From the Quote of the Week Files, Memorial Day 2011

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
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It is Memorial Day in America. Originally called Decoration Day, it is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.

The above poem was written during WW I by a Canadian after witnessing the death of his friend during battle. The poppies he refers to grew in profusion in Flanders in the disturbed earth of the battlefields and cemeteries where war casualties were buried and it became a symbol of the British Common Wealth's Remembrance Day, which signifies the end of WW I.

The poem also inspired Professor Moina Micheal to publish her own poem called We Keep the Faith in tribute to the opening lines of McCrae's poem — "In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses row on row."

She then vowed to always wear a red poppy as a symbol of remembrance for those who served in the war. As part of her effort, she sold red poppies to friends and relatives and donated the proceeds to service personnel in need. Her tradition was so successful, that it became a tradition to wear a red poppy in honor of those who died serving this nation during war.
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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week Files, May 17, 2011

Today's Quote of the Week Theme: Finding Yourself. (Why, was I lost?)

Enjoy!
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"DO not seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."

Rainer Maria Rilke
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

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

From the Quote of the Week Files, May 16, 2011

It is now time to leave your world of tension, anxiety and doubt. So please sit back, slow down your pulse, and tune into today's Quote of the Week!

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“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.”

Albert Ellis
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

"Finally I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already am. That I will never fulfill my obligation to surpass myself unless I first accept myself, and if I accept myself fully in the right way, I will already have surpassed myself.”

Thomas Merton
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Wishing you a MOST beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

From the Quote of the Week Files, May 9, 2011

Welcome to the Quote of the Week!

The theme of this week's quotes is the subject of change. They were inspired after spending the last 2 weeks facilating a workshop on Managing Change for employees and managers going through a major change initiative in their organization.
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"We live in a moment of history where change is so speeded up that we begin to see the present only when it is already disappearing."

R. D. Laing
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"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."

King Whitney Jr.
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time

From the song, Changes by David Bowie
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Wishing you a MOST beautiful day, wherever this may find you!!

From the Quote of the Week Files, April 25, 2012

Welcome back to the Quote of the Week. Even though National Poetry Month has passed, we still continue for one more week featuring a poem as our Quote of the Week!

What is the "Real Good" to you? John Boyle O'Reilly gave it some thought. Enjoy!

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The Real Good

"What is the real good?"

I ask in a musing mood.

"Order," said the law court;

"Knowledge," said the school;

"Truth," said the wise man;

"Pleasure," said the fool;

"Love," said the maiden;

"Beauty," said the page;

"Freedom," said the dreamer;

"Home," said the sage;

"Fame," said the soldier;

"Equity," said the seer.

Spake my heart fully sad:

"The answer is not here."

Then within my bosom,

Softly this I heard:

"Each heart holds the secret:

'Kindness' is the word."

John Boyle O'Reilly

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2 Recycled Poem of the Week Classics....

Joy

And Joy is Everywhere;

It is in the Earth's green covering of grass;

In the blue serenity of the Sky;

In the reckless exuberance of Spring;

In the severe abstinence of grey Winter;

In the Living flesh that animates our bodily frame;

In the perfect poise of the Human figure, noble and upright;

In Living;

In the exercise of all our powers;

In the acquisition of Knowledge;

in fighting evils...

Joy is there

Everywhere.

Rabindranath Tagore

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The Smile Virus

Smiling is infectious,

you catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today,

I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner

and someone saw my grin

When he smiled I realized

I'd passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile

then I realized its worth,

A single smile, just like mine

could travel round the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin,

don't leave it undetected

Let's start an epidemic quick,

and get the world infected!

Russell H. Conwell

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

From the Quote of the Week Files, April 18, 2011

"For poems are not, as people think, simply emotions (one has emotions early enough)—they are experiences."

