From the Quote of the Week files, July 17, 20006

Welcome to the Quote of the Week!
Your weekly source for nurturing your mind, body & spirit.
Today's Theme....

Being vs Doing. Enjoy!
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On March 11, 2002, the Quote of the Week featured 4 quotes. They were…

"To do is to be." ~ Socrates
"To be is to do." ~ Plato
"The way to do is to be." ~ Lao-Tzu
"Do be do be do, do do do do be, do be do be do" ~ Sinatra

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These quotes had as a general theme, doing. But after reading a post on a blog titled Third Age by Doug Manning, it occurred to me that these quotes (especially Sinatra’s) really have to do with being and not doing. What is the difference? Here is a excerpt from his post…

"Being and doing - these are the two domains of human existence. A person’s
‘being’ is their boundless, timeless natural self. Their ‘doing’ is the
expression of that nature within form (activities) and time. Being is our
‘identity’. Doing is our ‘career’. When we are most healthy and vital, we
connect identity with career - who we are with what we do. Conversely, those
with careers completely disconnected from their natural self eventually
experience ill-health and exhaustion. Clearly, being and doing are equally
important for creating and maintaining a fulfilling and meaningful
existence."

The article encourages the creation of a To Be list (as opposed to a To do list)...

"At the end of the week, the person would look back and see how much of their
‘To Be List’ had actually happened. The unique difference for the ‘To Be
List’ is the focus is not on planned activities set in time and space.
Rather, the person is focused on being, discovering and/or developing who
they are."

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I have To Do list but now I have to work on my To Be list. To be or not To be ~ I quess that is the question. What will your To-Be list look like?
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Link to Third Age blog…

http://blog.thirdage.com/?p=539
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And now the Quote of the Week...

"Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to
overlook the greatness of little things in others."

Kakuzo Okakura ; The Book of Tea

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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week Files, July 10, 2006

Welcome to the Quote of the Week! Your weekly source for nurturing your mind, body & spirit.

We have 3 quotes today and they come under the general theme of ... "We'll get whatever we need to handle whatever life demands of us." Enjoy!
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"We have what we seek. It is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us."

Thomas Merton
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"Truth is not introduced into the individual from without, but was within him all the time."

Soren Kierkegaard
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"We all carry it within us: supreme strength, the fullness of wisdom, unquenchable joy. It is never thwarted, and cannot be destroyed."

Huston Smith
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A Recylced Quote of the Week Classic...

"Gratitude is the sign of noble souls."

Aesop Fables
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Forza Italia!

Congratulations to our Italian members (especially those in Italy) of the Quote of the Week for their team winning the World Cup 2006 !
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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week file, July 3rd

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Go vernment, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence
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The United States celebrates its Independence Day tomorrow, July 4 and it is a holiday celebrating the adoption of our Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. According to John Adams, one of our founding fathers, the holiday would be ...

"the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of
deliverance. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows,
games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this
continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

So here in America, tomorrow (for me it is tonight) we spend time with family and friends to celebrate the history of America and the reasons for celebrating our Independence Day! Enjoy!

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Link to The Declaration of Independence...

http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html

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Thinking the best for all!

From the Quote of the Week Files, June 26, 2006

"PORN" was the suggestion of a participant on how to maintain resiliency during a Developing Personal Resilience course that I was facilitating. Noticing the panic on my face, this participant assured me that this was just an acronym that served as a helpful reminder to help her maintain her resiliency.

What does it stand for? Power of Right Now! And that leads us to today's quote! Enjoy!
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Today I will delete from my diary two days: yesterday and tomorrow. Yesterday was to learn and tomorrow will be the consequence of what I can do today.

Today I will face life with the conviction that this day will not ever return.

Today is the last opportunity I have to live intensely, as no one can assure me that I will see tomorrow's sunrise.

Today I will be brave enough not to let any opportunity pass me by,my only alternative is to succeed.

Today I will invest my most valuable resource: my time, in the most transcendental work: my life; I will spend each minute passionately to make of today a different and unique day in my life.

Today I will defy every obstacle that appears on my way trusting I will succeed.

Today I will resist pessimism and will conquer the world with a smile, with the positive attitude of expecting always the best.

Today I will make of every ordinary task a sublime expression.

Today I will have my feet on the ground understanding reality and the stars' gaze to invent my future.

Today I will take the time to be happy and will leave my footprints and my presence in the hearts of others.

Today, I invite you to begin a new season where we can dream that everything we undertake is possible and we fulfil it, with joy and dignity.

Have a great day and a better one tomorrow!

