"People's biggest mistake is thinking they have all the time in the world to do what is important. The really great sages and entrepreneurs of this world live each day as if it were their last, continually dedicating themselves to the essential tasks. Think about it."

-Mark Fisher from The Millionaire's Secrets: Life Lessons in Wisdom & Wealth

"It is not possible to always be happy. It is possible to always have the joy of the Lord. Some have described it as a calm-centeredness that tickles at the edges. It's a solid assurance that laughs if given the chance. It is unwavering confidence that can't help but look on the bright side. It's God's gift to you -- the external expression of a heart in relationship with God."
-Joni Earackson Tada

S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

A couple friends I really admire -- "Big Papa", we'll call him -- and his wife (not at all a "Big Mama"!), are currently teaching a class every week I've been attending on Sundays. I end up drinking most of the coffee, we'll read scripture, & it's quite a fun time... He created an acronym for the word "success" a few weeks ago. I found it simple and really helpful:

See the possibilities.

Unlock your mind from negative thinking.

Choose the kind of day you're going to have.

Change is possible.

Energize yourself daily.

Stabilize your mind with positive thinking.

Stick to it!

Taking the initiative to love yourself daily, and repeat these simple things to yourself is easy, but often cast aside within our busy days. I know so many people (myself included sometimes), that internally batter themselves or have a lack of self-care that would benefit from repeating this little mantra. Self-care is so important if your goal is to be a tool of God's glory in everything you do. There's so much negativity in our brains (and elsewhere!), that it's imperative to stay focused, positive, and determined like this. I loved this teaching...

Today, I'm not following this advice. Nonetheless...
"When you don't know what to do, don't do anything."
-anonymous

I'm Humbled Today:

Today's the 13th, so I looked up the 13th Proverb, and found a lot of instruction.
I wasn't so good at taking instruction from my higher power last night. I tried to punch at a mean wall of a problem only to find, that wall wasn't so strong. It almost didn't hold up. God's strength held up my relationship with this person, and I am humbled and grateful.

I'm grateful to have had a great Easter yesterday....great friends, great laughs, great food...

"Pride only breeds quarrels,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice.
Dishonest money dwindles away,
but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
He who scorns instruction will pay for it,
but he who respects a command is rewarded.
The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
turning a man from the snares of death.
Good understanding wins favor,
but the way of the unfaithful is hard."

-Proverbs 13: 10-15

"Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child, listen to the DON'TS - listen to the SHOULDN'TS, the IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS - listen to the NEVER HAVES. Then listen close to me anything can happen, child. ANYTHING can be."
-Shel Silverstein

''Failure is not fatal...but failure to change is...''

''We absolutely insist on enjoying life!''
-international convention

:: GREAT resource ::

Committed To Freedom for recovery books, more resources, audio....and I LOVE Sallie's weekly podcast & meditation; which you can get here....xo...

"I am laid low in the dust;
preserve my life according to your word.
I recounted my ways and you answered me;
teach me your decrees.
Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;
then I will meditate on your wonders.
My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
Keep me from deceitful ways;
be gracious to me through your law.
I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws....for you have set my heart free."

-Psalm 119: 25-30, 32

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck."
- Emma Goldman

GOD is this one refreshing today...

"Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, good mother, good-looking, good-tempered, well-groomed, and unaggressive."

-Leslie M. McIntyre

"There is more to life than increasing its speed."
-Gandhi

''To accept the responsibility of being a child of God is to accept the best that life has to offer you.''
-Stella Terrill Mann

"Recovery is the process of finding the river and saying yes to its flow, rapids and all. We startle ourselves by saying yes instead of no to opportunities."
-Julia Cameron

''...pray to catch the bus, then run as fast as you can!''
- Julia Cameron

''Expect your every need to be met, expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level...''
- Eileen Caddy

On my 4th week of 'The Artist's Way'...this book is BUSTIN with good ones. TRYING NOT TO READ! Eeek :-O....

''In a dark time, the eye begins to see.'' -Theodore Roethke

"We simply cannot allow the first negative thinking to take hold. Taking in the first doubt is like picking up the first drink for the alcoholic. Once in our system, the doubts will take on another doubt - and another. Doubting thoughts can be stopped, but it takes vigilance to do it."
-Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

''When you slow down in the middle of chaos, you're dealing with it.'' Midtown

''You can't think your way into right action. You must act your way into right thinking!''

Heard a great few yesterday:
''I know from experience that my higher power will take care of me, if I get out of his way''

Heard this one in June: ''You say something once, you're sharing. You say something twice, you're controlling.''

So you have control?

"The quicker we let God have the power, the better it is for us."

