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Posts Tagged ‘motivation’

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

Now go and spread joy!

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Rio Samba Rose Trick or treat? The early morning sun cast a spectacular golden glow on a rose, necessitating an impromptu photo session. After downloading the images to my computer, tone-on-tone color variations, curves, and shapes filled the screen and fooled my eyes. Was I looking at an abstract painting? Cerebrally, I knew the answer. But for a few seconds, my brain refused to recognize the rose and registered only its glorious components. I was both tricked and treated, don’t you think?

#1 – Inside a Wave
Inside a Wave Imagine a wall of water curls over you. You’re inside a wave. How would it look? What colors and shapes would you see? Take a Look Inside a Wave answers those questions with a collection of fascinating photos taken by different photographers from around the world.

#2 – Color and Shapes

Artist Beatriz Milhazes

Photo by Felipe Dana/Ap

Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes’ life is filled with colors and shapes. A statement by French artist Yves Klein influences her work. Milhazes says, “Klein said he painted in one color because once you add another, you have conflict.” She desires the opposite effect in her artwork. She wants conflict. Watch the 8-minute video to see more of her colorful work and to learn more about her unique techniques.

#2 – Jack-O-Lantern Designs
140 Pumpkin Carving Designs Pumpkin? Check. Carving tools? Check. Design? Nope. If you’re looking for jack-o-lantern designs, look no further. It’s Written on the Wall provides links to (At least) 140 FREE Halloween Pumpkin Carving Patterns. That’s almost too many designs to choose from!

#4 – Life-Changing Sentences
You Learn More From Failure How many of you remember the childhood saying. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” As a child I bought into all of that, but as an adult, I recognize its folly. Words have power. They influence, they wound, they encourage, they make our hearts sing, etc. Lifehack offers a list of 10 Sentences That Can Change Your Life. These sentences may not change your life completely, but the powerful thoughts behind them will make you think and possibly question your current beliefs.

#5 – Limited or Limitless?
“There are only 3 colors, 10 digits, and 7 notes; it’s what we do with them that’s important.”
Jim Rohn

Now go and spread joy!

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Fallen Oak With a lonely heave, a small oak tree fell across a pathway. People walked around the “nuisance,” refusing to break their stride. It was as if a fallen tree was an everyday impediment. No one paused long enough to admire its beauty, even in its sad state, or to show appreciation for the gifts it had bestowed upon the earth during its lifetime. No one mourned its loss–except for, perhaps, one. That one stooped down low and touched the tree. As her gaze followed her fingers, something caught her attention. A random broken twig, bound tightly to the tree by delicate lichens, resembled a cross.

#1 – Make a Difference
Make a Difference Day Making a difference in the lives of people and in the world should be an everyday happenstance, but sometimes people need a little push or added motivation to get involved. To that end, an official day has been declared. Make a Difference Day is on October 26th this year. To learn how to register a project or to find ways you can help, click on the link for more information. If you want to search for an organized project in your area click here and insert your zip code or city in the box. Large or small, your participation can make a whole world of difference.

#2 – Sit!
30 Places You'd Rather Be Sitting Right NowFor those of you who sit for many hours on the job, you’ll enjoy scrolling through 30 Places You’d Rather Be Sitting Right Now . I guarantee you that all of the seats offer more fun and excitement than your desk chair!

#3 – One Great Costume
 Operation Game Costume Remember the board game Operation in which participants would pretend to be surgeons and try to remove plastic “body parts” with a pair of tweezers? Well, a creative person figured out a way to make the Operation game into a costume. It’s clever, it’s fun, and it’s interactive!

#4 – There’s Pumpkin on Your Face
6 DIY Pumpkin Face Mask RecipesPacked with essential vitamins and minerals, pumpkins are good for your body inside and out. Along with your favorite edible pumpkin recipes, add these 6 DIY Pumpkin Face Mask Recipes to your collection of homemade beauty recipes.

#5 – Live Your Life
“Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured the fault is in yourself.”
Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Indian Chief

GO NOW AND SPREAD JOY!

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Potato Flowers Purple flowers with yellow centers pose against a golden summer backdrop. These two colors sit on opposite sides of a color wheel making them complementary colors. In the world of color theory, they are a dynamic duo. Perhaps, a hopeful lesson for the world can be extrapolated from this theory: that despite being far apart (in color, beliefs, origins, etc.), entities can come together, work together, and bring out the best in each other.

#1 – Color Palettes
Color Palette Search Whether painting a piece of art, decorating your home, coordinating your wardrobe, or planning a wedding, choosing the perfect color palette can be difficult. There are many online sites that offer help. One such site is Design Seeds where you can “find the palettes you love.” Searches can be done by color value or by theme.

#2 – Make Music
Op Art Sound Matrix Click on a square on the Op Art Sound Matrix grid and you have the first note of your song. It is an entertaining and hypnotic little diversion. As far as I can tell, to create another song, you have to leave the page and come back.

