APRIL

LIFE

The value of life lies, not in the length of days, but
in the use we make of them: a man may live long, yet
live very little.  Satisfaction in life depends not
on the number of your years, but on your will.

Michel de Montaigne
       


TREASURES OF LIFE

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five
balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health,
friends, and spirit and you're keeping all of these in the
air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you
drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit - are made of glass. If you drop
one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You
must understand that and strive for balance in your life.


Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in
the past or for the future.

By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days
of your life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing
is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It
is this fragile thread that binds us together.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances
that we learn how to be brave.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible
to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the
fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the
best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where
you've been, but also where you are going.

Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel
appreciated.

Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure
you can always carry easily.

Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of
the way.

Unknown

The Sower's Seeds
 
There is an old Chinese tale about a
woman whose only son died. In her
grief, she went to the holy man and
said, "What prayers, what magical
incantations do you have to bring
my son back to life?"
 
Instead of sending her away or reasoning
with her, he said to her, "Fetch me a
mustard seed from a home that has never
known sorrow. We will use it to drive the
sorrow out of your life." The woman went
off at once in search of that magical mustard seed.
 
She came first to a splendid mansion,
knocked at the door, and said, "I am
looking for a home that has never known
sorrow. Is this such a place? It is
very important to me."
 
They told her, "You've certainly come to
the wrong place," and began to describe
all the tragic things that recently had befallen them.
 
The woman said to herself, "Who is better
able to help these poor, unfortunate people
than I, who have had misfortune of my my own?"
 
She stayed to comfort them, then went on
in search of a home that had never known
sorrow. But wherever she turned, in hotels
and in other places, she found one tale
after another of sadness and misfortune.
She became so involved in ministering
to other people's grief that ultimately
she forgot about her quest for the magical
mustard seed, never realizing that it had,
in fact, driven the sorrow out of her life.
 
Author Unknown

Live in the Now

When you're living in the now, you can accomplish
much more than when you try to live in the past or
the future.

- John-Roger
(From: Loving Each Day, Volume 1)

Completeness

The Spiritual Warrior recognizes that each Soul has
within itself all the elements of completeness.  No
other person can give us the perfect wholeness that
comes from God. 

How difficult it is to accept this fact!  We so easily
make ourselves emotionally and even spiritually
dependent on other people, including (and
especially) those we love the most. 

- John-Roger
(From: Spiritual Warrior, The Art of Spiritual Living)

HEALING

Pleasant words are a honeycomb sweet to the soul
and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24
 



Believe and the healing will come.

Gary Barnes

ACTS OF LOVE

If you have much give of your wealth, if you have
little give of your heart.

Arab Proverb
       


Give what you have. To someone, it may be better
than you dare to think.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Things I wish I'd known before I went out in the real world 
 
  1.    Any and all compliments can be handled by
 simply saying "Why, thank you"

 2.    Some people are working backstage, some are
 playing in the orchestra, some are on stage singing, some are in
 the audience as critics and some are there to applaud. Know who and  where you are.

 3.    Never give yourself a haircut after three margaritas.

 4.    When baking, follow directions. When cooking,
 go by your own taste.
 
 5.    You need only two tools --- WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape.

 6.    The five most essential words for a healthy, vital
 relationship: "I apologize" and "You are right".

 7.    Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
 
 8.   When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm.

 9.   If he/she says that you are too good for him/her-believe it.
 10.   Learn to pick your battles; Ask, "Will this matter one year from now?   How about one month? One week? One day?"

 11.   If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance!
 
 12.   Living well really is the best revenge. Being miserable
 because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you.

 13.   Work is good but it's not that important.

 14.   Never underestimate the kindness of your fellow man.
 
 15.   And finally... Be really nice to your friends.
 You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan.

Wisdom

Wisdom is using those things that work for you, for
as long as they work for you, and letting go of the
things that are not working for you.

- John-Roger
(From: Loving Each Day, Volume 1)

TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE

To realize the value of one year:
ask a student who has failed a final exam

To realize the value of one month:
ask a mother who has given a birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of one week:
ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one hour:
ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one minute:
ask the person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize the value of one second:
ask a person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Time waits for no one .
Treasure every moment you have.

Unknown




THIS MOMENT

Every second is of infinite value.

Johann von Goethe

SELF

He only is a great man who can neglect the applause
of the multitude and enjoy himself independent of its favor.

Joseph Addison

SELF

You have to leave the city of your comfort and
go unto the wilderness of your intuition.  What
you'll discover will be wonderful.  What you'll
discover will be yourself.

Alan Alda
       



INSIDE OF THEE
 
I kneel down before the shallow waters, to reveal
my own reflection.

Just a mere window of the soul, is all that my eye's
can be detecting.

For what all that I consume, is not all that their is.

We must look beneath the visual shell, for that is
where we live.

Reach deep my Friend and you shall find, much
more than you conceive.

For who or what we may become, exist inside of
thee.
 
