NOVEMBER

SOFT IN LIFE

I take life soft and gentle.
I used to take life hard.

Seeing with soft eyes loosens the edginess,
makes things rounded somehow.
Easier to understand, to decipher - and accept.
Circles are more natural than squares.
They have connections and meanings
and comfort.

The Sun. The Earth. The cycles of the seasons.
Easing into my day. Taking care of friendships,
connecting. Keeping in soft touch with my dreams.

We all have dreams. We are all related.

©Stella Savoie
stella@bancom.net

LOVE

Love is the life experience that I seek the most:
to love and to be loved.
Love unites me as one with All That Is.
I allow myself to love with abandon because
I know that in the end, the only thing that really matters is that I loved without fear, conditions, restraint or economy.

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED.

Life in abundance comes only through great love.

If you have it, you don't need anything else.
And if you don't have it, it doesn't really matter what else you have.

Love is the most important ingredient of success.
Without it, your life is empty.
With it, your life vibrates with meaning.

Even in hardship, love shines through.
Once you have learned to love,
you will have learned to live.

Do all things with love.

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today."
-- Will Rogers



Excerpt from Alice in Wonderland

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.

"Which road do I take?" she asked.

"Where do you want to go?" was his response.

"I don't know," Alice answered.

"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

(Lewis Carroll)

JUST DO IT

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute.
What you can do, or dream you can do, begin
it. Begin it and the work will be completed.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe






Make each place in which you find yourself better
than you found it.

- John Morton
(From: The Blessings Already Are)

SUCCESS

When you have the will to succeed, you will
somehow find a way, regardless of the
obstacles you encounter!

Napoleon Hill

SUCCESS

You never achieve real success unless
you like what you are doing.

Dale Carnegie

Compassion

"To foster inner awareness,
introspection and reasoning is more
efficient than meditation and prayer."

"Right from the moment of our birth,
we are under the care and kindness
of our parents. And then later on in
our life when we are oppressed by
sickness and become old, we are
again dependent on the kindness of
others. Since at the beginning and
end of our lives, we are so
dependent on others' kindness,
how can it be that in the middle we
neglect kindness toward others?"

"In the case of one individual or person
like myself, the practice of
compassion and religion coincides.
But another individual without
religion can practice spirituality
without being religious. So, a
secular person can be spiritual.
Compassion is compulsory for everyone
to practice."

"Kindness is the key to peace
and harmony in family life."

"True compassion is not just an
emotional response, but a firm
commitment founded on reason.
Therefore, a truly compassionate attitude
towards others does not change,
even if they behave negatively."

"Through universal altruism, you
develop a feeling of responsibility
for others; the wish to help them
to actively overcome their problems."

The Dalai Lama

ATTITUDE

The greatest discovery of my generation is
that human beings can alter their lives by
altering their attitudes of mind.

William James

People That Make a Difference

"Now I see why powerful people often wear sunglasses --
the spotlight blinds them to reality.
They suffer from a delusion that power means something (it doesn't).
They suffer from the misconception that titles make a difference (they don't).
They are under the impression that earthly authority will make a
heavenly difference (it won't).

Can I prove my point? ......... Take this quiz.

Name the ten wealthiest people in the world.
Name the last ten Heisman trophy winners.
Name the last ten winners of the Miss America contest.
Name eight people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
How about the last ten Academy Award winners for best picture or the
Last decade's worth of World Series winners?

How did you do?
I didn't do well either.
With the exception of you trivia hounds, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday too well.
Surprising how quickly we forget, isn't it?
And what I've mentioned above are no second-rate achievements. These are the best in their fields But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. ....... See how you do on this one:

Think of three people you enjoy spending time with.
Name ten people who have taught you something worthwhile.
Name five friends who have helped you in a difficult time.
List a few teachers who have aided your journey through school.
Name half-a-dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier?
It was for me, too.
The lesson? The people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones that show concern, compassion, and caring.

LOVE IS...

...a pinpoint of light in the center of night's darkest sky.

...the strength to look inside for that which the world cannot give you.

...the will to climb over, crawl under or go around every obstacle between you and your dreams.

...hanging on to life when it's easier to let go.