#3 – Get Ready to Eat Fall Desserts
Fall Desserts Am I rushing things by sharing 35+ Fall Desserts with you? Not really. The autumnal equinox is only two days away! Stop drooling and click on the link, so that you can get to the mouth-watering recipes ASAP!

#4 – Life = Risk
If you can spare a minute, watch this motivational video. It may change your outlook on life and the way you view people.

#5 – Spread Your Wings
“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.”
― C. JoyBell C.

Have a lovely weekend!

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frozen bird bath

Photo by Linnell Chang

Rigid icicles, clinging tightly to the under side of a fountain, created a sharp contrast to the shape-changing droplets of water that danced over the edge. Overnight freezing temperatures transformed my backyard fountain into a winter work of art and also into a metaphor about life’s transformations. Like the internal changes water goes through, life can be transformed by changing our inner beliefs.

#1 – Code to Live By
The third entry in the Native American Code of Ethics reads, Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. Deep down, I think we all recognize the validity of these words, but how many of us actually walk our true paths? The other 19 aspects of the Code serve as additional reminders of how we can live honorable lives. Print up the Code and read it every morning before you start your day. If we all followed this Code, think about how we could transform the world.

#2 – Healthy Living TED Video
In this video author A.J. Jacobs presents his humorous talk on “How Healthy Living Nearly Killed Me.” Pay special attention to what he says from minute 7:20 to minute 7:41!

#3 – Cooking For Others
photo of casserole containers If you have a friend in need and you’re taking food over to help him/her, you might want to review this article, Cooking for Others: A Guide to Giving Sympathy Meals first. Read “tips, helpful suggestions, and friendly advice on bringing meals to others.” While reading through the comments section, I learned that many of us tend to bring over food for dinner, but rarely consider that the recipient might be in need of something else, like food for breakfast.

#4 – Ten Sentences
inspirational poster From the blog Lifehack come these Ten Sentences that Can Change Your Life. Which sentence has the power to transform your life?

#5 – Search Within
“People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within.”
Romana L. Anderson

Have a wonderful weekend!

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One penny, one lottery ticket, and one ounce of luck . . . that’s all it takes. Who doesn’t like the thrill of potentially winning something? That’s what I thought when I made these fish-lottery favors. Wanting to combine a fun activity with a fish-themed party favor, I created these “Lucky in Love” fish for all the guests at my son’s wedding rehearsal dinner. Since I never throw anything “useful” away, I was elated to find a use for a stack of paper fish frames that remained after cutting out 300 paper fish for the wedding. After carefully cutting the fish silhouettes apart, I glued colored paper behind them. Then with repositionable adhesive, I attached a lottery ticket to the paper and added a “fish eye” or penny for scratching. One fun idea, one way to repurpose, and more than one winner!

#1 – One Body, One Site
Thanks to the wedding, for the first time in my life, I’ve been exercising seriously on a regular basis. I’ve learned that I can get a thorough workout with very little equipment – so basically there is no excuse for not exercising! Whatever exercise equipment you have at your disposal, you’ll want to check out excercise.com for its list of exercises and videos. Whether you have no equipment at home or only a set of dumbbells or only an elliptical trainer, this site has exercises for you to do!

#2 – One Day

Photograph by Lee Jeffries

One day a man with a camera sees a homeless woman and takes her photo. The result of that experience is a collection of black and white images taken by photographer Lee Jeffries. He has journeyed across the world and into his heart to capture faces of the homeless. Through his powerful portraits, Mr. Jeffries emotionally affirms the saying that “the eyes are the windows to the soul.”

#3 – Cooking for One or Two
The kids are all gone. No more cooking for my army of hungry children. It’s been a difficult adjustment for me to scale back on the amount of food I buy and prepare, but I’m slowly adapting. If, like me, you find you are now cooking for one or two, you may want to check out these recipes that are formulated to serve only one or two people.

#4 – Create One Meaningful Life
You’ve got only one life, so make it meaningful. From GPS for the Soul comes this article Tools for Creating a Meaningful Life. Ira Israel, the author gives us 10 things to be mindful of as we go about our lives.

#5 – One Thing

This weekend – do one thing that you’ve always wanted to do, but never have!

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Happy New Year! Most of us start off the year by making resolutions, so here are a few inspirational quotes to get you motivated!

#1 – The New Year
We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.
Edith Lovejoy Pierce

#2 – Housework
I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home…. I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby. Nancie J. Carmody

#3 – Self-Improvement
Don’t wait, The time will never be just right.
Napoleon Hill

#4 – Consider the Environment
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. Chief Seattle, 1855

#5 – Improving the World
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.
Robert Francis Kennedy

Wishing everyone a year of good health and profound joy!

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