I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home)

If you do nothing else today, take five minutes to watch this powerful contemporary Christian music video - it will energize you and warm your heart!

  I Have a Dream - City Harmonic

HOPE

A state of mind

Every fishing line cast

The feeling you have that the feeling you have isn't permanent

What a wish gives a child who is sick

HOPE

Make a difference today in the life of a child.

Make-A-Wish Foundation

Today I Will Make A Difference by Max Lucado

Today I will make a difference.  I will begin by controlling my thoughts.  A person is the product of his thoughts.  I want to be happy and hopeful.  Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful.  I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances.  I will not let petty inconveniences such as stoplights, long lines, and traffic jams be my master.  I will avoid negativism and gossip.  Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark.  Today I will make a difference.

I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me.  Time is a precious commodity.  I refuse to allow what little time I have to be contaminated by self-pity, anxiety, or boredom.  I will face this day with the joy of a child and the courage of a giant.  I will drink each minute as though it is my last.  When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever.  While it is here, I will use it for loving and giving.  Today I will make a difference.

I will not let past failures haunt me.  Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures.  I will admit them, I will correct them.  I will press on.  Victoriously.  No failure is fatal.  It's OK to stumble...I will get up.  It's OK to fail...I will rise again.  Today I will make a difference.

I will spend time with those I love.  My spouse, my children, my family.  A man can own the world but be poor for the lack of love.  A man can own nothing and yet be wealthy in relationships.  Today I will spend at least five minutes with the significant people in my world.  Five quality minutes of talking or hugging or thanking or listening.  Five undiluted minutes with my mate, children, and friends. 

Today I will make a difference.

Meaning by John Gardner

Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt.  Meaning is something you build into your life.  You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something.  The ingredients are there.  You are the only one who can put them together into that pattern that will be your life.  Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you.  If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account.

40 Fabulous Rules from the Life Book

Author Unknown

Health:

1.  Drink plenty of water.

2.  Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a beggar.

3.  Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in factories.

4.  Live with the 3 E's - Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy (experiencing the feelings or thoughts of another person.
5.  Make time for prayer.

6.  Play more games.

7.  Read more books that you did last year.

8.  Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9.  Sleep for 7 hours.
10.Take a 10-30 minute walk every day - and while you walk, SMILE.

Personality:

11. Don't compare your life to anyone else's life.  You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. Don't have negative thoughts on things you cannot control.  Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don't over do:  keep your limits.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does.

15. Don't wast precious energy on gossip (talking about other people).

16. Dream more while you are awake.

17. Envy (being jealous or wishing you had what others have) is a waste of time.  You already have  all you need.

18. Forget issues of the past.  Don't remind your friends or loved ones about mistakes they have made in the past.  That will ruin your present happiness.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.  Don't hate others.

20. Make peace with friends and loved ones, or mistakes they've made in the past, so it won't spoil  the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.  Problems are simply part of the  curriculum that appear and fade away like a math class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23. Smile and Laugh more.

24. You don't have to win every argument.  Agree to disagree.

Community:

25. Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything.

28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.  Your family and friends will.  Stay in touch with them as you get older.

Life:

32. Do the right things.

33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

34. GOD heals everything!

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

36. No matter how you feel, get up, get dressed and show up!

37. The best is yet to come.

38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank God for it.

39. Your inner most being is always happy. So, be HAPPY!!!!!

40. Last, but not least, share this with everyone you care about.  Send either by email, or the old fashioned way.  Print it out, include a personal handwritten note, put it in an envelope with a stamp and mail it.  Everyone loves getting personal and uplifting mail!

You may have already received this message in one of those emails that continues to circulate.  But I felt it had enough substance to post in this blog.  Take the time to read it, and apply as many of these valuable reminders to your life as possible.  Don't wait until New Years and claim you will make it your "resolution" - but start today.  I'm not saying it is always easy, but start with at least one. 

Wishing you the best life has to offer.

In His Grace,
Lynda

Kindness - Pass It On!

KINDNESS IS LIKE  a snowball that's rolling down a hill.  Each unselfish act or word is another snowflake that greets the others...creating something much larger than itself in the process. (Maureen Weiner - Simple Truths)

Check out the Power of Kindness Movie link below - Simple Truths - The Gift of Inspiration

Power of Kindness Movie

Favorite Quotes about Kindness

"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."  Unknown

"Kindness can become its own motive.  We are made kind by being kind."  Eric Hoffer

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."  Carl W. Buechner

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it will be too late."  Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Constant kindness can accomplish much.  As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate."  Albert Schweitzer

"Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution."  Kahlil Gibran

"Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read."  Mark Twain

"We wildly underestimate the power of the tiniest personal touch of kindness."  Unknown

The following links are great resources of inspiration and motivation:

Simple Truths

Beliefnet

Kindness Never Goes Out of Style

Kindness and thoughtfulness never go out of style.  They are always politically correct - but lately seem to be in short supply.  I was on vacation with three long time friends, and found a refrigerator magnet that caught my attention.  It read:

When words

are both true

and kind, they

 can change

the world.

Buddha

What have you done lately to help change the world, one fellow human being at a time?

Of course, that means you need to start with yourself first.  Do you have a kind and thoughtful attitude?  One that people notice when you walk into a room, or speak with someone over the phone?  Will others feel that you carry with you a specialness, an attitude that transcends kindness, gentleness, thoughtfulness and a loving spirit?

How many opportunities do you have every day to make a difference in the lives of others, simply by being kind and thoughtful - even to those who are rude and indifferent?

You just never know what is going on in the lives of others.  Something as simple as a smile, a nod of acknowledgement or other kind gesture, may turn their trouble ridden day into a sliver of sunshine or even hope.  Make eye contact.  Send that unspoken message that you care  - one human being to another.  Be respectful.

Respect isn't over-rated - it is just so often forgotten.  It goes a long way in helping to build self-esteem.

Being kind and thoughtful are high on my scale of "The peson I want to be as I walk through life's journey."  They stand tall alongside the Forgotten Virtues:  Honor, Purity, Loyalty, Integrity and Gratitude.

I am blessed beyond words with a wonderful family.  My daughters Kim and Kristen walk the talk when it comes to being kind.  Kim saw a poignant segment on 60 Minutes the other night and asked me to watch it.  It touched me so profoundly that I am inspired to get more involved in helping people, especially those in my own community. These are not folks in a third world country.  For us, they are a little over an hour away.  In some cases, they are just down the street.  Please watch the powerful short video in the link below and let me know if it impacts you as it has us.

60 Minutes - Hard Times Generation

In His Grace,

Lynda