Thought for Thursday

If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there the whole while, waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living.

Joseph Campbell

Thought for Thursday

Opportunity

John James Ingalls

Master of human destinies am I.

Fame, love, and fortune on my footsteps wait,

Cities and fields I walk; I penetrate

Deserts and seas remote, and, passing by

Hovel, and mart, and palace, soon or late

I knock unbidden, once at every gate!

If sleeping, wake--if feasting, rise before

I turn away. It is the hour of fate,

And they who follow me reach every state

Mortals desire, and conquer every foe

Save death; but those who doubt or hesitate,

condemned to failure, penury, and woe,

Seek me in vain and uselessly implore--

I answer not, and I return no more.

John James Ingalls
Born December 19, 1833
Died July 16, 1900

From One Hundred and One Famous Poems
 with a Prose Supplement
An Anthology Compiled by Roy J. Cook
Revised Edition, published in 1958
by The Reilly & Lee Co. Publishers, Chicago

Thought for Thursday

Abou Ben Adhem

James Henry Leigh Hunt

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

An Angel writing in a book of gold:

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,

And to the Presence in the room he said,

"What writest thou?" The vision raised its head,

And with a look make of all sweet accord

Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"

Replied the Angel.  Abou spoke more low,

But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,

Write me as one that loves this fellow-men."

The Angel wrote, and vanished.  The next night

It came again with a great wakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,

And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!

James Henry Leigh Hunt

(Born October 19, 1784;

died August 28, 1859)

CHANGE IT UP!

Change It Up!: Looking Differently at the Change You Want--And the Change You Don't 
by Amanda Dickson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that tries to be all things to all people. The author seems to be baring her soul. It is also one of those books that you could find an 'aha' moment. A certain word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph might be just what you need at that moment in time.

I found my 'Aha' Moment...

I always say to anyone/myself when faced with a decision to make a change, "What is the worst thing that could happen?".  Other than the result being life threatening, I think I can overcome all obstacles. That is certainly a negative way of approaching a decision. Especially for me, who considers myself a positive person.

Ms. Dickson gave me a new approach: 
"What is the best thing that could happen?" 
'Aha' Moment

There several insights that I want to remember.

Introduction: "We want to see change coming, but sometimes it is a gift hidden behind wrapping paper; we don't know what's in there. It could be something we'll really like. It could bless our lives in way we might not have selected for ourselves, but that we'll embrace now that it's here."

Chapter 1 "You Look So Great, Did You Change Your Hair?
Practice by making small changes. They give you confidence when you need to make bigger changes.

Chapter 2 "Who's That Girl?"
"You are not your titles. You are not your roles. You are not the actions you take or the way people count on you. You are simply you-pure, beautiful, you."

Chapter 3 "The One Thing You Can Count on Is Change" Yada Yada Yada
The biggest change-your definition of happiness. Ms. Dickson suggests:"happiness is what is happening right now". (I am still thinking about this one.)

"You know how when you suffer one of the biggest challenges of your life, you often look back years later with fondness or even laughter...You marvel at how one of the worst times in your life could lead to one of the best times in your life. The trick to finding the happiness in those moments is to laugh sooner, not to wait for years to pass until the lightness lifts you up."

Chapter 4: "I Could Handle Anything but This, Not This"
Keep the book if...

Chapter 5: "Who Am I Without Her?"
Not applicable to me. It may be for you. Keep the book.

Chapter 6: "Oh! If You Had Seen Me Then!"
"Trying to get beautiful is a means to the end of 'feeling' beautiful.' We want the way we 'feel' when we think we're beautiful."

"This is the 'aha' moment. The way to feel beautiful at any age, with any body, is to shift the focus. We no longer need people to look at us to feel beautiful-we need to look 'at people'. We become the mirror for them" (I am still waiting for my 'aha' on this one!)
Keep the book and read this in a few years!

Chapter 7: "I Don't Know What Else to Do!"
Not applicable for my future. However, I have had this experience...loss of my job after 30 years in the work force. My positive self kicked in...I felt free. In fact, I took three years off before jumping back into the fray. I loved every minute of it. Now I am retired and I am enjoying every minute of it!

Chapter 8: "If You Never Change Your Mind, Why Have One?" (A potpourri)
"Change your thoughts, and you change your world." Norman Vincent Peale
"Our judgment can only be as good as our information." Author
"Are there any beliefs passed down in your family that you might like to let go of?" Author
"I knew much more then than I do now." Bono, U2 song
"The older I get, the more I realize I have yet to learn" Author
"The day you open your mind, even in a small way, to the possibility of changing the way you think, energy comes flooding in. You will be amazed at how much energy you were using to hold your opinions up in the air, like plates twirling on sticks..." Author

Chapter 9: There Is No Such Thing As a Habit As a Habit You Don't Want

"If you don't want to, you'll stop. That's how you'll know you don't want to anymore." (Credit for this quote given to Byron Katie/'Loving What Is.'"

Chapter 10: Everything is Going to Be Okay. EGBOK
'This too shall pass.'

Chapter 11: "Be the Change You Want to See in the World" Mahatma Gandhi

A lot was packed into this 130 page book. It will become a resident on my book shelf.

"Things do not change, we change." 

Henry David Thoreau

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A Look Back to 2013 in Pictures

Happy New Year!

Lookin' Back - Movin' On

Continental Divide on the way to Idaho Springs, Colorado

It's that time again...Remembering the Past, Living in the Present,
Planning for the Future!

I didn't make any resolutions for 2013 and will not make any for 2014.  

But, thought I would give you an update to my 2013 Priorites:

#1 Diet: Eat only when I'm hungry...No counting calories   "check"
                 (At least on not counting calories:)
#2 Moderation in Everything  "check" well......excluding Thanksgiving and Christmas!  See #1
#3  One day off a week from Technology, To-Do Lists, Have-to's, and Should's. I had 'Good Intentions!'...and you know what 'they' say about that:) 
#4 Exercise x's 3 - Keep Moving.  "check" Can do better!
#5 Priorites: Quilting - Joined Quilt Guild and took over the Boutique.
                         Etsy Shop - Spent some time every day in shop "check"
                         Blogging - Figured out a routine...doing better.
                         Collage, Art, Artist's Trading Cards...not so good:(
                         Golf -Played with Chuck in neighborhood  scramble "check"

I checked off one major project....Yea!  I collected Christmas Cards for the last 25 years...those I have received through the mail; some people gave me; and some I found in thrift stores, flea markets, or estate sales.  I was determined to make an Alphabet 'Touchy/Feelie' Christmas Alphabet Book...one like my Mother-in-Law made for her grandchildren.  I persevered. It was completed before December 31st!

My Priorities for 2014--those things I want to do at least once a week--Etsy Shop, Art, Golf, Quilting, Exercise, Blog. 

Sometimes 'life happens' and I don't get to one or two or three my Priorities.  I  don't beat myself up about it.  I just try to do better next week.

I added two priorities for 2014.

#1 When 'out of the blue' I think of someone I will contact them.

 More times than not when I didn't I wished I had.

#2 I will be an 'active' person instead of a 'reactive' one.* There is a difference. 

Penobscot Bay, Maine

Wishing you and yours-

 A Happy and Prosperous New Year in 2014!