Wednesday's Words of Wisdom......

To be home alone is a haven.

But of what use is a haven

without someone to share it?

--Liz Armbruster

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom, My Own.........

Privacy is an illusion.

We only think it exists,
the same way we think that
the puppy in the shop window
will remain a puppy forever.

Or that someday, the children
will actually remember
when it's their turn to do the dishes.

Privacy is a wish, a hope, a dream.
But, in the end
It's only an illusion.

--Liz Armbruster

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.....

Time you enjoyed wasting,

was not wasted.

--John Lennon

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom....My Own!!

"The first day of school......

where children breathe a sigh of regret

and parents breathe a sigh of relief."
--Liz Armbruster

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.....

"The chief cause of failure and unhappiness

is trading what we want most

for what we want at the moment."

--Zig Ziglar

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.....

"As you seek new opportunity, keep in mind that the sun does not usually reappear on the horizon where last seen."

--Robert Brault

I have to admit that I have trouble with this one. I tend to look back with fondness and longing at opportunities and experiences past.

Forgetting sometimes that new adventures lay ahead. Forgetting that the much loved times gone by were once new and frightening as well.

I hesitate to step out of my comfort zone. I cling to the past, having to be dragged into the future as a child has to be peeled off of a parent on the first day of school.

Thanks, rb, for the reminder. A reminder that adventure awaits ahead and all that's left behind me are memories.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.......

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity!

--Henry David Thoreau

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own......

Even if you are on the right track,

you will get run over if you just stand there.

--Arthur Godfrey

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.....

Deep summer

is when laziness

finds respectability.

~Sam Keen

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own....

I originally read this in an Atlanta newspaper in 1998. I've kept it and made copies through the years (in case I lose the original!) I didn't know who the author was until today.

Her name is Oriah Mountain Dreamer, though that is not the name she was born with. Apparently, she has now written a book to go with this prose-poem. You can read more about her here.

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for

and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool

for love, for your dream,

for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...

I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow,

if you have been opened by life’s betrayals

or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,

without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own,

if you can dance with wildness,

and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes

without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic,

to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another

to be true to yourself.

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal

and not betray your own soul.

If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty

even when it is not pretty every day.

And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure,

yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake

and shout to the silver of the full moon,“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live,

or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up

after the night of grief and despair,

weary and bruised to the bone,

and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know,

or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand

in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself

and if you truly like the company

you keep in the empty moments.

--Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.....

You can't

build

a reputation

on what

you are

going to do.

--Henry Ford

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own....

The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser -

in case you thought optimism was dead.

--Robert Brault

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own......

A quote from the movie, Shenandoah--

If we don't try

we don't do.

And if we don't do,

why are we here on this Earth?

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own....

Winston Churchill wrote:

"To every person there comes that special moment

when he is tapped on the shoulder

to do a very special thing unique to him.

What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared

for the work that would be his finest hour."

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.....

Another Michael Jordon quote:

"Some people want it to happen,
some wish it would happen,
others make it happen."
--Michael Jordon

Which one are you?

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own.....

Considering my failure rate as of late.....I must be destined for success soon!!

The Mirror of Erised.....

In the first Harry Potter book Harry discovers the 'Mirror of Erised'. It's an enchanted mirror where the person who looks into the mirror sees his or her greatest desire. Harry sees himself surrounded by his parents and other family. Ron Weasley sees himself as a Quidditch champion holding the House Cup.

As I was reading the book the other day, and came across the chapter about the mirror, I had this thought.....what if we had a mirror like this? But one that would show us what lies on the other side of the veil. A mirror where the veil could be lifted. Where we could see our loved ones.....those who have already been here and gone, and those yet to come. We could see our Heavenly home. Our Heavenly Father. And we could feel their strength added to our own. How much easier would it be for us to fulfill our earthly mission if we could see the Heavenly help that is there for us.

It reminded me of this quote by Jeffrey R. Holland:

"In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil, and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike--and they will--you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed."
--"For Times of Trouble," BYU Speeches, 1980

I think that I may print this quote, and put it on my mirror. Maybe I'll never see the 'chariots of fire', but I know that they are there, just the same. Because an Apostle of the Lord told me so.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own....

"Noble and great. Courageous and determined. Faithful and fearless. That is who you are and who you have always been. And understanding it can change your life, because this knowledge carries a confidence that cannot be duplicated any other way."

--Sheri Dew

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own......

"Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be."

--Clementine Paddleford

Good advice, I think......(and not directed at anyone in particular, just so you know!)

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom Not My Own......

"Over the last 15 months, we've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. "
--Barack Obama

How does that saying go?? Out of the frying pan and into the fire? This is going to be a long 4 years!