...the gift of yourself to a world in sorry need of compassion.

...honoring your self-worth by virtue of your respect for humankind.

...the harmony you achieve when every joy, every pain, every smile and every tear, of every citizen on the planet, is also yours.

© 2000 Terri McPherson

ADVERSITY

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents
which in prosperous circumstances would
have lain dormant.

Horace

ATTITUDE

There is very little difference in people, but
that little difference makes a big difference:
The little difference is attitude!

W. Clement Stone

OVERCOMING

All adverse and depressing influences can be overcome, not by fighting, but by rising above them.

Charles Caleb Colton

BEGINNINGS

The beginnings of all things are small.

Cicero

WORRY

The misfortunes hardest to bear are these which never came.

James Russell Lowell

COMMITMENT

When you make a commitment and are willing to do whatever it takes, you begin to attract the people and circumstances necessary to accomplish your goal.

Jeff Keller

Forgiveness

Do we know someone we
can't forgive? What a heavy
burden, to carry pain and
hurt from our past, to stay tied to
yesterday. Practicing the
gentle art of forgiveness keeps us
fully present in today and
prepares a serene foundation for
tomorrow. When we are
unwilling to forgive, negativity
imprisons our energy and power.

Letting go of past injuries
may feel like a sacrifice. It is
possible to nurse "justified
anger" for so long that it feels
like a part of us. Will we look
weak and foolish if we give
up our hate? Does forgiveness
make "them" right and us wrong?

Forgiveness is a risk in living
and a positive affirmation of
our own worth. Forgiveness
is a gift we give ourselves. It is
the simple act of being bigger
than any problem. It is
trusting that the loving part of
ourselves is stronger than the
angry, vengeful part.

Forgiveness makes room
for more love in our life.

Salley Coleman and Maria Porter

Patience

One of the best ways to go faster is to have more
patience and to progress more gradually.

Things will then be given to you in a way you can handle.

- John-Roger
(From: The Tao of Spirit)

FAILURE

You are never a loser until you quit trying.

Mike Ditka

PERCEPTION

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

Marcus Aurelius

Perfection

Only in the positive realms, - Soul and above - is
perfection available.

So you may as well relax, express yourself toward
excellence, and give yourself and your loved ones
room and permission to make mistakes. If you do,
you're on the way up.

- John-Roger
(From: Passage Into Spirit)

Anger

"I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow."
--William Blake

We have a right to claim our own feelings. Sometimes we get angry, but hold it inside because we think it's wrong to feel it. If anger builds inside us, it expands like a balloon ready to burst. If not released, it can make us depressed, or even physically ill. When we give ourselves permission to feel anger, we are better able to get rid of it in a healthy way. Our inner voice can tell us how to let go of our anger. And once we've released it, we can easily get in touch with the feelings that caused it.

When we recognize our anger for what it is--one feeling among many others that makes us unique--it loses its significance, and we can prevent it from consuming us.
Indira Ghandi said,
"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist."
When we let go of our anger we can honestly embrace each other with open arms.

DREAMS

All our dreams can come true -
if we have the courage to pursue them!

Walt Disney




ACTIONS

The effects of our actions may be postponed but
they are never lost. There is an inevitable
reward for good deeds and an inescapable punishment
for bad. Meditate upon this truth, and seek always
to earn good wages from Destiny.

Fu Wu Ming

DON'T BE AFRAID TO BUILD THE DREAM

Attempting to live our life by our own design is certainly no small feat. Often it means doing without in the short term. It can mean going against the grain. Even meeting with some pretty serious opposition from folks that say that it just can't be done...

With all that said, it is still one of the most rewarding things that a person can ever achieve. You see, once we start to make little gains in our own lives we begin to believe in ourselves more. Suddenly, what we may have viewed as undoable now doesn't appear so far out of our realm of possibility. There's a famous quote that says "A man's mind once stretched can never return to its original form". The quote does a brilliant job of illustrating the importance of going for our dreams.

