"Bittersweet"

Life at best is bittersweet.  Jack Kirby

Education

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.

Maya Angelou

 

 

Freya Stark

Freya Stark, a fascinating woman with inspirational wisdom...3 of my favorite quotes from her:

 

“This is a great moment, when you see, however distant, the goal of your wandering. The thing which has been living in your imagination suddenly become part of the tangible world. It matters not how many ranges, rivers or parching dusty ways may lie between you; it is yours now for ever.”

“The most ominous of fallacies - the belief that things can be kept static by inaction”

“Good days are to be gathered like grapes, to be trodden and bottled into wine and kept for age to sip at ease beside the fire. If the traveler has vintaged well, he need trouble to wander no longer; the ruby moments glow in his glass at will.”

"Giving up Control"

It's been awhile since I posted...I had some serious introspection to do in my life but some decisions have been made that I hope will ultimately lead to a richer, more balanced, and meaningful life for me.  I like to take control of my life by hanging on tightly, but I'm working on letting go of that need so as to realize the life that has been waiting for me.

"Letting go doesn't mean we don't care.  Letting go doesn't mean we shut down.  Letting go means we stop trying to force outcomes and make people behave.  It means we give up resistance to the way things are, for the moment.  It means we stop trying to do the impossible--controlling that which we cannot--and instead focus on what IS possible--which means taking care of ourselves.  And we do this in gentleness, kindness, and love, as much as possible."  Melody Beattie

Mountains

"I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it."  Unknown

Missing my hubby

"Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, Only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence."  -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Risk

"People have to really suffer before they can risk doing what they love."  Chuck Palahniuk

"I felt despair.  Though it seems to me now there's two kinds of it:  the sort that causes a person to surrender and then the sort I had which made me take risks and make plans."  Erica Eisdorfer

 

"Let Go"

Sometimes you've got to let everything go--purge yourself.  If you are unhappy with anything...whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it.  Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out."  Tina Turner

"Insomnia"

If a man had as many ideas during the day as he does when he has insomnia, he'd make a fortune.  Griff Niblack

"New You"

"Make room for the new you. You may not have totally determined who the new you is going to be, but you probably have decided that there are some things about the current you, that you want to change. Well, while you are working on what the new you will be, start 'cleaning out a room' for the new you to live in. Get rid of the junk in your life both physical and mental that doesn't fit you anymore. Take things out of your schedule that are taking your time away from finding out what you want to do. By making room for the new you, you will create a vacuum that the new you will rush in to fill and you will be on your way to the top."
Edward W. Smith

"Puppies"

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.

Bern Williams

Happiness is a warm puppy.  Charles M. Schulz

I talk to him when I'm lonesome like; and I'm sure he understands.  When he looks at me so attentively, and gently licks my hands; then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes, but I never say naught thereat.  For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes, but never a friend like that.  W. Dayton Wedgefarth

"Naps"

Naps are nature's way of reminding you that life is nice - like a beautiful, softly swinging hammock strung between birth and infinity. Peggy Noonan

 

"Health"

The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being.  And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically and spiritually.  Greg Anderson

“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.”  Buddha

"Unanswered Prayers"

God answers first the prayers we should have prayed. 

Robert Brault

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.

Garth Brooks

"Fun"

“Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don't try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”  Anthony Robbins

“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”  Katharine Hepburn

"Vacation"

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."  Robert Orben

"Destination"

“I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” 

Jimmy Dean

“A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed...It feels an impulsion...this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.”  Richard Bach

"Timing"

“You cannot afford to wait for perfect conditions. Goal setting is often a matter of balancing timing against available resources. Opportunities are easily lost while waiting for perfect conditions.”  Gary Ryan Blair

“Nothing, of course, begins at the time you think it did.”  Lillian Hellman

"Inspiration"

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” 
Steve Jobs

"Inspiration is a fragile thing... just a breeze, touching the green foliage of a city park, just a whisper from the soul of a friend. Just a line of verse clipped from some book. Inspiration... who can say where it is born, and why it leaves us? Who can tell the reasons for its being or not being? Only this... I can think. Inspiration comes from the Heart of Heaven to give the lift of wings, and the breath of divine music to those of us who are earthbound."  
 Margaret Sangster 

"Surrender"

"At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice." 
Maya Angelou

"You’re in the midst of a war:  a battle between the limits of a crowd seeking the surrender of your dreams, and the power of your true vision to create and contribute.  It is a fight between those who will tell you what you cannot do, and that part of you that knows and has always known that we are more than our environment; and that a dream, backed by an unrelenting will to attain it, is truly a reality with an imminent arrival.”  Anthony Robbins

"Waiting"

"Waiting is a state of mind that says we want what we don't have. Therefore, with every kind of waiting we produce an inner conflict between now and the projected future. This greatly reduces the quality of our life. Are you a 'habitual waiter'?" 

Eckhart Tolle

 

"The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting. 
No! That’s not for you!"
Dr. Seuss (Oh, the Places You'll Go)

"Waiting is painful.  Forgetting is painful.  But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering.” 

Paulo Coelho

"Quotations"

"Collecting quotations is an insidious, even embarrassing habit, like ragpicking or hoarding rocks or trying on other people's laundry.  I got into it originally while trying to break an addiction to candy.  I kicked candy and now seem to be stuck with quotations, which are attacking my brain instead of my teeth."  Robert Byrne

"It's such a pleasure to write down splendid words - almost as though one were inventing them."  Rupert Hart-Davis