of insights into love and life. Contains the classic "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters."

I spent many years in the Addictions/Recovery field. I was able to witness first hand the devastating effect that addictions play in people's lives. This was always one of my favorite stories to use with people facing their addictions and making courageous steps to move their lives in a different direction.

Random Funny

Cherokee Wisdom

An old Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A battle is raging inside me ... it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The old man fixed the children with a firm stare. "This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"


The old Cherokee replied: "The one you feed."

Obstacles

Obstacles.. Deal with Them Now
by: Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R., The Sower's Seeds

An old farmer had plowed around a large rock in one of his fields for years. He had broken several plowshares and a cultivator on it and had grown rather morbid about the rock. After breaking another plowshare one day, and remembering all the trouble the rock had caused him through the years, he finally decided to do something about it. When he put the crowbar under the rock, he was surprised to discover that it was only about six inches thick and that he could break it up easily with a sledgehammer. As he was carting the pieces away he had to smile, remembering all the trouble that the rock had caused him over the years and how easy it would have been to get rid of it sooner.

Why do we wait so long to change things that aren't working in our own life?

Stepping Stones

The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong ~Thomas Carlyle

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Somewhere over the Rainbow, sung by Eva Cassidy. When I first heard Eva Cassidy sing I immediately fell in love with her voice. Enjoy

King Arthur Video's

A Favorite Poem of Mine

somewhere i have never travelled
~E.E.Cummings


somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously) her first rose
or if your wish be to close me,i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain, has such small hands

Best in Show

The 2009 Best In Show Trophy was awarded to "Ch Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee," a.k.a. "Stump,"a Sussex Spaniel .
Did you know that the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is the second longest continuously held sporting event in this country, just one year behind the Kentucky Derby.

Find out more about this event at http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/

Vote for Maximilian

Did you know that more than 3 million animals are euthanized every year in the United States alone? Millions more around the world fall victim to the same fate.

You have the power to change that.
I entered Maximilian in the pet spay day contest and donated some money in his name to help out the cause. If you have a cat or dog, you may want to enter them in the contest as well. If you don't have any pets but love animals....think about donating and voting for Maximilian. A small donation of $5.oo can help boost up his rating.
Check out the website and contest at http://www.humanesociety.org/
Click on the pet spay day contest at the top of the page. Enter Maximilians name (or enter your pet by downloading their photo ), donate some money, tell other friends about the contest and watch Great Things Come Your Way.