Chapter 4, Page 30, Book 20

The world’s favorite season is the spring.  All things seem possible in May.

Edwin Way Teale

April 30th - Spring finally made  it to Ohio

An optimist is the human personification of spring.

Susan J.Bissonette

Spring came way back in March for some, but not here until finally this week.  At long last, got some warmer weather and flowers are blooming.  Tiny leaves are forming on the trees and I feel so much better.

The pictures today are of my daughter and her family who came over to help me with the yard work this week.  It was so nice to have company.  We stayed at a safe distance picking up sticks and branches that were left over from the winter.  It’s a job that had to be done before the yard mowing could begin and it’s usually a back breaking job for me.  But this year they decided to come by and help me out.  They got the job done twice as fast as I could have got it done.

Not only am I happy about the weather, but I’m thankful for all their help.  I’m ready now for the weeks ahead when I will be mowing the lawn.  I never complain about that as it’s a good way for me to get fresh air and exercise.

Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment !

Ellis Peters

Chapter 4, Page 29, Book 20

There is no greater wealth in this world than peace of mind.

Author Unknown

April 29th - peace be with you

 Peace of mind is the greatest wealth there is.  Money is not the greatest wealth there is.  You can have all the money  in the world, but if you don’t have peace you are not wealthy.

Denice Carney

Money can buy everything but not peace of mind which depends on your thoughts and love for yourself.  Peace means to be close to God and its the search of every soul, but the thing is how much you listen to what is near to your soul.

Peace is always available, and like any desirable state of mind, it requires effort, even if that effort means choosing to be still.

There are countless things we can do to create peace of mind,  You could take a walk with the sole intention of photographing beautiful things that make you feel at peace, like a tree with colorful autumn leaves, or a walk along a beach, focusing on the sand between your toes and the sound of the crashing waves.

Some find peace when they declutter parts of their home, creating a more peaceful space.

Others simply slow down and take a deep breath or two or three.  Nothing that costs any money will give you peace.  You have to find it in yourself.  Sit in nature , and let yourself simply be. The important thing is that we do at least one thing every day to create mental stillness.  Let your mind rest and be at peace.

Nothing can disturb your peace of mind unless you allow it to.

Roy T. Bennett

Chapter 4, Page 28, Book 20

Make the most of the best and the least of the worst.

Robert Louis Stevenson

April 28th - making the best of it

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

Charles Dickens

These past few weeks have probably been the worst of times for a lot of us, but still we are all trying to make the best of what we have .  People are learning a new way of life, but it isn’t all bad.  Families are spending more time together and doing things to make the most of their time together.  

We can all make the best of the time we have, by doing out best to stay above the sadness of it all.  

Accepting reality helps us  cognitively and emotionally move on. The happiest people have learned that they cannot control everything in life.. we need to make the best out of everything. 

We can take action to create solutions to face and deal with what ever comes our way. We shouldn’t dwell on the problem but on the solution..

Things will work out one way or the other, as nothing lasts forever.   We need to appreciate what we have and live in the now and  know that complaining is senseless.

Making the best of it, is to accept a bad or difficult sitution without complaining and try to deal with it as well as you can.

Whatever life may send you way - make the best of it.  Don’t waste your time and energy worrying about it, instead, find a way to do something about it.  Learn from it. adjust to it, be strong, be flexible and be your best in every situation.

Les Brown

Chapter 4, Page 27, Book 20

Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.

Northup Christiane

April 27th - be grateful

Feeling appreciated is one of the most important needs that people have.  When you share with someone your appreciation and gratitude, they will not forget you. Appreciation will return to you many times.

Steve Brunkhorst

Very often when we are thankful to someone we say, How can I ever repay you? We humans have always wondered how best to show our appreciation  to one another.  To often it seems impossible to adequately pay the debt of gratitude that we feel.

This question of how to give back has found a sort of counterbalance in recent years, as many of us are familiar with the idea of paying it forward.   We pass along to others the blessings we have received, since we know we can never do enough to pay God back.