Author Unknown
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

Dalai Lama
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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week files, 19 June 2006

Step out of the chaos as you refresh, reawaken and rediscover yourself with a motivational and inspirational thought with today's Quote of the Week! Today's quote, 'Be grease, not glue.'
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"Every life you touch will touch you back. Treasure every sunrise, every raindrop that hits your nose, every slobber of your dog, the feeling of sand between your toes. Be moved by the tears of a child, and try to fix the cause. Be grease, not glue. Breathe deep, exhale slowly, and never miss a chance to help another while on your journey here."

From the book, The Real Meaning of Life
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Or in the words of Frankie Valli... ;-)

We take the pressure and we throw away
Conventionality belongs to yesterday
There is a chance that we can make it so far
We start believing now that we can be who we are

Grease is the word
It's got groove it's got meaning
Grease is the time, is the place is the motion
Grease is the way we are feeling

From the play/movie Grease
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. Isn't that where the fruit is anyway?"

Arthur Lenehan
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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week files, June 12, 2006

"To receive everything, one must open one's hands and give."

Taisen Deshimaru

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"If my hands are fully occupied in holding on to something, I
can neither give nor receive."

Dorothee Solle

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There are people in life who hold their hand open, and there are those whose hands are shut. It makes me wonder, Which am I? By the way, Which are you?
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On a personal note...

Happy Birthday Bob Nolan

June 8th was my father's birthday. He was 83. To my sisters and myself, he is an everyday hero and borrowing words from Gail Godwin's book, Father Melancholy's Daughter, my father lived his life by the grace of his daily obligations .

When I think of the above quotes, he comes to mind as a man whose hands are always open. One of his favorite poets is Robert Service and this poem is dedicated to him.

The Ordinary Man

If you and I should chance to meet,
I guess you wouldn't care;
I'm sure you'd pass me in the street
As if I wasn't there;You'd never look me in the face,
My modest mug to scan,
Because I'm just a commonplace
And Ordinary Man.

But then, it may be, you are too
A guy of every day,
Who does the job he's told to do
And takes the wife his pay;
Who makes a home and kids his care,
And works with pick or pen. . . .
Why, Pal, I guess we're just a pair
Of Ordinary Men.

We plug away and make no fuss,
Our feats are never crowned;
And yet it's common coves like us
Who make the world go round.
And as we steer a steady course
By God's predestined plan,
Hats off to that almighty Force:
THE ORDINARY MAN.
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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

He's Back!

Does anybody recognize this man? He is Seward Johnson’s 1982 sculpture “Double Check” that was at Liberty Park (near the World Trade Center). It is a very lifelike businessman sitting in the park which Johnson called an iconic “stand-in” for those who didn’t make it.

Well he did make it and he is back!!! Double Check survived September 11, 2001 but he took a beating. After 9/11, the battered bronze statue became a symbol of those who lost their lost lives on September 11, 2001. In the days following the attacks, rescue workers placed an FBI hard hat on its head and a coil from a fire hose at its side while others placed messages honoring loved ones who died.

He returned last week to the newly refurbished park now named Zuccotti Park (I still like Liberty Plaza Park better). He is facing Ground Zero now and while he is dented a bit, he is still unbroken, serving as a symbol strength and determination. Welcome back Double Check!!

Stop by and say Hello to him sometime!

From the Quote of the Week Files, June 5, 2006

"the most wasted of all days is one without laughter."

e.e. cummings

"Seven days without laughter makes one weak."

Mort Walker

"I had a few laughs, so it was a good day."

Mike Pennella (after spending a day at the
track with his friends)

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Welcome to the Quote of the Week! Serving the psycho-spiritual needs of people on the go since 1999!

I read somewhere that a typical young child laughs more than 400 times a day, a typical adult—fifteen times. I began to wonder how often I laugh during the course of the day and if I even hit that fifteen mark. Studies show that laughter is healthy—it lowers blood pressure, boosts immunity, and may even help you lose weight.

Given all the headlines of late, it isn't easy to do a lot of laughing (especially the laugh out-loud kind), but my goal this week and the rest of the month is to "Laugh out loud" at least 15 times a day. I may need some help, any suggestions?

By the way, how often do laugh in a day?

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Link to an article on the benefits of laughter…

http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jun05/050615m.asp

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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."

Victor Borge

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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week files, Memorial Day 2006

Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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It is Memorial Day in America.

Every year, on the last Monday in May, Americans observe Memorial Day. Originally called "Decoration Day," Memorial Day is a holiday that commemorates those who have died in battle while serving in the U.S. armed forces. Today We are reminded that they died so that we could live and continue to cherish the things they loved.

The Quote of the Week honors those who gave their lives for our future freedoms and the acknowledge those men and women who serve in our armed forces today.

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"When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today"

Kohima Epitaph

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Links to Memorial Day History and the the Kohima Epitaph...

