Chapter 4, Page 30, Book 18

April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go.

Christopher Morley

A farewell to April

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.

Doug Larson

April was a chilly but busy month.  We persevered and went through the days with a breeze, a cold one for sure.

April 1st brought Easter Sunday and the picture above is of some of my grandchildren all lined up after church.  It was a windy cold day but that didn’t stop them from having fun.

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.

You know how it is with an April day.

Robert Frost

We did get a few warmer days that were just teasing us as snow returned again and again.  The last snow I recorded on my Calendar was April 17th.

This week is to be a warmer one with some April showers and tomorrow we’ll welcome May.   My sunporch is now ready and waiting for me to enjoy !

So farewell to April, I’m looking forward to May.  

April is a promise that May is bound to keep.

Hal Borland

Chapter 4, Page 29, Book 18

Planting Time

Plant three rows of Peas:

Peace of mind.

Peace of heart.

Peace of soul.

Plant four rows of Squash:

Squash gossip

Squash indifference.

Squash grumbling.

Squash selfishness.

No garden should be without Turnips:

Turnip for service when needed.

Turnip to help one another.

Turnip the music and dance.

Plant four rows of Lettuce:

Lettuce be faithful

Lettuce be kind.

Lettuce be happy.

Lettuce really love one another.

To conclude our garden we must have Thyme:

Thyme for fun.

Thyme for rest.

Thyme for others.

Thyme for ourselves.

Water freely with patience and cultivate with love.

We reap what we sow — You should have a bountiful garden.

Author Unknown

Planting seeds of peace in our minds, hearts and souls, 

Peace is always beautiful.

Walt Whitman

Little seeds grow big results.  And depending on the type of seeds we plant, what grows can be a charming flower or an invasive weed.

Seeds of peace  are planted when we offer forgiveness, when we choose to ignore annoying circumstances or avoid confrontations.  When we love with out expectation.  

Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are and something you give away!

Robert Fulghum

Peace is possible when we squash gossip, indifference, and selfishness.  It’s possible when we take time for rest, time for others and time for ourselves.

Just as a farmer goes out and plants seeds and hopes and prays that the seeds will germinate, we can too can act in a way that will not only bring us peace, but will also bring peace into the lives of others.

Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air.

George Bernanos

Chapter 4, Page 28, Book 18

Choices

Some people sit, some people try;

Some people laugh, some people cry;

Some people will, some people won’t

Some people do, some people don’t.

Some people believe, and develop a  plan;

Some people doubt, never think that they can;

Some people face hurdles and give it their best;

Some people back down when faced with a test.

Some people complain of their miserable lot;

Some people are thankful for all that they’ve got;

And when it’s all over, when it comes to an end;

Some people lose out, and some people win.

We all have a choice, we all have a say;

We are spectators in life , or we get in and play;

Whichever we choose, how we handle life’s game;

The choices are ours, no one else is to blame.  

Author Unknown

We all have choices to make

When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice

William James

We all have choices , it’s up to us to the make the right ones.  I choose to be a happy productive, and loving person.  You get back what you put out.  We live with those  choices for the rest of our lives and believe me when I say, the rest of your life is a pretty long time.

We can make new choices, the ones from the past are not set in concrete.  We all try to make good decisions, choices that are for the best, but sometimes we make bad ones. On the bright side,  if we make a a bad choice, we are not alone, we are none of us perfect.  Don’t let one bad choice get you down.

Happiness and love are just a choice away.

Leo Buscaglia

We all make choices, but in the end,  the choices make us.  We are all the sum and total of our choices.  

You are the person who has to decide.

Whether you’ll do it or toss it aside,

You are the person Who makes up your mind.

Whether you’ll lead or linger behind.

Whether you’ll try for the goal that’s afar.

Or just be contented to stay where you are.

Edward Guest

Chapter 4, Page 27, Book 18

Without kindness there can be no true joy

Thomas Carlyle

An act of kindness, big or small, is the epitome of love.

How beautiful a day can be kindness touches it!  

George Elliston

Although I do believe there is a lot to be said about being kind, today’s post is all about the kindness that Spring brings our way.  We are blessed to finally have warmer and kinder days.  The Spring sunshine is both welcome and comforting.  Gone but not forgotten are the harsh cold days of winter.  

Nature is constantly giving and receiving.  The forsythia, the tulips and the daffodils are a welcome sight, cheering up the gloomiest of days.  Even the gentle Spring rains are showers of blessings making all things grow.

Spring is being very generous to us and gifting us with beauty and many kinds of new life every day.  What can I say but: 

Thank You, Thank You Thank you for your kindness !

A little kindness goes a long way.

Chapter 4, Page 26, Book 18

Don’t hurry.   Don’t worry.  You’re only here for a short visit.  So don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.

