Acceptance......

My Thought for this Day....We all are links in our own personal chain. At times we are the Strongest link and bind our weaker family and friends together. At times, it is inevitable we are the most Frail link of our chain of life. The blessing and purity of existence is to know the difference. Don't try to forge the knot when you know you can't hold it. Greatness is not trying to overachieve at other's expense. Wisdom is allowing those stronger links to hold when it is their time. Be that person who is humble enough to realize no one can be all every second. Their is Grace in holding out your hand for help and grasping those who are walking by your side in love and support.

Missed.....

My Thought for this Day......Yesterday I had the opportunity to be a Good Samaritan or a fool. In my worldly existence, I did neither. I brushed off the opportunity, due to fear, doubt and the complete mental saturation of today's world. We are ingrained with be the attitude of suspicion. And so I drove away. For miles, my thoughts were wracked with doubt and that tiny, soft voice breaking through my practicality saying...what if it were my daughter? And so I turned around and drove back to where the opportunity presented itself hoping to reinvent the scenario and be that Good Samaritan. But it didn't happen. And so this is my Lesson learned. The motive of other people is sometimes irreverent; it is our motive, our heart, our intent that matters. I was not in danger, I was maybe being duped, but that was not my judgement to make at the time. I truly believe I was tested and failed. I can blame it on the Way of the Modern World all I want, but at the end of the day.....you are only responsible for you. And I failed. And this failure has followed me throughout the hours since.

Instant.......

My Thought for this Day......we live in a world of the instantaneous.........fame, gratification, reward, fulfillment, needs, desires, acquisitions. I truly think we are in danger of losing the concepts of everlasting, generational, traditional. I pray you don't let that happen for yourself, but most of all for the younger generation in your care. Because, you see, you are a caretaker. No matter your age, you are looked up to as a carrier of your flame. Be careful of exactly what your flame illuminates. Yet with that care, realize that the old can become new, and widen and expand. Be the beacon that illuminates the old yet welcomes and embraces the new.

More.....

My Thought for this Day.......Ok, my second one....but this keeps twirling in my head, weaving ribbons of words, and I deeply feel someone needs this today. Short version....if you feel the power of your gifts can only be measured in monetary value, you are living a life in the shadows of lies. You are worth more than money.

Ingredients......

My Thought for this Day..........I don't know what's on your menu of life today. Is it all appetizers and you're just getting things started? Is it a main course with a plate full of to do's? Or is it dessert and you're ending a phase, a chore, a trip or a duty? Or is today a full meal? Whatever it is, it is for certain, that your daily banquet is full of sugar, and salt and many spices and ingredients that fill your pantry. We all have our very own shelves of menu building. Maybe at times, our menus are unplanned, but it is without doubt that we can pick and choose our ingredients. So go to the Joy shelf, the Determination shelf, the Blessed shelf to fill your grocery cart. Leave behind the Pity aisle, the Anger aisle and the aisle of Why me. And by all means, fill your cart from the Thankful shelf. That truly should be the most bare shelf in your store.

Enough.....

My Thought for this Day.......What does 'Enough' look like in your world? Have you ever really dwelled on the concept of having, seeing, feeling, making, or being enough? Do you run so hard and fast and rabidly that you wouldn't recognize 'enough' if you tripped over it? Are your days packed with mounds of commitments that they aren't days, but races? Gotta go here! Gotta get there! Gotta do! Gotta see! Gotta accomplish! Stop it! Who or what has made you so guilty that you can't simply enjoy a moment, much less an hour or a day? When you look to your future, if someone appears in your peripheral vision do you quicken your pace because that just is NOT going to happen? They are not going to get ahead of you? We all need to have goals and make our mark. But not at the expense of losing today to harried, twirling out of control expectations. You fail when your now is lost to your tomorrow. So please, think about this. What drives you to never being content to simply be? Why aren't you at peace with silence and ease? Take a picture of your enough......if you can find it. And if it is too elusive to catch then take a deep, slow cleansing breath and realize..... Enough is Enough!

Shadows......

My Thought for this Day.....When you take yourself to the point of no return in any situation, look back. Standing in the shadows of your past, barely discernible, are hearts who once were important to you. No one was ever put in your presence without purpose. Everybody has brought something to your Feast of Life. I wonder if today was your or their very last day on this earth, would it mean something to you? Do you not think that God in all of His infinite wisdom knows the tether He builds between His people? I write this for all of us. Wedges are hard cruel timbers of hurt and neglect and self importance, that we allow to pierce the chapters of our lives. Don't ever think a book is permanently closed, read, finished, unless you allow it to be. Guilt is carried on every shoulder. There is no one who has not turned and walked and not lived to regret it. Today, think on this as I will. Life is measured, not without end.

Past......

My Thought for this Day....You can never go back. So before you completely burn bridges that connect you to people and places that have at some time meant so much to you, be sure you can walk on water. Life is a funny thing, sometimes it circles back. How sad to see your circle fade into the whitewash of your present.

Cost.....

My Thought for this Day.......It is said,"Nothing in life is free.' I couldn't agree more. Not everything costs money, but nothing is truly, no strings attached, free. To become grateful, we must give up envy, and greed. To become bold, we must give up meekness and fear. To become weak before our Creator, we must give up earthly strength. To become wise, we must give up arrogance and self pride. To become internally valuable, we must give up external value. To become purposeful, we must give up idleness and laziness. To become genuinely whole, we must give up our patchwork parts that pull us in all directions. It's not only life's work; it is a lifetime of work. It is the Greater Good.