Robert M. Hensel

THE RIPPLE EFFECT
(Author Unknown)

The Master was walking through the fields one day when a young man, a troubled look upon his face, approached him. "On such a beautiful day, it must be difficult to stay so serious," the Master said.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed," the young man said, turning to look around and notice his surroundings. His eyes scanned the landscape, but nothing seemed to register; his mind elsewhere.

Watching intently, the Master continued to walk. "Join me if you like." The Master walked to the edge of a still pond, framed by sycamore trees, their leaves golden orange and about to fall. "Please sit down," the Master invited, patting the ground next to him. Looking carefully before sitting, the young man brushed the ground to clear a space for himself.

"Now, find a small stone, please," the Master instructed.

"What?"

" A stone. Please find a small stone and throw it in the pond."

Searching around him, the young man grabbed a pebble and threw it as far as he could.
"Tell me what you see," the Master instructed.

Straining his eyes to not miss a single detail, the man looked at the water's surface. "I see ripples."

"Where did the ripples come from?"

"From the pebble I threw in the pond, Master."

"Please reach your hand into the water and stop the ripples," the Master asked.

Not understanding, the young man stuck his hand in the water as a ripple neared, only to cause more ripples. The young man was now completely baffled. Where was this going? Had he made a mistake in seeking out the Master? After all he was not a student, perhaps he could not be helped?
Puzzled, the young man waited.

"Were you able to stop the ripples with your hands?" the Master asked.

"No, of course not."

"Could you have stopped the ripples, then?"

"No, Master. I told you I only caused more ripples."

"What if you had stopped the pebble from entering the water to begin with?"
The Master smiled such a beautiful smile; the young man could not be upset.
"Next time you are unhappy with your life, catch the stone before it hits the water. Do not spend time trying to undo what you have done. Rather, change what you are going to do before you do it." The Master looked kindly upon the young man.

"But Master, how will I know what I am going to do before I do it?"

"Take the responsibility for living your own life. If you're working with a doctor to treat an illness, then ask the doctor to help you understand what caused the illness. Do not just treat the ripples. Keep asking questions."

The young man stopped, his mind reeling. "But I came to you to ask you for answers. Are you saying that I know the answers?"

"You may not know the answers right now, but if you ask the right questions, then you shall discover the answers."

"But what are the right questions, Master?"

"There are no wrong questions, only unasked ones. We must ask, for without asking, we cannot receive answers. But it is your responsibility to ask. No one else can do that for you."

Silence Heals

Noise is all around us. We are
bombarded with sounds of
traffic, voices, music, machines -
even our own thoughts
are often noisy. We can become
so accustomed to noise
that we are uncomfortable when
there aren't any sounds to
distract us. Making noise is a
way of escaping from what
we fear would be the boredom,
emptiness, and silence of
our inner selves.

Sometimes what we fear is
exactly what we need! How
restful and restorative it is to
sink into the silence of an
empty space when we are tired
and jangled. How peaceful
to be able to let go of agitating
thoughts. How healing to
turn off the machines and close
our mouths for a period of quiet.

When I'm hurting, I don't need
extra food, but I do need
extra peace and quiet. By being
silent I can get in touch
with my inner strength. For me,
silence is a powerful tool
of recovery.

Today, I will take time to be
still and experience the
healing power of silence.

Elisabeth L.

Shallowness

A journalist one day asked the Master to name one thing that characterizes the Modern World.

The Master unhesitatingly replied, "People every day know more and more about the Cosmos and less and less about themselves."

And to an astronomer who held him spellbound with the wonders of modern astronomy the Master suddenly said, "Of all the millions of strange objects in the universe the black holes and quasars and pulsars, the strangest,
unquestionably, is the self!"


Anthony de Mello, SJ

Mental Diet

You can get out of any space that is not working for
you.  You can actually change the consciousness
inside of you by going on what we call the mental
diet.

What is the mental diet?  For thirty days, if you
will, do not entertain negative thoughts.  Do not
purposefully take negative thoughts inside of you
and hold them in your mind or play around with
them or go over and over them.

If a negative thought comes into your mind,
immediately change the imagery from negative to
positive, and let the thought go.  Don't dwell on
anything negative.

- John-Roger

Strength in Forgiveness

The ability to forgive can indicate emotional strength:

"The weak can never forgive. 
Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

        -- Mahatma Gandhi, Indian philosopher


"Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function
regardless of the temperature of the heart."

        -- Corrie Ten Boom, Dutch evangelist


"Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act.  It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship."

        -- Martin Luther King Jr.,
American clergyman, civil rights leader, Nobel laureate

Friends

If youv`e a friend then keep them so, never let that friend your secret know, for if that friend should turn a foe, then all the world will your secret know.

Submitted by marie celine palmer

WISDOM

The wealth of mankind is the wisdom they leave.

John O'Reily




CHARACTER

Every man's work, whether it be literature or
music or pictures or anything else, is always
a portrait of himself, and the more he tries
to conceal himself the more clearly will his
character appear in spite of him.