Walther Hagen

Worry is the opposite of faith, and it steals our peace.  It physically wears us out and can even make us sick.  

Worrying never solves our problems. Worry just leads to more worry.  It doesn’t help other people and it doesn’t help us.  It’s wasted energy.  

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.

Leo Buscaglia 

I’ve learned that when I have a problem I cannot fix, when I’ve done my best and it isn’t enough, I have to let it go and let God. 

Thankfully I’m not in control of the universe and He can do a much better job of taking care of things than I can.  

Just because we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, or the calm after the storm, it doesn’t mean that it will never come.  

Every tomorrow has two handles.  We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.

Henry Ward Beecher.

Chapter 4, Page 25, Book 17

Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once with beauty and courage.  Perhaps everything that frightens us, in the deepest essence, is something helpless that wants our love.

Rainer Maria Rilke

from one of my morning devotionals

Be ready to don your armor...

Old maps would often indicate the end of the known world with the phrase:  There be dragons there.   It was a way of saying, It’s probably not a good idea to go there.

In the legend of Saint George, he did not shy away from doing battle with a dragon.  Not only did he kill this menacing animal, but saved a princess, preached to the grateful people, distributed his reward money to the poor, and went on his way.  Not a bad day’s work for sure.

Dragons in stories are usually about people overcoming fantastic odds.

Fairy tales are more than true:  not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be be beaten.

Neil Gaiman

We all have dragons in our life.   Dragons can be small diversions that often seem like short cuts or nagging things like self doubt.  They at different for every one and only you know what your dragons are.

Dragons are the things that hold us back , a fear or a challenging experience that we’ve faced.  They will always be a part of life.

When faced with a dragon, we can prepare for battle and don our armor, or simply run away and hide. Our greatest weapon of choice is our next thought.  How we react or respond to the intimidating roar of our dragon.

Never laugh at live dragons.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Chapter 4, Page 24, Book 18

Welcome every morning with a smile.  Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday.  Be a self starter.  Let your first hour set the theme for success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day.  Today will never happen again.  Don’t wasted it with a false start or no start at all.  You were not born to fail.

Og Mandino

The biggest trap is making comparisons.  The biggest mistake is looking for perfection. The best place to start is today and even a little is more than enough .

Start where you are.  Use what you have.  Do what you can.

Arthur Ashe

Chapter 4, Page 23, Book 18

Love lights more fires

than hate extinguishes.

Ella Wilcox

There is nothing that love cannot do

We can judge others or we can love -

but we can’t do both at the same time.

Author Unknown

With love we have peace, joy, content, serenity and forgiveness.  When there is love, fear cannot survive. 

Love is choice and it’s up to us.We can either choose fear or we can choose love.   When we choose love, fear no longer has its place in our lives.  That which is feared cannot be loved.  That which is loved cannot be feared.

Happiness is a choice, peace of mind is a choice, and that choice is love.

What a grand thing to be loved!

What a grander thing still, to love !

Victor Hugo

Love is the one thing that can never hurt anyone, although it may cost dearly. The paradox of love is that is is supremely free yet attaches us with bonds stronger than death.  It cannot be bought or sold.  There is nothing it cannot face.  Love is life greatest blessing.

Hatred stirs up dissension, 

but love covers over all wrongs.

Proverbs 10:12

Chapter 4, Page 22, Book 18

Learn to enjoy every minute of your life.  Be happy now.

Don’t wait for something outside yourself to make you

happy in the future.  Think how precious is the time

you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family.

Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.

Earl Nightingale

Enjoy yourself it’s later than you think...

Those who do not get fun and enjoyment out of every day need to reorganized their lives.

George Matthew Adams

Life is more than just getting by, we are meant to have fun and enjoy it. Most people settle for getting through the day.  Buts its much more rewarding to get from the day. Life is too precious to see it flash by your eyes.

When we discover what we can get from each day, our attention tends to focus on what good there is to find.  Each day gives us new possibilities, new hope and a chance to enjoy life.

We already have everything we need to enjoy life,  its o question of determining what is really important.  And if we try to have fun and be happy there is a good chance that we are going to enjoy ourselves. 

Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think

Enjoy yourself while you’re still in the pink

The years go by, as quickly as a wink

Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think

Music by Carl Sigman and lyrics by Herb Madison. Made popular by Guy Lombardo

Chapter 4, Page 21, Book 18

My Wish For You

I wish for you

Comfort on difficult days,

Smiles when sadness intrudes,

Rainbows to follow the clouds,

Laughter to kiss your lips,

Sunsets to warm your heart,

Gentle hugs when spirits sag,

Friendships to brighten your being,

Beauty for your eyes to see,

Confidence for when you doubt,

Faith so you can believe,

Courage to know yourself,

Patience to accept the truth,

And LOVE to complete your life.

