Chapter 10, Page 31, Book 17

Halloween is huge in my house and we really get into the "spirits" of things. 

Dee Snider

Celebrate the seasons

In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!

Robert Louis Stevenson

Each season brings something new and something to delight in.  

The beauty of nature, to gatherings with family and friends and the variety of foods for the season all give us something to celebrate.

The lively spirit of fall is full of parties.  Apple picking time, halloween fun and harvest time are great to times to enjoy.  

So get in the spirit of things and join the celebration!

Every day is a special occasion!  You really don’t need a reason.

Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity. 

Henri Nouwen

Chapter 10, Page 30, Book 17

The key to forming good habits is to make them part of your rituals.'I have a morning ritual, afternoon ritual, and Sunday ritual. It's one way to bundle good habits into regular times that you set aside to prepare yourself for the life you want. Rituals help you form habits. 

Lewis Howes

habits and rituals

We are what we repeatedly do.

Aristotle

The word routine can seem incredibly stiff and boring, but good routines are neither.   They will ground us regardless of what's happening around us.  

Even something as basic as making the bed every morning gives your brain an important message: the old day is over, and today is a fresh, clean slate.

A habit is something you can do without thinking — which is why most of us have so many of them. 

Frank A. Clark

Good habits and good routines lead to good results. Habits are not acquired simply because we decide that they’re good and valuable and we want them to have a place in our lives. Habits required time, effort, purposefulness and persistance in order to become consistent.

The old saying of practice makes perfect is never truer than when it’s applied to daily routines. A consistent routine can even help you structure your day in a manner which is so efficient that you can set aside time to relax.  

The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine. 

Mike Murdock

Chapter 10, Page 29, Book 17

The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often

for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.

Patrick Young

Clearing the air

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.

Anthony J. D'Angelo

We spend a lot of time worrying about the weather. Nothing captures national attention like a brewing hurricane or a string of tornadoes or an earthquake. Weather programming is a fixture of any local news program, and one of our first questions on waking up in the morning is often, What’s the weather like today?

Life is like the weather.   We go through different weather patterns in our lives; some are joyful and exciting, and then others are challenging and end up testing our strength and resilience. Both types can happen in the blink of an eye. One minute we are feeling comfortable and content, and then suddenly something or someone shakes that comfort up; that perfect feeling is gone just as quickly as it came

We never know how long this fair or foul weather is going to last, but just as Mother Nature gives us storms and prevents us from doing some of favorite outdoor activities, hardships and challenges happen in our lives that can sometimes get in the way of our happiness. 

As much as we may prefer moments of sunshine and comfort over storms and heartache, our lives are made up of both. We would not be truly living without  all of these moments, the pleasant and the challenging, and both shape future weather patterns in our lives depending on how we chose to live 

Sometimes in our own homes the climate can get overwhelming and we clear the air through trying to understand and love each other.

I think that being able to be truly alive through all types of weather and finding value in even the darkest storms is the key to slowing life down and experiencing it all for what it is…. your life!!

Sometimes God calms the storm. At other times, he calms the sailor. And sometimes he makes us swim. 

Author Unknown

Chapter 10, Page 28, Book 17

Time is your treasure.

J. M. Colter

For what is more precious than time?

To some degree, you control your life by controlling your time

Conrad Hilton

Many people today complain that they constantly don’t have enough time. They are so busy that they don’t have time for their families, work tasks, kids, friends, etc. At the same time, there are lots of people who have the same number of responsibilities or even more, but they manage to do everything in time and still find a couple of hours to relax and do what they like. 

Truth is we waste a lot of time complaining.  It’s better to stop complaining and start doing.  Complaining is a waste of your precious time.  If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.

Charles Buxton

Planning is the key to success. If your days are not organized, you lose a lot of time on deciding what to do next, choosing which task to start with, procrastinating, etc. Make a to do list every day and before going to sleep, check if you managed to do everything. If you can, plan your day by hours. Then you won’t forget anything; you’ll do everything in time and procrastinate less.

