Row........

My Thought for this Day.......When your dam busts and the waters of your life flood, you can do one of several things. You can drown in emotions of hate and self righteousness, you can swirl on the River of Pity, you can immerse yourself in the black tidal wave of revenge. You can do all of those things. Your choice. Or you can quietly set your sails to seek the wind of change and the tide of the sun of success and faith and calm waters. You can float on the Lake of Deliverance from problems and situations and hurdles that you have jumped. Your choice. Your days. Your examples. We all have choice of action. Free will. What a gift. Seek your true heart and soul and live it out. The world doesn't see inside you, except through your actions and words. Pick your boat and row it. But remember, whatever you do, you are teaching someone.

Cup......

My Thought for this Day......Each morning we arise and drink from a well of living water. And then, when our thirst is quenched, we begin our day. I hope you choose water of faith, hope, generosity, and kindness. I pray that your water is worthy to be shared. Delight in the passing of your cup. It is your signature.

Authorship.....

My Thought for this Day......Circumstances change in an instant....for the good and bad. Our job is to learn and live. Our truth is what we make it. Work on your story. You are writing it daily. And with that authorship, you are standing in the pages of someone else's book.

Empower....

My Thought for this Day.....I think at times passivity is the best form of activism we can take. It is the honest acknowledgement that sometimes we must simply relax in the act of nothingness. A fragmented mind is a road with too many exits, a room with too many open doors, a recipe with too many ingredients, a book with too many characters. Power and productivity are lost in the scramble to be all things. Welcome insignificance; it is empowering.

Care......

My Thought for this Day........Spread your wings and care. I promise you that no matter big or small, acts of kindness and concern free you more than you will ever know. Be free. Be the author of the book of generosity both in spirit and in deed. It is written. It is commanded. It is celestial.

Cog......

My Thought for this Day.....Life is a series of if's, and's and but's. My if's, your and's and everybody's but's. The wisdom is to see through them and get to the center of life. Peel the orange, slice the cake, core the apple. Dismiss the frills and realize that the cog of this wheel is what's most important.

Knows.......

My Thought for this Day......Don’t let your ‘know’s’ get in your way. We tend to be experts in life.....other people’s lives. We know what they should do. We know what they should say. We don’t know anything, but how to be ‘knowsy’. Life is complicated enough when you walk your own path, tend to your own garden, pull your own weeds. Never for one second think your britches are big enough to hold two people. Be that person who shines by the example of being who and where you are meant to be, not crowding someone else out of their own space.

Heroes.......

I haven't posted about Veterans Day because I didn't have the right words. Probably still don't. My dad was a WWII vet who saw no Boots on the Ground action. Yet he was a hero. He served his country. My husband was/is a Vietnam vet with a year of Boots on the Ground, when he was 19, in Nam. This was a war of a kaleidoscope of emotion. Americans were divided like never before. The soldiers lived in disgrace upon their return, all the while carrying the guilt of the war on their young shoulders. They were spit on, called baby killers, and mocked. Some spent years never mentioning their service because of the repercussions. They were never thanked. They were never honored. They were forgotten and shunned heroes. And the rage built in their hearts and souls because they never asked for their disgrace. They were young boys thrust into a jungle warfare that was foreign to anything they had been taught. They were doused with a pesticide that had/has long living consequences. Agent Orange. The emotional scars devastated them. What we know now as PTSD. We live it every day. And yet, we are survivors. This takes nothing from any other Veteran. Every one of you are beyond heroic. You serve your country. You matter. You are to be thanked. You all, no matter the war, return changed, not destroyed. And yet the road is long and hard and lived by the minute. So I salute you all. Because I know first hand; I live it standing beside my guy. We are the United States of America. I shed tears over those who disregard the sacrifices that have gone before and are still going on. Wake up USA. Stop the degradation of a lifestyle you are privileged to live. Someone fought a fight that allows you more freedom than you understand. I weep at your ignorance and entitlement. God Bless America and those who make this nation great.

Eye to Eye....

My Thought for this Day.......When you look down on people, you see the tops of their heads. When you look up to people, you see the soles of their feet. When you look eye to eye, evenly, squarely, you see their faces, their eyes, their smiles or frowns, their wrinkles and crinkles.....their life. So my thought is this........we all are standing side by side......not vertical, but horizontal....not inferior nor superior. Be very careful in your thoughts, motives and actions. The measure of a person is eye to eye. Put yourself above or under, and you become judgmental, or envious. You lose part of yourself, and them. Eye to eye.....evenly.......side by side.

Love......

My Thought for this Day..........I heard these words the other day and they have stuck with me. "We are blessed if we love someone so much that if a sword pierces their soul, it pierces ours too." ......Beth Moore. My interpretation.......That is scary love. That is weighted love. That is love beyond measure. That is lying down on a train track for someone knowing a train is coming kind of love. It is raw. And it is scarce. And it is wonderful. And if you are blessed to know and receive this depth of love, then you are favored among men.

Reach......

My Thought for this Day.........Reach out today and touch someone with compassion, not because they need it, but because you do. Small gestures of kindness relieve stress, promote gratitude and build grace. There is someone waiting on you to brighten their day. You may not erase their pain, but you can lighten their load, if even for a minute. How glorious are random acts of care.

Sum..........

My Thought for this Day.........You are bigger than the sum of your parts, because there is no sum. You are infinite. You are forever. You are a mere runner in the relay of life. And when it is your turn to pass the baton, you still remain in the race. Think carefully on this. Your steps of today will be embedded in the memories of those that come behind you, the runners with your baton. You have, in essence, set the tone of their race. You are more influential than you can imagine. Be careful in your steps. Be wise in your course. Your sum is generational, world without end.

You.......

My Thought for this Day........Do not lose yourself in others. Lose yourself in you. You are worthy. It is not an action of selfishness; it's an act of health. You are good to nobody if you're not good to and for yourself.

Work......

My Thought for this Day.......Here are the words that won't go away. "Do the work." Now that I have scattered these seeds, you plant them in the capacity that betters you. I don't know what your work is. Take inventory and then, my friends, begin. The first step may be the hardest. But when the course is complete, you will be more fine than you ever could imagine.