Lessons in Life...

Today, I was cleaning out my folders in my computer.  I found this under "Advice".

These lessons in life were written by Regina Brett, at the age of 50 years old.  She is a columnist at The Plain Dealer, in Cleveland, Ohio. She turns 54 years old this year in August, although her 45 Lessons in Life floods the Internet, reporting she is 90 years old.  She has been a single parent, a breast cancer survivor, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2009 and 2008.  Her column on these life lessons is her most popular column.

Regina said, "It turns out those personal life lessons were universal truths. They came from being a single parent and a cancer survivor, from all the wrong roads taken looking for my mission in life, from the broken road that led me straight to my husband, from strangers I interviewed, from priests I met on retreats, from my family and closest friends."

       

A quote from her book, GOD NEVER BLINKS, she wrote:  “It took me 40 years to find and hold onto happiness. I always felt that at the moment I was born, God must have blinked. He missed the occasion and never knew I had arrived. My parents had 11 children. While I love them and my five brothers and five sisters deeply, some days I felt lost in the litter... I seemed to be the runt of that litter. I ended up confused by the nuns at 6, a lost soul who drank too much at 16, an unwed mother at 21, a college graduate at 30, a single mother for 18 years, and finally, a wife at 40, married to a man who treated me like a queen."

Regina wrote the first 45 lessons after being grateful living to age 45.  At 50, she wrote five more.

Here is her list:

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry: God never blinks.


16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

For more on Regina Brett, see her web site here

Slumber Is A Seductive Word...

It has been a busy couple of weeks...I wrote about what I have been up to on my other blog, here.  I had some outside yard projects and am still working on lowering the utilities.  It is amazing to me how I can call and speak to one person, call back and what the first person told me is unknown to the second person. I spoke with a really nice woman from our Internet/land line provider.  She agreed to give me the deal they only offer to new customers.  She told me to take the weekend to discuss it with my husband and she will call me on Monday afternoon.  Now, if she does it, I will make sure customer service knows how much I appreciate her help.

I've made progress in the garage but need to weed out my art stuff.  I need to find a place to dispose of an old computer monitor.  It is so big, it looks like a TV.  The place I found for disposal costs $10.

I have been so tired... If I stop and sit down to watch TV or get on the computer...my head feels fuzzy and my eye lids press down on my eyeballs like heavy weights.  Slumber is such a seductive word...

I really want to visit and blog...but I can not keep my eyes open...maybe later...I am so boring!

"O bed! O bed! delicious bed!

That heaven upon earth to the weary head."

~Thomas Hood~



Some Days...

Reality

"And so she smiled

  As sweet as can be

  In the face of the monster

  Called reality.

by Adina Levitan

Some days there is just so much to do and some days my energy level lags behind my drive to get things accomplished...

Some days, things just don't go the way I want them to.

Some days, I am angry as hell and wonder why things aren't going my way...

Some days I feel frustrated, agitated and I cuss a lot...

Some days, I just can't see clearly. I forget faith, the good stuff and the life lessons I've learned...

All I can do is my best effort each day.  If it takes me several days longer than planned, big deal, I am retired, so what.

I may have a plan, how I want things to go... but the Universe or God may have me scheduled for some personal tweaking...    Eventually, I will catch on and go with His plan...

Some days, this scruffy, strawberry-blond doggy, comes to me with her big brown eyes, wanting me to pick her up.  She licks my face and I start to laugh...she helps me relax and reconnect...

Thanks, I really needed that...

~dkb~

Dreams...

A dream begins

with a voice within

that is calling you forth to a goal.

When you answer that voice

you engage in the start

of a wonderful dance of the soul.

~*unknown*~

*A card from a friend

Sad News In Learning of Poet Hugh Prathers Death...

Did you ever read, NOTES TO MYSELF by Hugh Prather?

If you were like me, and millions of others, it was one of my favorite books of poetry.  He was the first published poet who wrote "free form verse poetry" like I did.  He just wrote from his heart.  My copy of this book is well and often read...

I loved and related to his work.  He motivated me to organize my box of poetry into journals and began a habit of keeping journals for over forty years.

I read in the paper this morning he died in his hot tub after suffering a heart attack on November 15, at his home in Tucson, Arizona. He is survived by his wife Gayle Prather, their two sons and a son from a previous marriage.  He was 72. 

The article said he was a very humble and unassuming man, who was often quoted saying, "I'm no better than anyone else".  People often offered to pay him for his advice and he would humbly refuse.  If someone insisted, he would donate the money to charity.  He wrote several books, which I have seven.  He and his wife Gayle co-wrote a series of advice books for married couples.

Some  favorite quotes from "Notes"...are:

"My trouble is I analyze life
  instead of live it."

"Don't fight a fact, deal with it."

