SWAK

Folks ask me why I still send birthday cards
or anniversary card.
Why go through the trouble
when you can just text or message or Facebook
or Snapchat or Instagram or Tweet?

There is something so exciting,
so heartwarming,
so comforting,
so uplifting,
so cheering,
so caring,
so loving
about another individual
taking a moment out of their crazy life
to choose a card, sit down,
jot a note, address it, stamp it
and mail it off to you.

It is tangible love - in an envelope.
It is hugs and concern and support
and faith and hope and care
in a folded piece of paper.
It is one heart shared with another.
It is sealed with a kiss.

Brilliance

So this is actually a quote from a tv series
that we really enjoy.
I loved the quote when I watched this episode.
Just saw it again and it struck a chord.
You know what that means, right?
Someone out there needs this ...

Care less
about who you might offend.
Care more
about who you might inspire.

No Questions

Saw this post and just loved it.
Want to share it with whomever might need it.

Real strength
is when you admire
someone else's beauty
without questioning
your own.

Let that one sink in.
Have a nice day, beautiful!

Your truth

We don't ever know
what demons others are battling.
No one else's heart
will ever match your own.
Your kindness,
your strength,
your tenacity,
your voracity,
your grace,
your determination
is yours alone.
Do not attempt to
expect the same from others.
Do not be swayed
by disappointment or disgust.
Simply lead by example.
Be your most amazing you.
Someone is watching.
Someone is learning.
Your truth is your own.

Happiness

Happiness
cannot be
traveled to,
owned, earned,
worn or consumed.
Happiness is
the spiritual experience
of living every second
with love, grace, and gratitude.

Beautifully stated.

The things my mother did to me ...

Well, my goodness,
the things my mother did to me.

She taught me to be me:

If you're telling me a sad story,
I may very well burst into tears on the spot.
If you're explaining how someone hurt you,
I'm going home to put my ass-whoopin' shoes on.
If you find yourself falling apart,
I'll be sitting beside you, holding you together.
If you've got some extraordinary news,
I'll be baking a cake and blowing up balloons.
If you're too tired to get over the hurdle,
I'll get my shovel and dig you a tunnel.
And when words are unnecessary
and you simply don't want to be alone,
I'll just exist with you … watching over you.

She may have left this world way too early,
but she blazed a trail like no one else.
She lived with her whole heart.
She loved with her whole being.
I wanna be like her if I grow up.

Hold On

Life is a fantastical journey.
There are highs and there are lows.
There is joy and there is sorrow.
There is pain and there is laughter.
No one gets out of here alive.
We all share this one tiny place.
Time is precious - waste it wisely.
Create moments.
Hold on to memories.
Share love and light and beauty.
Be present.
Enjoy. Every. Second.

Hope

This is actually a quote by Dean Koontz.
I actually turned it completely around -
started with the last sentence and finished with the first.
It made more of an impact for me.
Hope it helps you get through your day, too.

We travel out of darkness into faith.
Courage is the motor that drives us.
Love is the road that leads to hope.
Hope is the destination that we seek.

I like it better backwards!
Have a stupendous day.

to be a Ch-Angel!

It is National Be An Angel Day!
How special is it, then, for it to also be my birthday?!

To help others,
to sacrifice,
to listen,
to share hope,
to pray,
to offer myself
and whatever gifts I have,
to show compassion,
to give freely,
to care,
to expect nothing,
to believe,
to support,
to shine,
to love.

Oh ... to be a Ch-Angel!

Yes. This.

A meaningful silence
is always better
than meaningless words.
Sometimes
just your mere existence
is all someone needs.
To simply sit beside a friend,
to quietly absorb some pain,
to heal with the heart,
is the most beautiful thing
that you can say.

Circles

Circles.
Round and round.
No beginning.
No end.
No start.
No stop.
Just a continuous cycle
of all things:
joy
anticipation
love
anger
determination
grief
tenacity
futility
hope
joy
anticipation
love
anger
determination
grief
tenacity
futility
hope.
Hang on.
Enjoy the ride.
Create moments.
Make memories.

Two-fer

Today I will share two of my favorite quotes.
Apparently,
as my heart is moved to post this,
someone out there needs to see these ...

Never question who God removes from your life.
He heard the conversations when you weren't around.

and

Often times the relationship that needs the most work
is the one we have with ourselves.

Have a beautiful week.
Know that you are loved and cherished.

The Pale Blue Dot

These words were spoken by Carl Sagan in 1994. It accompanies a NASA voyage.
If you're able to find the video, I'd highly recommend watching it.
It is a little long, but incredibly worth it.

Thank you Lenny for sharing this. Who's better than you?