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyseneca/memorial.htm
http://www.burmastar.org.uk/epitaph.htm

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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week files, May 22, 2006

Welcome to the Quote of the Week!! The place to go to where you can get timeless wisdom at bargain basement prices!!
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The Secret of Life...

The search for this week's quote bought me to the March 27th issue of The New Yorker magazine and Calvin Trillen's essay, Alice, Off Page, which is a tribute to his late wife. Here is an excerpt from that essay that may explain the secret of life.

Once, for the program at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp gala, some volunteer counselors contributed short passages about their experiences at camp, and Alice wrote about one of the campers, a sunny little girl she called L. At camp, Alice had a tendency to gravitate toward the child who needed the most help, and L. was one of those. "Last summer, the camper I got closest to, L., was a magical child who was severely disabled, " Alice wrote. "She had two genetic diseases, one which kept her from growing and one which kept her from digesting any food. She had to be fed through a tube at night and she had so much difficulty walking that I drove her around in a golf cart a lot....One day, when we were playing duck-duck-goose, I was sitting behind her and she asked me to hold her mail for her while she took her turn to be chased around the circle. It took her a while to make the curcuit, and I had time to see that on top of the pile was a note from her mom. Then I did something truly awful, which I'm reluctant now to reveal. I decided to read that note. I simply had to know what this child's parents could have done to make her so spectacular, to make her the most optimistic, most enthusiastic, most hopeful human being I had ever encountered. I snuck a quick look at the note, and my eyes fell on this sentence: 'If God had given us all the children in the world to choose from, L., we would only have chose you.' Before L. got back to her place in the circle, I showed the note to Bud, who was sitting next to me. 'Quick. Read this,' I whispered. 'It's the secret of life.'

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Here is a link to the full text...

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~krishna/alice
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A Recycled Quote of the week classic...

"A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses."

Chinese Proverb
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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week files, May 15, 2006

Welcome to the Quote of the Week! Your First Aid for Pessimism!
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Wisdom from across the bar...

Life, work and careers were the subject of the conversation I had with Dave and Leslie, an interesting couple I met at the bar of a local restaurant. Passionate about her career, Leslie summed up her philosophy of work and getting ahead in the quote below. I thought it was pretty interesting and made it this week quote. Enjoy!
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"What's the point of getting where you want to go if your are not going to help others get where they want to go?"

Leslie Dyer
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic…

"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or horror, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they could be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming."

J.W. Goethe
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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week files, May 7, 2006

Today's quote comes from the book The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian which contains 300 short paragraphs of insights, reflections, and advice. Below is #140. I think this will be my challenge for this coming week... Go straight to the Good of Everything!
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Go Straight to the Good in Everything

"It is the happy lot of those with good taste. The bee goes straight for the sweetness, and the viper for the bitterness it needs for its poison. So with tastes: some go for the best, others for the worst. There is nothing that doesn't have some good, especially books, where good is imagined. Some people's temperaments are so unfortunate that among a thousand perfections they will find a single defect and censure it and blow it all out of proportion. They are the garbage collectors of the will and the intellect, burdened down with blemishes and defects: punishment for their poor discernment rather than proof of their subtlety. They are unhappy, for they batten on bitterness and graze on imperfections. Others have a happier sort of taste: among a thousand defects they discover some perfection that good luck happened to drop."

Baltasar Gracian
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

"The more faithfully you listen to the voices within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside."

Dag Hammarskjold
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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week files, May 1, 2006

Happy talk, keep talkin' happy talk,
Talk about things you'd like to do.
You got to have a dream,
If you don't have a dream
How you gonna have a dream come true?

If you don't talk happy,
And you never have a dream,
Then you'll never have a dream come true!

Rogers and Hamerstein
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It is funny how things can come together...

Last week I was reading an article by business guru Tom Peters on 100 Ways to Succeed (see link below) with Rogers and Hammestein play South Pacific blaring in the background (nothing else was on). Just as I am finishing the Peters’ 15th way to succeed titled, You must be able to answer this question! And the question is: What’s the Dream?, the song above song, Happy Talk starts playing.

Now this is a song that I have heard many times over the years without really paying much attention to the lyrics. But the reading of Tom Peter’s article bought new meaning to these words...

You got to have a dream,
If you don't have a dream,
How you gonna have a dream come true?

So now not only do I find myself singing this song in the shower and the car during these past few days but more importantly, I am asking myself, What is my dream? Hmm, I going to have to give this some thought!!!

By the way, What is your dream?
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Link to Tom Peters Article...

http://www.tompeters.com/blogs/freestuff/uploads/

Link to the lyrics of Happy Talk...

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/happytalk.htm

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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!