Chapter 10, Page 31, Book 18

Trick or Treat !

Treat yourself to a generous heart.

You can give without loving, but cannot love without giving.

Amy Carmichael

For me Halloween is all about family, friends, and neighbors having a good time together and sharing sweet treats with others.  There is no doom or gloom going on at my house at all.  A lot of times those of us that live close by get together for dinner and fun and trick or treating.  Every thing it seems better when it’s done with others.  And having a good time involves family as far as I’m concerned.

Most of the tricksters around here seem to be little ones and are accompanied by their parents and they usually live in the neighborhood.  So it’s the perfect time to get to know who lives on your block a little bit better.

Pumpkins lit on dark nights shine out for all in a very welcoming way.  I’m all about letting your light shine for all to see and what a wonderful way to do so.

Hope you have a safe and Happy Halloween at your house !

Let your light shine.  Shine within you so that it can shine on someone else.  Let your light shine.

Oprah Winfrey

Chapter 10, Page 30, Book 18

We’ve all got both light and dark inside us.  What matters is the part we choose to act on.

J.K.Rowling

Your life, your choice…

Your beliefs become your thoughts.  Your thoughts become your words.  Your words become your actions.  Your actions become your habits.  Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.

Gandhi

There have been days, I’m sure, that I’ve been called a witch or even worse, by someone on the receiving end of my anger.   We all have times that we’ve regretted what has been said.  What we do or say at any given moment is a choice we all make.  We are all the sum of our actions.

Here is something you can get a handle on .  You don’t have to worry to much about shades of grey with actions.  You either did it or you didn’t .  Our actions do define us, but that doesn’t mean we have to live by that definition.  We can change our own story by refusing to accept it.

It’s true too, we cannot escape the consequences of our actions. I could yell and scream when I’m angry, but I don’t want to live with regrets.  I don’t want to own those consequences.

It’s always best to take time to think before you do something you’ll regret.

Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.

Mark Twain

Chapter 10, Page 29, Book 18

October, here’s to you.  Here’s to the heady aroma of frost kissed apples, the winey smell of ripened grapes, the wild as the wind smell of hickory nuts and the nostalgic whiff of that first wood smoke.

Ken Weber

What can I say about October...

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

Carol Bishop Hipps

Yes October is almost over and she’s going out with a bang as Halloween celebrations abound. Our small town had it’s annual Halloween parade yesterday afternoon.  

Trick or treat nights seem to vary in every city, but ours will be the 31st and I hope to shed a light on that spooky night when it comes.

Pumpkins have been carved by many and send a cheerful welcome sight out on these dark nights. And I have had my first sent of burning wood.  Someone was burning brush the other day when I was out and the scent to me is wonderful.

Every month and every season has it’s delights and October has had many for me.  

October is the month for painted leaves…As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year is setting.  October is it’s sunset sky; November the later twilight.

Henry David Thoreau

Chapter 10, Page 28, Book 18

Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

Carl Sandburg

take time...

Time is your treasure.

J.M. Colter

To take time, for me, means to slow down.   Take as much time you need to think things through.  There are a lot of things we want to get just right, so we take our time.  

Sometimes we need to take time to take care of ourselves too.  It’s easy to neglect ourselves when we are too busy.

Other times we have people that ask for too much of our time. Or maybe we’re the one trying to squeeze too much in our schedule.  We need to slow down and rethink, just how valuable our time is.  

Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend

Diogenes

I believe my time is valuable and that everyone should value their own time.  You can always make more money, but you can’t make more time.  We need to budget and plan our time just like any other commodity. 

Time is one of those things we cannot control.  We cannot pause time, We can’t stop it.  All we can do is spend it the best way we know how.  Time is a gift and we only have a set amount of of it. No one can hold time, it can only be spent. 

There is time enough, but none to spare.

Charles W. Chestnut

Chapter 10, Page 27, Book 18

In a real sense all life is interrelated. All men are caught in an inescapable network of all mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  What affects one directly, affects all indirectly.  I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be…This is the interrelated structure of reality.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am well, if you are well…

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong belong to each other.

Mother Teresa

Sometimes I’m asked if I’m related to a person with the same last name as mine, and most of the time my answer is no, but the truth is that we are all connected, interrelated to each other.

We are family. Together we are united.  We are one people, we belong to each other. united we stand, divided we fall, we are brothers and sisters all.  Together we can do a lot.  

