Like any good mother, her desire was to have her child grow bright and bold, and to be full of good humor and wit, and to be generous and courageous and kind.
For, being such, how could anyone not have the most beautiful story?
After all, what is the code and concept of life, of living, of humanity, if it is not to find one's calling and to have that calling be greater than one's self; if it is not to pursue that calling and complete it with joyous self-respect?
Lockdownby Richard Hendrick (a Capuchin Franciscan in Ireland)
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love. So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square, Sing.
The difference between a flower and a weed is judgment.
Enjoy actionable discoveries continuously shared - smartly - particularly those that uplift, inspire, promote harmony, expand opportunities, exemplify beauty, and reveal wonder, in other words, those proven to strengthen our emboldened exercise of genuine love through all of love's fertile dimensions, supplying those of us who are blessed and inspired to take action with necessary skillsets to be awesome in our real world. Namaste. Share.
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BE SMART
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Miracles of mind-over-matter and follies of matterless minds are enormously edifying.
Whether the spot we're in is unprecedented or repeated, those of us who are able can always elect to be that much stronger, balanced, clear-minded, full-sighted and present for those whose hard blow - launched off-kllter - is that much harder, blinding, knee-buckling, perhaps being experienced or seeming out-of-proportion, no comparison ever being required.
Create and optimize transferable value for a life of lasting significance regardless of endeavor.
We define profitable exchange to be 'value for value' offered in the arena where stakeholders are satisfied, causes are advanced toward individual and common good, and lives are experiencing wholeness and enjoying significance.
Today's pivot QUESTION: who knows, maybe you are that person living moment by moment stepping by faith into the next new environment, whatever it is; maybe you are that person moment by moment faithfully and fearlessly creating the new environment you leap and breathe into, knowing it is what in good faith you are gifted to create; maybe you are that person holding your nose, hitching a ride, and hoping for the best. Regardless,
- what is that vision you are stepping or leaping or flying toward (or standing in wait of) and what will you do after you touch it?
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Still Pretty
Sometimes I wish they tell boys these things before it is too late. Sometimes I wish they never tell any human such things, and we'd all be far better off. You see, I was not that much bigger than a boy then. And there was this girl. Well, there were other girls too, but this story is about this girl. Shall I? Let me. Actually, come to think of it, this story is not about the girl. Still pretty though. It is about a gift. I must've been something back in the day. Let's skip over the under-the-eyebrow sneak peaks, the giggling-smiles, the just-in-time-twirls, the hello-hi-how-are-you, to the aren't-you-a-friend-of-my-friend part, then to the meet my awesome friends part, then to the teeny-weeny gifts made just for yours truly part, and to the can-you-show-me-how to part, and, well, you get the drift, so much so that it must've been long-long-long past time for this athletic hunk-of-no-longer-a-boy to reciprocate. Why ever would it take any back-pack-carrying schoolboy so long to figure that out? Now that class was over, I knew I would be crossing her path. She would make sure of it. And it was Spring. My first Spring at this new school. There was a nice field scattered with gorgeous flowers. I pinched a few and cuddled them together. Approaching her, as I suspected I would, I hid my precious gift behind my back-pack. When our paths crossed, our mutual smiles must have lured all birds to sing a sweet melody, so I stuck my tiny bouquet in her hair. Just right. Still smiling, she reached up gracefully and took it out from her hair. And looked at it. She gave me a sharp look of scorn, slammed my unravelled bouquet onto the ground, and ran away - probably in tears. What in the name of heavens? I looked at my pile of boy-to-girl loveliness scattered across the grass, still pretty though. I shrugged my shoulders then left.
Not many days past, her best friend who was now also my friend approached me about my misdeed, wondering how I could've been so mean to our friend when she was always so nice to me, and no one had done me wrong. "I was not mean to her," I said. "I gave her flowers! And she got mad!"
"No, you didn't!" Our mutual friend reacted. "You sutffed dandelions in her hair."
I still did not know what was so wrong, untill news swiftly got around the schoolyard that I had given my girlfriend weed! The boys loved it so much; got me a lot of high-fiving street cred! Never mind, I learned my lesson and went and did what was right! But I still don't get it. What did dandelions do wrong?
I don't know, but I can tell you this: I do understand why certain 'good' people are destined ALWAYS to buy expensive gifts. Isn't life peculiar?
"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny." _ Mohandas Gandhi
Let's call this one the 'Not Quitting' Halliday Challenge! Yes! Now make sure you are sure that this is what you are about, that this is what you want, that this yours is God blessed, devil be damned. For this is huge: you've got your dream; it's your passion; it's your call; it's what you love! Oh, you're in love! Hard times strike! Problems staring you in the face. Difficulties coming right left and center. This is going to be a challenge. Don't worry! Just give that 'dream/passion/call/want' the Halliday Treatment. You look that thing right-smack-straight in its face, you take the deepest breath, and you say to it with every blood-curling holler in your soul, "I'm not gonna leave you; there's no way I will. And I am telling you, I'm NOT GOING. You're gonna love me!" I tell you, give that 'thing' the Halliday treatment, and if it did not drop dead and sink into the grave right there and then, you've got a keeper. Work with it. Let's hear you sing.
