There is love

There is love.

There is hate and fear and madness;
but there is also love.

There is bullying and belittling and bashing;
but there is also love.

There is ugliness and unfairness and unrest;
but there is also love.

Find the love.
Embrace the love.
BE the love.

One feather at a time

The power of your mind is extraordinary.
If you believe you can attain something ~ you can.
If you believe you can do something ~ you will.

I have always believed that I am surrounded by Angels.
At my lowest points, there has been some random incident,
that sometimes literally would shine a light on me.
I believe it was my Angels.
The more I believe, the more I am surrounded.

Ch-Angels ~ those people whose kindness and selfless gestures
lift others up and support them and love them ~ are abundant.

If you choose to see them, they are everywhere.
I am blessed and lucky enough to enjoy their company
on a daily basis.
You become that with which you associate.
I will earn my wings.
One feather at a time, baby!
One feather at a time.

Your Choice

Seems appropriate for election time.

Each day that you are blessed and lucky enough
to emerge from your bedroom,
you have a choice:

Happy or Crappy.

Each idiot driver that cuts you off, doesn't let you in,
weaves through traffic,
you have a choice:

Arrive Alive or Road Rage.

Each bit of stupidity that affronts your day,
deserves a choice:

Point Your Shoes in Another Direction or Join the Circus.

Each hurdle, roadblock, setback you come to,
you have a choice:

Persist or Collapse.

Our political votes may not mean much,
but the choices you make each day are
simple but extraordinary!

Wow!

So . . . sometimes I come across these quotes and I am literally stopped dead in my tracks.
The words jump off the page and wrap themselves around me.
I know that all things literary are about timing.
This may not be the time for it to impact you,
but it just made me say, "Wow!"
If it finds you today . . . super.


No man ever steps in the same river twice;
for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.


Booyah!

Posinormal!

A little light-heartedness for a Saturday.
Having just seen Conjuring 2 - the paranormal is on my mind.
But, instead of creepy, supernatural, scary things . . .
I would like you to focus on being:

Posinormal!

In opposition to otherworldly stuff,
I want you to focus on what is right in front of you.
The folks you care most about.
The place you call home.
The friends you hold dear.

Be a Positive Phenomenon!
Raise folks up.
Speak only good things.
Stop stirring the pot.
Be an asset to everything you touch.
Listen and love and care.

Go be posinormal!

You Are The One

Ultimately, YOU are the one.

The one who chooses if:
you will be happy
you will have a good day
you will share a smile
you will offer a hand
you will do the right thing
you will be kind
you will be gracious
you will loving.

YOU are in charge.
You Are The One.

You Are The One

Ultimately, YOU are the one.

The one who decides:
whether you are happy or not
whether you are good enough or not
who is allowed to hurt you or not
who can enter your realm or not
if you will have a grand day or not
if you will display a smile or not.

The choice is yours.
You Are The One.

Do that stuff!

Not sure where it originated.
Not sure it matters.
The quote, expounded, goes something like this:

Always leave things better than you found them.
No one should leave your presence unhappy.
Make a difference whenever you are able.
A comfortable silence is enveloped bliss.
A hug speaks volumes.

Go . . . do that stuff!

Go and be

Embellishing on Raoul Dufy:

My eyes were made to erase all that is ugly.
My lips were made to speak only positive.
My ears were made to listen and learn.
My arms were made to offer hugs.
My heart was made to love.
I was made to make a difference.

Go and be.

Some Ch-Angel Wisdom

There are a few Ch-Angels that I have known for a vast majority of my years.
Susie - who knew me before I was me.
Nancy - who grew me to be a better me.
Two of my very early favorites!

But one who came later, when I was in 6th or 7th grade,
has just become a beautifully integral member of my family.
He began as a friend of a friend and turned, truly, in family.
He was with us when family wasn't.
He listened when no one else would.
He never ever judged and always simply loved and supported.
He has several favorite phrases that I just adore
and most of us can live by:

Do the right thing.
Who's better than you?
You're a good person.
You're a good friend.

Very simple.
Very unembellished.
Very fantastically perfect words to live by.

You're a beautiful soul, Ch-Angel Lenny.
Thank you!

Labels

Some folks shop for specific logos:
Coach, Gucci, Fendi, Wang.
Others shop for comfort.
Some folks need the i-everything.
Others buy what works.
Some folks seek Ferrari.
Others just get happy when their car starts.
Neither is wrong.
All those items serve a purpose.
Each exists to do some specific thing.