These days even the closest of families seem to be divided, but how wonderful it would be if we were united.  If we could only forgive our differences and try to live together in peace, what a great world it would be.

We can agree to disagree and set aside irreconcilable differences in order to maintain our relationships. Remember we are all one and love will find a way.

Love will find a way. Everything else will find an excuse.

Preston Smiles.

Chapter 10, Page 26, Book 18

A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring sharing person inside.

Dennis Waitley

It is all in the smile…

Colors are the smiles of nature…they are her laughs, as in flowers.

Leigh Hunt

Nature is always right here, just for the seeing… and it’s always ready to offer a smile or two.  Days are not always going to look bright, but we can still find something worth smile about.

The simple act of smiling can boost your mood…It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged.  Sunshine to the sad and Natures best antidote for trouble.

I find my happiness where the sun shines

Author Unknown

Chapter 10, Page 25, Book 18

Money has never made man happy, nor will it; there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. the more of it one has the more one wants.

Benjamin Franklin

Money isn’t everything…

The greatest wealth is contentment with a little.

English Proverb

Although we all need money, it isn’t everything.  We need to remember that while it is good to have, there are many other things that are much more important in life. 

For some the grass is aways greener on the other side, but I’ve learned to be content with what I have.  Money doesn’t make us happy.  My faith, family and friends make me happy.  They are what is important in my life.

Money is good, love is wealth.

Doug Horton

There isn’t anything wrong with having money, it’s when it becomes the priority of in life that is the problem.   Money cannot buy love, time, truth, peace, and health which are the true wealth in life.

I feel like I’m the wealthiest person in the world and I don’t have a lot of money.

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

Chapter 10, Page 24, Book 18

You are loved!

Hugging is a silent way of saying…You matter to me

You matter to me…

Spend time to remember and appreciate the people in your life who, despite it all, kept you hopeful as you encountered situations of evil, suffering and sadness.

Joe McHugh

Life can be hard sometimes.  Things happen. We fail.  People disappoint us.  Tragedy strikes. And we’re only people doing the best we can, We don’t receive recognition for what we do, and at the end of the day we can feel passed over and ignored.

If we’re not careful we may start believing that what we do doesn’t matter, which leads to the belief that we feel like we don’t matter either. 

It’s important to tell the folks you care about just how much they matter to you and how important they are in their lives.  Everyone needs a pat on the back now and then so we don’t forget that we matter and what we do matters too.

When we acknowledges someone, we recognize their value and importance.  When we believe in others and encourage them to believe in themselves, we help them to stretch their thinking and open doors to their potential.

So tell people and tell them often just how much they matter!  This simple clear message has the power to change lives and change the world.

You matter to me!

Appreciation can make a day—even change a life.  Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. 

Margaret Cousins.

Chapter 10, Page 23, Book 18

Guard well within yourself the treasure, kindness.  Know how to give without hesitation, how lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.

George Sand

Some people will be kind to you.  Some won’t. Be kind any way.

Three things in human life are important.  The first is to be kind.  The second is to be kind.  And the third is to be kind.

Henry James

Anyway you look at it life is not always fair.  Even though we do our best to treat others the way we want to be treated,  their love is not aways returned.  

But life is short and we should do our best to make the best of the precious little time we have left, remembering always be kind.

Forget injuries, never forget kindness.

Aesops Fables.

Chapter 10, Page 22, Book 18

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Proverb

I heard one of my sons passing on this advice to one of his children the other day.  He smiled at me because he knew this was a something I’d said to him when he was a child.  I got that piece of wise advice from my own mother years and years ago.

It’s not easy to keep your mouth shut when you are hurt or angry,  but believe me it beats saying something you wish you’d never said in the first place.  Don’t get into the nitty gritty, just let it go.

The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid.

Author Unknown

Words are powerful.  We can use them to encourage, to help, to heal or to hurt, harm or humiliate.  Choose them well.  

Sticks and stones will break our bones, but words will brake our hearts.

Robert Fulghum

Chapter 10, Page 21, Book 18

Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough 

Emily Dickinson

Life is too short to be anything but happy

Happiness is inward, and not outward; and so it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are.

Henry Van Dyke

Happiness is a gift for the taking.  It doesn’t matter what things you have in life, what matters is the state in which your mind is set and thoughts you focus on. I truly believe happiness is an inside job.  