Learn something new - maybe a new language / an online course
Re-acquaint yourself with nature - bird-watching - hiking - gardening
Make that new recipe or invent one
Do puzzles / board games for families (or homies)
Call that person! Call that person! Call that person!
Drop a dish / Leave a note / Let someone know you're available (if you are)
Count blessings
Remember: this is YOUR LIFE; only you can live it.Live purposefully; that is profitable.
Take Action
"Know what you own. Understand what you claim. Believe you can achieve what you conceive then call it by its name. Mine! The extent to which you have this clarity of mind, this purity of understanding, this strength of belief, you have the fire, the fuel, the impetus, the passion, the determination, the willpower you require to pursue and retrieve your truest desire. But do not claim what does not belong to you. It will not keep you . . . it will suffer you but for only so long."
You are valued. You are important. What you experience is important. Your intention matters. You are a whole being. You are a true wonder. You diminish yourself whenever you pit valued elements of who you are against vital elements of who you are: your intuitive self against your intellectual self, your rational self against your emotional self, your gut against your heart against your head. Don't be put at war against yourself: you are a masterpiece. An intricate being. Human!
Staying In Balance
mentor
coach
advocate
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Life: it is a dance. It gets better with practice; its music is in your heart and in your soul and in your blood and in your bones. Life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice. You have a partner – your spirit. You can have a party if you like, but choose smartly who you invite, for life – your life – is a dance. It gets better with practice, unless you stop the music or so crowd your dance floor there is no space to move or be moved within it. Explore. Yes, life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice until the dance becomes the dancer and the dancer becomes the dance and life and all of existence becomes a singular flow. Yes, life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice. Dance.
Masterpiece
a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship.
tour de force
Where are Dreams Never Deferred?
Home is a special place. Love resides there. The best journeys take you there. Hope lives there. Home leaves no question about belonging. Friends belong there. Dreams thrive there. Home is a place of forgiveness. There is no rejection there. Home is a place of rest and recuperation and rejuvination. There is laughter there. Life takes you to unexpected places; love brings you home. At home you are free to flourish. It is where you birthed your wings. Are you there yet? Are you looking for the way there, charting a way there, waiting for the way there, or on the way there?
Out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
. . .
live laugh love
. . .
let your light shine
Come, let us all be friends for once,
Let us make life easy on us,
Let us be lovers and loved ones,
The earth shall be left to no one.
Across the nation and around the world there is a long rumble.
It is a rumble so loud it strikes ready ears as a distant clap of a fierce thunder. It is a rumble so low, it rides beneath the noise of a thousand human fears; it can no longer be heard. Fear of flight, fear of heights, fear of sand, fear of snow, fear of monsters in the closet, fear of bugs in the pillow, fear of cats, fear of bats, fear of strangers at the door, fear of being lost, fear of being laughed at, fear of being stuck in the toilet bowl, fear of whites, fear of blacks, fear of browns, blues and yellows, fear of nakedness, fear of the unknown, fear of being hurt.
Smile. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Learn. Be awesome. You are powerful beyond measure. You are not alone. You can do all things. I am you. You are me. We are one. Keep Sharing.
May our light shine on sprinkled seeds along The Journey.
"Live Your Life - Live it well. You are worth it."
Listen. Learn. Lead.
"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up." Martin Luther King Jr.Look. Listen. Learn. STRETCH! (A Place Called Ah.)
Breathe.
We are accompanied.
Balance - Focus - Rhythm
BE EVER REMINDED:the life you are living is YOUR life; ONLY YOU can live it!
The Journey - Your Voice Illuminated - Our Global Digital Radio Show & Podcast. We stop at exotic places, meet fascinating folks with intriguing stories and novel solutions to some of life's tricky problems. We play a few games too, and track remarkable characters of three classics: ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) SBL Series: 2:26 AM, The Gathering (Matchbox Mystery) and Flight Of The Fused Monkeys (5-Star Series). Life is beautiful and full of surprises. Breathe! Along our journey of life and learning we challenge ourselves toward the reaches of our highest ideals: to be our best, do our utmost, achieve our finest, wherever necessary and practicable redesigning the contours of possibility, reshaping human capability. Join our posse. We are changing the game! We welcome your perspective. Enjoy top dramatic, inspirational, mystery, scifi, and true stories. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Lead. Learn with us. Get your FREE AUDIO of 'Sven: The High Achiever's Journey'. You'll be glad you did. Share the experience.
ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) 