Honor.......

My Thought for this day.......I never know what my words will be until each morning when I begin to write. And then something takes over and somehow the words appear. Today I know, and have known for several days what my words will be. Today is a day of Honor. To those who with or without choice have walked the noble path of protecting our country, I say Thank You. And yet, I know as I type these words, that they are merely pebbles where boulders should be. I know not because I have lived that life, but because I have walked for 38 years beside a man who did. A young boy who at the age of 20 was plopped down in the jungles of Viet Nam and told to fight. A young man who saw the unseeable, watched the unwatchable and carries that burden of truth even today. His scars of reality are not only emotional, but also physical. At times, these scars take over and rule, but strength and courage and determination usually reign, much like they did in 1970 when each day, just staying alive was a glory. And he does not stand alone, yet he does stand for a war in which every soldier was thought to be un-American for fighting America's most unpopular war. So today I thank All Veterans...both past and present.....but with an overflowing heart, I thank my husband and father of my children who fought with honor, not dishonor, and still to this day, stands and fights in the jungles of Viet Nam.

Invest.....

My Thought for this Day.........Today, invest in yourself.....not in your kids, your husband or your friends. Put your strength, effort and time in you. It's the simple acceptance and nurturing of oneself that leads us all to not be a tiny sapling, but a mighty oak that can accomplish mighty things. But even an oak can wilt and die from neglect. So my words are these.....we are no good to anybody, if we're no good to ourselves. When you look into the eyes of your child, friends or family, study your own reflection. And know that whatever you see, is what is either piercing or embracing their hearts. Don't pierce with stark dead limbs. Embrace and shield with leafy grandeur.

Shame.......

My Thought for this Day......."Shame on you!" "You should be ashamed of yourself!" We've all experienced and to this day still feel shame for past actions. Some of this brought on by ourselves, some non deserving yet carried like a boulder on our shoulders. We tend to bubble in the juices of shame, sometimes to the point of having an inertia in the process of getting past it. We are human with human frailties and human actions and reactions. And so I think today, if you are going to be the person you are meant to be, you must step out of the shadows of shame....whether they be 24 hours old, or 24 years. Leap out, realize that the process is heart wrenching and painful, and may require a courage you think is unattainable, but at the finish line will be that pot at the end of your rainbow of life. Will you have shame again? Of course! There will never be a perfect life led, but the awareness of the humanness of the feeling allows us to grow and rather than hide, locked behind the Shame Door, we can step into the light of self forgiveness. Do what it takes! Do the work!! You are meant to walk in the power of greatness.

Now........

My Thought for this Day.......You can Rethink the past. You can Regret the past. But you can never Relive the past. So why would you try? That sentence is written; the chapter read; the path walked. We all would love to have 'do-overs', but the truth of the matter is that when the sun sets on a day, it is done. So instead of Regrets and Rewinds, let's Remember that tomorrow we all will have a chance to live again with new purpose and grace. Don't Regret, trying to Relive or Rewind.......instead Learn. Take the Re's out of your life and fill it full of Now's.

Soar.....

My Thought for this Day ....Just remember that life is an Evolution, not a Revolution. The wisdom of living is to evolve into what you are meant to be. The stupidity of life is to revolt against everything that brings you to maturity and yes, age. If caterpillars revolted, they would never soar on wisps of beautiful wings. With acceptance and determination they evolve into creatures of grace and beauty. Happiness doesn't come from a mirror, nor should respect or admiration. Build strength of character with your days. Be that butterfly who clearly knows his struggles have paid off and is now enjoying the rewards of flight.

Line......

My Thought for this Day...When you draw a line in the sand, be sure you're cognizant of your actions. Sometimes those lines harden into cement and you're left with no choice but to stay alone on the side of self righteousness.

Share.....

My Thought for this Day.......Don't dwell on what you have to bear; dwell on what you have to share. Each and every one of us has burdens to carry.....some heavier than others. But gloriously, we all also have gifts, talents, and blessings to share. What good is it to hold your beacons of light so tightly in your fist, that no one basks in your glow? We all are a link in the chain of existence, a leg in the relay of life. Don't be the weakest link, nor the slowest sprinter. Digging a hole and merely existing with your troubles helps no one.....least of all you. So today, if even for a minute, share what you can, and maybe, just, maybe ,you will lighten someone else's burden. How truly wonderful would that be? Don't be a dweller, be a sharer.

Judge......

My Thought for this Day......Lots of judging going on in this world. "I'd never do that." "What were they thinking?" "Are you crazy?" "You're a fool!" Stop it! You can never know for sure what you would do in any given situation. Life comes at us at a very rapid pace, and at times we react in an instant. But whether or not we have a second or hours or days to take a step, we truly never know our exact response until we are in the middle of a crises, a happening, a not so ordinary situation. So my thought is.......don't let your superior attitude overload your human mind. You don't know what you'd do in every situation, and to judge others is to set your mighty self on a pedestal just asking to be knocked down.

More......

My Thought for this Day........I want to be More. Do you? Help me to be More.

Cards.....

My Thought for this Day.......No matter the hand you've been dealt, there are still many life cards to play. Don't bog yourself down in the 'why's' and 'what if's'. Every card in your hand must be accepted, and though some be tragic, each must be acknowledged and used to build a life that honors them. To dwell in the house of sorrow and regret does nothing for what has built that house. You are wiser because you have walked through tragedy and have, or, are learning to survive in spite of it. Growth happens even under the worst of circumstances when you dwell in the house of living well. Honor your past by being an example of strength and power.