Set Your Course...

"Whatever course you decide upon, 

there is always someone 

to tell you that you are wrong. 

There are always difficulties 

arising which tempt you 

to believe that your critics are right. 

To map out a course of action 

and follow it to an end requires courage" 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

I borrowed this quote from Barbara at Barbara's Collected Quotes

Be Open...

From Pinterest: Ann Ford "Thoughtversational Quotations"

Inspiration...

This is a U-Tube video a friend sent me.  Not only it is beautiful, it is so inspirational.  The tenderness and strength of these two dancers brought me to tears...  There is nothing which is impossible.  There are miracles every day and the people God uses to make it happen...

Did Blogger Install a Favicon (Join This Site on Google Connect) on YOUR blog? They did on mine...

Has anyone else had a Google Favicon to "Joint this site through friend connect" installed mysteriously on their blog???  Both my blogs have it and I DID NOT put it on my blogs. 

The Favicon on my other blog Mystical Journeys is at least above my followers on my side bar....but because my followers are at the top of my page, on this blog,  it is the first thing on top of my page, above my followers.

Kind of ticks me off Google would not put this in the Gadget options for us to decide if we want it instead of making the decision for us.

The number of problems and issues these past months since May 13th really concerns me.  What is up with Google?  What is with all these problems?  Are they in competition with Facebook or something??

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

How To Stay Young...

1. Try everything twice. On one woman's tombstone she said she wanted this
epitaph: Tried everything twice...loved it both times!

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
(Keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches)

3. Keep learning: Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening,
whatever. Never let the brain get idle. An idle mind is the devil's
workshop. And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4.. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you
have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with
HIM/HER.

6. The tears happen: Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is
with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love: Whether it's family, pets,
keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,
improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, or a trip to the
next county or a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

11. Forgive those who made you cry. You might not get a second chance.

Remember, lost time can never be found.

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of
battle.


***** Attributed to comedian George Carlin, but according to Snopes.com was written by an unknown author.*****

Pain....

pain is an interesting teacher...

lying on my back

unable to sit

creates many hours

of thought...

conclusions and insight

repeatedly slapping my attention

like the sledge hammer 

slamming into my lower back...

promises made

prayers offered

if only this would stop...

now,

with answered prayers,

starting to feel better,

being a woman

of my word

promises 

must 

be kept...

irritation

erupting into the realization

in taking my health

for granted...

hating dieting and exercise

I hate dieting more...

so exercise is my anthem

my song of songs

my path back to freedom...

~dkb~