This could be a random act of kindness, like paying for the coffee of the person behind you in the drive thru.  Or it could be more specific like volunteering at a food bank after your family has struggled to eat as well, or giving blood regularly in thanksgiving for a successful surgery.

What if our whole lives were lived as a way of giving back for all the good God had done for us.

No matter what our circumstances, we can always be kind  The deed does not matter nearly as much as the heart behind it. Sometimes all we have to offer is courtesy.  Say Good Morning , hold the door open, smile at someone and do not be offended if the deed is not reciprocated.

What we have, like our time and talent, should not be hoarded, but shared with others to see.  We are blessed so that we can be a blessing to others.  When you give others your time, some part of yourself, or share your possessions, you are connected to others. We are blessed to be a blessing.

Giving back to others opens a wealth of possibility, energy and love.

Feeling gratitude, and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

William Arthur Ward.

Chapter 4, Page 26, Book 20

The earth is what we all have in common

Wendell Berry

April 26th -we’re all in this together

We, though many,form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Romans 12: 15

The COVID 19 panceminic reminds us that it doesn’t matter what gender, race, economic status, or political party we belong to No one  is immune from the challenges we have today.  We are all experiencing physical isolation from one another  longing for the good old days of pre pandemoniac life We don’t know what the future holds, and  it somehow allows us to connect with everyone across the globe. And perhaps we can realize that in order for us to feel whole we need to come to terms with the idea that we are only part of the whole and share the greater wholeness with the rest of humanity.

We are one, but we are are all part of the same body. We need to work together to see this through. What’s good for one is good for the other.  We need to work tougher for the common good of all. We all need something to hang on to and that is that we’ll all get through this together.

There are no passengers on the Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.

Marshall Mc Luhan

Chapter 4, Page 25, Book 20

Your life is a good as your mindset.

Author Unknown 

April 25th - mind over matter

We are what we choose to be today.  

Wayne Dryer

We get to choose the kind of life we have.  It’s all  about how we look at things and how we choose to react. Our attutude can make a big difference.  We choose our lives every day.  We don’t choose our circumstances but we do choose the person we are going to be. 

A mindset refers to where you believe qualities such as intelligence and talent are fixed or changeable traits .Peaple with a fixed mindset believe that these qualities are inborn, fixed and unchangeable.

Those with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe that these abilities can be developed and strenghthed by way of commitment and hard work.

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

Anne Dillard 

Our mindset plays a critical role on how we cope with life’s challenges .  In school a growth mindset can contribute to great achievement and increased effort.  when facing a problem people with a growth mindset show greater resilience. They are more likely to persevere in the face of setbacks while those with fixed mindsets are more liable to give up.

People are capable of changing their mindsets, by their efforts, hard work and dedicion. We don’t have to live with a fixed attitude that will halt any growth and progress.  

I want to choose what my life will be and not give the choice to anyone else.  Every morning when I wake up, I’m offered a choice, and everyday I choose to be happy. Because I get to choose my life every day, it means each day is filled with opportunity it also means that with each new sunrise I’m provided with the opportunity to change and redirect my course. I’m presented with the opportunity to choose the greater good.

It’s a privilege and honor to have that choice, so I must honor it the best way I can.

You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength.

Marcus Aurelius

Chapter 4, Page 24, Book 20

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

Antoine de Saint - Exupery

April 24th - plan your work, work your plan 

Without goals and plans to reach them You are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.

Fitzhugh Dodson

Goals give you a direction and a destiination they guide you to where you ultimately want to get in life.    The reason people never reach their goals is that they don’t make plans .  They are the road maps that guide you and show what is possible.  If we don’t have plans we tend to just go with the flow, However if you have made plans you will have more control over where you are headed and how to get there. 

By writing down your goals and the steps you plan to take to reach those goals, you have a plan for the future. You are able to get a perspective and prioritize what you want to accomplish.  That control makes you responsible for your own success or failure.