Rainer Maria Rilke

We continue with Poems for our Quote of the Week for April as it is National Poetry Month. Ever wonder what would have happened if you had chosen a different path? Robert Frost did in his poem, The Road Not Taken. Enjoy!

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The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler,long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost
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A Recycled Poem of the Week Classic...

Little Things

Little drops of water
Little grains of sand
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.

Little deeds of kindness,
Little words of love,
Make our world an Eden
Like the Heaven above.

Thus the little minutes
Humble though they be
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.

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

From the Quote of the Week Files, April, 11, 2011

Welcome to the Poem of the Week!

As you know it is National Poetry Month and we are featuring poems instead of the usual quotes. If there is a poem that you have found encouraging, inspiring,or uplifting, email it in and I will create a little Poem of the Week Anthology at the end of the month! (we have a few entries from last week)

This week, I Know Nothing but Miracles by Walt Whitman is the featured poem.

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I Know Nothing But Miracles

As for me, I know nothing else but miracles,

Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,

Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,

Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the

water,

Or stand under the trees in the woods,

Or talk by day with any one I love,

Or sleep in bed at night with any one I love,

Or watch honey bees busy around the hive of a summer

forenoon...

Or the wonderfulness of the sundown,

Or of stars shining so quiet and bright,

Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring...

What stranger miracles are there?

Walt Whitman

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A Recycled Quote (Poem) of the Week Classic...

If If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling

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

Welcome to the Quote of the Week! Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? (I just found out!) How about we feature poems this month for the Quote of the Week? The first featured poem is You Reading This, Be Ready by William Stafford. Being attentive to the present moment is the theme. Enjoy!
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You Reading This, Be Ready

Starting here, what do you want to remember?

How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?

What scent of old wood hovers, what softened

sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world

than the breathing respect that you carry

wherever you go right now? Are you waiting

for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this

new glimpse that you found; carry into evening

all that you want from this day. This interval you spent

reading or hearing this, keep it for life -

What can anyone give you greater than now,

starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

William Stafford

(1914-1993)

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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

"Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit."

William James

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

From the Quote of the Week Files; March 27, 2011

Rise and Shine you happy campers, it is time to meet the challenges of a BRAND NEW WEEK!! And "Rising and Shining" is the theme of this week's quote! Enjoy!
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“Do you know why most people sleep so much?”

“Why?”

“Because they really don’t have anything else to do. Those who rise with the sun all have one thing in common.”

“Insanity?”

“Very funny. No, they all have a purpose that fans the flames of their inner potential.””

Robin Sharma from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

Here comes the sun, du, dn, du, du!
here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right

George Harrison; The Beatles
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A link and The Rest of the song lyrics...

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
It's all right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_dBwJDUlS4
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Wishing you a most beautiful and sunny day, wherever this may find you!!

From the Quote of the Week Files; March 21, 2010

Welcome to the Quote of the Week; Your weekly spiritual snack for mind, body & soul. Sometimes you can't know the end from the beginning. That is the subject of this week's quote (story). Enjoy!
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A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away.

All the neighbors came by saying, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said, “We'll see.”

A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses. The man and his son corraled all 21 horses.

All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!” The man just said, “We'll see.”

One of the wild horses kicked the man's only son, breaking both his legs.

All the neighbors came by saying, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said, “We'll see.”

The country went to war, and every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed every young man, but the farmer's son was spared, since his broken legs prevented him from being drafted.

All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!” The man just said, “We'll see.”

A Zen Story
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"The best things in life are not things."

C. & J. Woods
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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!!!!

From the Quote of the Week Files, March 14, 2010

The weekend's over. It's Monday again. Welcome to the Quote of the Week!!!
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On Loving your fate...

“Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life, the idea came to him of what he called “the love of your fate.” Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, “This is what I need.” It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment—not discouragement—you will find the strength is there. Any disaster that you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes.”

Joseph Campbell from A Joseph Campbell Companion
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings."

