Thoughts for the Evening

Where holding a grudge chains you to unhappiness, giving the gift of forgiveness sets you free. ~ Lee Jampolsky



Being happy has nothing to do with how much you have, and everything to do with how grateful you are for what you do have. ~ Lee Jampolsky

Evening, Thoughts and Beauty

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Albert Einstein



Do all things with love.
Og Mandino



Beneath
the petals
spread in clinical precision
shoulder to shoulder
fresh and blue
clustered en masse
secure
in the safety
of numbers,
are
the hardworking,
rough skinned
upward looking
leaves
flaring out
tangled
mostly in tolerance,
in each other,
some purple
at the edges
due to strain,
some coming up
with new ones,
and some,
slogging away beneath
in proletarian style
so that
the blues
may enjoy their day
in the sun.
Posted by Ugich Konitari to Sylvia From Over the Hill at August 11, 2010 9:03 PM

Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.
Kahlil Gibran

Thoughts for the Evening

We spend most of our lives conjugating three verbs: to want, to have, and to do. ~ Evelyn Underhill

Optimist: Person who travels on nothing from nowhere to happiness.
~ Mark Twain

Sunset

May I never miss a sunset or rainbow because I am looking down. ~ Sara June Parker



Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Evening, Wisdom - Life Comes at You Fast ! How are You Using Your Time?

A friend sent this to me the other day -- I had to stop and wonder if she had done it for more of a reason than just sharing something she had found or had sent to her. But for whatever reason, it did make me stop and take a look at how I use my time. It's worth taking a minute or so to read.

Too many of us put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because Canadians cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years.. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker.. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to....not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? 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? 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? Just call to say 'Hi'?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

'Life may not be the party we hoped for...

but while we are here we might as well dance!'

Evening Wisdom, Thoughts and Beauty

To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another. ~Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson



And remember, no matter where you go, there you are. ~Confucius



Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth. ~Benjamin Disraeli



Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year - it brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul. ~Author Unknown

Evening Wisdom, Thoughts and Beauty

When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.
Mark Twain



While there's life, there's hope.
Marcus Tullius Cicero



Good things happen to those who hustle.
Anais Nin



A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.
Leo Buscaglia

Evening Wisdom, Thoughts and Beauty

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.



He who has nothing to die for has nothing to live for.
~Moroccan Proverb



God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny.
~Garrison Keillor



Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.
~Peter Ustinov

Evening Words, Wisdom and Beauty

True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness.
Albert Einstein


Flowers are the sweetest things that God ever made and forgot to put a soul into.
Henry Ward Beecher

Nature is the art of God.
Dante Alighieri



I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we only will tune in.
George Washington Carver



Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.
Rabindranath Tagore

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I’ve had several people ask me lately if I’ve sworn off politics and I have to admit that I simply don’t have the stomach for writing about them much these days. I’m still very happy to have Obama in the White House, I’m very happy to see fewer Republicans in the Congress, but I’m tired of the constant media attention dissecting every single word, action, non-action. I’m tired of the Republican's constant whine, wail and bitch about everything and a large number of the Democrats are just as bad. There is so much anger and sorrow and suffering, so much hunger and sickness in the world today, but I see very few of those who actually have the power to make changes doing anything more than squabbling over their own territory.

There are wonderful people who try so patiently to ease the suffering, the hunger in the world and I’m uplifted when I read blogs like Maithri’s The Soaring Impulse. And there are others out there that do all they can to make a difference, but there will never be enough. In the meantime my own country is stumbling along on the edge of another Depression and the people who could make a difference are too immersed in their own agenda to see or care about what is happening to so many people right here in the “good old US of A”!

So, at least for now I’m trying to focus on the beauty of nature, on love and caring and generosity, on the words of men like Gilbran and Tagore; as I work to lift myself out of the gutter of despair that I see/hear every day. I don’t want to sink into that space, there is more to life than that. You may have to work harder to find it, but it’s there.

So, at least for now or until I can find a constructive way to make a difference, I’ll focus on the beautiful things, the humor, the love that are always available – even if you do have to look a little harder for them.

