Your Choice

If you are lucky enough
to greet another day,
you are lucky enough.

Now the hard part comes.
Will you be happy or crappy?
Will you share joy or spread misery?
Will you smile or frown?
Will you be kind or be a bully?
Will you share hope or spread doom?
Will you be uplifting or demeaning?
Will you be an individual or a lemming?
Will you embrace all or despise each?
Will you listen or will you hear?
Will you converse or will you scream?
Will you observe or will you judge?
Will you give or will you take?
Will you teach or will you order?
Will you love or will you hate?

It is that simple.
It is your choice.

Courage

Seven little letters.
Strength beyond belief.

Defined as:
The quality of mind or spirit
that enables a person to face
difficulty, danger, pain, etc.
without fear.
I'm not so sure about the 'without fear' part.

It can be that leap from one job to the next.
It can be the grasping of an opportunity
with an unknown future.
It can be the audition just outside your comfort zone.
It can be speaking to someone you admire.
It can be simply speaking up.
It can be standing up to things or people.
It can be stepping back from things or people.
It can be running a marathon.
It can be just one more step.
It is courage.
It is different for different people.
But it exists in each of us.

Just One

If your singing makes just one person happy,
sing.
If your photographs make just one person happy,
click.
If your art makes just one person happy,
paint.
If your writing makes just one person happy,
write.
If your listening makes just one person happy,
listen.
If your hug makes just one person happy,
hug.
If your existence makes just one person happy,
be.
If your love makes just one person happy,
love.
You make a difference.
You are integral and beautiful and important and worthy.
And know that there is Just One of YOU!
YOU make the world better.
Be YOU!

Letters Matter

Four of my favorite are:  U, R, I, and M

UR amazing.
UR important.
UR extraordinary.
UR loved.
UR talented.
UR brave.
UR unique.
UR beautiful.
IM all those same things.

Recite this . . . daily!

Feed Your Soul

Refuse to let the world corrupt you.
See the beauty in everyone.
Let us not grow weary while doing good.

Waterdrops

I found a quote . . . but I only like half of it.
So, I will share and embellish.

Unlike a drop of water
which loses its identity
when it joins the ocean,
man does not lose his being
when he joins society.

Each of us accentuates
and enhances the world
and those around us.
Singularly, we are minute, but together -
even in the glory of all our differences -
we can create a wave
of something beautiful.

THIS!!!

To be beautiful means
to be yourself.
You don't need to be
accepted by others.
You need
to accept yourself.

A World Without

Listen without judgement.
Pray without ceasing.
Care without necessity.
See without separation.
Envelop without pretense.
Give without expectation.
Love without condition.

The Great Eight

1. Everything can . . . and will . . . change.
2. You've overcome challenges before.
3. It's all a learning experience.
4. Not getting what you want can be a blessing.
5. Allow yourself to have some fun.
6. Being kind to yourself is the best medicine.
7. Other's people's negativity isn't worth worrying about.
8. There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.

And, as I ponder my existence,
I have realized that they are all true.
Some carry more weight at specific times,
but every single one of them
is absolutely true.

Strong

There is strength
and there is being strong.
Two very different things.
I have dabbled with the first.
I was forced into the second.
We never really understand
the fortitude that lies within us,
until we're tested.
Our faith in things beyond us
give us cause to climb above,
to reach past,
to rise to heights
we never anticipated -
because we have to.
The belief that you can,
supplies the stamina
to realize you will.
We all possess it.
It's in there.
Go . . . find it.
And when you do,
share it.

Go . . .

Because, somehow,
we've raised two wanderers . . .
and those who wander
are really not always lost . . .
I give you some favorites.

I find myself becoming greedy.
Greedy for new experiences,
new sights and cities.
I've become an addict for adventure,
and I'm afraid there is no cure.

Jobs fill your pocket.
Adventures fill your soul.

Wherever you go
becomes a part of you somehow.

Spend your life with the people
who make even going to the grocery store
an adventure.

And if travel is like love, it is, in the end,
mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness,
in which we are mindful, receptive,
undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed.
That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs,
never really end.

Go!

Share

As children we are taught to share.
Share our toys, our snacks, our time.
What happens?

We need to get back to some of our childhood ethics.
Share a smile.
Share the kindness.
Share the hope.
Share your generosity.
Share some goodness.
Share your compassion.
Share the love.

Or I'll put you in time out!  :-)

Time

Time.
It is such a precious commodity.
We naively rush through it,
hurry it along,
and sometimes wish it away.
We do not realize its value
til it is gone.
Til we no longer have any.
Til the chair is empty.
Til the phone doesn't ring.
Til we are alone.
So . . .
If you woke up this morning,
make it a point
with all sorts of purpose
to reach out;
to communicate;
to be kind;
to listen;
to hold;
to share;
to love;
to be
together.

