The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character.
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings. - Buddhist quote

Small Blessings


Dear Lord, it's such a hectic day

With little time to stop and pray

For life's been anything but calm

Since You called on me to be a mom

Running errands, matching socks

Building dreams with building blocks

Cooking, cleaning, and finding shoes

And other stuff that children lose

Getting lids on bottled bugs

Wiping tears and giving hugs

A stack of last week's mail to read

So where's the quiet time I need?

Yet when I steal a minute, Lord

Just at the sink or ironing board

To ask the blessings of Your grace

I see then, in my small one's face

That you have blessed me

All the while

And I stop to kiss

That precious smile

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” - Epicurus



Be blessed in all things...

“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.”-Jim Rohn

Today I'm happy and grateful because I...

• slept in
• stayed home, it's 48 degrees outside
• am not affected by Black Friday (sale!sale!sale!) anymore
• ate a lot of leche flan
• get to watch the boys do their skateboarding tricks
• chatted endlessly with a friend

Take a moment each day to be grateful.

Law Of Abundance In Action

To be able to grasp this ever producing, unlimited principle, let's stop and take a look at something as obvious as a blade of grass. Although it's life cycle only consists of approximately 5-6 months in many regions, a single blade continually produces hundreds of additional seeds of offspring. It, like everything in creation begins as a seed. It is enabled to sprout with the abundant supply of sunshine, and water provided to it. As it grows and matures it begins to produce additional seeds, hundreds of them, and the cycle continues season after season, year after year, century after century. This clearly illustrates the Law Of Abundance in action.

Look at the birds that you see on a day to day basis. The resources they utilize to build their nests is always in plentiful supply. When they become hungry there is always food for them to eat. The skies that they inhabit have an abundant supply of whatever it takes for them to achieve flight. This is the Law Of Abundance in action.

Go out to a remote area in nature sometime and see the acres and acres of trees and vegetation. Watch closely and you'll see squirrels playing and jumping from tree to tree in playful fun. Look closely into the layers of leaves and twigs laying on the ground, and watch as an abundant amount of life dwells below. This is the Law Of Abundance in action

Find an apple tree and observe the abundance of apples hanging from the branches and the more than enough surplus that have fallen to the ground to be enjoyed by the many creatures that dwell below. This is The Law Of Abundance in action.

Look into any lake, stream or pond and observe the abundance of life that dwells within it. This is the incredible, ceaseless, and never ending Law Of Abundance in action.

Source: http://www.abundance-and-happiness.com/

Promise yourself to be so strong

that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

Look at the sunny side of everything

and make your optimism come true.

Think only of the best,

work only for the best,

and expect only the best.

Forget the mistakes of the past

and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

Give so much time to the improvement of yourself

that you have no time to criticize others.
Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side

so long as you are true

to the best that is in you!

- Christian D. Larson

Simplifying

1. Eat oatmeal everyday. (Quaker's Take Heart Golden Maple...yum!)
2. Salon, once every 4 weeks.
3. Deep tissue/Hot stone massage, once every 2 months.
4. Cafe mocha (whopping 400 calories, not counting whipped cream!), once a week.
5. Muay Thai, 3 times a week.
6. Run, 2 times a week.
7. Splurges, once every quarter. (Better golf clubs!)
8. Ladder CDs.
9. Eat out much less.
10. Vitamin, iron pill and a lot of water everyday.

To be continued...

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. ~Leonardo DaVinci

Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind. With respect to luxuries and comforts, the wisest have even lived a more simple and meagre life than the poor. - H.D.T.

In a gentle way, you can change the world. - Gandhi

Still to be neat...

Still to be neat, still to be drest,

As you were going to a feast;

Still to be powder'd, still perfum'd:

Lady, it is to be presum'd,

Though art's hid causes are not found,

All is not sweet, all is not sound.

Give me a look, give me a face,

That make simplicity a grace;

Robes loosely flowing, hair as free:

Such sweet neglect more taketh me

Than all th'adulteries of art.

They strike mine eyes, but not my heart.

Ben Jonson

Be the change...

I shall pass through this world but once.

Any good therefore that I can do

or any kindness that I can show to any human being,

let me do it now.

Let me not defer or neglect it,

for I shall not pass this way again.

- W.P.

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. - HH The Dalai Lama

We are weaving character everyday, and the way to weave the best character is to be kind and to be useful. Think right, act right, it is what we think and do that makes us who we are. - Eldert Hubbard

My life is poetry and songs...

Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone in order to do it. - Author Unknown

My life in poetry and songs...

Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable - Lord Chesterfield

My life in poetry and songs...

There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded. - Mark Twain

Mindfulness.

Being aware of and paying attention to the moment in which we find ourselves.
Our past is gone, our future is not yet here.
So what exist between them is the present moment.
If I can observe and not get caught up in my thoughts, it is all that I have.
The here and now, the present is the link which holds what was and what will be.
My past was a series of present moments which brought me to this present moment.
My future should it happen will be a series of present moments effected by only present moment in which I am now living, being, doing, observing, being aware or unaware, and attentive or unattentive.
www.mindfulness.com

For My BFF...

On your nostalgia...

To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward - M.F.B.


On the "O" issue...

We often fool ourselves
And say that it's love
Only cause when it's gone
We end up being lonely
So how are we to know
That it just isn't so
That we just have to let each other go
There were many times
When we shared precious moments
But later realized they were only stolen moments
So how are we to know
That it just wasn't so
That we just had to let each other go
If loving you is all that means to me
When being happy is all I hope you'd be
Then loving you must mean
I really have to set you free
--excerpt from Set You Free (Side A)

On Getting Old...

Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old. - Franz Kafka


On Everythingelse...


When My Mind is Still - Paul Beattie

When my mind is still and alone with the beating of my heart,
I remember things too easily forgotten:
The purity of early love,
The maturity of unselfish love that asks -- desires -- nothing but another's good,
The idealism that has persisted through all the tempest of life.

When my mind is still and alone with the beating of my heart,
I can find a quiet assurance, an inner peace, in the core of my being.
It can face the doubt, the loneliness, the anxiety,
Can accept these harsh realities and can even grow
Because of these challenges to my essential being.
When my mind is still and alone with the beating of my heart,
I can sense my basic humanity,
And then I know that all men and women are my brothers and sisters.
Nothing but my own fear and distrust can separate me from the love of friends.
If I can trust others, accept them, enjoy them,
Then my life shall surely be richer and more full.
If I can accept others, this will help them to be more truly themselves,
And they will be more able to accept me.
When my mind is still and alone with the beating of my heart,
I know how much life has given me:
The history of the race, friends and family,
The opportunity to work, the chance to build myself.
Then wells within me the urge to live more abundantly,
With greater trust and joy,With more profound seriousness and earnest service,
And yet more calmly at the heart of life.

My life in poetry and songs...

It seldom happens that a man changes his life through his habitual reasoning. No matter how fully he may sense the new plans and aims revealed to him by reason, he continues to plod along in old paths until his life becomes frustrating and unbearable—he finally makes the change only when his usual life can no longer be tolerated. -- Tolstoy