Being and non-being are born of each other,
Difficulty and ease form one another,
Long and short mutually define,
High and Low to each other incline,
Tone and voice as one align,
Front and back each other bind.

-Lao Tzu, translated by Patrick Byrne

"There are only two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

- Edith Wharton

We Decide

"We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us...how we can take it, what we can do with it...and that is what really counts in the end."

- Joseph Fort Newton

Disciplining Yourself...

"...to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction."

- Brian Tracy

Calm Thoughts...

This was sent from a friend. It was her horoscope for today.

"Choosing to keep our thoughts calm allows us to complete our work efficiently and with the least amount of stress. While a heavy workload can make us feel pressured, it is often our own stressful thoughts that compound the problem. If we can instead choose to adopt a peaceful state of mind regardless of our obligations, we instantly release a large amount of tension from our minds. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, we feel calm and focused on our tasks and accomplish them with greater ease. This calm mind-set also enhances our ability to concentrate and be productive. You can enhance your level of efficiency and accomplish your tasks more easily today by choosing to stay calm and collected."

Dance... Just Dance

Live simply,

Love generously,

Care deeply,

Speak kindly...

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.

It's about learning to dance in the rain.

- Author unknown

Attitude is Everything

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?" So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. "H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?" So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head."YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"
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Attitude is everything. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
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- Author unknown

This kid is Awesome!!!

A friend sent this to me. The kid in the video was the key note speaker to a group of employees within the Dallas school districts. DEFINITELY worth a quick watch.

http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm

You can accomplish anything in life...

...provided that you do not mind who gets the credit.

- Harry S. Truman

The Top Ten Distinctions between Wisdom and Foolishness

10. Wisdom has a fast mind and a slow mouth
Foolishness has a fast mouth and a slow mind

9. Wisdom is a giver
Foolishness is a taker

8. Wisdom has an open mind
Foolishness has a closed mind

7. Wisdom equals prosperity
Foolishness equals poverty

6. Wisdom learns from the past and plans for the future
Foolishness regrets the past and fears the future

5. Wisdom seeks peace
Foolishness seeks a fight

4. Wisdom has vision
Foolishness is blind

3. Wisdom is the application of knowledge
Foolishness is the application of lies.

2. Wisdom is disciplined
Foolishness is lazy

1. Wisdom creates freedom
Foolishness creates bondage

- Unknown

REAL SIMPLE Daily Thought

"To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever."

— Henry Drummond

“You can make a difference..."

"...A mediocre employer can hinder exceptional performance, choose to ignore it, and not adequately recognize or encourage it. Or an excellent employer can train employees to achieve exceptional performance and then reward it. Ultimately though, only the employee can choose to do his or her job in an extraordinary way, regardless of the circumstances.”

- Mark Sanborn, The Fred Factor

Enjoyment of Beauty...

"To devote yourself to the creation and enjoyment of beauty, then, can be a serious business - not always necessarily a means of escaping reality, but sometimes a means of holding on to the real when everything else is flaking away into... rhetoric and plot."

- Elizabeth Gilbert (excerpt from Eat, Pray, Love.)

It Takes Courage

It takes strength to be firm,
It takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to conquer,
It takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain,
It takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in,
It takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend's pain,
It takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to endure abuse,
It takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone,
It takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love,
It takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive,
It takes courage to live.

- Author Unknown

Creative Magic

You are here today to bring possibilities to life. Through your focus and your action, you continually transform what can be into what is.

You are a finely tuned and highly effective instrument of creativity. Whatever you most intensely and persistently imagine, comes surely and steadily to life. It is completely natural for you to bring dreams into reality. For that is what you do.

The limitations you perceive create rock-solid obstacles as long as you choose to hold them. The possibilities you imagine with passion and purpose are expressed through your life as magnificent achievements.

Often without even realizing it, you work your creative magic. With every thought, every action, every moment, every experience, you add your own special gifts to life.

Fill your dreams with beauty, fill your thoughts with integrity, and fill your moments with loving purpose. For they are what your world is surely becoming.

-- Ralph Marston

Hall of Fame football coach

"Any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on thefield of battle - victorious."

- Vince Lombardi (1913-1970)

Live Dangerously...

"In order to succeed, you have to live dangerously... as long as the danger is rationally accepted and as long as the rewards far outweigh the risk."

-Sumner Redstone

07/28/08 - Note from the Universe

Sign up for this daily newsletter at http://www.tut.com/
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The only way to get what you really want, is to know what you really want.

And the only way to know what you really want, is to know yourself.

And the only way to know yourself, is to be yourself.

And the only way to be yourself, (your name), is to listen to your heart.

I do,
The Universe (God)

07/23/08 - Note from the Universe

There is a daily email that I get sent to me called "Notes from the Universe." You can sign up to receive it at http://www.tut.com/. The notes focus on helping you change the way you look at and speak about things. I love the information they provide and for me, the "Universe" represents or is another name for God.
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"Some folks, not having lived perhaps as much as you, endured as much, or loved as much, simply cannot see the truth of a situation, disagreement, or relationship as clearly as you. And so, it's wise to keep in mind, (your name), that it's not their fault.

Can you see this?
The Universe (God)

That you are in their life, (your name), that you are helping them, was part of the plan... though they cannot see this, either."

Wisdom...

"Wisdom is knowing the right path to take. Integrity is taking it."

- M. H. McKee

Its Your Witness...

"However, consider this... Time and Space worked out for you to be there at this time with him when this incredible spiritual change is taking place within you. Perhaps he is to witness this transformation so that he can change too.

Nothing ever done in this life is for us... it is always about those around us. Its your witness."

- M. Vipperman (7/12)

A Mother's Words of Wisdom

"Love isn't just a gift, ...its a responsibility."

- L. M. Borrayo (my whole life)

I just realized something...

...when I was little... they used to tell me... "If I didn’t love you, I would be easy on you, and let you get away with everything." ...I guess that is the way God works too... he would rather be hard on us, to make us the people we have the potential to be...

- Z. E. Zertuche

From a friend...

“People will always baffle you and let you down. The best thing that you can do is UNDERSTAND this and work around it with your skills, talents and autonomy. My favorite advice… be vulnerable as often as you can…it works 99% of the time for me.”

- M. J. Swyney (ages ago)

The Only Easy Day...

"The only easy day, was yesterday."

- NAVY Seals Motto