"Fame isn't fame. It only appears that way from a distance"

"Love unites the part with the whole.
Love unites me with the world and with
myself.  My life work could well be love.
Love is the universe complete.  Detachment
is the universe divided.  Detachment divides
me from myself and from others.  Love is
the vision that can see all as one and one
as all: "I and my father are one".  Is
there but one reality and one truth? Love
shows me where all minds and essences unite.

How do I get love?  I have it.  I must
drop my definitions of love.  Love is not
saying nice things to people or smiling or
doing good deeds.  Love is love.  Don't
strive for love, be it.

I love because I love."

Thank you Mr. Prather for all you have written and what you have meant in my life...

Learning From These Three Things...

" I've learned

that you can tell

a lot about a person

by the way

he/she handles

these three things:

a rainy day,

lost luggage

and tangled

Christmas Tree lights."

~Mayo Angelou~

I just LOVE this quote.  When I first read it, it reminded me how often we humans allow some external thing to obliterate our internal feelings of calm and peace.  Case in point the three things listed above.

I LOVE rainy days.  Rarely ever will the rain upset my day, normally, it lifts my spirits and I feel cozy or adventurous.

Lost luggage?  Fortunately for me, it has never happened to me...but I would like to think I would look upon it as an opportunity to challenge myself and find quick replacement outfits at a tag sale or second hand store.  Admittedly, I would panic if my jewelry or camera was misplaced, but generally I always carry these items on my person or packed in my carry on bag...

Tangled anything has always been an interesting challenge to me.  For some odd, unknown reason....maybe it is my love of puzzles... but I actually enjoy untangling anything.  One day, while shopping in a store, a young female clerk looked very frustrated as she had the task of untangling a glob of tangled mess of necklaces. 

I offered to help and her look of surprise tickled me.  I told her I had this quirky self entertainment in untangling things.  Her reply was, "Knock yourself out and thank you very much!"

What about you?  How do you respond to the above three things?

Keeping It Light...

"Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need--a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink, for thirst is a dangerous thing."

~Jerome Klapka Jerome~

Since his retirement, my husband is doing his best to relax and I have been cheer leading with positivity, but both of us are two peas of the same pod, we both cannot "lighten up" until all our T's are crossed and our I's have dots... 

Gathering all our supplies and safety nets to supply our journey into the uncharted seas of retirement has been weathering both of us.  We have another full day tomorrow and then we leave for California on Wednesday.

We had a wonderful talk this morning and the above poem spoke to me.  It is the direction we wish to sail...

Funeral Blues...

I was cleaning out my files and found this poem from the movie, FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL.  I loved the poem. I am not sure why, but it spoke to me...I thought I would share it with you if you have not heard the poem...it is kind of dark and sad, but I loved the words and the feel of it.

When I was young, love felt totally different to me.  It was all encompassing and I thought there was only one person for me.  This is how the poem struck me, as if it were a young person, madly in love and absolutely desperate and lost after the loss.

Love still fills me up, but maybe I stand sturdier on my feet these days being an older person. I am better at loving & knowing myself and know I will survive.  Maybe all the learning and loving I did in my life, filled me up so much, I can only be left with such beautiful memories of love and knowing love gives us lasting comfort. Love is Love and should always be the answer...

What do you think?

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,

Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one:

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods:

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

by W.H. AUDEN

The 50's... The Land That Made Me, Me...

My Mom sent this to me and it is so great, I had to share it with all of you....

Long ago and far away,

In a land that time forgot,

Before the days of Dylan,

Or the dawn of Camelot.

There lived a race of innocents,

And they were you and me,

Long ago and far away

In the Land That Made Me Me.

Oh, there was truth and goodness

In that land where we were born,

Where navels were for oranges,

And Peyton Place was porn.

For Ike was in the White House,

And Hoss was on TV,

And God was in His heaven

In the Land That Made Me Me.

We learned to gut a muffler,

We washed our hair at dawn,

We spread our crinolines to dry

In circles on the lawn.

And they could hear us coming

All the way to Tennessee,

All starched and sprayed and rumbling

in the Land That Made Me Me.

We longed for love and romance,

And waited for the prince,

And Eddie Fisher married Liz,

And no one's seen him since.

We danced to "Little Darlin',"

And sang to "Stagger Lee"

And cried for Buddy Holly

In the Land That Made Me Me.

Only girls wore earrings then,

And three was one too many,

And only boys wore flat-top cuts,

Except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams

Did we expect to see

A boy named George, with lipstick

In the Land That Made Me Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon,

Annette was oh, so nice,

And when they made a movie,

They never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five,

Or Psycho Two and Three,

Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty

In the Land That Made Me Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold,

And Chester had a limp,

And Reagan was a Democrat

Whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr Wizard,

But not a Mr T,

And Oprah couldn't talk yet

In the Land That Made Me Me.