A plan should have objectives that provide step by step directions to accomplish a goal.This helps to stay focused and not get side tracked.  Instead of just hoping you will do something someday, start to take daily progress toward your goals,  Even the smallest actions on a daily basis add up to big results over the course of time.

As we envision a time with out having to keep sheltering at home, many of us are starting to set goals and make plans for what we want to do in the future.  I’m planning a party for all my family to gather together.  I have set a goal to have fun and enjoy just being together.  My plans include plenty of good food, beverages and a place for them just to sit and relax and enjoy being together after such a long time apart.  I talked to one of my granddaughters last night and she thought we should have a pool party and volunteered their pool for the destination place.  I hope her mom and dad are ok with that one ! Otherwise they’re going to be in for a big surprise!

Are you setting goals? Don’t forget to make plans to achieve them.

It is important for us to set goals, but in order to achieve them we need to make plans.Failing to plan is planning to fail. 

Alan Lakein

Chapter 4, Page 23, Book 20

Try to be like a turtle - at ease in our own shell.

Bill Copeland

April 23rd - home sweet home

The Turtle’s teachings are so beautiful.  So very special.  It teaches us that everything you are, everything you need and everything you bring to the world is inside you, not external, and you carry it with you and are not limited to a place.

Eileen Anglin

 

Turtles carry their homes on their backs.  They never leave their home, but more importantly their home never leaves them.  They already have everything they need to survive and thrive.

When the turtle gets flipped on its back, everything gets tossed askew.  But the turtle literally used its strong neck and head to lift and flip itself upright again  Trust your own wisdom and knowledge when in a bind.  Use your head and don’t let any tell you, you can’t..

A turtle is opportunistic and takes her time to notiice when an opportunity crosses her path.  In the tale the Tortoise and the Hare, sometimes the hare is moving so fast, with her eye on the prize that she misses opportunities as she whizzes by and she’s so busy trying to outwit and outrun and to be the best that she exhausts herself.

The tortoise is at her pace so she can slow down and seize the moments to explore.    She goes within herself literally to assess.  The tortoise doesn’t try to be the hare or buy into the hair’s latest program.

Lesson:  It’s not about winning, because that often becomes about someone’s race.  Following someone else’s schemes or shortcuts may not work for you, at least until  you slow down enough to know what resonates and what feels right for you.   

As for me, slow and steady wins the race eery time. And that is how I will be when it comes to venturing out in this world when everything  begins to open up.  I still believe that home sweet home will be the best place to be.  I’ve got everything I need right here. I’m a turtle !  I’m slow to build, and  in it for the long haul .  I often have pause to catch catch up with myself.  Watch the work, not the time. Every one should take the time it takes and be safe.  We turtles take our own sweet time, but we always get there.

Watch the turtle.  He only moves forward by sticking his neck out. 

Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.  

Chapter 4, Page 22, Book 20

Todays a new day.  It’s your day.  You shape it.

Don’t let it be shaped by someone else’s

ignorance or fear.

Steve Mariboli

April 22nd - What’s new?

Yesterday ended last night, today is a brand new day. And it’s yours.

Zig Ziglar

We often say, upon meeting someone, ‘What’s new?”  We love learning the new, especially about ourselves, if it doesn’t hurt too much.  We have a variety of expressions, upon hearing the news which indicate our difficulty in accepting the new. We say, You got to be kidding.  Are you pulling my leg? Get out of here with that !  Nonsense!  Or, you’re talking through your hat.  Believing the new is an old problem.

Sometimes we need proof so we believe.  Believing is hard for us, as we rely so much on the immediate data from computers, electronic social media.  Just stop and count all the various devices you can have by which you can obtain information.  It’s amazing how quickly we find things out and rest assured in it.  Believing is not an easy habit or practice.

We are given the gifts of mind and heart, both can never be satisfied. The new is kind of a trick, becoming old as soon as it is digested.  The heart longs not so much for satisfaction but for completion which it can never have. 