Samuel Butler

SELFLESS ACTS

You have not lived a perfect day, even
though you have earned your money,
unless you have done something for
someone who will never be able to
repay you.

Ruth Smeltzer

THINGS WE CAN LEARN FROM DOGS
(Author Unknown)

-- Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
-- Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
-- When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
-- When it is in your best interest, practice obedience.
-- Never beg when cute is enough.
-- Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
-- Take naps and stretch before rising.
-- Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you've had enough.
-- Be loyal.
-- If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
-- When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.
-- Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
-- Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
-- On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
-- On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
-- When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
-- No matter how often you are scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout...run right back and make friends.
-- Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Two Dogs

An old Indian chief once
described his own
inner struggles in this manner.
"Inside of me there
are two dogs. One of the
dogs is mean and evil.
The other dog is gentle and
good. The mean dog
fights with the good
dog all the time."

When asked which dog wins,
he reflected a moment
and replied, "the one I feed the most."

--Author unknown

ENCOURAGEMENT

A word of encouragement during a failure is worth
more than an hour of praise after success.

Anonymous





SELF-ACCEPTANCE

Accept yourself as you are. Otherwise you will
never see opportunity. You will not feel free
to move toward it; you will feel you are not
deserving.

Maxwell Maltz

ONCE IN A WHILE

One day I was daydreaming in my own little world of lost hopes and forgotten dreams, like we all do occasionally. Remembering back to old memories and dreams, thinking hard and wishing there was a way to go back to those times and live forever in them.

Like anyone who stumbles upon a new or just forgotten dream,
I wept as I realized that changing the past would not let me
conquer the present or future and that the answer to my problems isn't that I must relive old times and dreams but create new ones and focus on making them last forever, never to be just another memory to hang on the shelf of time. I keep the thought in my head that dreams are not made to be broken by unbelief or unhappiness, but dreams are ways of changing the unbelief to belief and the unhappiness to happiness.

Life always seems to find a way of moving on no matter if you
are prepared or not, and because of that fact, we must always
have a dream to hold on to. Dreams, unlike people, are in our
lives forever like a candle that never burns out or a or a bind
that will never break. But when you think about all the dreams
you've ever had it's hard to erase the fact that someone helped
you build that dream somewhere, somehow, and in some way affected your life forever.

So, always remember to keep hold of your dreams and memories and never let them go. Because they are the tide that comes along once in a lifetime.

Ben Rowley II

FEAR

Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead
of cowering before them, we should make up our minds
to walk boldly through them.

Orison Swett Marden

PEACE

Do not undermine your worth by
comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different
that each of us is special.

Do not set your goals by what
other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.

Do not take for granted the
things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would
your life, for without them, life is
meaningless.

Do not let your years slip through
your fingers by living in the
past, nor in the future.
By living your life one day at a
time, you live all the days of your life.

Do not give up when you still
have something to give.
Nothing is really over until
the moment you stop trying.

Do not be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Do not shut love out of your life
by saying it is impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive
love is to give love;
the fastest way to lose love
is to hold it too tightly.

Do not dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without
hope; to be without hope is
to be without purpose.

Do not run through life so
fast that you forget not only where
you have been, but also
where you are going.
Life is not a race, but a journey
to be savored each step of the way.

(Author Unknown)

BELIEF

If you develop the absolute sense of certainty
that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get
yourself to accomplish virtually anything, including
those things that other people are certain are
impossible.

Anthony Robbins

ADVERSITY

A gem cannot be polished without friction,
nor a man perfected without trials.

Chinese Proverb

BUILD THE DREAM

Build the dream -- You can call it whatever you wish, a dream, goal, life plan steps. The list goes on and on, but the important thing to remember is that whatever we decide to call it, for some reason or another we have been called to see it to manifestation. Does that mean that we're going to be able to make it happen easily?

Probably not. In many cases it's going to take a lot of hard work.Perhaps at times your goals will appear as though they're out ofyour grasp. Trust me on this when I assure you that you're notalone in this feeling. It's a perfectly normal phase of the achievement process.

One way of looking at this is to say that if achievement were easy we'd all be driving around in $100,000 Mercedes and living in one million dollar homes and there certainly wouldn't be anyone homeless or living in poverty (as this is one of the goals I work on as well.).

Alas, the old saying "Rome wasn't built in a day" holds true. You see we have to begin by 'building the dream'. Often it starts out small. That is we take that first step towards what we want to see happen in our lives (or the lives of others), then another, followed by another. Over a period of time these same small steps and actions that we take begin to become ingrained in who we are. It is at this very point that the 'dream begins to build us'. May you find a dream that you believe is worth building.

Josh Hinds
Motivation and Inspiration 24/7 at: http://www.joshhinds.com

PRINCIPLES

Our principles are the springs of our
actions; our actions the springs of
our happiness or misery. Too much
care, therefore, cannot be taken in
forming our principles.

Philip Skelton