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Posts Tagged ‘inspirational quotes’

Reflections on Then and Now Then and now. One moment a baby and now soon to be a father. Where do the days go? Have you noticed how precious moments string together to create days that bundle into months that lump into years that stretch into decades. That’s where the days go. They grow and they flow and they circle ’round and ’round. Quick! Grab this moment and hang onto it for as long as you can. It will be gone soon. Sure, there are more moments headed your way, but how many of these will you appreciate and cherish? All of them, I hope.

#1 – Baby Clothes
Mementos From Baby Clothes Because I’m the sentimental type, I saved some of my children’s baby clothes. Not all of them, only the special pieces that were either made or embellished for them or that bring back special memories. I gave my son some of his baby clothes as a gift at a baby shower and it will be fun to see his children wearing them. If you have baby clothes that are sentimental to you, but not in good enough condition to be passed down, you may want to read 10 Ways To Make a Memento Out of Old Baby Clothing.

#2 – A Moment to Remember
Watching 15-month-old Kayden experience the feel of rain and listening to her say “Wow!” is a cute reminder of how there can be joy in simple things and how to truly savor a moment.

#3 – 100 Happy Days
!00 Happy Days The 100 Happy Days Foundation challenges you to identify, photograph, and share something that makes you happy each day for 100 days in a row. Whether you choose to participate in the program or do it on your own, it is a great way to train yourself to look for happiness.

#4 – Catching the Wave
PWave Photography by Clark Little Surfer and photographer Clark Little photographs waves, shorebreaks, and backwashes. His work is spectacular and his philosophy, “I just went out and did what I did; did what I loved and it just kind of happened,” is what more of us should strive to do. Watch how he got started in this creative endeavour:

#5 – Moments
“The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.”
Ashley Montagu

“The way a book smells when you thumb through it. The way quiet winter air makes you feel like no one else exists. The smell of the woods after a thunderstorm. That split second before your chair tips back. The feeling right before you cry. The euphoria before the heartbreak. That moment when you wonder if they think of you the way you think of them. These things, I live for.”
— Katie Humphreys

“Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.”
William Feather

Go now and spread joy!

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Flower with Bee During the time it took my camera lens to focus on a vermilion-colored blossom, a bee landed on it, dove into the center headfirst, and then flew off. Hurriedly, I pressed the shutter button. “Did I get the shot or not,” I wondered. On playback, I was pretty happy about getting a decent photo of the flower, but capturing the image of the bee made me even happier. Happiness comes into our lives in different degrees. Grab and appreciate every bit you can get.

#1 – The Science of Happiness
Called “An Experiment in Gratitude,” this video of a project from SoulPancake depicts the relationship between expressing gratitude and feeling happy.

#2 – Genius Ideas
Genius Decorating Ideas Discovering clever new ideas, especially those that involve upcycling, makes me happy. Check out these “31 Genius Ideas For Reimagining Home Decor.” It may be too late for me to build a Lego wall for my kids, but there’s still time to do so for my grandkids!

#3 – Just Peachy
Crab Salad With Peaches and AvocadosMaking homemade peach ice cream is a fun summertime tradition for my family. But after drooling over 62 Fresh Summer Peach Recipes, I’m going to make my family even happier. I’m shaking up my peach recipe repertoire. How does a Crab Salad with Peaches and Avocados sound to you?

#4 – Quiet, Please!
10 Most Beautiful Places to Read Books If you love to find quiet places to read, you’ll appreciate the Top 10 Most Beautiful Places to Read Books. They include both quaint and impressive libraries from around the world.

#5 – Your Choice
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Go now and spread joy!

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Seagull The bird soars through the sky, occasionally swaying to the left and swooping to the right. The cool ocean breeze flutters his feathers and lifts his wings. Other than eating, he has no plans for the day. He does what he wants, when he wants. Landing on a beach, he enjoys the warmth of the afternoon sun. He wanders across the sand, pecking for food here and there. A few of his colony friends approach and squawk-talk with him. After a bit, he bids them adieu and takes flight. Up, over the cliffs, out to the sea, and then back again. If birds could smile, this bird was smiling. Oh, to be free. To be free as a bird.

#1 – Be Real
Genuine Self? Do you “live life according to your true self” and how do you know if you are being genuine? Read 6 Signs You’re A Truly Genuine Person to find out.