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us.
On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of,
every human being that ever was, lived out their lives here. The aggregate of our joy and suffering,
thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager,
every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant,
every young couple in love, every mother and father, every hopeful child, inventor and explorer,
every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,'
every saint and sinner in the history of our species - lived there -
on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.
Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.
Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel
on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner,
how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another,
how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position
in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.
In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere
to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, no yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot. The only home we've ever known.

Short and fabulous

Be yourself.
Everyone else is taken.
People do not have to like you
and you don't have to care.

Love this.

Perhaps

Perhaps
this is the time
you learn a big lesson.
Perhaps
this is the month
you attain a goal.
Perhaps
this is the day
in which you excel.
Perhaps
this is the moment
for which you were created.
Perhaps
this is the second
you realize how amazing you are.

Rather

I would rather be
annoyingly positive
than destructively hateful.
I would rather be
overtly optimistic
than skeptically pessimistic.
I would rather be
happy and content
than angry and aggressive.
I would rather be
faith-filled and hopeful
than doubtful and hopeless.
Make good choices people.
It is up to you
and, yes,
it really is this simple.

A tad snarky

Now this might not be
the most positive post ever,
but it is true
and it made me snicker.

Should you ever find yourself
the victim of other people's
bitterness,
smallness,
or insecurities,
remember that things could be worse ...
you could be them.

Have a totally terrific Tuesday.

Whoda Thunk?

So every now and again,
since marketing is where I'm happy,
I come across a tag line that I just find outstanding.
Sierra Nevada has done it this time.
Now, whether this quote is old or not,
to make use of it NOW is genius.
And, whether you drink their beer or not,
I find this indefinably imperative ...

Trade the traffic
for the trail.

Witness

Witness:  to see, hear or know, or be present at; to testify.

I believe that we bear witness to sights, events, happenings
to share them.
We are all connected.
We are all affected by one ripple.
We are all touched by emotional and physical trauma.
We are all inspired by winning underdogs.
We are all pacified by quiet and serenity.
When we share what we witness,
there is no screaming,
no debating,
no demanding,
no soap boxes,
no right or left.
We simply offer what we see,
what we hear,
what we love,
in hopes that it might help another.

Get Lost

Today is National Book Lovers Day.

When it's raining outside,
you can wrap yourself in an island adventure.
When it's snowing outside,
you can delve into a blissful summer saga.
When it's too hot outside,
you can wander through a snowy mountain mystery.
You can feel loved.
You can feel inspired.
You can feel anger.
You can learn.
You can understand.
You can simply
get lost.

Go get lost in a book ...

Happiness Happens

Today is National Happiness Happens Day!
This unusual burden has been set upon your shoulders.

When you are out and about today,
find the good,
comment on the pretty,
compliment the nice,
showcase kindness,
display your compassion,
help and support,
share your smile,
leave absolutely everyone you meet
in just a little better spirits than you found 'em,
smother your little corner of the world
in happy.

For You

Someone needs to see this today.
It's an oldie, but a goodie!

The three best places you can be:
in someone's thoughts;
in someone's heart;
in someone's prayers.

Light

If you cannot be the beacon
like the sturdy lighthouse in the storm,
then be the streetlight
lighting the way home.
If you cannot be the streetlight,
then be the flashlight
with a single beam to enhance the path.
If you cannot be the flashlight,
then be the candle
that offers hope in the darkness.
If you cannot be the candle,
the be the spark
that brightens someone's day.
We all have light inside of us.
Some days we're the beacon.
Some days we're the spark.
And some days we're in need
of any or all of those ourselves.
Allow the light in.
Shine your light out.

Too Quick

In my honest opinion, I believe that folks are too lazy,
too impatient, too quick
to do far too many things.

Too quick to judge.
Too quick to abort.
Too quick to listen.
Too quick to divorce.
Too quick to try.
Too quick to learn.
Too quick to understand.
Too quick to hate.
Too quick to divide.
Too quick to condemn.
Too quick to give up.

Perhaps, if we learned to
value life,
value time,
value compassion,
value hope,
value faith,
value promises,
value integrity,
value honesty,
value unity,
value diversity,
value love ...
things may not be
so quick to dissolve.

Make it yours

Take today
and make it what you want.
Do not be weighted
by the past.
That is luggage you do not need to carry.
Do not be frightened
of the future.
That is time as yet untouched.
Do not be defined
by the thoughts of others.
Your life, your events, your choices are your own.
Take today.
Make it yours.

Souvenir

A picture postcard
A folded stub
A program of the play
File away your photographs
Of your holiday
And your mementos
Will turn to dust
But that's the price you pay
For every year's a souvenir
That slowly fades away

Make it count.

Love Me Some Gilda

Now, I've learned the hard way
that some poems don't rhyme,
and some stories don't have a clear
beginning, middle, and end.
Life is about not knowing,
having to change,
taking the moment
and making the best of it,
without knowing what's going
to happen next.
Delicious Ambiguity.