The problem is not that we have too many ways to waste time, but that we choose to waste it.  If you don’t know where you are going to, you make a lot of detours and stops. Having a clear goal in your head can help you move faster towards it. Remember to start small, but think big.  

Contrary to what you may tell yourself, you have all the time in the world to do whatever you choose. 

Paul Wilson

Chapter 10, Page 27, Book 17

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them. 

G.B. Shaw

 Life doesn’t always give you the circumstances you want.  Life gives you the circumstances you need … to learn, to grow, and to fall in love.

You need to learn to be happy by nature, because you'll seldom have the chance to be happy by circumstance. 

Lavetta Sue Wegman

The circumstances of our lives, especially when they seem stressful or intense do have an impact on us, for sure. But it is always a matter of choice on how we react to them.  They can drag us down or lift us up.  It’s our choice.

Circumstances do not change as a result of how angry you get at them.  You cannot change them, but you can change yourself.

Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame. 

Erica Jong

If you wait for perfection conditions, you’ll never get anything done.  I try to remember that I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got and that is enough.  To choose ones own attitude in  any given set of circumstance to to choose ones own way.

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. 

Jim Rohn

Chapter 10, Page 26, Book 17

Peace is not something you wish for,
it is something you make,
something you are,
something you do,
and something you give away.

 Robert Fulghum

One of the best ways to spread peace in the world is to recognize your own capacity to bring peace into the little things you do every day. It’s the little things that can make a big difference.

Living in peace is about living harmoniously with yourself and others. The ability to not overreact or take things personally keeps your mind clear and your heart at peace.  Once you begin to value your inner peace over your need to react and be right, you will in fact experience more inner peace, and happiness.

Peace, like charity, begins at home.

 Franklin D. Roosevelt

Peace and joy are closely connected .  They're two sides of the same coin. It has been said: Peace is joy reseting; joy is peace dancing.   Joy brings peace to your life because you're always prepared to see what is good in others and the world, and to be grateful for the wondrous aspects of life.

Peace begins with me.  When I’m at peace, my peace spreads to others I come into contact with.  You can only give what you have but if you don't have it, then you'll give others something else.  

Peace begins with a smile. Smile five times a day at someone you don't really want to smile at at all. Do it for peace. 

 Mother Teresa of Calcutta

We can have a lot of things in life, but if we don't have peace, we're never going to truly enjoy our lives the way the good Lord intended.  Life is too short to argue and fight.  Remember to be selective in your battles.  Peace can feel better than being right.  You don’t need to attend every argument you’re invited to.

Many a happiness in life, as many a disaster, can be due to chance, but the peace within us can never be governed by chance.

Maurice Maeterlinck

Chapter 10, Page 25, Book 17

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

Just for today I’ll focus on the present moments as they come.

It is difficult to live in the present, ridiculous to live in the future, and impossible to live in the past. Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.

Jim Bishop

Choosing to live in the past or the future not only robs you of enjoyment today, it robs you of truly living.   And you can’t fully appreciate today if you worry too much about tomorrow. It’s a fact that tomorrow is going to happen whether you worry about it or not.

Too often we waste present moments feeling guilty about the past or apprehensive about the future. Truth is there definitely is a past, but not now. And there definitely is a future, but not now.  You can only live one moment at a time, you might as well make it the present.

Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got.

Art Buchwald

Chapter 10, Page 24, Book 17

It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven't lost the things money can't buy.

George Lorimer

Many are focused on improving their credit score. Without a good credit score, it can be very difficult to get a loan, rent an apartment, or do basic things to make a living. Many people pay very close attention to their credit rating. They worry about it and change their lives in order to improve their credit score.

Money will buy you a bed, but not a good night's sleep, a house but not a home, a companion but not a friend.

Zig Ziglar

But I like to think that a majority of us understand that what is really important in life is not money or our possessions.  Family, health, love and even the opportunity to be alive today, are all greater gifts.  