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

From the Quote of the Week Files, March 7, 2011

Hello Everybody and welcome back to the Quote of the Week!! Two very different movies inspired this week's quotes ~ Life of Brian and Pollyanna! Enjoy!

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The Glad Game ~ ever play it?...

"Well, that's the game, you know, anyway."

"The--game?"

"Yes; the 'just being glad' game."

"Whatever in the world are you talkin' about?"

"Why, it's a game. Father told it to me, and it's lovely," rejoined Pollyanna. "We've played it always, ever since I was a little, little girl. I told the Ladies' Aid, and they played it--some of them."

"What is it? I ain't much on games, though."

Pollyanna laughed again, but she sighed, too; and in the gathering twilight her face looked thin and wistful.

"Why, we began it on some crutches that came in a missionary barrel."

"Crutches!"

"Yes. You see I'd wanted a doll, and father had written them so; but when the barrel came the lady wrote that there hadn't any dolls come in, but the little crutches had. So she sent 'em along as they might come in handy for some child, sometime. And that's when we began it."

"Well, I must say I can't see any game about that, about that," declared Nancy, almost irritably.

"Oh, yes; the game was to just find something about everything to be glad about--no matter what 'twas," rejoined Pollyanna, earnestly. "And we began right then--on the crutches."

"Well, goodness me! I can't see anything' ter be glad about--gettin' a pair of crutches when you wanted a doll!"

Pollyanna clapped her hands.

"There is--there is," she crowed. "But I couldn't see it, either, Nancy, at first," she added, with quick honesty. "Father had to tell it to me."

"Well, then, suppose you tell me," almost snapped Nancy.

"Goosey! Why, just be glad because you don't----need----'em!" exulted Pollyanna, triumphantly.

Excerpted from "Pollyanna" by Eleanor H. Porter

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And from the Life of Brian...

Some things in life are bad

They can really make you mad

Other things just make you swear and curse.

When you're chewing on life's gristle

Don't grumble, give a whistle

And this'll help things turn out for the best...

And...always look on the bright side of life...

Always look on the light side of life...

If life seems jolly rotten

There's something you've forgotten

And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.

When you're feeling in the dumps

Don't be silly chumps

Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing.

And...always look on the bright side of life...

Always look on the light side of life...

For life is quite absurd

And death's the final word

You must always face the curtain with a bow.

Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin

Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow.

So always look on the bright side of death

Just before you draw your terminal breath

Life's a piece of shit

When you look at it

Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.

You'll see it's all a show

Keep 'em laughing as you go

Just remember that the last laugh is on you.

And always look on the bright side of life...

Always look on the right side of life...

(Come on guys, cheer up!)

Always look on the bright side of life...

Always look on the bright side of life...

(Worse things happen at sea, you know.)

Always look on the bright side of life...

(I mean - what have you got to lose?)

(You know, you come from nothing - you're going back to nothing.

What have you lost? Nothing!)

Always look on the right side of life...

Eric Idle ~ Monty Python

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Just being glad and always look on the bright side of life...

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

From the Quote of the Week Files; February 28, 2011

Hello Everybody and Welcome to the Quote of the Week!!!!

Not everyone likes to set out on a road less traveled including me, so here are some thoughtts about making life an adventure. Enjoy!
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“A man practices the art of adventure when he breaks the chain of routine and renews his life through reading new books, traveling to new places, making new friends, taking up new hobbies and adopting new viewpoints.”

Wilfred Peterson
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“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”

Eleanor Roosevelt
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“At dusk the three of us encountered an elderly lady and her beagle hiking toward us. Teetering along on a walking stick, she wore a motoring cap and held a bunch of wildflowers. I said hello and asked her where she was going. She replied in Welsh, “Rydw i yna yn barod.” We looked to Erica for a translation. “She said, ‘I’m already there.’”

“A Ramble in Wales,” from National Geographic Traveler
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A Recycled Quote of the Week Classic...

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

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