Drive/Ride SAFE!

I like this as it shows that riding is the big part of the day and that beer comes only after the riding is done!!  For me, this would be tea in the morning, riding all day, then more tea and more riding!! Though I personally don't care for drinking alcohol, I have nothing against others drinking in moderation... I just think that intoxicants (alcohol and/or drugs) do not go with driving any motor vehicle. You may think that you are perfectly good at driving after you have that drink or that joint, and maybe you are some days, and I am sure that others think they are also perfectly fine after the drink &/or toke or pills... and yet countless numbers of innocent people have been killed by impaired drivers that were sure they were okay to drive. 

PLEASE drive/ride SAFE!!

Learning New Things

As you will know, if you read my blogs very much, I often read things on the internet to learn different things, to learn about things I have no knowledge about.  This can be a good thing to do as there are times when this kind of knowledge can come in handy.  I just follow various links to get me to this kind 'new information'.  Some of it I find very interesting and get right into reading the information, and other things I tend to just skip through as it's not something that piques my interest.  I was just reading to see what a sieve shaker is. I know that many people will find this kind of thing not only interesting, but also very useful to them and/or their business.  However, I don't see any use for this equipment in my life at this current time. Hmmmm... I wonder what I'll find to read about next.  Any day I learn something new it's a good day.

Trouble With Pebbles

"A small trouble is like a pebble. Hold it too close to your eye
and it fills the whole world and puts everything out of focus. Hold
it at a proper distance and it can be examined and properly
classified. Throw it at your feet and it can be seen in its true
setting, just one more tiny bump on the pathway of life."

-- Celia Luce

I love reading quotes by other people, especially when they are uplifting, or help one to grow and to see life in a different light. Healing, loving, peaceful and spiritual thoughts expressed in words.

I have found in my life that when we look too closely at our problems, and focus too much attention and energy on them, they grow all out of proportion. Yet, when we set them aside and see them from a distance, we can see our way through the fog of the problem. A minister that used to be at our church often said "What do you want?" When I said "well, I don't want..." he would interrupt with "NO! What DO you want?" The point is to not focus on the problem, but to focus on the solution.

If you are riding a bicycle down the path and you see a rock in the middle of the path... when you focus your attention on the rock you will hit it. When you focus your attention on the path around the rock you will ride right past the rock. So... focus your attention on what you do want! Focus your attention on the solution! Kiss your problems goodbye.

Growing, changing, being loved

Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When
you are Real, you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit
by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It
takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who
break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.
Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved
off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and
shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are
Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

-- Margery Williams (The Velveteen Rabbit)

Words to Live By

If a dog was the teacher you would learn stuff like:

- When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
- 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 it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
- Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
- Take naps.
- Stretch before rising.
- Run, romp, and play daily.
- 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 in 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're 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.
- Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.
- Be loyal. Never pretend to be something you're not.
- 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.

Thursday 13

This is my first go at Thursday Thirteen. I wasn't sure what to write here, so I followed links to many other blogs to see what they had put... looking for ideas. Then I went into the living room to watch some TV and the ideas started to flow. I wrote down 13 topics that I can do for Thursday Thirteen. I am tempted to put this list of 13 things here as my first posting for this meme, but then others will likely use these ideas before me... so for the next 13 weeks I will have something to blog about on Thursdays.

13 Positive Affirmations:

1- I treat myself right, balance and harmony are my hallmark.

2- I trust the Infinite within as I embrace the new; time is on my side.

3- I release from memory old moments of pain, they happened; I grew. I now move into joy.

4- I vow, to give myself today, the best life ever!

5- Today I open my eyes to new possibilities of wonder and joy.

6- All that I desire is mine today. With a heart filled with joy I make my heaven on earth.

7- Today I put my whole heart into my every act of giving.

8- Today I give the greatest gift of all, I give love and I don’t get caught.

9- I willingly step into the new today.

10- I breathe and it is life that I breathe; I am grateful for all my blessings.

11- Today I change my mind and find the heart of goodness in every action.

12- I remind myself that I have always done the best I could and that is good enough. I release myself and all others from any debts of yesterday.

