Final Thought for 2012

The point is not to pay back kindness but to pass it on ~ Julia Alvarez

The Day You Were Born

Christmas Spirit

Wouldn't life be worth the living
Wouldn't dreams be coming true
If we kept the Christmas spirit
All the whole year through?
~Author Unknown

Christmas is Forever

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself.

Peace on Earth, good will to men,
kind thoughts and words of cheer,
are things we should use often
and not just once a year.

Remember too the Christ-child, grew up to be a man;
to hide him in a cradle, is not our dear Lord's plan.
So keep the Christmas spirit, share it with others far and near,
from week to week and month to month, throughout the entire year.

~Norman Wesley Brooks

God's Perfect Time

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God.
~Diana Robinson

The Vow

I take you to be my partner in life and my one true love.

I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you,

Lovingly and faithful through good times and bad,

Regardless of the obstacles we may face together.

I give you my hand, my heart, and my love,

And I promise to be there for you for all your life, come what may.

I Believe

When I Look Back ...

When I look back on my life,
I see ...
Pain
Mistakes and
Heartache.

When I look in the mirror,
I see ...
Strength
Learned Lessons and
Pride in Myself.

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

~Rumi

Passion drives Motivation

If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived?
Find your passion, whatever it may be.
Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.
~T. Alan Armstrong

Allow God to Change your Heart

If we are to ever change our behavior we have to first allow for God to change our hearts.
There aren't many ways to get past our pasts but to totally have a change in our mindset. Though some believe that the emotions we feel are not in our control, the staunch reality is, everything that we do is controlled by the way we view and think of life.
Your heart is a muscle like any other, and it definitely needs the right nourishment, and exercise.

You have to train your heart, and train your mind to think positively, so that the things that come out of you will be positive.

If you choose to allow yourself to remain in a negative and depressing mind state, the things that will come from your mouth will be abundantly more negative than positive.
If you choose to train yourself to stay in a positive mind state chances are the things that flow out of your mouth from your heart will be positive as well.

The Day You Were Born

I'm Possible

If Life was Easy .....

Life is Pretty Amazing

Open Heart and Mind

You Are
In the Right Place,
At the Right Time,
Doing the Right Thing,
With the Right People,
For the Right Reason,
Everything is Perfect.
You Can Have the Right Results.
All you need is a Right Heart and Mind...
an Open Heart and Mind.
and remember to keep your Eyes Open too
~Anon

Trust Yourself and Follow Your Heart

Making mistakes is inevitable in everyone's life.

We all make mistakes, and we all go through things that we wish we didn't have to go through, because of bad choices we have made.

Mistakes aren't bad at all, unless we continue to make the same mistake over and over again.

Don't waste your life aiming to be perfect when you can aim to be the best person you can be as yourself.

When we aim for perfectionism, we aim for a distorted view of life, that we will probably obtain physically, but not spiritually, or inside of ourselves.

Take the time today to really make your life representative of you in all of its aspects, today.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes, take risks, and follow your heart in everything that you do.

You don't hear your heart speak for no reason, listen closely; let it be your guide.

Make mistakes, take chances, be silly, be imperfect, trust yourself and follow your heart.

Quotes of the Day

Since everything is a reflection of our minds, everything can be changed by our minds.
~Buddha

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
~Albert Einstein

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.
~Sri Ram

Life is what You Make it - Make it Something

Life is strange, sometimes very dark, and very uncertain.
Some think of life as passion, and some think of life as what a man is willing to give his or her thoughts to.
Some call life a continual cycle of new surprises, while some say that life is one thing after another, as it were only a series of events.

One thing that we may all conclude about life is that it is definitely what you make it.

You will always have a choice in life, and from these choices you will have laid out the path you traveled, whether it is one that you had to beat down and create for yourself, or whether it is a road that you traveled along with everyone else who wasn't really too much interested in making their life their own.

Make out of life whatever it is that you desire to make out of it, just be sure to make something.

Lessons from the five people you meet in Heaven

"There are five people you meet in heaven," the Blue Man suddenly said. "Each of us was in your life for a reason. You many not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth."

"People think of heaven as a paradise garden, a place where they can float on clouds and laze in rivers and mountains. But scenery without solace is meaningless.
This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. to have it explained. it is the peace you have been searching for."

"...there are no random acts. that we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind."

"...fairness," he said, "does not govern life and death. if it did, no good person would ever die."

"Strangers," the Blue Man said, "are just family you have yet to come to know."

"Dying? not the end of everything. we think it is. but what happens on earth is only the beginning.

"sacrifice is a part of life. it is supposed to be. it's not something to regret. it's something to aspire to. little sacrifices. big sacrifices. a mother works so her son can go to school. a daughter moves home to take care of her sick father.

"sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. you're just passing it on to someone else."

"holding anger is poison. it eats you from the inside. we think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. but hatred is a curved blade. and the harm we do, we do to ourselves."

"love, like rain, can nourish from above, drenching couples with a soaking joy. but sometimes, under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots, keeping itself alive."

"lost love is still love, eddie. it takes a different form, that's all. you can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. but when those senses weaken, another heightens. memory. memory becomes your partner. you nurture it. you hold it. you dance with it."

"life has to end," she said. "love doesnt."

~Mitch Albom

I love this book!

Have Only Positive Expectations.

Remember that in life things happen for reasons out of your control.

Instead of getting down when things don't go right in your life, you have to remember that the only way to truly thrive in life is to have only positive expectations.

We all desire to be happy, and at some points life will seem unfair, but our greatness is built up more and more when we are able to keep hoping, even when everyone else seems to have a problem with your continued hope.

There are always going to be situations in life that we won't be able to control.

Instead of being still and worrying, be confident in the fact that you are a child of God, and if you rest in his promises by continuing to be faithful, there is no miracle in your life that you need that can't happen.

Just keep hoping, keep walking and stepping out on your undeniable faith.
Have
Only
Poistive
Expectations

My Children

To my children, I love you so,

you are so special, I hope you know.

With every day, that passes by,

you’re more the twinkle, in my eye.

So loving, so giving, a heart of gold,

always my babies, even when I am old.

Your love shines through, for all to see,

I feel so proud that you are a part of me.

Faith is Knowing ...

Being faithful is necessary to live your life to the fullest of its limits.

So many of us have so much greatness inside of us that we haven't tapped because we refuse to let go of the limits that our minds place on our lives, instead of listening to our hearts which will tell us that there are no limits in life.

Until you can truly start utilising faith in your life, you will never be where you truly desire to be.

The people who are most successful aren't always the people with the most resources, or the most talents.

The people who are most successful in terms of materials, love, and healthy relationships, are those who are able to use their faith when there is not anything else to stand on.

You can either live your life in fear, or you can live your life in faith.

You can either choose to walk through life, slowly, or fly through it by being faithful.

When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.

♥My Everything♥

Respect People's Feelings

Learning how to respect everyone is one of the most vital of lessons that we can all learn. Think before you say something, some people just need people to listen and understand where they are coming from before they are preached at.

Be there when someone asks you to be. Even when people make a situation seem unimportant, when a person asks you to be somewhere, they are asking you to be there because they truly want you there.

Just honor people in the same way that you want to feel honored. Though everyone has different standards and beliefs, we should often put ourselves in the shoes of others in situations so that we can best try to gather the ways that they may be feeling possibly.

Just because something doesn't mean that much to you, or just because it will have little to no impact on your life, doesn't mean that the same mutual feelings will be shared by everyone else you encounter.

Respect people's feelings. Even if it doesn't mean anything to you, it could mean everything to them.

Choose Your Words Wisely

Let Go & Let God

A lot of times we allow life and its stressors to take us to points in which we just shut down, lose hope, and lose faith, instead of allowing ourselves to continue in the pace, and in the direction that God wants to take us.

The reality in each situation that we face is that God's wisdom is always there for us to feed on, even in times we feel alone, lost, and misguided. When you just allow yourself to let go of the wheel, and trust that God is going to take control of the spiritual vehicle you are driving, then supernatural things will start to happen in your life.

Many don't realize the power of making the decision of whether to truly believe, and to not worry, not fret, and live a life full of God's guidance instead of their own. Be committed to the belief that God will take care of situations that you simply can't, be consistent with this belief, and God will consistently work inside of you.

I Understand because I Love

Each one of us has lived through some devastation, some loneliness, some weather superstorm or spiritual superstorm, when we look at each other we must say, I understand.

I understand how you feel because I have been there myself.

We must support each other and empathize with each other because each of us is more alike than we are unalike.

~ Maya Angelou

You Were Born

Life's Simple Rules

There are many things that we should try to make a part of our daily routine, and way of living, that of course, we wont always be able to do, but we have to make sure that we at least try.

We should always be truthful; because when we are truthful we will never have to worry about covering up or getting caught in a lie.

We should always aim to be kind, because if we want to be treated with kindness and dignity in our own lives, we have to be willing to give it out just the same.

Try new things, so that you may be able to learn more and more about yourself as each day passes, only then will you be on an adventure to becoming the best you.

Most of all, we have to be thankful.
God honors those who are grateful, and those who are thankful also boost their emotional, spiritual, and physical beings, when they continue to consistently give thanks, as it helps to keep you in a positive state of mind.

Always tell the truth, use kind words, keep your promises, giggle and laugh, stay happy and be positive, love one another, always be grateful, forgiveness is mandatory, give thanks for everything, try new things, say please and thank you, smile.

Think Positively

Just because something isn't happening for you right now doesn't mean that it will never happen.

When your life isn't happening the way that you want it to exactly, don't let the negative events that are happening distract you from the fact that you have greatness inside of you, and from the fact that just because there is uncertainty in the moment that you won't survive.

You don't have to have complete certainty in your life in order to get to where you need to be. As a matter of fact continue to dream even more, and continue to try and you can be certain that your efforts, your undying and consistent efforts, will eventually get you to where you want to be.

Not everyone can deal with adversity their lives, but those who are able to overcome their adversity, are those who are able to live in life as champions, don't just survive life, they live it!

Think positively, and step towards you dreams by taking massive steps towards them.

I Choose Happiness

Each choice we make causes a ripple effect in our lives.
When things happen to us, it is the reaction we choose that can create the difference between the sorrows of our past and the joy in our future.

Be the Change

The most powerful thing you can do to change the world is to change your own beliefs about the nature of life, people, and reality to something more positive ... and begin to act accordingly.

~Shakti Gawain

You are Priceless

You are a thoroughly good person.
You are honest, decent, truthful, and hardworking.
You treat other people with courtesy, respect, and warmth.
You are strong, confident, and responsible.
You are dedicated to your family, friends, and company.
You were born for a special reason, and you have a great destiny to fulfill.
Don't let anyone lower your value.

You are priceless..

3 Things

Don’t let yourself be controlled by these three things:

your past,

people,

and money.

Always be Yourself

Living a life in the effort to please everyone else will only give you a life in which you live as a coward and die a thousand deaths.
Instead of living this harsh reality, be valiant, act as yourself, and you will only die once.

Remember that we all carry around who we are when we commit to certain actions each day.
When you commit to make actions on a continual basis that in your heart you doubt that you really want to make on the inside, then more than likely you aren't truly living life as who you really are on the inside.

Being yourself is being willing to tell yourself yes, when everyone else says no.
Remember that the truth will always remain the truth, and a lie can only last for so long, make sure that your legacy will endure forever by thinking, and acting as yourself.

You Are Prettiest When You Are Happy

When you are able to truly be happy, you allow for the light that is inside of you to truly be shone to the whole world.
What is keeping you from happiness?
Are you able to use the creativity inside of you as each day passes?
Are you being held back by the fear of being uncertain about where your life will go, if you take off the devices that are only allowing you to float along?

Every single last one of us has greatness inside.
Only a few are willing to go after the dreams of their heart, and are able to accomplish the things in life that they desire to accomplish because being courageous enough to fight against your fear is a very difficult thing to do.

Break the shackles of fear today!
Take time to live as yourself, and make an effort each day to get to where you have always dreamed to go.
Be happy!

Challenges

Challenges come so we can grow and be prepared for things we are not equipped to handle now.
When we face our challenges with faith, prepared to learn, willing to make changes, and if necessary, to let go, we are demanding our power be turned on.

~Iyanla Vanzant

5 ways to be Happy

What I Feel For You

Beautiful People

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths.

These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness and a deep loving concern.

Beautiful people do not just happen.

Live Laugh Love

Next time you're stressed:

Take a step back, inhale and laugh.

Remember who you are and why you're here.

You're never given anything in this world that you can't handle.

Be strong, be flexible, love yourself, and love others.

Always remember, just keep moving forward.

The Day Your Life Really Begins

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own.
No apologies or excuses.
No one to lean on, rely on, or blame.
The gift is yours, it is an amazing journey, and you alone are responsible for the quality of it.
This is the day your life really begins.

Life ..... a Journey Worth Taking!

The Day You Were Born

Life Comes with no Guarantees

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let us down, probably will.
You'll have your heart broken and you'll break others' hearts.
You'll fight with your best friend or maybe even fall in love with them, and you'll cry because time is flying by.
So take too many pictures, laugh too much, forgive freely, and love like you've never been hurt.
Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances.
You just have to live life to the fullest, tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someone's hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts.
Don't be afraid to take chances or fall in love and most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can never get back.

My Simple To-Do List

Count my Blessings
Being Love
Finding Hope
Practice Kindness
Remaining Faithful
Let go of what I can’t Control
Share my Heart
Enjoy the Moment

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated ~ Confucius

Think Happy Thoughts

How do You Measure Your Value or Self Worth

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill.
In the room of 200 people, he asked, Who would like this $20 bill?
Hands started going up.

He said, I'm going to give this $20 to one of you, but first let me do this.
He proceeded to crumple up the $20 bill.
He then asked, Who still wants it?
Still the hands went up in the air.

Well, he replied, what if I do this? and he dropped the bill on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, crumpled and dirty.

Now who still wants it?
And the hands still went up in the air.
My friends, he said, we have learned a valuable lesson.
No matter what I do to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.
It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled and ground into the dirt by circumstances that come into our way.
We feel as though we are worthless.
But no matter what has happened or will happen, YOU WILL NEVER LOSE YOUR VALUE. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you.

The value of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but WHO WE ARE.

More Than Enough

50 Life Lessons

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

~Regina Brett

Your Life is a Gift

Today in the midst of your busy life, may you have at least one moment to sit back and relax when you don't have to do anything or be anywhere in particular but mostly in that moment may you realise here and now what a gift your life is not just to you but to everyone who knows you.

Happy Thankful People

Moving Forward with Your Life

You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.
When you work too hard to hang on to what you have right now, and what you had in the past, you limit your future immensely.
Simply stated, if you go out and try to drive your car today, by only staring in the rearview mirror the only thing that you will be able to do without wrecking, is pull out of your parking space?

Is this where you are in life?
Are you stuck in a parking lot, a purgatory of sorts, a place where you havent seen much growth?

If so, it is time for you to make some great decisions for your life, and take gargantuan steps so that the next chapter of your life can actually start.
Turn the page today.
There are only two things we can do, live to our greatest ability in each day, and feel alive, or feel stagnant, and unfulfilled each day while we slowly die.
Its up to you!

God only puts us Through as much as we can Handle

Did you know that God will never put more on you than you can handle?

God never explains why certain horrendous things in life are able to happen, but he does let us know in his word that he will always be there for us when we need him to be.

The things that you are going through in your present situation are only temporary problems, and are nothing more than emotional and spiritual exercise to build your faith muscles for life later down the line.

If you choose to remain faithful to God and his promises, he will put his faith in you, which will allow for the supernatural to take place in your life.

So the next time life happens, and you look for someone to blame, including God, think twice.
Remember that being strong in the Lord means being faithful, even in the most difficult of times

God only puts us through as much as we can handle, so the people who struggle the most, have been chosen by God to be the strongest ones.

Actions Speak Louder than Words

Actions speak louder than words. We can apologise over and over, but if our actions don't change, the words become meaningless.

As we surf this wave of life, we have to remember that just speaking what we should or shouldn't speak won't necessarily get us anywhere.
What we do greatly affects what our ultimate destiny will become, and what we do also helps to paint a picture of who we really are.

Don't just say what you want to mean, really mean what you say by acting in the manner that you speak of.
Commit to acting upon the person that you say that you are or who you want to be.
If you love someone, and tell someone that you love them, be sure to act like it.
Show them you love them.
Show them that you will be there for them in their times of need.
Do the small things that show you care, even in moments that are inconvenient for you to do so.

Act with a persistent conviction if you ever want to be where you really want to be.
If you want to be in someone's life forever, work hard every day at maintaining that relationship, because without action, what you say or desire by itself just isn't sufficient enough to help achieve what you really want.

Take what you Need

Choose you Life Wisely

Before you speak, listen.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you write, think.
Before you quit, try.
Before you act on what your mind tells you to do, you have to instead think with your heart.

A lot of us know people who interpret each situation with a hardcore negative view, and from these seemingly negative views, comes their response.
A lot of us know or are the type of people to react before even thinking, and a lot of us are guilty of acting before even checking our hearts versus our minds for the best possible plan of action.

Instead of speaking first, we have to listen.
Before we criticize people, we must first wait.

Sometimes if we are just peaceful, and if we show people that they have someone to confide in, after a period of time, they will respect us so much that they will value our opinions at a much higher level.
Not everything was built in one day, life requires patience, and understanding.
Being too impulsive can lead you to make bad decisions, choose your life wisely.

Your Choice Your Consequence

work for cause not for applause
live life to express not to impress
don’t strive to make your presence notice, just make your absence felt

You are the Love of my Life

Good Life

A good life is when you smile often, dream big, laugh a lot and realize how blessed you are for what you have.

How many of us are truly living the good life?

Just because on the outside it seems that you have it all, doesn't ever necessarily mean that you really do at heart.
Do you protect your dreams by keeping them with you?
At the end of each day do you feel satisfied with the effort that you put forth, and do you have joy because you know that no matter what, God has your back?

Do you laugh a lot? Do you smile, so that you cannot only feel better about yourself, but so that you may be able to help others see light in such a dark world.

Is your life a good life?
If it isn't right now, it definitely can be!
Don't look back on your life years down the line, and be upset with yourself for not making the changes that you could have to really be happy.

Live the good life now, and dont let anything stop you from doing so!

Once You Choose Hope Anythings Possible

Do you feel broken, unwanted, lonely, fearful, depressed, in pain, unhappy, full of despair?
We all reach crossroads in our lives, and we can either allow for things to continue to worsen by thinking negatively, or we can be hopeful and positive and walk in the path of this hope and positivity to bring about positive change in our own lives.

To shift the power back into your hands in life you have to be able to hope.
To reach success again in your life you have to first be able to hope.
Once you are able to hope, you are then able to see miracles happen in your life.

*new day*new strengths*new thoughts*

With the new day comes new strenghts and new thoughts.

~Elenor Roosevelt



when life is sweet say thank you and celebrate!

There is no person in the world who is made to handle every punch that’s thrown at them.

We aren’t made that way.

In fact, were made to:

get made, upset, sad, be hurt, stumble and fall.

We aren’t supposed to be able to handle everything.

But that’s what makes us stronger in the end, by learning from the things that hurt us the most!
So remember this …..

When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate

and
When life is bitter, say thank you and grow.

Never let anyone steal your happiness, it was never theirs to take!