Are we not the same?
Why do we continue to label each other?
Why do we label ourselves?

Beyond the color of your skin,
where you were born,
your ethnicity,
your social status,
your financial status;
we all bleed the same color.
We are all humans.

Until we realize this,
we are sadly doomed.

Learn to lose the labels.
Embrace the differences between one another;
because in reality ~ there are none.
Which only leaves . . . the embrace.

Daddio!

Anyone can be a father,
but it takes someone very special
to be a dad.

To be that guy who stands up, steps up,
changes diapers, changes minds,
steers, guides, advises,
sets limits, sets boundaries,
and then urges you to push through them;
that guy is extraordinary.

The one who leads, but includes;
teaches, but explains;
offers, but allows;
pushes, but catches;
limits, but loves.
THAT guy!

I have had four fathers.
Lucky or not, each served an amazing purpose.
And now, I am married to a man
who has simply become an incredible all-of-the-above person.
My children are blessed ~ as am I.

Props to all those dads out there
that do the right thing, no matter what.
To those that fill the shoes that were left by others,
and to those moms that wear both hats.

Enjoy your day!
And thank you!

What comes next

From one of my favorite folks, Dr. Robert Schuller:

There are vast, untapped resources
of faith and talent
that can only be discovered in adversity!

I have witnessed this repeatedly in my many years.
We are all faced with trials and hardships
and battles and betrayals.
How you react and respond to those events
determines the course of what comes next.

It is your choice!

By Definition

Your mistakes don't define you.

Far too often,
we let our disappointment
and discouragement
dominate our lives.

We are not a culmination
of our errors.
We are, in fact,
stronger, better, better able
because of them . . .
in spite of them.

Your mistakes,
your errors,
your inconsistencies,
are exactly what makes you
so very, very special.

Don't be defined by societal expectations.
Don't be defined by failures.
Be your own special kind of amazing.
There is not another 'you' out there.
Embrace every little inch of who you are.

You're Awesome!

Wisdom

From John Lubbock:

Rest is not idleness,
and to lie sometimes on the grass
under the trees on a summer's day,
listening to the murmur of water,
or watching the clouds
float across the sky,
is by no means
a waste of time.

Fly 'Em High

Today is Flag Day!

A day in which we celebrate 'Old Glory'
and its representation of our great country.
A country of inclusion.
A country of acceptance.
A country of freedom.
A country of opportunity.
A country of unity.

Can we please get back to those values?
Can we stop being so divisive?
Can we breathe, for a moment,
and remember just how great our country is?
Do not take for granted what you have.
For when you are complacent
and lose your vigilance,
you lose far more than that.

Fly 'Em High, folks.
Fly 'Em High!

Hope & Love & Peace

Hope & Love & Peace

Hope that people will understand
that Love and Peace is what we need.

Love your neighbors
toward a community of Hope and Peace.

Peace abides
where there is Love and Hope.

We cannot point fingers.
We cannot spew hate to calm fears.
We cannot lay claim to answers
on how to fix evil and anger.

We must stand united without faltering
to issue a proclamation about
how we are, what we are, who we are
in the face of a blind rage
in
Hope
& Love
& Peace.

Make Life Beautiful

Today is National Make Life Beautiful Day.
EVERY day is make life beautiful day ~
because it is entirely by choice.

You do not need riches.
You do not need fame.
You do not need glory.
You do not need spotlights.

A beautiful life
begins and ends in the mind of each person.
You choose each day what you will see,
what you will feel,
what you will allow,
what you will be.
The choice is yours.

Choose to Make Life Beautiful.

It's All Relative

I've written about this before,
but it deserves a little repetition.

Family. Defined as any group of persons closely related by blood,
as parents, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.
This is one of those 'technicalities'.

Family is far more than a simple blood line.
It is defined by those who are willing to
give blood, lose blood, and have blood boil,
for you!
I am from an extraordinarily large family.
Some I haven't spoken to in eons ~ and that's ok.
I'd rather spend the afternoon at Mazzaro's
with a beautiful soul who I'm confident loves and cares about me
without exception.
I'd rather chat with some folks I've known since
elementary school that I'm certain will ALWAYS be there for me.
I'd rather eat pretzels with a bestie
than be dragged to a table to be served month's old frozen dinner.
I'd rather chat with a dear heart
than be judged by someone without one or who's lost touch with their own.
Family shouldn't be 'forced' or 'manipulated' or 'dictated'
to interact or coexist or be with one another.
Sometimes, family are those folks  who simply exist beside you,
caring, supporting, listening, advising, guiding, holding, hugging, and loving you.

