THE THING I CELEBRATE every morning is the incredible capacity God has given us to rise above our parents … rise above our teachers … rise above our past … rise above our environment … create whole new worlds of opportunity and possibility in every moment of our lives.
But to avail ourselves of this, we must come to believe three things. Otherwise, that potential remains only potential:
1. I must first discover that I AM A CAPABLE PERSON who can think and learn and change. I don’t always have to follow what others do but I can, through the grace of God, set a new course for myself once I believe that’s possible.
2. I must believe that the life within me has some SIGNIFICANCE in the scheme of things – greater than just the daily task of surviving.
I believe the human being was created with an unquenchable quest to find significance and meaning and purpose somewhere in life. The human being is the only creature on this planet for whom the need to be needed, the need to have a purpose to live, is greater than our will to survive. We’re the only creature we know of who will become anorexic, suicidal, literally give up the will to live, if we believe our lives don’t matter anywhere to anyone.
3. We must believe that, although we cannot always determine what happens to us in life, we can always determine HOW WE LET THAT AFFECT US. And there is, in the end, much we can do through our actions, choices, prayers, beliefs, commitments and faith to ultimately influence the events of our lives – we’re not passive victims of fate, luck or circumstance.
The challenge today: to re-establish those beliefs in a generation of children who doubt that more than any other generation in history!
STEPHEN GLENN (LATE) – U.S. CHILD ADVOCATE
FRESH
This
is
a
wonderful
day.
I’ve
never
seen
this
one
before.
MAYA ANGELOU
NOTE TO SELF:
My favourite people are the ones who get me. Especially the ones who get me coffee.
NANEA HOFFMAN – SWEATPANTS & COFFEE.COM
PERMISSION GRANTED!
Nothing is more powerful
than allowing yourself to
be truly affected by things.
Whether it’s
a song,
a stranger,
a mountain,
a raindrop,
a teapot,
an article,
a sentence,
a footstep –
FEEL IT ALL!
Look around you:
all this is for you!
Take it and have gratitude.
Give it and feel love.
AMELIA OLSON
THE TRUTH:
People don’t fake depression.
They fake being okay.
Remember that.
Be kind.
SHINE, JUST SHINE!
Lighthouses
don’t go running
all over an island
looking for boats
to save.
They just stand there shining.
ANNE LAMOTT
LUMP IN YOUR THROAT
Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.
JAMIE ANDERSON
RELAX
Angels
can
fly
because they take themselves lightly.
G K CHESTERTON
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN
The year is 1940 – World War 2 – and the tiny Greek island of Cephalonia is invaded by Italian troops. Pelagia (played by Penelope Cruz in the 2001 movie) is a young Greek girl who’s engaged to be married to a local fisherman. But instead, she falls in love with this Italian soldier, Captain Corelli (played by Nicholas Cage). And what follows is a compelling mix of love, tragedy and survival.
At one point in the movie, the girl’s father Iannis (who is also the village doctor) gives his daughter this advice:
“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.
“Love is not breathlessness; it is not excitement; it’s not the desire to mate every second of the day; not lying awake at night imagining him kissing every part of your body. No, don’t blush,” says Iannis. “I’m telling you some truths. That’s just being ‘in love’, which any fool can do. Love itself is what’s left over, when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.
“Your mother and I had it. We had roots that grew towards each other underground; and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.”
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN – FROM THE NOVEL BY LOUIS DE BERNIERE
ONLY ONE WAY
Darkness cannot
drive out darkness.
Only
LIGHT
can
do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate.
Only
LOVE
can
do
that.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
GOOD POINT, EH!
Rabbits JUMP
– and they live for eight years.
Dogs RUN
– and they live for 15 years.
Turtles do NOTHING
– and live for 150 years.
Lesson learned!
THE MAGIC OF BOOKS
The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – that you thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you’ve never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it’s as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.
THE HISTORY BOYS
UNREPEATABLE
God says, “I didn’t want a world without you. I could have made you different – I could have made you taller or shorter, smarter or slower. But I didn’t want a different you. It’s THIS you that I’ve always loved – THIS you, with your unique fingerprints, the colour of your eyes, the sound of your voice. You are a unique and unrepeatable image of myself … and I love you!”
FR JOHN POWELL