You cannot go out looking for happiness, buy it or borrow it.  Happiness is a result of your attitude towards life.  The only way I know to keep it alive is by recognizing that life is a gift and we must by thankful and enjoy it to the fullest.

Whoever is happy will make others happy too.

Mark Twain

 

Happiness is contagious, spreading among friends, neighbors, siblings and spouses like the flu.  Let’s all get infected.  We don’t always realize it, but our moods have a powerful effect on everyone around us.   When you are happy and show it, you spread happinesss around and it radiates out to others.

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.

Frederick Keonig

The best way to way to honor and appreciate your life is to be happy with your life.  When we appreciate what we have and give thanks for it, we find out just how much we truly have.  

Joy is not in things; it is in us.

Richard Wagner

Chapter 10, Page 20, Book 18

 Where there’s a will, There’s a way.

Proverb

WILL power...

Attitude precedes behavior, Attitude is tomorrow’s behavior.

Frederick Newell

Willpower sure sounds like a great thing.  Willpower is your best friend when things go well, but it’s the first thing to check out when you get weary.

When we really don’t want to do something, our minds give us plenty of reasons why we don’t have to.   However willpower and discipline are necessary in order to lead a successful life.  Determination gets you started  and keeps you going for awhile, but it is never enough to bring you across the finish line.

If you are determined enough, you can find a way to achieve what you want.  However, sometimes we don’t have the will and sometimes we lose our way.  I like to think that no matter what the problem is, there is always  a way to get out of it.  There is always a way to make life better.

Willpower is like a muscle and it gets stronger with regular use.  If we think we can, the we can do it.    I don’t have a lot of willpower when it comes to eating, but then I like food and enjoy what I eat.  I do have some when it it comes to getting things done.  I won’t quit until I’ve accomplished my goal.  In the end, you have to want to do what you do.

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.

Thomas Jefferson.

Chapter 10, Page 19, Book 18

All the statistics in the world can’t measure the warmth of a smile

Chris Hart

Keeping warm and cozy...

There is something in a simple hug

That always warms the heart,

It welcomes us back home

And make it easier to part…

Johnny Ray Ryder, Jr.

The days are growing chilly here in northern Ohio, but I wanted you all to know, I’m keeping warm and cozy.  There is warmth in the clothing I wear, there is warmth coming from the furnace, there is warmth in a good hot bowl of soup.  

Even though the days are shorter and colder I also find warmth in a lot of other things too.  

Hugs and smiles aways warm my heart and good friends are always warm and welcoming.  

Good friends are like quilts  - they age with you but never lose their warmth

Author Unknown

Some say it is a cold world we live in, but I’m thinking that if we take the time to share some smiles and hugs it could be a lot warmer.  

I’m cozy and comfortable right now and am thankful for it.  Just like the rays of sunshine warm us up a cold day, I have friends that warm me with their loving kindness too.  

There are warm words for a cold day too.  Just like a cup of hot cocoa topped with melty marshmallows, some words have the power to make us feel comfy and cozy too.

The conciouness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.

Oscar Wilde

Chapter 10, Page 18, Book 18

HOPE… is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles.

Samuel Smiles

¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ I have high hopes¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

No matter how difficult life can be the most important thing is to live it with hope.

Anonymous

Hope lives when we keep some room in the heart for what we don’t know and can’t yet perceive. Hope is a feeling of trust, a security, and a reason to keep going.  In this day and age, we need to remind ourselves that there is hope out there.  

When circumstances get dark or difficult the only thing to keep you going is hope. Hope encourages us to look forward confidently.  I have hope in what can be.  I live with joyful expectations.  Every day may not be a good one, but there is something good to be found in every day when we take the time to look for it.

Remember: 

Hope is knowing that a positive outcome awaits.

Hope is not only expecting a dream to come true, but having a deep assurance that it’s within your reach.

Hope is saying you can.

Hope is knowing that you can improve and that you always get better with practice.

Hope is something that never abandons you.  Even when life is filled with sadness and disappointment, a spark remains inside to help you get through the rough times.

Hope is one of God’s greatest gifts, because it is the magic that inspires you to keep trying, learning, loving and living.

You’ve gotta have hope.  Without hope life is meaningless.  Without hope life is meaning less and less.

Author Unknown