Ch-Angel LBC

Back to those folks
who, without hesitation,
give with their heart,
accept without condition,
love with their entire being.
Thank you my Ch-Angel
for being your very special self.
It is appreciated.
It is heartwarming.
It is genuine.
It is beautiful.

Like you!


Go be a Ch-Angel today!

Don't Fence Me In

Now that you're knee deep in that song . . .

Today's blog is more about
inclusion and acceptance
than cottonwood trees
and old saddles.

I will NOT be defined
by political party,
religious belief,
procreation thoughts,
morals and ethics.
You CANNOT put me
in a box and label me.
I am so very much
more than that.
And you are
smarter than that.

Don't Fence Me In!

An Empty Bench

Today
there is an empty bench
where someone should be sitting.
Instead
there's a name on a monument
that is said to be befitting.
Today
there is an empty bench
that's void of conversation.
Instead
it stands in solitude
in remembrance of the devastation.
Today
there is an empty bench
that used to seat a working crowd.
Instead
it is a sacred shrine
to what will never again be allowed.
Today
there is an empty bench
where friends would surely have met.
Today
is September 11th,
a day we will Never Forget.

Enjoy!

To bask
in the delight of memories
is to twist time
in the favor of joy.
To raise up a long ago moment
and give it new life
is to open your heart
to forgotten love.
To shed a tear
for a departed soul
is to share their worth
with the world.

Adapt and Overcome

Had a blog written
and it wouldn't publish.
Isn't technology fun?

And so . . .
I will change it up
and make sure you understand
that no matter what comes your way
you can create something new
and different
and better!

Put your head down,
put one foot in front of the other
and get to where you need to go.
You can do
whatever you choose to do.

Gogh On

If you hear a voice within you say,
'You cannot paint,'
then by all means . . . paint . . .
and that voice will be silenced.

For those of you that might be
'hard of reading'
this is not necessarily about painting!

Enjoy your day!

Back To It

Back to the basics.
Back to the root.
Back to what drove me to start this blog.

Ch-Angels!

Those folks who go above and beyond
without expectation or notoriety,
to benefit another person
for definite or sometimes indefinable reasons.

There are Ch-Angels everywhere.
I believe it is by choice that we see them.
We tend to see what we want to see.
If we want to see bad . . . we find fault.
If we want to see good . . . we find favor.
The change begins within each of us.

Take a step today toward being a Ch-Angel.
Do something you don't normally do.
Find a needy soul, and fill the void.
The wings are there.
We simply need to dust them off.
Shine up those halos and be the beacon
that others might follow.

Be a Ch-Angel!

Giving Thanks

Believe me,
I'm NOT rushing holidays.
I just wanted to take a moment,
as we all should every day,
to give thanks!

Thank you for another day.
Thank you for my amazing family.
Thank you for my incredible friends.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for hope.
Thank you for understanding.
Thank you for love.

In a world where far too many
are continuously asking for things,
I want to make sure that
I am giving thanks
for all the blessings and abundances I have.

Thank You!

Good Day to You

As I sit here this morning, super sleepy,
rubbing my eyes and knowing full well
that this long day is going to be painful,
I am ok.

I am greeting a new morning.
I get to see another sunrise.
I am allowed to give the world my best.
I am granted a chance to do the right thing.

Is everything perfect in my world?
Nope.
Is life just ducky and dandy without setbacks?
Nope.
Do parts randomly ache and hurt and creak?
Yep.
Do I wish some folks would behave better?
Yep.

But . . . I am here . . .
blessed to write and share and empower
and lift others up and be kind and be joyful
in spite of any and every issue.
And so . . .

Good Day to You!
Make it absolutely anything
and everything you'd like it to be.

Original

Life is far too short to spend your time
trying to be like someone else.
Don't try to dress like this person;
do your make-up like that person;
dance like so-and-so;
sing like this musician;
speak like this orator;
or anything like anyone
OTHER THAN YOU!!!

You, my friend, are an Original
with a capital O!
You are unique and beautiful
and gifted and blessed
and incredible and amazing.
Be the most you-est you you can be.
The world waited for you.
The world was finally graced with you.
Now share the special you that you are!

Do you!
Be you!
Do Be Do Be You!

Memories

As life continues to ebb and flow,
we are sometimes left
with only memories;
precious bits of time
captured in our thoughts,
secured within our souls,
offering us a respite
from the craziness
in a beautifully comfortable
happy place.

Enjoy yours.