Each day of our lives advice comes our way; some of it sound…some of it not so.
I may have blogged about this in the past, but believe it is sound enough to repeat.
“Each of us has to decide how much nonsense we can take in life and from whom we’re willing to take it. It depends of course on the situation and the people involved.” Vernon E. Jordan.
His mother offered this gem: “As you move ahead in life pass on your optimism and faith to the next generation.”
That is the question…but the continuation of the question is…happy. To be or not to be happy? This post is in answer to the question often posed to me, “Why are you always smiling?” Enough said. John 15:11 These things have I spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. Happy Sunday.
Who of us hasn’t known fear at some point in our lives? Some fears can be paralyzing while others can prompt us to take action. Sometimes it’s helpful to know another’s take on fear as we will read in the following quotes on the subject. Happy Saturday.
The only thing we have to fear is…fear itself…Franklin D. Roosevelt
Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain. Mark Twain
He who overcomes his fears will truly be free. Aristotle
Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try. Michael Jordan
He who fears he will suffer, already suffers because he fears. Michel De Montaigne
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me…Job 3:25
Courage is fear that has said its prayers. Dorothy Bernard
Our pastor recently mentioned a quote by Winston Churchill which made me think of the battle we are fighting in today’s world.
“Never was so much owed by so many to so few” was a wartime speech made by the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, in August 1940. He was referring to the pilots of the Royal Air Force, who fought so fiercely in the Battle of Britain. They were sorely outnumbered.
To me, this applies to all the front line workers who are too few for the too many who are suffering from the corona virus. Doctors, nurses, all medical and scientific personnel waging war against the battle of Covid, to save lives while risking their own.
As the RAF crews experienced victory in the past, may those on this new frontier experience the same victorious outcome as new battling words are spoken: “Mask up, keep a distance, wash your hands.”
Strength is a powerful word; not just physical strength, but moral strength and spiritual strength as well. Sometimes we need help to keep up our strength, and sometimes that help comes in the form of words spoken by others.
You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice. Bob Marley, singer/songwriter.
Strength is a matter of a made up mind. John Beecher, author.
Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. Suzanne Collins, American author and screenwriter.
Courage isn’t the strength to go on…it is going on when you don’t have the strength. Napoleon Bonaparte
“He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.” Isaiah 40:29
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Mahatma Gandhi
Sometimes we read a book, put it down, and say, “Wow, that was really good!” I have read many books like that, and Tuesdays with Morrie was one of them, Morrie being a man at the edge of life’s fragile end.
Here is some of what I learned from one of Mitch Albom’s very popular books.
“Don’t cling to things because everything is impermanent.”
“The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”
“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”
“Be compassionate,” Morrie whispered. “And take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much better a place.”
“As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed as ignorant as you were at twenty-two, you’d always be twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.”
“I thought about all the people I knew who spent many of their waking hours feeling sorry for themselves. How useful it would be to put a daily limit on self-pity. Just a few tearful minutes, then on with the day.”
“The truth is, when our mothers held us, rocked us, stroked our heads -none of us ever got enough of that. We all yearn in some way to return to those days when we were completely taken care of – unconditional love, unconditional attention. Most of us didn’t get enough.”
“Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”
“You can not swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” This is a quote by William Faulkner, Nobel Prize laureate.
This quote became my motivation to step out into a different world than the one that I had inhabited for twenty-one years as wife, homemaker, and mother; the world that changed when the “I do” became “I don’t”. It was my reminder that life goes on after separations, divorces, and even death.
When I lost sight of the shore, the new horizon held a new partner, self-employment, the publishing of two books, and a whole new spiritual dimension.
Take heart if your life seems to be stuck on the shores of strife…new horizons are just a swim away.
My Precious Life 