Revenge

Revenge only engenders violence,

not clarity and true peace.

I think liberation must come from within.

~ Sandra Cisneros ~

Stained-Glass Windows

People are like stained-glass windows.

They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,

but when the darkness sets in,

their beauty is revealed only if

there is a light from within.

~ Elizabeth Kubler-Ross ~

Formulate and Stamp

Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind

a mental picture of yourself as succeeding.

Hold this picture tenaciously.

Never permit it to fade.

Your mind will seek to develop the picture.

Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.

Do not be awestruck by other people and try to copy them.

Nobody can be you as efficiently as you can.

~ Norman Vincent Peale ~

Life & Consciousness

Life and consciousness are the two great mysteries.

Actually, their substrates are the inanimate.

And how do you get from neurons shooting around in the brain

to the thought that pops up in your head and mine?

There's something deeply mysterious about that.

And if you are not struck by the mystery,

I think you haven't thought about it.

~ Charles Krauthammer ~

R. I. P.

Positive Self-Image

A strong, positive self-image is the best

possible preparation for success.

~ Joyce Brothers ~

Enough

He who knows that enough is enough

will always have enough.

~ Lao Tzu ~

Good Relationships

Most good relationships are built

on mutual trust and respect.

~ Mona Sutphen ~

Fits the Lock

Smile, it is the key that fits

the lock of everybody's heart.

~ Anthony J. D'Angelo ~

Fathers

One father is more than

a hundred schoolmasters.

~ George Herbert ~

Happy Father's Day!

Flag Day

I believe that our flag is more than cloth and ink.

It is a universally recognized symbol that stands

for liberty and freedom.  It is the history of our

nation and it is marked by the blood of those

who died defending it.

~ John Thune ~

Happy Flag Day!

Food

Food is everything we are.

It's an extension of nationalistic feeling,

ethnic feeling,  your personal history, 

your province, your region, your tribe,

your grandma.  Its inseparable

from those from the get-go.

~ Anthony Bourdain ~

R.I.P.

The Artist

Why should I deem myself to be a chisel,

when I could be the artist?

~ Frederick von Schiller ~

Fidelity

Many persons have the wrong idea

of what constitutes true happiness.

It is not attained through self-gratification

but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

~ Helen Keller ~

School

Grades don't measure tenacity, courage, leadership,

guts or whatever you want to call it.  Teachers 

or any other persons in a position of authority

should never tell anybody they will not succeed

because they did not get all A's in school.

~ Thomas J. Stanley ~

Congratulations to all school graduates!

Growing Good Corn

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn.  Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it.  The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know?  The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field.  If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn.  If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life.  His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.

So it is with our lives.  Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace.  Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.  And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this:  if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.

~ Anonymous ~

Failure

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again,

this time more intelligently.

~ Henry Ford ~

Honesty

We must make the world honest

before we can honestly say to our children

that honesty is the best policy.

~ George Bernard Shaw ~

Reading

Reading is to the mind

what exercise is to the body.

~ Joseph Addison ~

The Dash

The Dash

by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on their tombstone from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke of the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years. 

For that dash represents all the time they spent alive on earth. And now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own, the cars...the house...the cash.  What matters most is how we live and love and how we lived our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.  Are there things you'd like to change?  For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.

To be less quick to anger and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile, remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read, with your life's actions to rehash...would you be proud of the things they say about how you lived your dash?

© 1996-2018, Inspire Kindness, LLC

www.TheDashPoem.com

Memorial Day

Memorial Day isn't just about honoring veterans,

its honoring those who lost their lives.

Veterans had the fortune of coming home.

For us, that's a reminder of when we come home

we still have a responsibility to serve.  It's

a continuation of service that honors our country

and those who fell defending it.

~ Pete Hegseth ~

Happy Memorial Day!

Positive Goals

Set goals in life; set them 

high and persist until they are achieved.

Once they are achieved, set bigger and better goals.

You will soon find that your life will become happier

and more purposeful by working toward positive goals.

~ Raymond Floyd ~

Opportunities

Opportunities are like sunrises.

If you wait too long, you miss them.

~ William Arthur Ward ~

A Healthy Attitude

A healthy attitude is contagious,

but don't wait to catch it from

others.  Be a carrier!

John Wesley's Rule

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can,

in all the ways you can, in all places you can,

at all times you can, to all people you can,

as long as ever you can.

~ John Wesley ~

Ignore Everything Else

You try to do the best with

what you've got and ignore

everything else.  That's why

horses get blinders in horse racing:

You look at the horse next to you,

and you lose a step.

~ Jimmy Lovine ~