Real Security

If money is your hope for independence, you will never have it. The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.

- Henry Ford

Plant and Reap

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
* If you plant hard work, you will reap success
* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation
* If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

'Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back'

Don't ask yourself what the world needs...

...Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

- Harold Thurman Whitman

Happiness is...

...the peace of mind that comes from feeling that I am living a worthy life in the company of people I love and in the service of something bigger than myself.

- Michael Josephson

Dont Give Up...

I was having a bad day and a good friend sent these to me for inspiration.

The man who wins may have been counted out several times, but he didn’t hear the referee. Never quit or give up….never…..never give up.

- H.E. Janson

Never let your head hang down. NEVER GIVE UP AND SIT DOWN AND GRIEVE. Find another way.

- Satchel Paige

Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense

- Winston Churchill

Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed the loss.

- Doug Williams

Never, never, never, never give up.

- Winston Churchill

Never Land

Regrets of past inaction shining down from the sky

The great revealing of our sorrow appears

The politics of patience deliberating with my soul

Ideas of perfection are so passé

If you think I don’t know about troubles you’re insane

Walking on the clouds

Switching on rainbows

On wings of something like a dream

Holding on to a hope

The hope of a paper heart

A handmade sunrise with a vintage glare

An exotic foggy morning

A solitary park bench

The mosaic of birds in the air

A cup of coffee raised to my lips

Finding a summer dream in a winter morning

A place where eagles fly into the sun and care no more

How can shadows hide so well?

Why was the earth-bound misfit placed here?

So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!

- By David Harrison (As relative to my Facebook name 'Zarina
wants balance... how when passion drives action and limits stifle creativity?')

Everyone...

...has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, 'Make me feel important.' Never forget this message when working with people.

- Mary Kay Ash

Take a chance!...

...All life is a chance. The person who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.

- Dale Carnegie

Scattered Thoughts

why are we asking questions of the eternal mysteries of a temporary world>

is the rising up of the downtrodden the downfall of a civilization

the blurring lines of accepting acceptance and rejecting rejection form the dissolution of society. the promises of answers are only met with questions. problems should not dissolve a being but build upon former stages of struggles

feeling has are hard time finding its place among the foreign languages in the great arena of life. how are our lives lost in the translation of youth

sinners turn to saints only to find suffering
but somewhere a connection is made between love and lose

definitions change over time and where the bar is set seems like an opinion
people mishandle mishaps and repeat retries

do we truly at the end learn to reject acceptance and accept rejection
is there a complex that defines the embodiment of this stoic elitism apart from the mainstream

for a being is either a part of the system or lying apart from it
the pace of change is faster than chasing the pace of planes

an abandoned piano still can produce overture
an a lost soul can still find hope
an anything’s worth is found in a mirror
where does religion meet relationship
why does ritual lead to remorse
what right is redeemable

- David Harrison

"What do We Choose to See?"

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

(Taken from the Positive Power People Newsletter by Jim Gentil)

A friend once gave me this list that I thought was important to keep... it is sort of a compilation of things that he put together, that make you feel good or warm your heart.

• A song that reminds you of someone
  
• Missing someone
• Someone who makes your food taste that much better
• Holding a child
  
• Making someone laugh
• Admitting fault
• Teaching or mentoring someone
  
• Shedding a tear at church because you realize how insignificant you truly are
  
• Telling someone else they did a great job
  
• Honoring beauty and telling someone about it
  
• Giving a carrot… not the horse
  
• Having mercy on someone at any time or any place
  
• Reading and remembering a great quote
  
• Donating time or money to a good cause