Learn to appreciate what you have before time makes you appreciate what you had.

Unknown

Money will not buy happiness. Money can buy external things, but true happiness comes from inside.

The key to happiness is to appreciate what you have.  When you are content with what you have and are thankful for it.  You will be happy.

Measure wealth not by the things which you have, but by 

the things you have for which you would not take money.

Anonymous

Chapter 10, Page 23, Book 17

It’s a new week!  Let’s make it a good one!

This is your Monday reminder to be absolutely awesome.  You can handle whatever this week throws at you.  

I think that the way you start off a new week pretty much sets the tone for what the rest of week will be.

The beauty of life is that we constantly have the opportunity to change it.

We always have the power to recreate it. We can change our thoughts, remember how to live instead of planning each moment, forgive the past, be present for the now, slow down the speed, and push the reset button on a day any time we choose to.

While we cannot choose our circumstances we can choose our attitude !

 

Monday is the key day of the week.

Scottish Proverb

Chapter 10, Page 22, Book 17

There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

I can remember a time when Sunday afternoons were meant for porch sitting and I still do at least until it gets really cold out.

When it gets cool, there is nothing like a sunny spot to sit in.  I look for them and love to feel the warmth.  As there are still quite a few leaves on the trees by my house it’s hard to find such a sunny spot at times, but I’ve found that late afternoon on the sun porch is the perfect time.

In the summer when it was hot out, I looked to the sun porch as a shady place to cool off on, but now, I’m looking forward to sunny afternoons on the porch to warm up in.  As we loose more and more leaves off the huge oak in the picture, I’m hoping it’ll get sunnier for even longer periods of time.  

And as it gets cold here I’ll be looking for more sun puddles to to sit in.  

Hope you all find your spot in the sun and have a relaxing Sunday!  

Chapter 10, Page 21, Book 17

The attraction of variety, contrast, is always invigorating. Nature does not for long allow a sameness of beauty to prevail. 

Virginia Garland

Fall is such a great season. I love it mostly because of that puff of coldness I feel at the first sign of its approaching. After a long summer that crisp air that comes in the fall just feels so good and invigorates you. 

I live in Ohio and we have the benefits of the full four seasons…fall, winter spring and summer and each one brings gifts…something good to appreciate and be thankful for.

 invigorate: to give life and energy to

When fall comes, the colors and the crisp air refresh my soul in a particular way that nothing else can match. And let me tell you, I need invigorating at this time of year.  

Variety is the spice of life and we never get tired of the seasons around here.  Just about the time I think I’ve adapted to one season, it changes and moves on to the next.

As we are having some lovely warm days this weekend, it’s hard to remember it's time to break out the sweaters, the scarves and the warm beverages so we can embrace this lovely fall season for all that it is! 

Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.     

Carol Bishop Hipp

Chapter 10, Page 20, Book 17

The years teach much which the days never knew.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’m not sure why, but it seems that the older I get the more confusing life gets. Just when I think I've got it all figured out the rules change once again. Some rules seem to be foolish and there are cases where no exception can be made even when an exception is justified.  

Rules are like a guide or compass that makes life straightforward and easy enough to manage.  The basic idea is that if you follow the rules, you will be safe and have opportunity for a good life. Life would be dangerous, frightening, and simply crazy without some guidelines to show us the way forward. 

The sad truth is that just about the time I think I know the rules, they change.  They say that with age comes experience. With experience comes wisdom. With wisdom comes the chance to gain insight into choices you made, and perhaps come to different decisions in the choices you’ll make.

In my case I’m trying to stick to the rules but make exceptions...

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

Chapter 10, Page 19, Book 17

Love changes everything.  It changes all we do and say.  Love spills over to others and the circle of love keeps growing

One of my children once asked me how I had enough love to go round. With the big family I had it was impossible for him to imagine that I could love all of them equally. To his way of thinking, at the time, maybe it was better to have just one child and not many.  But he came to see later on that his love could grow too when he married and had his own family.

