All I Need to Learn about Life . . .

All I Need to Learn about Life I learned from the Easter Bunny!

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Walk softly and carry a big carrot.

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

There's no such thing as too much candy.

All work and no play can make you a basket case.

A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

Some body parts should be floppy.

Keep you paws off other people's jellybeans.

Good things come in small-sugarcoated packages.

The grass is greener in someone else's basket.

An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.

To show your true colors you have to come out of the shell.

The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

~Author Unknown~

The Dash

I read in the AA Grapevine the story by Jessica L. about the meaning of the dash on a tombstone.  Below is the poem she mentioned.  Today I am trying to make the most of my dash one day at a time.

Happiness and peace of mind are always here, open and free to anyone. 

The Dash

by Linda Ellis

 

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth

And spoke of the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years.

 

For that dash represents all the time

That she spent alive on earth

And now only those who loved her

Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,

The cars, the house, the cash,

What matters is how we live and love

And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;

Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

To consider what’s true and real

And always try to understand

The way other people feel.

 

And be less quick to anger

And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives

Like we’ve never loved before.

 

If we treat each other with respect

And more often wear a smile,

Remembering that this special dash

Might only last a little while.

 

So when your eulogy is being read

With your life’s actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent your dash?

 

© 1996 Linda Ellis

Living Prayer

The saying goes.... "Prayer is talking to God, and meditation is listening to God."

A few years ago, I went to a seminar on meditation.

The spiritual teacher, taught and demonstrated many forms of meditation.

One of the forms he demonstrated was what he called, "Living Meditation".

Living meditation is a method of contemplative introspection while moving through our daily lives.

It is a way, to slow down, and cast our thinking inside of our hearts, before verbalizing our feelings and thoughts.

This method allows us to "speak from the heart".

This methodology also teaches us to be a part of, rather than separate from.

Try it! You will like it!  

I was meditating this morning, and my inspiration came.

Why not create Living Prayer.

Yes! Live a prayer!

Choose something that you pray for and bring it into the world.

If you pray for God's will, "Let Go and Let God".

Trust in God!

If you pray to be loved, be loving.

If you pray for health, (even if you are sick) act as if you are healthy, and help another.

The point is, prayer works if we work it.

Open your hearts to your "Higher Power" and the possibilities are endless.

Live your prayers and you will see the miracles that God wants for all of us.  

Today I will live my prayers.  

I will be contemplative and speak from my heart.

I will be a part of rather than separate from.

 

The Dog Rule

Handle every stressful situation just like a dog.

If you can't eat it or hump it . . .

Piss on it and walk away!!!

Fluid Like a River -- Living Like Water

The journey of water as it flows upon the earth can be a mirror of our own paths through life.
Water begins its residence on Earth as it falls from the sky or melts from ice and cascades down a mountain into a tributary or stream.
In the same way, we come into the world and begin our lives on Earth. Like a river that flows within the confines of its banks, we are born with certain defining characteristics that govern our identity.
We are born in a particular time and place, into a specific family, and with certain gifts and challenges.
Within these parameters, we move through life, encountering many twists, turns, and obstacles along the way—just as a river flows.


Water is a great teacher that shows us how to move through the world with grace, ease, determination, and humility.
When a river breaks at a waterfall, it gains energy and moves on.
As we encounter our own waterfalls, we may fall hard, but we always keep going.
Water can inspire us not to become rigid with fear or hold fast to what is familiar.
Water is brave and does not waste time clinging to its past but flows onward without looking back.
At the same time, when there is a hole to be filled, water does not flee from it, fearful of the dark; instead, it humbly and bravely fills the empty space.
In the same way, we can face the dark moments of our life rather than running away from them.


Eventually, a river will empty into the sea.
Water does not hold back from joining with a larger body, nor does it fear a loss of identity or control.
It gracefully and humbly tumbles into the vastness by contributing its energy and merging without resistance.
Each time we move beyond our individual egos to become part of something bigger, we can try our best to follow the lead of the river.

Today's DailyOM

Walking Life's Tightrope

Being on the tightrope is living;
everything else is waiting.

--Karl Wallenda

Life itself is a risk.
When I hold on too tight, remain too guarded, and anxiously try to control every factor, I become stiff and reactive rather than calm, focused, and responsive.
The guidance of my spiritual path teaches me to let go of my anxieties and leads me to peace of mind.
When I learn to do this, I can deftly walk my path and more effectively maintain my balance in dealing with whatever comes up.
Today I will calm myself while walking on my path.

Beyond Words

To be alive in this beautiful,

self-organizing universe -- to

participate in the dance of life

with senses to perceive it,

lungs that breathe it,

organs that draw nourishment

from it -- is a wonder beyond words.

Joanna Macy

www.gratefulness.org

The Width Of My Life

I don't want to get to the end of my life and
find that I lived just the length of it.
I want to have lived the width of it as well.
Diane Ackerman

Three Things In Life

Three things in life that, once gone, never come back -
1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity

Three things in life that can destroy a person -
1. Anger
2. Pride
3. Unforgiveness

Three things in life that you should never lose-
1. Hope
2. Peace
3. Honesty

Three things in life that are most valuable -
1. Love
2. Family & Friends
3 . Kindness

Three things in life that are never certain -
1 Fortune
2. Success
3. Dreams

Three things that make a person -
1. Commitment
2. Sincerity
3. Hard work

Three things that are truly constant -

Father - Son - Holy Spirit

I ask the Lord to bless you,

as I pray for you today;

to guide you and protect you,

as you go along your way.

God's love is always with you,

God's promises are true.

And when you give God all your cares,

you know God will see you through.

Amen.

What Will Matter?

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and "to do" lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance, but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.

A Grand Thing

I have sometimes been
wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable...
but through it all I still know quite certainly
that just to be alive is a grand thing.
Agatha Christi

Mental Feng Shui

ONE.
Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO.
Marry a man/woman you love to talk to.
As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE.
Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR.
When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

FIVE.
When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

SIX.
Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN.
Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT.
Never laugh at anyone's dreams.
People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE.
Love deeply and passionately.
You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.
In disagreements, fight fairly.
No name calling.

ELEVEN.
Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE.
Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN.
When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN.
Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN.
Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN.
When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN.
Remember the three R's:
Respect for self;
Respect for others; and
Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN.
Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN.
When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY.
Smile when picking up the phone.
The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY- ONE.
Spend some time alone.

Scattered Pieces

I did not go to AA to quit drinking.
I went to AA to learn the secret formulacalled "How to Drink Like a Gentleman."
At the end of three months, I had not been given the secret formula,but something happened: I did not get drunk,nor did I quit going to meetings.
When I went to that first meeting, in fear and trepidation, I did not realizethat the people of AA would lead me out of the bondage of alcoholand into the promised land of sobriety,if I would simply stay away from the first drink. . .
And, eventually, AA would lead me back into the stream of life,and I would pick up the scattered pieces that were the jigsaw puzzle of my life.

Time To Start Living, p. 26

Our Lives, Sowing Times

Our short lives on earth are sowing time.
If there were no resurrection of the dead, everything we live on earth would come to nothing.
How can we believe in a God who loves us unconditionally if all the joys and pains of our lives are in vain, vanishing in the earth with our mortal flesh and bones?
Because God loves us unconditionally, from eternity to eternity, God cannot allow our bodies - the same as that in which Jesus, his Son and our savior, appeared to us - to be lost in final destruction.

No, life on earth is the time when the seeds of the risen body are planted.
Paul says: "What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable; what is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; what is sown is weak, but what is raised is powerful; what is sown is a natural body, and what is raised is a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
This wonderful knowledge that nothing we live in our bodies is lived in vain holds a call for us to live every moment as a seed of eternity.

The wonderful knowledge, that nothing we live in our body is lived in vain, holds a call for us to live every moment as a seed of eternity.

-- Henri Nouwen

One Great Thing

I think over again my small adventures,

my fears, those small ones that seemed so big,

all those vital things I had to get and to reach,

and yet there is only one great thing:

to live and see the great day that dawns,

and the light that fills the world.
Old Innuit Song

How Much More Will The Father Give

1. Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
2. Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance:
   I will dress modestly;
   I will not raise my voice;
   I will be courteous in my behavior;
   I will not criticize anyone;
   I will not claim to improve or to disciplince anyone except myself.
3. Only for today, I will be happy in the certainity that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
4. Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
5. Only for today, I will devote ten minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
6. Only for today, I will do one good deen and not tell anyone about it.
7. Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
8. Only for today, I will make a plan for myself:
   I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it.
   And I will be guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
9. Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no else who exists in this world.
10. Only for today, I will have no fears.
    In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness.
    Indeed, for twelve hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

-- Blessed (Pope) John XXIII (1963)

The Price Of Pain

The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain.

-- St. Padre Pio da Pietrelcina

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift . . . .
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Wisdom = Living Life

One cannot have wisdom without living life.

--Dorothy McCall

Understanding circumstances, other people, even myself, comes with the passage of time and my willingness to be open to all the lessons contained within a moment.
Immersion in the moment accompanied by reflective quiet times promises a perspective that offers me wisdom.
I all long for happiness, an easier life, and wisdom.
I have learned so slowly that both happiness and the easier life are generally matters of attitude. Therein lies my sought-after wisdom.
How much simpler it makes living through even my most feared experiences when I have acquired the wisdom to know that the mind I carry into the moment, any moment, will be reflected in the outcome.
It takes patience and willingness to live fully enough to reap the benefits that accompany wisdom.

Live Life

Life is short!
Break the rules!
Forgive quickly!
Love truly!
Laugh uncontrollably!
And never regret anything that made you smile.