Author Unknown

Good wishes are one of the most generous ways we can share our heartfelt love for others. Good wishes cost nothing and do so much.  The idea that what comes around goes around always has a basis in reality.

Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes.

Mary Martin

Our thoughts and actions will always have some kind of consequences.  Everything we do or say leaves its mark.  So above all wish for good things for the people around you. 

Where there is great love there is always wishes

Willa Cather

Chapter 4, Page 20, Book 18

Just for today, I’ll make sure to look at the life all around me...

Look long and hard at life 

Look at life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.

Patti LaBelle

Becoming more aware is being mindful of the present moment.  It means noticing the sights, smells sounds and tastes you experience as well as the thoughts and feelings that occur from one moment to the next.

There are so many things we can miss out on when we don’t take the time to look around us.  And far too often we overlook life’s small joys while searching for the big ones.

The difference between living and half living is seeing well, looking for associations between thing, seeking the connections, being aware of scale and proportion.

Alexandra Stoddard

A lot of times we get so focused on our goals and dreams that we forget to enjoy life.   There is a huge difference between looking and seeing.  When we take notice, accept and appreciate every thing around us, our happiness increases.  

Life is too short to merely coast through it.

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

Chapter 4, Page 19, Book 18

The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but schedule your priorities.

Steven R. Covey

Live your priorities..

The Principal of Priority states

a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important and 

b) you must do what is important first.

Steven Pressfield

My priorities are my family, my friends and my faith.  They are the most important things in my life and when I put these 3 first, everything else falls into place.

Remember your priorities aren’t what you say, they are what you do.  Priorities help you identify what is important and valuable to you   To often we say we want X and fill our lives up with Y.  It’s way to easy to forget just what really matters.

When it seems that are too many things in your life, when 24 hours in a day never seems to be enough, remember the Pot of Jam and Coffee story:

There once was a professor of philosophy, who stood in front of his Class, took a large empty pot of jam and without saying a word, began to fill it with golf balls.

Then he asked his students if the jar was full. The Students replied: YES.

The professor then took a box full of marbles and poured the marbles into the pot of jam. The marbles filled the gaps in between the Golf balls. The Professor asked the students again if the jar was full. Again, they replied: YES .

At that point, the professor took a bag of sand and poured it into the pot of jam. Of course, the sand filled all the remaining gaps and the professor asked again if the jar was full. The Students unanimously answered: YES.

The professor then added two cups of coffee to the contents of the jar thus filling the small gaps between the grains of sand. The students started laughing. After they stopped, the professor said: I want you to realize that the pot of jam represents Life.

The golf balls are the very important things in Life such as family, children, health, everything you are passionate about. Our lives would still be full even if we'd lost everything else and these were the only things that remained.

The marbles are the other things that count in our lives such as work, house, car, etc ...

The sand represents everything else, all the small things in life.

If we had first poured sand into the pot of jam, there wouldn't have been any room left for anything else such as the marbles or the golf balls.

It's the same thing in Life. If we put all our energy and all our time into the small things, we will never have any time/space left for the things that really matter.

Pay attention to the things that are really important to your happiness. Play with your children, take time to go to the doctor, have dinner with your spouse/partner, exercise or take time to enjoy your favorite pass times.

There will always be time to do the cleaning and fix the taps on the kitchen sink ...

Take care of the golf balls first, of the things that really matter. Choose your priorities, the rest is just sand.

One of the students then raised a hand and asked what the coffee meant.

The professor smiled and said: It's good that you ask. I only added coffee to show that although your lives may seem full and busy, there is always room for a cup of coffee with a friend. Good day to all …

Author Unknown

Keep your priorities straight

Chapter 4, Page 18, Book 18

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

Anthony J. D'Angelo

No matter the weather we must make our own sunshine

Laughter is a sunbeam of the soul.

Thomas Mann

Sometime when we feel gloomy and sad we have to be our own sunshine.  Happiness is a choice and totally depends on you to make yourself happy and stay happy.  Happiness is nothing more than a decision we make.  It’s deciding to focus on the good, and not the bad.

I like to look at silver linings, the positive side of things and of course the funny side too.  I don’t have to let the weather affect how I feel.

 I’m fighting a bad case of cabin fever here and let me tell you it’s not easy.  I want to be outside enjoying the sunshine, but just yesterday we had another round of snow.

If you want to see the sunshine, you have to whether the storm.

Frank Lane

The fact is that we need to sing or dance and enjoy life no matter what the weather.  Maybe it isn’t the most fun thing to do, but feeling productive is a great cabin fever killer.  For me it’s a great time to get things done that I’ve been putting off.

It’s time to smile, to dance and sing!  

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.  These are but trifles to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.

 Joseph Addison