We had our share of heroes,

We never thought they'd go,

At least not Bobby Darin,

Or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal,

And life was yet to be,

And Elvis was forever,

In the Land That Made Me Me.

We'd never seen the rock band

That was Grateful to be Dead,

And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson,

And Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then,

And Monkees in a tree,

Madonna was a virgin

In the Land That Made Me Me.

We'd never heard of Microwaves,

Or telephones in cars,

And babies might be bottle-fed,

But they weren't grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out,

And "gay" meant fancy-free,

And dorms were never coed

In the Land That Made Me Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets

To talk about the lag,

And microchips were what was left at

The bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails,

And bytes came from a flea,

And rocket ships were fiction

In the Land That Made Me Me.

Buicks came with portholes,

And side shows came with freaks,

And bathing suits came big enough

To cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles,

And skirts below the knee,

And Castro came to power

near the Land That Made Me Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride,

We had no Hill Street Blues,

We all wore superstructure bras

Designed by Howard Hughes.

We had no patterned pantyhose

Or Lipton herbal tea

Or prime-time ads for condoms

In the Land That Made Me Me.

There were no golden arches,

No Perriers to chill,

And fish were not called Wanda,

And cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was thirty-five

And old was forty-three,

And ancient were our parents

In the Land That Made Me Me.

But all things have a season,

Or so we've heard them say,

And now instead of Maybelline

We swear by Retin-A.

And they send us invitations

To join AARP,

We've come a long way, baby,

From the Land That Made Me Me.

So now we face a brave new world

In slightly larger jeans,

And wonder why they're using

Smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children

of the way it used to be,

Long ago, and far away

In the Land That Made Me Me.

--Author unknown

Different...

Here is another of Penny's poems...

Different.

Penny

May 15, 2010 at 7:50 pm

Categories: Uncategorized

URL: http://wp.me/pSnOU-h3

 

life is art

and

how you see it

may be a bit different than those around you

~

some days

it will even be dramatically different

but

that's okay

~

and

if looking left

when everyone else is looking right

feels good to you

~

then

look left

and

when they all look up

look down

~

different is good

 

~Penny Westwood~

 

Sudden Tragedy...Loss Of A Friend...

As some of you may know, Penny Westwood at Penny's Word (which has been deleted) was in a car accident, August 17, 2010.  She lived in a small town of New South Wales. She was driving and swerved to avoid a speeding car driving too fast, around a curve and on the wrong side of the road.  Her car left the road and slammed into a tree.  She was severely injured.  The doctors put her into an induced coma.  She became conscious, and then had a relapse.  Tragically, she died August 26, 2010 in the hospital of a cerebral hemorrhage.  Her funeral some time today, in the afternoon. She was only 59 years of age...

Several days ago, I had gone to her blog to check for updates and discovered it had been deleted.  It gave me a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I hoped either her husband Doug, or one of her three teens, may have done it by accident...

I had emailed her Gmail account asking how she was.  Today, I received an email from her husband Doug, who shared about her death.  When I replied, that email had been deleted as well.  I cannot imagine the grief and loss they have to be feeling now...

I read her blog last March.  I had read one of her poems and was so touched, I asked if I might have her permission to post it.  She graciously allowed me to.  At the end of my post today, I will re post her poem.

I had been corresponding with her only five months, but in that short span of time, through her writing and photographs, I felt she was a kind, gentle, loving woman who loved her family, her little town, animals and nature.  She was a regular visitor with her comments.  I will miss her.

Here is her poem:

Just sayin’.

When in doubt, leap. One needs a little courage to live.
Miracles happen so often they become commonplace.


It’s easier to draw a straight line than to straighten a crooked one.
How come it’s always the narrow path that considers itself superior?

If you paint a black picture, the picture will be black.
Boredom is the price one pays for not enjoying everything.

Getting lost is part of getting there.
There’s something braver than dying for the truth – living without it.

Lessons are learned, not taught.
When your burden gets too heavy, you learn how to carry it.


The little girl riding her bicycle. Never once did she wonder: “Is this worthwhile?”
The sea will wash away our footprints but not the fact we made them.


Experiences for which there are no words get along fine without them.
Reasons are invented, not found.


No river could flow if it had to know its destination first.

~Penny Westlake~

Rest in peace, dear friend...

The Train Of Life...

Some folks ride the train of life,
Looking out the rear,

Watching miles of life roll by,

And marking every year.

They sit in sad remembrance,

Of wasted days gone by,

And curse their life for what it was,

And hang their head and cry.

But I don’t concern myself with that,

I took a different vent,

I look forward to what life holds,

And not what has been spent.

So strap me to the engine,

As securely as I can be,

I want to be out on the front,

To see what I can see.

I want to feel the winds of change,

Blowing in my face,

I want to see what life unfolds,

As I move from place to place.

