A thought for the Day

[Princess Michelle]

Christmas -- 1 Corinthians 13 Style

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook. If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point. Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband or wife. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way. Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Very nice, Michelle, very nice.

Listen well

Effective listening can be a truly powerful way to express yourself. When you wish to say something in the best way possible, take the time and make the effort to listen first.
Communication is most effective when it is a two-way, interactive process. Listen carefully, thoughtfully, attentively, with focus on what is being said and on who is saying it. Listen not only with your ears, but also with your knowledge, your intuition, your compassion and your genuine desire to understand. Listen well, and create a powerful connection with those to whom you listen.

Truly seek to understand, and you'll be much better able to make yourself understood. Listen well, and you'll learn the most effective way to say whatever you have to say.

The most well-chosen words come from first using your ears before you ever open your mouth. Listen, really listen, and you'll have plenty of valuable things to say.

-- Ralph Marston

 

[EROS]

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on."

- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

 

[Dan Murphy]

When you cease to make a contribution, you begin
to die.
--Eleanor Roosevelt

We need to take note, today, of all the opportunities
we have to offer a helping hand to another person.
We can notice too the many times a friend, or even
a stranger, reaches out to us in a helpful way. The
opportunities to contribute to life's flow are
unending.

Our own vibrancy comes from involvement with
others, from contributing our talents, our hearts, to
one another's daily travels. The program helps us to
know that God lives in us, among us. When we
close ourselves off from our friends, our fellow
travelers, we block God's path to us and through us.

To live means sharing one another's space, dreams,
sorrows; contributing our ears to hear, our eyes to
see, our arms to hold, our hearts to love. When we
close ourselves off from each other, we have
destroyed the vital contribution we each need to
make and to receive in order to nurture life.

We each need only what the other can give. Each
person we meet today needs our special
contribution.

--Each Day a New Beginning

 

[EROS]

"The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work."

- Emile Zola (1840-1902)

 

[Dan Murphy]

Your mind can only hold one thought at a time. Make it a positive and constructive one.

-- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

 

[EROS]

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."

- Yoda ('The Empire Strikes Back')

 

[Disney Doll]

Always be a little kinder than necessary.--James M. Barrie

 

[tedsmom]

EROS, I think you missed part of the point of my last response to you. However, I'm not going to continue to debate it in the midst of this thread, which contains mostly positive and uplifting thoughts. Feel free to PM me if you wish to continue our discussion.

Meanwhile...my little addition for today...

"Friends are the best parts of ourselves."

 

[EROS]

"I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart."

- e e cummings (1894-1962)

 

[Goofyposter]

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."

- Yoda ('The Empire Strikes Back')

WOW!!

That's teu "deep" fer me!!

 

[EROS]

YODA can be a littttttttttttttle heavy, Goofus

"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad."

- Salvador Dali (1904-1989)

 

[Dan Murphy]

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.
It is more important than the past,
Than education, than money, than circumstances,
Than failures, than successes,
Than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.
It will make or break a company...a church...a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day
Regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past...
We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have,
And that is our attitude...

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me
And 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you...
We are in charge of our Attitudes.

--Charles Swindoll

 

[EROS]

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

 

[Dan Murphy]

Impressive

If you truly want to impress others, seek to impress them with who they are, rather than with who you are. Work to genuinely bring out the best in others, and they'll certainly see the best in you.
The strongest leaders do not command, they empower. The most effective teachers do not impose their knowledge, they infect students with a passion for learning. The most successful salespeople do not trick their customers into buying, they seek to understand and fulfill the true needs of those customers. The most successful businesses do not steal value, they create and distribute it in exchange for other value.

Think of the people who impress you the most, and you'll see that they're the ones who are able to touch something real and genuine within you. You're not really impressed with who they are, but rather with what they mean to you.

Think of someone you know whom you genuinely respect and admire, and that person will be someone who brings out your best. No matter what the state of the economy or job market, there is never a lack of opportunity for people who can find a way to truly bring out the best in others.

-- Ralph Marston

 

[Dan Murphy]

There are two courses of action to follow when one is bitten by a rattlesnake. One may, in anger, fear, or vengefulness, pursue the creature and kill it. Or he may make full haste to get the venom out of his system. If we pursue the latter course we will likely survive, but if we attempt to follow the former, we may not be around long enough to finish it.

-- Marion D. Hanks

 

[EROS]

"But at my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near."

- Andrew Marvell (1621-1678)




TEMPUS FUGIT.....HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

[Lanshark]

As we grow older in life, years somehow seem to shorten and New Year's Day approaches with an ever increasing tempo. The more mature we get, the more we realize that time is only relative; how we live means more than how long we live. Haply also we do not live by years, but by days. In His wisdom God does not show us all that lies ahead. So we enter a new year to live it day by day. What is past is past. Today we start anew, and what we do today will make our life for tomorrow. Chin up, shoulders straight, eyes agleam, let us salute the New Year, and each day let us follow more faithfully, more courageously, more daringly the lead of our great Captain who bids us follow Him.

William Thomson Hanzsche

 

[EROS]

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

 

[Dan Murphy]

Nice to see you again, Lanshark, Happy New Year.

The best ever

To make this new year the best year ever, start small. Start with one small moment, this one you now have, and put into it all your energy, your enthusiasm, your passion and commitment. Make full use of what you have right here and now, whatever it may be. Though it may not seem like much, this small moment can put you solidly on course for magnificent positive achievement.
To make this new year the best year ever, keep going. Though challenges and disappointments will certainly come your way, you do not have to go their way. At times you will know discouragement, yet there is no value in continuing to be discouraged. There is every reason to continue moving forward, no matter what, for that is the best response to every discouragement.

To make this new year the best year ever, take responsibility for it. Instead of making excuses or assigning blame, put your energy into focused, creative effort, into creating value, into living with purpose.

This new year can be the best year ever. Because it will be for you whatever you are willing to make it.

-- Ralph Marston