William James is Super Sonic

Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.
-William James

Interesting Wikipedia Excerpt:
"The Will to Believe" is the title of William James's classic lecture (published in 1897) defending the adoption of beliefs as hypotheses and self-fulfilling prophecies even without prior evidence of their truth...
James argues that beliefs like God, freewill, possibility, and morality would cause evidence to come, thus verifying beliefs that could not have been verified otherwise. James' rationale for this more controversial idea is in combining it with his pragmatic theory of truth, the idea that a belief is verified if it causes better interaction with the world. For example, while no evidence can justify the initial adoption of a belief in God, the adoption of such a belief as a hypothesis without evidence would cause one to succeed better in the world, thus verifying the belief. This does not entail that it will be verified for everyone, but rather, for many, that it would cause their lives to be better, thus making it true for them.

Dance naked to your favorite song today - it's a blast ;)....mid jiggle, think about what hypotheses are true for your life...

Planting Seed

"As long as you have seed, you have increase in your hand. But a seed will lay dormant until it is placed in the right conditions. You have to plant that seed and water it in order for it to grow."
-Joel Osteen

We'll all have bustling veggie gardens soon (due to our ingenious prezz, and the RAGING grocery and gas prices!) Hypothetically though: is there a seed you have planted yet have not ensured to water and protect it so that it might grow to its full potential? How might you start to do that today?

Think of Yourself - Less!

Sometimes I need to pop my "head" from growing too big! I find that I too easily sink "into myself". Today I worry, for example, about that which I cannot control...or fear a future that I do not know....I wish to see what is coming so that might prepare more vigorously. I become my own god - as if I had the power?!? Without the element of inevitable surprise, life might not be so joyously interesting I think. Instead, I might need to do what I know...the joy of giving my mother a hug because she needs one now....or giving my dog an extra treat though he so enthusiastically misses his "pp pad" every time... will be the plan today....

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less."
Rick Warren

Plan one small act of kindness for a stranger, friend, or group for today. What anxieties/plans/hopes are circling in your head that you have NO control over? Let them go - what are things you can control?

Scenery

I'M AN IDEALIST...
THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE COME AND GO IN MY LIFE, AS IF I WERE PASSING THEM BY...
SOMETIMES WE ENJOY LIFE'S SCENERY, SOMETIMES, IT'S NOT SO PRETTY, AND SOMETIMES, WE DON'T EVEN NOTICE; I'M OBLIVIOUS USUALLY...SELF-ABSORBED OR DISTRACTED BY PETTINESS: THE FACT THAT OUR GOVERNMENT IS DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB, THE ONCOMING RECESSION OR THAT OUR LANDSCAPER'S ARE LAGGING, AND OUR LAWN IS UP TO MY KNEES (YES I'M SHORT AND MEXICAN, BUT IT'S STILL TO DAMN HIGH)
WHATEVER WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THE "SCENERY" ON THIS ROAD, AFFECTS HOW WE DEAL WITH OUR LIFE...
TODAY, I CAN CHOOSE TO NOTICE THE SMALLER WONDERFUL THINGS. NOTICE WHAT I SEE THAT'S TRULY GREAT IN MY LIFE.
APPRECIATE THAT WHICH OTHERS DON'T HAVE;
GIFTS THAT ONLY I POSSESS...

"I don't have a lot of respect for talent.
Talent is genetic. It's what you do with it that counts."

Martin Ritt

What unique gifts do you have? What things? What character traits? What talents? How can you make the most of these?

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Mirror

FOR ME SOMETIMES, IT'S HARD TO LIVE IN REALITY...
IT'S EASIER TO MAKE UP MY REALITY... LIVE IN MY PAST, DREAM ABOUT FUTURE CONQUESTS OR THINGS I COULDN'T HAVE.
IN ADDITION, IT'S ULTRA REFRESHING TO LOOK IN THE "MIRROR", AND SOMETHING DEVASTATING AND BEAUTIFUL IS STARING BACK.
PAST FALLS HAVE OPENED OPPORTUNITIES...
WHATEVER BROKE MY HEART, HAS MADE ME STRONGER, AND PREVENTED WORSE FROM STABBING AT ME.
I LEARNED THAT WHATEVER JOY OR IRRITATION THIS MOMENT POSSESSES WILL PASS...
AND THAT'S THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE...

"A mirror will reflect all things perfectly, whether they are beautiful or ugly; it never refuses to show a thing, nor does it retain the thing after it is gone. The mind should be as open as this."
Lin Ching-hsi

Don't look in there too long! Is there something "ugly" you're retaining today that you can let go?