Life...

There was a blind girl who hated herself because of her blindness. Not only did she hate herself but she hated everyone else, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend. One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and then she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, "now that you can see the world, will you marry me?"
The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her that simply said. "Just take care of my eyes dear." This is how the human brain changes when our status changes. Only a few remember what life was like before and even fewer remember who to thank for always being there even when times were painfully unbearable. Life is a gift.
Today before you think of saying an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak. Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat. Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out to God for a companion.
Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early to heaven. Before you complain about your children - Think of someone who desires children but is barren. Before you argue about your dirty house -- someone didn't clean or sweep --Think of the people who are living in the streets. Before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet. And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled and those who wished they had your job. But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - remember that not one of us is purely guilt free.
And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and thank God you're alive and still around.
Life is a gift: live it, enjoy it, celebrate it, and fulfill it. Relish the moment. It may not come around again.

What else is there to say..........

wb

First entry of 2007

After more than 30 days into 2007, I am finally posting again!!

The quotes will continue in 2007....

"I have never been a member of an organized political party. I am a democrat!"
Will Rodgers

The Daffodil Principle Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren. "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.
"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."
"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience." After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, " Daffodil Garden ." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.


It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers. "Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958." For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world ... "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!" My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?" Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting..... Until your car or home is paid off Until you get a new car or home Until your kids leave the house Until you go back to school Until you finish school Until you clean the house Until you organize the garage Until you clean off your desk Until you lose 10 lbs. Until you gain 10 lbs. Until you get married Until you have kids Until the kids go to school Until you retire Until summer Until spring Until winter Until fall Until you die...There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching.


wjb

Friday Quotes 9/15/05

"Challenges are what make life interesting: overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."-Josh J. Marine

"Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music."-George Carlin

"Change is inevitable- except from a vending machine."- Robert C. Gallagher

"Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home."- Bill Cosby

"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."- Albert Einstein

"To defeat them, First we must understand them."- Elie Wiesel (Nobel Lauret)

"When choosing between two evils I always like to take the one I've never tried before."- Mae West

Keep on smiling!

wb

Friday Quotes 8/25/06

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."
-Arnold Schwarzenegger


Where are your Scars?" by Carl P...
Some years ago on a hot summer day in South Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.His mother, in the house, was looking out the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go.A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived.His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.The newspaper reporter, who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn't let go."You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, or anything quite so dramatic. But, the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you.
View your scars as growth as you move along your path."

Wear them proudly!!
wb

Friday Quotes 8.18.06

Being powerful is like being a lady, If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.

Margaret Thatcher

Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, and to work, and to play and to look up at the stars.

Henry VanDyke as used by C. Vandevorde

The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long, yet live very little.

Michael de Montaigne as used by C. Vandevorde

Learning to do,
Doing to learn.
Earning to live,
Living to serve.

Motto of the FFA (Future Farmers of America)

May we all have a true servant's heart!
wb

Friday Quotes # 5

If we did all the things that we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.
Thomas Edison

Unless we give part of ourselves away, unless we can live with other people and understand them and help them, we are missing the most essential part of our human living.
Harold Taylor as quoted by C Vandevorde

People only see what they are prepared to see.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

TGIF

Friday Quotes 4

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Albert Einstein

Your day goes the way the corners of your mouth turn.
Unknown

Sit, walk or run but don't wobble.
Zen

From whom all blessings flow....
Thanks God!