13- Today I embrace my life and all who are in it with the fullness of my heart.

Frogs

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.

A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants....

The race began....

Honestly, no one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.

You heard statements such as:

"Oh, WAY too difficult!!"

"They will NEVER make it to the top."

or:

"Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"

The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one....

Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher....

The crowd continued to yell, ”It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up....

But ONE continued higher and higher and higher....

This one wouldn't give up! At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!


THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal?

It turned out....

That the winner was DEAF!!!!

The wisdom of this story is:

Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic.... because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart!

Always think of the power words have.

Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!

Therefore:

ALWAYS be POSITIVE!

And above all:

Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams!



Always think:
In God I can do this!

Remember Peace!!

November 11th is Remembrance Day, a time when so many people take time to remember wars, death, destruction, and of course to remember the soldiers that fought in those wars, experienced the destruction, and many who died violent, nasty deaths. Of course, all these wonderful people that take time to remember believe they are doing a good thing, and far be it from me to say they are or they aren't...

Something else that I think we must remember and think about is that what we think about, we bring about. Our thoughts are creative! And knowing that our thoughts create our experiences, I choose to work very hard at thinking only about the things I want, and not about that which I don't want!! And so...

I choose to remember PEACE!! There are many facts about peace in our history, and I will share only a drop in that bucket with you here today:


Peace Activities in the 2^nd week of November through the years:

* Spain and England signed a peace treaty......1630 ad

* Spain and France signed a peace treaty......1659 ad

* Sweden and Hanover signed a peace treaty......1720 ad

* WWI allies and Bulgaria signed a peace treaty......1920 ad

* President Wilson received the Nobel Peace Prize......1920 ad

* Pacifist writer Carl Von Ossietsky received the Nobel Peace Prize......1936 ad

* The Red Cross received the Nobel Peace Prize......1944 ad

* Cardell Hull received the Nobel Peace Prize, established the United Nations......1945 ad

*250,000 people converged on Washington to demonstrate for peace......1969 ad

* USSR and Vietnam signed a peace treaty......1970 ad

Other Nobel Peace Prize recipients on or about November 11:
Mother Theresa, Ellie Wiesell, Nelson Mandella

I must confess that I did not do this research myself, that was done by Rev. Dale Jukes of the Okanagan Centre for Positive Living and shared in his talk on Sunday November 5th, 2006. Wanting to focus on peace, I asked him for a copy of these facts and he was good enough to oblige me.

I wish you all PEACE ON EARTH... 365 DAYS A YEAR!!!

Beauty Tips

Below is a wonderful poem Audrey Hepburn wrote when asked to share her "beauty tips." It was read at her funeral years later.

For attractive lips,
speak words of kindness...

For lovely eyes,
seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure,
share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair,
let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.

For poise,
walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone...

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; but never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others. ~Audrey Hepburn

Clay Balls

A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.

They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy ... But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

From an email a friend sent to me:

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by
holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked,
"Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you
but first, let me do this.

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he replied, "What if I do this?"
And he dropped it on the ground
and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.
“Now, who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

“My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it
because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and
ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the
circumstances that come our way. We feel as though
we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or
what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased,
you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.
The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know,
but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE.
You are special - Don't EVER forget it."

Count your blessings, not your problems.

And remember: amateurs built the ark ...
professionals built the Titanic.

Very Good Advice

It's been accurately said that there is a lot of advice available
for nothing, and most of it is worth about what we paid for it.
But here is sound guidance, from an unknown author, worth
taking to heart:

"If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart,
forgive; for that person has helped you learn about trust

and the importance of caution.

If someone loves you, love back unconditionally;
that one is teaching you to love.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and
take from those moments everything that you possibly can,
for you may never be able to experience them again.

Talk to people that you have never talked to before -- and

actually listen.

Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high.

Hold your head up because you have every right to.

Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in
yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, it will be hard
for others to believe in you.

You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your

own life and then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets.

Most importantly, if you love others, tell them, for you never

know what may come tomorrow.

And learn a lesson in life each day you live."

This is from the web site Life Support System. A "must check out" kind of place.