Lessons from the Rain

If you click on this shot you will see the tiny raindrops clinging to every limb and twig on this red maple tree in our backyard. They taught me a really lovely lesson yesterday.

As all of you know, I've spent a lot of time and words and space grumbling about the cold, the gray skies and the endless rain. But yesterday I was reminded of a lesson that I thought I had learned a long time ago -- obviosly, I had forgotten it. As I was having some lunch and staring out at the steady rain, something caught my eye, something different and something beautiful. As soon as it slacked off a little, I grabbed the camera and went out to see if I could catch what I had seen.

There was no wind yesterday -- amazing in itself -- and the raindrops were sparkling like diamonds on every twig, every new budding leaf, every limb! It was breathtaking! I suddenly realized -- again, that there is beauty to be found everywhere if you just take the time to look for and at it. There is color and beauty even in a rainy day, in the shades of gray and shapes of the clouds, the sparkle of the raindrops -- it's all about opening your eyes and looking for it. You can always find what you are looking for -- the problem is we sometimes just look for the dark, the sad, the maddening and when that happens we need to change our focus. And the beauty in nature isn't all that we have. There is the beauty of music, of beautiful words and thoughts that you can enjoy any day.

I can't promise never to complain about the weather again -- I'll probably never be that enlightened, but I will take another look before I start the long whine.


Can you find some unexpected beauty in your life today?

Some Late Night Thoughts

I have been depending on photos, funny stuff I’ve received from friends, and poetry, for most of my posts recently and there are several reasons for that. For one, I’ve been battling asthma this winter and it has kept me at home more than usual, but has also sapped my energy.

I have to admit that I’m not a very patient individual, I’ve always gone pretty much at a dead run for most of my life and being forced to slow down has not been something that I anticipated or wanted. But it is a reality and with the pace slowed down considerably, I sometimes find my thoughts getting very dark – not all the time, but sometimes, like now – when mentally I still have so much energy, but physically I don’t and I find the frustration difficult to deal with. And watching my kids, struggling with the concerns, the realities of our economy and not being able to do anything to help adds still more frustration.

So, the days become more difficult and frustrating and as it gets later at night, I find myself fighting off an unhealthy wave of frustration and depression. I don’t show it to my kids because they have enough to cope with – so, guess what? You, my fellow bloggers, get to listen to my whines and whimpers!

I thank you all for your support, your kind comments – you make it all bearable and I know that many of you are going though some of the same crap – please know that I’m there for you as well.

And with those cheerful and uplifting words, I will bid you good night. Thank you!

Thought for the Evening

The clouds here yesterday were so amazing! Had to share this one this evening.

Love is an endless mystery, for it has nothing else to explain it.
Tagore

Amazing Words by the Late George Carlin

Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side..

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
George Carlin

This Evenings Thoughts

If anger be the basis of our political activities, the excitement tends to become an end in itself, at the expense of the object to be achieved. Side issues then assume an exaggerated importance, and all gravity of thought and action is lost; such excitement is not an exercise of strength, but a display of weakness.
Tagore

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha

And finally in light of the present financial crisis, it's interesting to read what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.'

/\ Namaste
When there have been so many wise men from everywhere in the world for so many, many years who have written so eloquently on subjects that are as relevant today as they've ever been, why is it that ignorance and downright stupidity still flourish and even seems on the rise? I have no comments to make on these three quotes because they speak so clearly, so eloquently on their own.

I leave you with a field of tulips from Skagit Valley and another breathless look at Snoqualmi Falls.

May you all have a beautiful tomorrow.

Evening Words, Wisdom and Beauty

/\Namaste
The more I read Tagore the more I learn about myself, about life, about people, beauty, nature. One of the good things about more time for myself is the time to discover beauty, joy and hopefully wisdom.

Children are living beings - more living than grown-up people who have built shells of habit around themselves. Therefore it is absolutely necessary for their mental health and development that they should not have mere schools for their lessons, but a world whose guiding spirit is personal love. Tagore

As a former teacher as well as the mother of four, this quote truly spoke to me. The past two years I've been volunteering in a Jump Start program for pre-schoolers as well as an after school art class for first to fifth grade. It's been disturbing to see how little quality time parents today spend with their kids. It's all about more and more activities, after school, weekends. That is truly sad not only for the children but that their parents don't see/understand what they are missing as well as how much they are shortchanging both the children and themselves.