I want to see what’s coming up,

Not looking at the past,

Life’s too short for yesterdays,

It moves along too fast.

So if the ride gets bumpy,

While you are looking back,

Go up front, and you may find,

Your life has jumped the track.

It’s all right to remember,

That’s part of history,

But up front’s where it’s happening,

There’s so much mystery.

The enjoyment of living,

Is not where we have been,

It’s looking ever forward,

To another year and ten.

It’s searching all the byways,

Never should you refrain,

For if you want to live your life,

You gotta drive the train.

Written By: Praveen  or Marv Hardin

or unknown...

*** In my research, I found it published by the three I listed above...***

Protection From Cat Guardian Angels...

Art: Ryan Conners of Ryan Conners' Original Cat Folk Art

Cat Guardian Angels Protect you from:

  Cat and mouse games

 Hissy Fits

  Cat-astrophes

 Pussy footing around

  Catty people

Cat burglars

~author unknown~ **

** In the 1990's, a good friend gave me a tiny cat pin made from clay with gold wings.  It came on a card with the above poem. It could have been handmade. I have made a conscientious search on the Internet and could not find the author.**

Go Placidly Amid the Noise and Haste...

In the late 60's, I found this poem on a poster. 
I absolutely loved it and for much of my life

have attempted to follow it's credo. 
At the time, it was said to have been found
 in old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore around 1692

In fact, it was written by Max Ehrmann,
who was a poet and lawyer.

He lived from 1872 to 1945

Interesting side note:
 Desiderata in Latin, means
"Things To Be Desired"

Max once wrote in his diary:

"I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift -

a bit of chaste prose that had caught

up some noble moods."

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even to the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;

they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain or bitter,

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals,

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love,

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life,

keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Keep Away...

"Keep away from people

who belittle your ambitions.

Small people

always do that,

but the really great

make you feel

that you, too,

can be great."

~Mark Twain~

On Love...

One of my favorites....

by Kahlil Gibran

When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams

as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.

Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height 
and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots
and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant;

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,

 that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you

 that you may know the secrets of your heart,

and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness
and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh,

but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart,"
but rather, "I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love,
for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires,
let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
and a song of praise upon your lips.

On Self-Knowledge...

by Kahlil Gibran

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.

You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."

Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself like a lotus of countless petals.

On Children...

by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,

but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children

as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might

that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

so He loves also the bow that is stable.

A new friend in a small country town in New South Wales...

I happened to stumble upon a wonderful poem, the other day. The poem, entitled, Just sayin', really spoke to me. I wanted to share it with everyone. I contacted Penny and asked her permission to post it, and she graciously allowed me permission.

She is married with teenagers and lives in a small country town in New South Wales.  Her photography is also beautiful.  You can visit Penny at http://penjandrum.wordpress.com/

Just sayin’.

When in doubt, leap. One needs a little courage to live.

Miracles happen so often they become commonplace.

It’s easier to draw a straight line than to straighten a crooked one.

How come it’s always the narrow path that considers itself superior?

If you paint a black picture, the picture will be black.

Boredom is the price one pays for not enjoying everything.

Getting lost is part of getting there.

There’s something braver than dying for the truth – living without it.

Lessons are learned, not taught.

When your burden gets too heavy, you learn how to carry it.

The little girl riding her bicycle. Never once did she wonder: “Is this worthwhile?”

The sea will wash away our footprints but not the fact we made them.

Experiences for which there are no words get along fine without them.

Reasons are invented, not found.

No river could flow if it had to know its destination first.

** Posted with permission from Penny at above link, originally posted on her site on April 19, 2010.

How To Be Really Alive...

While packing, I found this.  It made me smile. I don't remember when I got it...but I think it had to be from the 60's... I found it interesting, that I would still enjoy doing some of these things...

Live juicy.

Stamp out conformity.

Stay in bed all day.

Dream of Gypsy Wagons.

Find snails making love.

Develop an astounding appetite for books.

Drink sunsets.

Draw out your feelings.

Amaze yourself.

Be ridiculous.

Stop worrying...

Now. If not now, when?

Make YES your favoirte word.

Marry yourself.

Dry your clothes in the sun.

Eat mangoes naked.

Deep toys in the bathtub.

Spin yourself dizzy.

Hang upside down.

Follow a child.

Celebrate an old person.

send a love letter to yourself.

Be advaced.

Try endearing.

Invent new ways to love.

Transform negatives.

Delight someone.

Wear pajamas to a drive in movie.

Allow yourself to feel rich without money.

Be who you truly are and the money will follow.

Believe in everything.

You are always on your way to a miracle.

The miracle is you.

** SARK**

Anybody else remember this?  Can anyone relate?  Does it sound like it was from the 60's??