#2 – Shut the Door!
Beautiful Doors from Around the World One of the first things someone sees as they approach your home is your front door, so why not make it interesting? Check out these 25 Beautiful Front Door Designs from around the world. Some are pieces of art and some are classically understated. I’m sure the homeowners remind visitors to “shut the door” so that their doors can be better appreciated.

#3 – Succulents 101
Succulents 101 With drought conditions in so many areas of the world, succulents are more popular than ever. People looking for low-maintenance and water-saving ways to bring color and texture to their gardens have discovered the world of succulents. Me included. Tired of unsightly drip lines running up into potted plants on my front porch, I started planting succulents instead. For those of you wanting to learn more about planting succulents, here’s a link to Succulents 101: A Beginner’s Guide.

#4 – Paying It Forward
This Thai commercial, made for a communications company, illustrates how kindness and giving goes around and comes around.

#5 – A Thousand Invisible Threads
“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.”
Herman Melville

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Ghost Ranch Flowers They may look like weeds to you, but don’t step on the vegetation. Please stay on the pathways. We’ve had a long drought here, and the poor little plants are doing everything they can to survive. See how the soil looks crusty? That crust protects the plants and if you step on the crust and break it, you’re inviting a dust storm. These words of advice, reiterated by more than one guide during a visit to the Southwest, motivated me to step up my water conservation and to appreciate the gifts that water brings.

#1 – Saving Water
Save Water While I was at a social gathering the other day, the conversation turned to ways to save water. Conserving water needs to become a way of life for all of us, and not just during a drought. Check out these 100+ Ways To Conserve and see if there aren’t a few more ways you can incorporate water conservation into your life.

#2 – Assessing the Flow
Go with The Flow Do you have days when you feel like you’re swimming upstream or you’re drowning in the details of life or you’re in the wrong pond altogether? Come up for air and take a deep breath. It’s time for a reassessment. From Marc and Angel Hack Life comes an inspirational piece called 16 Reasons You’re Succeeding in Life (Even If You Don’t Feel You Are). Odds are you are happier and more successful than you thought.

#3 – Water Table
Duffy London Abyss Table The London-based design company Duffy London created a mesmerizing table called the “Abyss Table.” This table is more than its stacked layers of glass and wood; it’s a “slice” of the sea.

#4 – How Would You Make Her Beautiful?
The Definition of Beauty Kansas City journalist Esther Honig sent an unretouched photo of herself across the seas to “Photoshop professionals and amateurs in 23 different countries and asked them to ‘make her beautiful.'” Her project is an interesting study of cultural interpretations of beauty.

#5 – Water, Water, Everywhere
“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ”
― Thomas Fuller

“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad

“In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of You are found all the aspects of existence.”
― Khalil Gibran

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Friday's Fresh Five! Someone sometime ago said, “Sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits.” That’s it. Nothing more. Try it, you might like it.

#1 – Perfect Words
Eleven Untranslatable Words Don’t you think that among all the languages around the world, a perfect word exists to describe every situation? For example, the Japanese word komorebi expresses “the sort of scattered dappled light effect that happens when sunlight shines in through trees.” How wonderful to have a word for such a beautiful scenario. Read more about unique words in the BBC’s Eleven Unstranslatable Words.

#2 – What Makes You Tick?
Identify Your Passion Do you know what truly makes you tick? Can you identify your passions in life? If not, read Know Your Passion: 5 Identifiers of What Makes You Really Tick
and see if it helps.

#3 – Light Up Your World
12 Amazing Light Fixtures Made from Everyday Objects Light up your world using everyday objects or even better using gently used objects. Featuring globes, cheese graters, bike parts and more, check out these 12 Amazing Light Lamps and Chandeliers.

#4 – Listening Is An Act of Love
StoryCorps: Listening Is An Act Of Love Listening Is An Act of Love is an animated special which presents stories from the StoryCorps oral history project. The StoryCorps site states, “Each story reflects StoryCorps founder Dave Isay’s fundamental belief: ‘We can learn so much about the people all around us – even about the people we already know – just by taking the time to have a conversation.'” During the minutes you spend watching and listening to the video, you’ll be thinking about the stories you want to share as well as the story of your life.

#5 – Alone Time
“You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with.”
Wayne Dyer

“The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.”
Alan Ashley-Pitt

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Bird of Freedom-T What does freedom mean to you? Here are a number of inspirational quotes to get you thinking about that. Recognize and be grateful for what you have.

Real Freedom Quote

Nelso Mandela Freedom Quote

Thich Nhat Hanh Quote

Thomas Jefferson Freedom quote

Ameil on Freedom

Lincoln on Freedom

Dyer on Freedom

Gandhi on Freedom

Faulkner on Freedom

Price of Freedom

Gratitude

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Pipevine Swallowtail Pupae Living to evolve and evolving to live, a butterfly’s short life is one of purposeful change. From egg to caterpillar to pupa to adult, the butterfly develops through a process of metamorphosis. The Greek word metamorphosis means to transform or to change shape. How is your metamorphosis going? Are you a butterfly, yet?

#1 – Who’s Got the Button?
Augusto Esquivel's Button Art Augusto Esquivel clearly has a button and, in fact, he has millions of them. Using sewing buttons and monofilament, this Miami-based artist transforms the function and appearance of buttons into three-dimensional sculptures and portraits. In his own words, I realize how insignificant and small a simple sewing button can be as it lays in my grandmother’s sewing box, but at the same time how unique and precious it can become as part of a work of art. Like an atom in a molecule, each button serves and shapes the whole. Click here to go to his website and then click on a year to see button pieces completed that year.

#2  – Work It Out
Hit the Gym Motivations Need a little motivation to exercise and change your body? Here’s All the Motivation You Need to Hit the Gym from the Daily Zen List. If you don’t belong to a gym, don’t let that stop you from exercising. Open your front door and just start walking!

#3 – Food With A View
22 Incredible Restaurants with Insane Views Transform your dining experience with a visit to one of the restaurants listed in 22 Incredible Restaurants With Insane Views. If you could travel to any one of these restaurants in the world tomorrow, which one would you choose?

#4 – Make It a Beautiful Day in Your Neighborhood
If anyone tried to change the world for the better, Fred Rogers, host of the children’s television program Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, did. Themes of self-acceptance, acceptance of differences, grace, and kindness resonated with both children and adults. Watch this old, but inspiring 5-minute video as Mr. Rogers accepted his Lifetime Achievement Award.

#5 – Change
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Wayne Dyer

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Dads Dads come in all shapes and sizes, so here’s a Father’s Day wish I penned for all fathers that’s short on words, long in sentiment, and big in heart: Thanks for blowing air in our sails and anchoring us during storms. Thanks for dreaming the big dreams and making us believers. Thanks for loving us like no one else could and for sacrificing as only you would. Thanks for loving our mothers and respecting them, too. But mostly, thanks for just being you. On this Father’s Day, may the love and devotion you give come back to you a thousand times over. Happy Father’s Day!

#1 – My Dad
Remember watching the Donna Reed Show? Well, at the risk of revealing my age, I remember it. I also remember listening to Paul Peterson’s song My Dad. As a Father’s Day tribute, here’s a blast from the past.

#2 – Dadvice
Dadvice One of my sons is going to be a new dad this summer and I’m thrilled. I’m sure he’s going to be in need of some parenting advice at some time or another, so this is for him, as well as all new dads and dads-to-be: Dadvice is a collection of “90 tips and tricks, do’s and don’ts, try-this’s and skip-that’s, for every stage of fatherhood. It’s the most complete, most comprehensive list available anywhere. Print it. Bookmark it. Share it. Tweet it.”

Here are some examples:

Imagine being hired as a pilot with no training. “Here’s the cockpit. Good luck getting to Houston.” That’s what it’s like coming home with a newborn. And it’s like that for everyone.

Cargo shorts are a diaper bag you can wear.

Travel with an extra set of clothes. Both for you and the kid.

If you let your kid play with the iPhone, put it on “airplane mode.”

Tell your partner “thank you.” A lot. And let your children hear you say it.

#3 – Unusual Gifts For Dad
Father's Day Gift Ideas Still thinking about that special gift for dad? What about a laser pizza cutter? Or what about an espresso maker made from an actual race car engine? To see these and more, check out 13 Food & Drink Father’s Day Gifts That Will Guarantee You’re His Favorite Child.

#4 – Miles O’Brien
Miles O'Brien TV reporter Miles O’Brien lost an arm while on assignment. Read his story Life, After and learn what he’s gained from his loss.

#5 – What Matters
“It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.”
Anne Sexton

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Santa Fe Blossoms They were everywhere, but nobody knew their name. Pretty trees covered with delicate rose-like blossoms decorated the streets of a town I recently visited. Fixated with their beauty and wanting to plant one in my own garden, I asked around for help identifying the trees. I even carried a photo of the blossoms on my smartphone. No one could tell me the species of the trees, not even people who had lived in the city for their entire lives. Many responses sounded like, “What trees? Oh, those trees. Don’t know.” Some people didn’t even realize the trees were in bloom. How could this be? How could trees that make our world more beautiful go unnoticed? And how could we take the world around us so much for granted? We see, but are we seeing?

#1 – Possibilities
Fun DIY Craft Ideas Do you throw “junk” away only to discover similar items cleverly refurbished and for sale at thrift stores, flea markets, and “vintage” stores? Do you think to yourself, “I wish I hadn’t thrown my _______ away. If I’d only known it would make such a nice _______, I would have saved it.” Where you saw lack of potential, someone else saw possibilities. If everyone could see such transformative possibilities, there would be less waste in our landfills. Use your imagination. To get your creative juices going, here are a few Fun DIY Craft Ideas. What happened to the child in you who built forts out of pillows or made cakes out of mud?

#2 – DIY Father’s Day Gifts
40 DIY Father's Day Gift Ideas Don’t take your father for granted. Show him how much you care and how much he means to you by making him a special gift. Brit + Co. provides some great ideas in their post titled 40 DIY Father’s Day Gift Ideas. Dad is sure to love anything you make, but the Whiskey, Caramel, Marshmallow, and Bacon Bark looks really good to me!

#3 – A Splash Of Sea Water
Photo of Magnified Drop of Water What’s in that gulp of sea water you just swallowed? “Not much?” you say? Well, check out this photograph of “one dip of a hand net” into sea water by David Littschwager. It’s been magnified 25 times. Read about all the aquatic flora and fauna you take for granted, too!

#4 – Being Grateful
Rainbow Thinking: What Are You Grateful For? Writing in a gratitude journal is one way of keeping life in perspective. No matter how bad your day has been, there’s bound to be something for which you are grateful. The site Rainbow Thinking focuses on gratitude by allowing people to anonymously submit entries about what they are grateful for and by posting the submissions of other people. What are you grateful for?

#5 – What Makes It Different?
“You can take for granted that people know more or less what a street, a shop, a beach, a sky, an oak tree look like. Tell them what makes this one different.”
Neil Gaiman

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Taos Pueblo The juxtaposition of adjacent buildings creates an invitation to admire the scenery. The angles of the walls tease me to look beyond the structures, to scan the snow-dusted mountains. After a moment of gazing, the view becomes a philosophical “big picture” concept; I sense a message being conveyed: Dare to step beyond the walls. Something wonderful is waiting to be discovered by you. Go beyond your boundaries to find it. You may wonder, “Has she lost her all her marbles?” No, Mother Nature just has a way of making me reflective and introspective.

#1 – Lateral Thinking Puzzles
Not everything is as it appears. Try to think outside of the box. Challenge your preconceptions with these lateral thinking puzzles. Lateral Thinking Puzzles

#2 – Know What To Regrow
8 Vegetables That You Can Regrow Again and Again When it comes to dealing with your kitchen vegetable scraps, do you choose to trash them or compost them? Well, here’s an additional option for you to consider. From Healthy Body Now comes this list of 8 Vegetables That You Can Regrow Again and Again.

#3 – TIRED of Art?
Incredible Sculptures Made From Tires South Korean artist Ji Yong Ho (or Yong Ho Ji) sees the connection between man and his environment. He repurposes tires in an extraordinary way. Using old tires and other materials such as wood, steel, styrofoam and synthetic resin, he creates large  sculptures of animals and humans, realistic and fantastical. The Cafesjian Center for the Arts says this of his work: Tires are a medium that translate what the artist means to express most sufficiently. The black tires are reminiscent of industrialization, which includes industrial material, industrial wastes, and even environmental pollution. He focuses on mutated animals and especially on artificial mutation. His works seem terrorizing and strong but the truth is that they are fragile and unstable. Yong Ho Ji’s intention is to send a message of warning on environmental destruction and a human-caused threat to itself. Click on the following links to see more of his work.

Novomade
Twisted Sifter

#4 – Hut with A View
Solvay Hut Near the top of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps is a ten-bed hut with an incomparable view. Don’t even think about vacationing there. It can only be used for emergency purposes. Built in only 5 days back in 1915, the Solvay Hut is an example of something seemingly impossible made possible.

#5 – Angelou For Inspiration
Inspirational Quotes from Maya AngelouTo honor the life of Maya Angelou, I present you with several of her inspirational quotes.

“You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.”

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”

“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.”

“One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Go now and spread joy!

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