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come. Tagore

And, as one gets older and begins to truly realize the inevitable, this is a beautiful thought to hold onto.

Do not say, "It is morning," and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a new-born child that has no name.
And to see the wonderful possibilities of each new day! Tagore

Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it.
And that is the challenge! Opening ourselves to new experiences, to the joys that can be ours, the love we can experience! It is up to us to let go of fear and open ourselves in order to receive what is there for us.

Evening Words, Wisdom and Beauty

A vapor trail, beautiful against the sky, accenting the beauty of the sun on a winter day.

/\Namaste
Tonight I share some more quotes from Tagore. There's no particular theme with these, but just some wonderful words of wisdom.
"The burden of the self is lightened when I laugh at myself."
Being able to laugh at oneself is one of the greates gifts that we can give ourselves. But maybe one of the hardest. It is worth the effort and is a gift that keeps on giving -- sounds like a commercial, doesn't it? But it's true nonetheless.
"Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven."
When spring finally comes and the trees lift their new leaf clad arms, they do indeed seem to be speaking to the listening heaven.
"We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility."
Perhaps that is why it is so difficult to become great, as great humility is not easy to come by for many of us.
"We gain freedom when we have paid the full price."
This always sends me searching for the answer to the question -- what is the price?
"We live in the world when we love it."
And when we love it we care for it, we protect it, we shelter it, we feed it. Looking at the world today it would seem there has been a shortage of love over the years.

Thoughts

/\Namaste
All of these are by Tagore. He does say it all so beautifully. I really enjoy reading his poetry and looking for ones that I particularly like to share with you.
These are some of the beautiful things about love that perhaps we don't always think about. Love can make such a difference in all our lives if we recognize it and accept it rather than fight for or against it. And it comes to us in many differnt ways. Not the same for everyone. Not just lovers, wives or husbands or children. Sometimes the greatest love of all comes from those who can see inside us. And those might be husbands, wives, family, but they also may be those friends that somehow manage to see inside our hearts. How do you see love?

Love does not claim possession,
but gives freedom.

Love adorns itself;
it seeks to prove inward joy by outward beauty.

Love is an endless mystery,
for it has nothing else to explain it.

Love's gift cannot be given,
it waits to be accepted.

Tagore

Faith and Good Thoughts

/\ Namaste

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.
Rabindranath Tagore

During times like these we need to follow, to imitate the bird.


HUMAN BEINGS ARE SUCH SMALL CREATURES, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEM FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF OUTER SPACE, AREN'T THEY?

SO DON'T BE TOO WORRIED ABOUT EVERYTHING,
TREASURE EVERY MOMENT, DO WHAT YOU WISH TO DO.....
BROADEN YOUR VIEW, BROADEN YOUR MIND,
DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE BOTHERING YOU,
DO TREASURE YOUR LOVE, LIVE SAFELY AND PEACEFULLY,
ALWAYS BE HAPPY TO WELCOME THE COMING OF THE NEW DAY....... ENJOY THE SUNSHINE ..
ALWAYS LOOK AT THE BRIGHTER SIDE OF THINGS.....
I RECEIVED THESE LOVELY WORDS, REMINDERS, THOUGHTS FROM MY GOOD FRIEND ROB IN TORONTO. ENJOY!

Happy Monday!

The butterfly counts not months but moments,
and has time enough.
R. Tagore

I've had a lovely weekend, some sun, some clouds, some time to take pictures, some time to spend with friends. Eight of us got together to watch the Super Bowl and it was such fun to see Bruce Springsteen as the half time entertainer, lots of fireworks, and some of the most hilarious advertising I've seen in a long time! They out did themselves this year. So, there was lots of laughs, lots of good food and a lot of shouting when it looked as though the Cardinals would win, but as you may know, in the last minute and a half, the Steelers scored another touchdown. So, we were disappointed, but it was still an on-the-edge-of-your-seat game.

I wish you all a lovely start to the week, with lots of love and beauty and joy -- no politics today, I'm ranted out for the moment.