My answer was and still is that love has no bounds, it grows and grows and I always had enough love in my heart for all of them.  It’s the same for all people, not just family.  When we love, there is enough to share with every one.  

Our family is a circle of strength and love… Our family with every birth and union the circle grows, our family is a circle of strength, every crisis faced together makes the circle grow stronger. 

Harriet Morgan

There is always time for love. You can always make time for the what you want to do.  You have to give love if you want to be loved and the more you love the more you learn what love is.

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

Mother Teresa

Chapter 10, Page 18, Book 17

It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive.  There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them.  

George Elliot

never stop wishing

There is hope in dreams, imagination, and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality. 

Jonas Salk

A longing is a strong feeling of need or desire for someone or something.  Longing. It is the place in our hearts between the now and not yet. We can let our longing be fuel for growth.

Longings come from a lot of different desires and dreams and most of them are good.  It is what we do with our longings that makes the difference.

Longing for something can motivate us to do things differently to get what is desired.  Longing has been described as a battlefield between the now and the not yet. It’s where we fight our dragons of fear, insecurity and pride.

Longing enriches my life by giving me hope. Longing can help me to realize what I most value and want in life.  Its a catalyst which keeps me on track.  

Why worry about what might or might not happen when the heart is longing only to drink in the breath of this moment?

Cathy Ginter 

Chapter 10, Page 17, Book 17

Two essential words deserve special attention– Thank you!

Gratitude is a mindful awareness of the benefits of life. It is the greatest of virtues. Studies link it with a variety of positive effects. Grateful people tend to be more empathetic and forgiving of others; less envious, less materialistic and less self-centered.

Gratitude improves self esteem and enhances relationships, quality of sleep, and longevity. If it came in pill form, gratitude would be deemed the miracle cure. It’s no wonder that God’s anxiety therapy includes a large, delightful dollop of gratitude.

The anxious heart says, Lord, if only I had this, that, or the other, I’d be okay. The grateful heart says, Oh look! You’ve already given me this, that, and the other. Thank you, God.

Worry refuses to share the heart with gratitude. One heartfelt thank you will suck oxygen out of worry’s world. So say it often!

Max Lucado

a thankful heart

The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings! 

Henry Ward Beecher

We owe a debt of gratitude to God, but this attitude should also spill over into our relationships with others, as well. Our lives and our conversations should be marked by expressions of thankfulness toward our fellow man.

And that goes double for the members of our own household.

Don’t take your families for granted. Express genuine appreciation for everything they do for you, whether great or small.

Always say thank you. But don’t stop there. Real gratitude runs much deeper than words. It extends far beyond anything we can verbalize.

Our thankfulness should affect not only how we think, but also how we live and how we treat the people around us.

Begin each day, end each day, and live each day with a sincerely thankful heart. And as each day passes, you’ll have more and more for which to be thankful.

 Ralph Marston

Chapter 10, Page 16, Book 17

The time is always right to do what is right.

Martin Luther King

Doing what is right

What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient. 

Bodie Thoene

Doing what is right isn’t always convenient or easy.  It is always right to do right.  It’s always wrong to do wrong.  It is never right to do wrong.

When you do the right things in the right way, you have nothing to lose.  It's not just about being in the right place at the right time but knowing what to do when you find yourself there.  

It takes less time to do a thing right, than it does to explain why you did it wrong. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Chapter 10, Page 15, Book 17

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important. 

Janet Lane

fashion advice

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you will never walk alone…

Sam Levenson

While it is nice to wear fashionable clothes, I do think the best thing you can wear is your expression.  Sad but true many spend a lot of money on clothes, jewelry, make up and hair products, just to make themselves look better. Truth of the matter is that there is little can be done to alter your face but a lot can be done about the expression that is on it!

I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful. 

Author Unknown

It’s not what you wear, but how you wear it.  We are more than just a pretty face. We are taught not to judge a book by its cover. But while it is wise not to set too much by appearances our features can reveal details about our personality, our health, and our intelligence.

People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross