Destiny

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice;
it is not to be waited for, but a thing to be achieved.

~ William Jennings Bryan

Merry Christmas

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!

~ Goethe

The Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

St Francis of Assisi was a Roman Catholic friar and the founder of the Franciscan Order. He is known as the patron saint of animals, birds, the environment and Italy. He lived from September 26, 1181 - October 3, 1226.

The Prayer of St. Francis is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. Regardles of your religious preference, I hope you read and integrate this prayer today. Images of St Francis frequently demonstrate his love for animals. Perhaps it is for this reason that I have loved this prayer since childhood. Today, as an adult and integrative healer, within these words I find two core values of a hope-filled and gracious life: It is in helping others heal that we are healed and While visiting, we should walk gently upon this earth.

Atomic Tom's Stroke of Genius

Technology is a wonderful thing. Universal Republic's latest rock project Atomic Tom would probably agree with that sentiment after the band's instruments were stolen recently. In a stroke of genius, Atomic Tom members improvised with their iPhones. Good for you, gentleman!



Read more...

Be Yourself

Be yourself - everybody else is already taken.

~ Oscar Wilde

Tao Te Ching - Chapter 8

The highest good is like water.

Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.

It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.

In dwelling, be close to the land.

In meditation, go deep in the heart.

In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.

In speech, be true.

In ruling, be just.

In business, be competent.

In action, watch the timing.

No fight: No blame.

Lao Tsu, an older contemporary of Confucius, was keeper of the imperial archives at Loyang in the province of Honan in the sixth centruy B.C. All his life he taught that "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao"; but, according to ancient legend, as he was riding off into the desert to die - sick at heart at the ways of men - he was persuaded by a gatekeeper in northwestern China to write down his teaching for posterity.

Tao = "the way" or "the pathway"

Bill Gates Explains

-Whether you like Bill Gates or not...this is pretty cool. Here's some advice Bill Gates recently dished out at a high school speech about 11 things they did not learn in school.

RULE 1
Life is not fair - get used to it.

RULE 2
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

RULE 3
You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.

RULE 4
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.

RULE 5
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping they called it Opportunity.

RULE 6
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

RULE 7
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.


RULE 8
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

RULE 9
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

RULE 10
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

RULE 11
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Michael Jordan

Jackie is Amazing!

Believe

“The future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams.”

— Eleanor Roosevelt

A friend to yourself

What progress, you ask, have I made?
I have begun to be a friend to myself.

~Hecato

Inuit symbol of friendship

Daily affirmations are awesome!

Freedom

When we have faith in our contribution to life, we have no fear.

When we live without fear, we are authentic.

When we are authentic, we have purpose.

When we have purpose, we add to the world.

When we add to the world, we are productive.

When we are productive, we have value.

When we are of value, we have worth.

When we have worth, we are free.

In the penultimate step, we return to where we started:

when we are free, we live in faith.

~ Dr. Kenn Gordon

Center for Spiritual Living

An Amazing "Ocean"

Potential

Under all that we think,

lives all we believe.

Think of the potential.

Affirmations for Success

"I am blessed beyond my fondest dreams."

an affirmation for success

Peace

Peace evolves in stillness of mind and body.

Peace within another offers you space and a true reflection of your greatness.
Peace within yourself offers you a universe of possibilities.

7 Men Who Are Transforming the World

Read about an astronaut, doctor, actor and others

who are transforming the world.

Happiness Is a Journey

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness.

Happiness is the way.

So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one.

~ Souza

Dark Places

"Remember...flowers grow out of dark places."

~ Corita Kent

Take a Step Into the Darkness

When we walk to the end of all the light we have,

and take a step into the darkness of the unknown,
we must believe one of two things will happen:
That we will land on something solid,

or we will learn to fly.

~ A Native American saying.

Discover Your Drummer in 2010

If a man does not keep pace with others,

perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Photo: One Man Band
Streets of Washington, D.C.
7/4/09