You!

People will love you.
People will hate you.
None of it will have anything to do with you.
Wherever there is a human being,
there is an opportunity for kindness.
If you don't believe in miracles . . .
perhaps you've forgotten . . .
you are one!

Ch-Angel Dawnelle

The Good Lord sure knows how to post a billboard in front of you when you most need it, eh?


Last night, up beyond my normal bed time, I received a phone call from my beautiful daughter. It seems she has a friend - a beautiful, young soul - who would like to start a non-profit to assist the less fortunate. She is determined to help make the lives of other people better by doing whatever she can without kudos, attention, or spotlights.


Can you say "Ch-Angel"?


Not only did this sweet, unblemished, bold and brilliant young adult make a decision about going beyond herself for the sake of others, she called me to inquire about assistance. Now . . . before you get all squirrely . . . I'm not taking credit for anything more than sending an email. What makes this so moving, is that I was questioning if there were any of these sorts of folks left. I wasn't sure if any selfless folks were still up and coming. I was losing hope in goodness.


It was truly a blissful and grace-filled way to get tucked-in last night.


Thanks Deanna.
Thanks Dawnelle.
Thanks God - for the billboard!

Happiness

You are, most assuredly, free to choose.
But . . .
you are NOT free
from the consequences of your choice.
There is no path to happiness.
Happiness IS the path.
It's a good day to have a good day.

Go. Do.

Forget past mistakes. Forget failures.
Forget everything except what you're going to do now
and do it!
Encouragement is the oxygen of the soul.

Inner Strength

I've written before of my days of body building and working out and how that strength is only minimal compared to what kind of bench-pressing the human soul can do. It's time for a recap . . .


The most beautiful people I have known are those
who have known defeat,
known struggle,
known loss,
and have found their way out of the depths.
Through adversity, not only are they given
an opportunity to discover their inner strength,
but they are also given an appreciation,
a sensitivity, an understanding of life
that fills them with compassion,
with gentleness, a deep loving concern,
and a gift of foresight so they can shine a light
for others who go through the experience after them.
Strength doesn't come from what you can do.
It comes from overcoming the things
you once thought you couldn't.


This inner strength resides within each of us.

The Best Of . . .

This is a compilation of snippets that I gathered and mashed together.
Some may seem almost incongruent, but . . . life ~ is incongruent.


You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it.
Anyone can give up. It's the easiest thing in the world to do.
But to hold it together, when everyone else would understand if you fell apart,
that's true strength.
Hate no one, no matter how much they've wronged you.
Live humbly, no matter how wealthy you become.
Think positively, no matter how hard life is.
Give much, even if you've been given little.
Keep in touch with the ones who have forgotten you.
Forgive those who have wronged you.
Do not stop praying for the best for those you love.
If you cannot be positive, then at least be quiet.
I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may be,
for I have learned from experience that
the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions
and not upon our circumstances.
And, between hurt and loss, the most painful tears are not the ones
that fall from your eyes and cover your face.
They are the ones that fall from your heart and cover your soul.


Things to ponder . . .

Hope

So yesterday was an interesting day.
Started off great, followed by total crap, followed by lunch with my daughter, then of course rush hour traffic, followed by a short email from a friend that touched my heart and healed some hurt.
I was asked yesterday to pray and search my soul for an outcome to an issue.
This issue has been going on for about a year. This directive came from a person who has only heard, from me, a minute and miniscule portion of what's been done and said. Still, I believe in the 'respond, don't react' theory and I went home to pray and search my soul.
In doing so, the word that kept coming to me was "Hope".


"Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us."
"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are:
something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."
"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words -
and never stops at all."
"There is no medicine like hope."


And, in pondering all of these wonderful things that caught my eye, I was contacted by someone who needs this MUCH more than I do. So, was it for me? Was it for her? Was it something we both needed to see? Are there others who will benefit?


I sure HOPE so!