YOU MAY THINK THAT YOU are completely insignificant in this world. But …
someone drinks coffee from the favourite cup that you gave them
someone heard a song on the radio that reminded them of you
someone read the book that you recommended, and plunged headfirst into it
someone smiled after a hard day’s work, because they remembered the joke that you told them today
someone loves themselves a little bit more, because you gave them a compliment.
Never think that you have no influence whatsoever. Your trace, which you leave behind with every good deed, cannot be erased.
UNKNOWN
TWO HOURS AGO?
I woke up
this morning
determined to eat right,
exercise
and
get lots of stuff done.
That was
two hours ago
when I was
much younger
and
full of high hopes.
UNKNOWN
GOOD FRIENDS …
Teach your children to be a good friend to others – because some kids don’t go home to love.
FOR GIRLS ONLY, PROBABLY …
‘Fat’ is usually the first insult a girls throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her. I mean, is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’?
Not to me. But then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny? I’m not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brain …
I went to the British Book Awards recently. After the award ceremony I bumped into a woman I hadn’t seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? “You’ve lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!”
“Well,” I said, slightly nonplussed, “the last time you saw me I’d just had a baby.”
What I felt like saying was, “I’ve produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren’t either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?” But no – my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!
Maybe all this seems trivial, but it’s really not. It’s about what girls want to be, what they’re told they should be, and how they feel about who they are. I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world. And it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones. I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before ‘thin’.
And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons! Rant over …
J.K. ROWLING – THEROWLINGLIBRARY.COM
LET IT GO!
We must be willing to get rid of
the
life
we’ve
planned …
so we can have
the
life
that’s
waiting
for
us …
JOSEPH CAMPBELL
ENOUGH TO GO AROUND
I’m ready for a simpler kind of faith.
One that believes God is love.
God is good.
And the same grace that has been given to me is given to every other human.
There is enough love to go around.
And we don’t share this love by trying to “scare the hell” out of others.
We share it the same way I did when I was a kid.
We laugh.
We love.
We encourage.
We play.
We dance in the kitchen.
And sing while we mow the lawns.
Trusting all the while
That this is what pleases God.
And this kind of joy and peace is contagious.
And meant to be spread around.
KAREN SHOCK – PATHEOS.COM
IF IT BREAKS …?
Sometimes the heart desires very simple things. The heart holds within it all that is most precious, all that we must protect. But it is also braver and bolder, more resilient than we realize. If we wound it, it will heal. And if it breaks, it learns to beat again.
MATURE JENNY – ‘CALL THE MIDWIFE’
SPEAK UP!
Our
lives
BEGIN TO END
the
day
we
become
silent
about
THINGS THAT MATTER …
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
WILDLY, MESSILY, MARVELLOUSLY …
We begin to find and become ourselves when we notice how we are already found, already truly, entirely, wildly, messily, marvellously who we were born to be.
ANNE LAMOTT
KONFOOZED?
It sucks when I read read as read and not read. I have to reread read as read so I can read read correctly and make sense of what I read.
FAIR’S FAIR
Do unto
THOSE DOWNSTREAM
as you would have
THOSE UPSTREAM
do unto you.
WENDELL BERRY
JOY!
No matter what,
hang on to the part of you
that gasps at a beautiful
sunset or gets super excited
about a new notebook, or a freshly
baked cupcake, or a dog you just met
on the street. Allow yourself to be
regularly startled and
humbled by joy.
NANEA HOFFMAN – ‘SWEATPANTS & COFFEE’
IN REVERSE?
The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. And what do you get at the end of it? A death! What’s that, a bonus?
I think the life-cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you go live in an old-age home. You get kicked out when you’re too young, go collect all your super, then, when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day.
You work 40 years until you’re young enough to enjoy your retirement. You drink, you party, and you get ready for high school. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities.
You become a little baby, you go back into the womb, and you spend your last nine months floating – with luxuries like central heating, spa and room-service on tap.
Then you finish off as an orgasm!
Amen.
GEORGE COSTANZA
STRANGE BUT TRUE …
Some of the most generous people have no money.
Some of the wisest people have no education.
Some of the kindest people …
were hurt the most.