I hope you're surrounded by THAT family.
Know that I am your family!
I will encourage you.
I will enlighten you.
I will listen to and hug you.
I love you!

Time

Time is a delicacy
topping the options on a very pricy menu.
You cannot stop it.
You cannot contain it.
Babies grow up.
Parents grow old.
Things ache and creak.
But that very thing that seems so unaffordable
is the only thing you really have.

Time

Cherish every second.
Roll on the floor with the babies.
Sit and listen to your parents.
Tend to your aches and embrace the creaks.
It is life.
It is beautiful.
It is precious.

Time

Stop every now and again.
Recognize the beauty around you.
Count your many abundant blessings.
Enjoy the gifts that abound nearby.
Time is not an enemy.
Time is yours.
Use it wisely.

Kindness

There is kindness out there.

Little drops of unrequested compassion
that come from those
whose hearts have known aching,
whose lives have been touched by others,
whose days have been improved by love,
and they simply want to give back.

There is no focus on reciprocation.
No expectation of accolades.
No hope of glory and grandeur.

Just the quiet beauty of offering themselves
for the betterment of someone else.

Go!

Go in the direction of your dreams.
There will be hurdles.
There will be chasms.
There will be set backs.
Go anyway.
There will be trials.
There will be failures.
There will be sadness.
Go anyway.
There will be pain.
There will be sorrow.
There will be anger.
Go anyway.

All those negatives are but stepping stones
on your path to realizing
what you're truly capable of.

Go anyway.
Go!

Thanks, Mom!

In doing some MAJOR cleaning,
I came across this beautiful tidbit that my mother
sent to me on August 3, 2003.
This is SO very much how she lived,
how she taught us, and what I believe.

You have within you the power and ability
to solve every problem and deal with every challenge that life presents.
Your mind is a powerful tool
that is always working to make your world the place
you expect it to be.
If you expect it to be lonely and sick and without money ~
then your mind will find a way for that to happen.
And when you expect to be healthy and prosperous and loved ~
then your mind will find a way for that to happen.

Know what you want.
Fully expect to get it.
Take the necessary actions to bring it about.
Know that there will be obstacles,
and also that you will find a way through them.
You can do it.

Thanks, Mom, for the reminder!

Float like a butterfly

Having a grandfather who was a professional boxer,
and growing up watching Mohammed Ali,
today is a little sad.
I recall him carrying the Olympic torch
and having tears in my eyes as he stood there,
shaking with Parkinson's,
but doing what he came to do.

His catch phrase is as powerful today as ever.

Float like a butterfly.
Sting like a bee.

I know what it means to me.
What does it conjure up for you?

Let It Go

Having spent a great many years
all balled up in anxiety and fear and worry and dread
over illnesses, children, loss, moving, idiots, and money,
I am slowly learning to Let It Go.

My children are amazing adults
who will find their way because they are intelligent
and gifted and generous and kind and brilliant
and beautiful.

Loss cannot be avoided.
We take with us the positives, the memories,
the joys, the laughter of those that have gone on before us.
We simply hope we greet them again on the other side.

Moving is not a chore, or a grind, or an imposition.
It is just another adventure.
New faces. New places. New anything and everything.
Perspective is important.

Money truly is the root of all evil.
I have had none and I have been comfortable.
What I have found is that it is simply paper.
Family and friends and faith matter infinitely more.

Illnesses invade and wreak havoc.
How you face them and battle them is very important.
Perspective, again, is vital.
Grow and gain strength. It is the only option.

Idiots!
Hmmmmm.
No matter who you raise, where you move, how much money you have
or the state of your health ~ the idiots remain.
Point your shoes in another direction and remember your value.
You may be invited to the mayhem, but you don't have to attend.

Let It Go!

Piece of Peace

As I have been blessed to have lived in a few different places;
upstate New York, Georgia, and Florida
and passed through a great many more,
I find I am most at peace when I am outdoors.

Whether it is early in the morning, watching the sun rise,
listening to lapping waves, or chirping birds,
walking through the quiet serenity of the woods,
enjoying an extraordinary view,
being blessed by the sight of God's creatures,
or by His painted gardens or beautiful trees,
I am calm.
I am content.
I am at peace.

Where do you find your peace?
Go . . . grab your piece of peace.

Say Something Nice

Although EVERY day is say something nice day,
today is actually acknowledged as THE day to do so.

So . . .
with only kindness in your heart,
generosity in your speech,
and love on your tongue . . .

Say Something Nice!