I love to learn something new every day. And am hoping for the good news that soon this will all be over and a thing of the past.  Meanwhile the news comes with more heartache with it.  I’m trying to see the bright side, where sunny days are ahead for all.  

The say we shouldn’t just hope for a better future, but build one. 

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Chapter 4, Page 21, Book 20

Look for no reward in goodness but goodness itself.

Author Unknown

April 21ST - goodness is it’s own reward.

Be not simply good; be good for something.

Henry David Thoreau

Sad as it seems we always hear more about the bad going on in the world than we hear about the good. But there is a lot of good out there.  Sometimes we ask our selves if it is even worth being good. We question our values, It’s totally on us to choose our reactions. 

The joy of doing good for others is the reward for doing good for others.  So let us keep on doing good to others.  It’s a great feeling when you do something good for another.  It’s a feeling money cannot buy.  

Goodness is moral excellence, virtue or the state of being good, wholesome.  It has tremendous power to move people to do what is good and beneficial for others.  We don’t have to be good to receive good. It involves doing good things even toward those who may be thankless and unappreciative.

While being just, impartial, honest, morally upright, the good man is also understanding and sympathetic..  He really cares about people. He looks for opportunities to express kindness and consideration, willingly and egerly aiding those in need. He unselfishly  cares for others, giving of himself  

What you give you will get.  There is more happinesses in giving than there is in receiving.  The goodness in this world is the reason humanity still exists.  It’s good people that make good places. Virtue is it’s own reward.

He that does good for good’’s sake, seeks neither praise or reward, but he is sure of both in the end.

William Penn

Chapter 4, Page 20, Book 20

If it doesn’t open, it’s not your door.

Author Unknown

April 20th - Be an opener of doors

Often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.

Helen Keller 

They say that when one door closes another will open for you, but sometimes that door isn't meant to be ours.  We need to accept what’s not meant to be and see what is there for you.  What’s meant for another is not ours to receive.  

What is meant for us will come to us and what isn’t won’t.   We’ll open many doors n our lives and sometimes will discover lives and loves that enhance our lives and somethings we we open o door that we would have been better not to cross the the threshold of.  

Maybe our wrong doors weren’t wrong at the time.  Perhaps they propelled us down a new path where we would make new choice or an opportunity to choose different in the future.  What’s meant for us will happen.  Whet’s not meant will never be ours.  But we won’t know that unless we try.  If we are learning and growing , one day we’re going to find the doors we need.

We can be equally grateful for the doors that close.  When we don’t get what we desire it can be because there is something better coming our way.  Sometimes we just have to surrender the need to know and trust that things happen not on my timeline and will be for the higher good.   So don’t look with reqret at whatever door was closed, but remember that miracles do happen.  The best may be yet to come.

Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.

Tom Stoppard

Chapter 4, Page 19, Book 20

Life becomes more meaningful when you realize this simple fact- you’ll never get the same moment twice.

Mariam Gates

April 19th - Savor the moments

Life is meant to be a vibrant, deeply felt growing mosaic of long meaningful moments.

Brendon Burchard

Our lives are made up of moments . Every moment matters.  We don’t get them back again.  Once time passes, it’s gone. That’s why we should savor every moment in our lives.  

Our lives are short and there is a not a moment to be lost when it comes to stopping to smell the roses, slowing down and appreciating  life's every day moments,

By developing the skill of savoring we can maximize our moments and get more time out of the day.  Savoring is how your allow yourself to be fully immersed in an experience.  Savoring is mindfulness in action. When you savor, your focus  your attention to the present moment.  Instead of trying to cram as many experiences into your life as possible, try eliminate some in order to focus on the few that really matter.  Slow down and enjoy your moments.

If we fail to savor the small stuff, we fail to enjoy our lives.  Life is meant to be enjoyed.  Each moment is too precious to waste.  When we enjoy life as it unfolds we begin the experience the power of savoring.

Don’t let these days of sheltering at home, become mundane and boring.  Savor the moments.

I have always believed in savoring moments, In the end they are the only things we have.

Anna Godbersen