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Hotchpotch
MAMALADE
Hotch Potch
This is a place for all
those bits and pieces that don't belong anywhere else - not yet anyway.
You
probably have a drawer somewhere in your house like that - all sorts of
bits and pieces get thrown in.
Some are useful, some are never missed if they get thrown out.
I'm going to just throw
things in any old how, with no rhyme nor reason. Occasionally I might
rummage
through them and select something to be used on another page or I might
decide to throw something out.
You might find quotes,
extracts from a book I'm reading, snippets of news or snatches of
conversations, meditations, poems, jokes, trivia or some half baked
thoughts from my addled mind. The latest entries will be at the top -
just like in my messy drawer. Anything goes! Happy rummaging!
A lesson
learned
One day a very wealthy
father took his son on a trip to the country, for the sole purpose of
showing his son how it was to be poor.
They spent a few days and
nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
After they returned from the
trip, the father asked his son how he liked staying at the farm.
"It was great, Dad!" the son
exclaimed.
Surprised at his son's
response, the father asked, "Didn't you see how poor people can be?"
"Oh, yeah," said the son.
"So what did you learn from
our trip?" asked the father.
The son responded: "I saw
that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to
the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have
imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our
patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of
land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have
servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food at the
store, but they grow theirs fresh. We have walls around our property to
protect us, they have friends to protect them."
Needless to say, the boy's
father was speechless.
Then his son added, "It
showed me how poor we are."
Too many times we forget
what we have and concentrate on what we don't have.
XXACTLY!
My typxwritxr works quitx
wxll xxcxpt for onx kxy. Somxtimxs it sxxms to
mx that our group is likx my typxwritxr: not all thx kxys arx working
propxrly. You may say, “Wxll, I am only onx pxrson. It won’t makx much
diffxrxncx.” But you sxx, for thx group to bx xffxtivx, it nxxds thx
activx participation of xvxry pxrson.
So thx nxxt timx you think
that your xffort is not nxxdxd, rxmxmbxr my
typxwritxr and say to yoursxlf,
“I AM A KXY PXRSON AND NXXDXD VXRY MUCH!”
The Paradox of
our Times
The paradox of our time 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 it less.
We have bigger houses, but
smaller families, more conveniences, but less time, more experts, but
more problems, more medicines, but less wellness.
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 the new
neighbours.
We've conquered outer space,
but not inner space, we've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul,
we've split the atom, but not
our prejudices.
We have higher incomes, bot
lower morals, we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the times of tall
men, and short character, steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the times or world
peace, but domestic warfare, more leisure, but less fun, more kinds of
food, but less nutrition.
These are the days of two
incomes, but more divorce, of fancier houses, but broken homes.
It is a time when there is
much in the show 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 some day that person will not be there again.
Give time to Love, give time
to speak, give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
George Carlon
Our Deepest
Fear
Our deepest fear is not that
we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented,
fabulous?
Actually, who are you NOT to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the World.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't
feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
As we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
The beginning of love is to
let
those we love be perfectly themselves,
and not twist them with our own
image - otherwise, we love only the
reflection of ourselves we find in them.
Space Race...
During the heat of the space
race in the 1960's, the U.S. National
Aeronautics and Space Administration decided it needed a ball point
pen to write in the zero gravity confines of its space capsules.
After considerable research and development, the Astronaut Pen was
developed at a cost of about $1 million U.S. The pen worked and also
enjoyed some modest success as a novelty item back here on Earth.
The Soviet Union, faced with
the same problem, used a pencil.
Failure is simply the
opportunity to begin again, this time more
intelligently.
Henry Ford
"We can't all be heroes
because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap
as they go by."
Will Rogers
Listening
When I ask you to listen to
me
and you give me advice
you have not done what I asked.
When I ask you to listen to
me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that
you are trampling on my feelings.
When I ask you to listen to
me
and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem
you have failed me, as strange as that seems.
Listen!
All I asked was that you listen. Just hear me.
When you accept, as a simple
fact that
I do feel what I feel ~ no matter how irrational ~
then I can quit trying to convince you and get about the business
of understanding what's behind this irrational feeling.
And then when it's clear, the answer are obvious
and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make
sense
when we understand what's behind them.
Perhaps that's why prayer
works.
God is always there ~ LISTENING.
So, please listen and just
hear me.
And if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn
and I'll listen to you.
One day a group of eminent
scientists got together and decided that Man had come a long way and no
longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that
they were done with Him.
The scientist walked up to
God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need You. We're to
the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so
why don't You just retire?"
God listened very patiently
to the man and then said, "Very well, but first, how about this, let's
have a Man-making contest."
To which the scientist
replied, "OK, great!" But God added, "Now, we're going to do this just
like I did back in the old days with Adam."
The scientist said, "Sure, no
problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt. God just
looked at him and said,
"No, no, no. You go get your
own dirt!"
Risk Taking Is
Free
To laugh is to risk appearing
the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out for
another is to risk involvement.
To expose feeling is to risk
exposing
your true self.
To place your ideas, your
dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being
loved in
return.
To live is to risk dying. To
hope is
to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
But the risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to
risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing,
does nothing,
has nothing and is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow but he
simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.
Chained by his certitudes, he
is a slave; he
has forfeited freedom.
Only a person who risks----is
free
Letting Go
. . .
To "let go" does not mean to
stop caring, it means I can't do it for someone else.
To "let go" is not to cut
myself off, it's the realization I can't control another.
To "let go" is not to
enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To "let go" is to admit
powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To "let go" is not to try to
change or blame another, it's to make the most of myself.
To "let go" is not to care
for, but to care about.
To "let go" is not to fix,
but to be supportive.
To "let go" is not to judge,
but to allow another to be a human being.
To "let go" is not to be in
the middle arranging the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their
own destinies.
To "let go" is not to be
protective, it's to permit another to face reality.
To "let go" is not to deny,
but to accept.
To "let go" it not to nag,
scold or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings, and
correct them.
To "let go" is not to adjust
everything to my desires but to take each day as it comes, and cherish
myself in it.
To "let go" is not to
criticize and regulate anybody but to try to become what I dream I can
be.
To "let go" is not to regret
the past, but to grow and live for the future.
To "let go" is to fear less,
and love more.
Author Unknown.
A man who keeps a diary, pays
Due toll to many tedious days;
His busy hand forgets the pen.
Most books, indeed, are records less
Of fullness than of emptiness.
William Allingham 1824-1889
Ride the edge, don't flee
from pain. For deep within lies
the security you seek. This security is nothing less
than the power to control your mind, and therefore create your world
anew.
Anonymous
Lord, make me an instrument
of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled, as to console
To be understood, as to understand
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
It is in dying that we awaken to eternal life.
St. Francis of Assisi
Whimsy sent me the
missing last line of this prayer, and also this line from the German
version.
[Wer sich selbst vergisst, der findet - literally 'he who forgets
himself
will be remembered']
Take time to work, it is the
price of success.
Take time to think, it is the source of power.
Take time to play, it is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to read, it is the foundation of wisdom.
Take time to be friendly, it is the road to happiness.
Take time to dream, it is hitching your wagon to a star.
Take time to love & be loved, it is the privilege of the gods.
Take time to look around, it is too short a day to be selfish.
Take time to laugh, it is the music of the soul."
Old English Prayer
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