While it's true that we're never guaranteed success in our efforts, we can certainly take comfort in knowing that even if we fall flat on our face we'll still gain *incredible* life experiences and increase our knowledge (thus getting us closer
to our eventual goals)! When I look at it in that light it almost makes me want to fail as many times as I can knowing that each time I'll get a bit closer in my efforts :-)

The next time you're faced with the question, "What if I fail", turn that question around and ask yourself, "But what if I succeed?" The simple truth is that we have very little to lose with regards to our potential rewards.

Josh Hinds
The Motivational Mecca!
http://joshhinds.com

HAPPINESS

You have it easily in your power to increase the
sum total of this world's happiness now. How?
By giving a few words of sincere appreciation
to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps
you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say
today, but the recipient may cherish them over
a lifetime.

Dale Carnegie

Never Give Up Hope

Life doesn't always give us the joys we want.
We don't always get our hopes and dreams,
and we don't always get our own way.
But don't give up on hope,
because you can make a difference one
situation and one person at a time...

Look for the beauty around you -
in nature, in others, in yourself -
and believe in the love of friends,
family, and humankind...

You can find love in a smile or
a helping hand, in a thoughtful gesture
or a kind word. It is all around, if you
just look for it.

Give love, for in giving it
you will find the power in life
along with the joy, happiness,
patience, and understanding.

Believe in the goodness of others
and remember that anger and
depression can be countered by love
and hope.

Even when you feel as though there isn't
a lot you can do to change unhappiness
or problems, you can always do a little -
and a little at a time eventually makes
a big difference....

FAITH

Fear can keep us up all night long,
but faith makes one fine pillow.

Philip Gulley




COMMITMENT

If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't
hurt very much and winning is not very exciting.

Dick Vermeil

THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

My mother just days ago lost her very best friend to cancer.
I had met this wonderful woman my mother referred to as "the sister I never had." She was delightful - beautiful both inwardly and outwardly. This is yet another good friend my mother has known who has died too soon from cancer. Obviously the immediate family members of her friend miss their mother, wife, aunt, grandmother, sister and cousin more deeply than my mother.

But every time I saw them together, they were smiling and joking with one another like teen-age girls. In talking with my mother she made a very powerful point be known to me. She told me that her friend's two sons both thanked her for staying with their dying mother everyday for the past several weeks. She graciously accepted their gratitude but she also made the
following statements to both of her friend's grieving sons on
two separate occasions: "You don't need to thank me for what I know your mother would have done for me. Your mother blessed my life in so many ways, and I will never forget the times we shared and the many laughs we had."

Friends, true friends, love each other unconditionally and do not keep records of who bought who lunch or whose turn it is to drive. My mother's friend, one individual, touched so many lives and taught my mother (not the other way around) what being a true friend is all about. We should all hope to be this kind of friend. Being a good friend does not make us saints, it merely solidifies the fact that we are caring human-beings.

Brian G. Jett
http://www.hangtough.com/

DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH

He who finds diamonds must grapple in
mud and mire because diamonds are not
found in polished stones. They are made.

Henry B. Wilson

AMBITION

If you have a great ambition, take as big a step as
possible in the direction of fulfilling it. The step
may only be a tiny one, but trust that it may be the
largest one possible for now.

Mildred Mcafee

ATTITUDE

As long as you're going to think anyway, think big.

Donald Trump

Through our daily exchange with others we can "re-discover" our emotions and how to work with them as a result of our experiences.

In looking through the eyes of another, we see the reflections of our own strengths and weaknesses, our triumphs and our shortcomings.

Could this also be a golden opportunity to develop the capacity to demonstrate patience and strength as we listen to another and not judge?

Then as kindly as we can, ask what they intend to do about it? Through this we learn and teach the virtues of patience, love and responsibility...

Jim Grant

CHOICE
Before my accidents, there were ten thousand things I could do. I could spend the rest of my life dwelling on the things that I had lost, but instead I chose to focus on the nine thousand I still had left.

W. Mitchell

If I act out of integrity and loving, it doesn't matter who is right. It doesn't even matter what happens.
What does matter is what I have invested inwardly.

If I am attached to my history of limitations, which weighs down the present, I have lost the war even if I win the battle. If I present myself and my point of view in loving, with no attachments to the outcome, I have won before any battle has started.

- John-Roger
(From: The Tao of Spirit)