Celebrate TODAY

 

Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That is why it is called Present.
- Anonymous

Do not say, "It is morning,"
and dismiss it with a name of yesterday.
See it for the first time
as a newborn child that has no name.
- Rabindranath Tagore

If you aren't in the moment,
you are either looking forward to uncertainty,
or back to pain and regret.
- Jim Carrey

Today's affirmation:
I walk today's march with courage.
I create today as my celebration of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies - the Small Miracles of Our Life

Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

Simple is Marvelous

What If Every Day Were Your Day

Being Fully Present in TODAY

Today is for Living
    

True Love Offers Freedom, Not Possession

 

Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.
- Rabindranath Tagore

You Don't Own Me [watch the video]
- song by John Madara and David White
- sung by Lesley Gore

He that is jealous is not in love.
- Saint Augustine

We really have to understand the person we want to love.
If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love.
If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our
own needs and ignore the needs of the other person,
we cannot love.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

You know you love someone when you know
you want them to be happy,
even if their happiness means
that you are not a part of it.
- Anonymous

Let Your Relationship be the Frosting on Your Already Fully-Baked Cake of Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The #1 Secret of Great Relationships

Granting Space

Love Tenderly

A Loving Relationship
       

Is LOVE the Truest Meaning of Life?

 

You know that you have fully experienced love
when you turn into love -
that is the spiritual goal of life.
- Deepak Chopra

Love is the ultimate meaning of everything around us.
Love is not a mere sentiment.
Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Love is an undulating energy that moves through you,
within you, and radiates out of you,
and changes everything.
- Bartholomew

Further reading: The Power of Unconditional Love

What Does Love Look Like?

Giving Love and Comfort
     

Love Needs to be Renewed Daily

 

Distance cannot matter - ours is a friendship of the heart.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Love is not a mere sentiment.
Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Love that does not renew itself every day becomes a habit and in turn a slavery.
- Khalil Gibran

A friend is someone who understands my past,
believes in my future,
and accepts me just the way I am.
- Anonymous

A true friend is the one who walks in when others walk out.
- Walter Winchell

Our relationships - love and friendship - are at the core of the meaning of our lives. Let today be a day to appreciate your relationships and friendships. Let today also be a day to be clear which connections are committed, and which are merely for temporary convenience.

Further reading:  Appreciate Your Friends

Happy Friends - Happy You

Today's picture features words and calligraphy by my dear friend Mary Anne Radmacher and art by my wife Suze Huie.
     

Never take yourself too seriously

What appears very scary is probably nothing to fear when thoughtfully examined in the light.

Take time to laugh at yourself. Those who feel too important to laugh at themselves rob themselves, their family, and their friends of a great source of joy.

Grin your smile; giggle your laugh; unfurl your joy;
dash the last trace of your self-consciousness;
and cavort your most uninhibited play.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
- e. e. cummings

The burden of the self is lightened when I laugh at myself.

- Rabindranath Tagore

Laugh at yourself and at life.
Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity,
but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain,
cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective
that seemingly terrible defeat and worry
with laughter at your predicaments,
thus freeing your mind to think clearly
toward the solution that is certain to come.
Never take yourself too seriously.
- Og Mandino

I will not play tug o' war.
I'd rather play hug o' war.
Where everyone hugs instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins,
and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.
- Shel Silverstein

Further reading: Lighten Up, Be Happy

Laughter

The Need for Humor

Not Too Serious
        

Difficulties Can Be Blessings in Disguise

 

Your success and happiness lies in you.
Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you
shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
- Helen Keller

Only when life is difficult, are we challenged to become our greatest selves.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When It’s Darkest, Men See the Stars.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life,
your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Further reading: Nothing to look forward to?

Is Hope Futile?

Every Day, a New Day
       

What You Call Something or Someone DOES Matter

 

Do not say, 'It is morning,' and dismiss it with a name of yesterday.
See it for the first time as a newborn child that has no name.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Shakespeare says, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,"
but I disagree...There is great power in naming.
"Urban wall art" and "graffiti" are very different, even when they are identical.
Think of other word pairs, like "flower" and "weed" - "antique" and "used" - "freedom fighter" and "terrorist"
that greatly color our perception of the object or person being described.
Call a plant beautiful, and it becomes a flower.
Call it ugly, and it becomes a weed.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Exercise: Consider the words that you and others in your life use to describe you. If the words are not complimentary, take action to change how you refer to yourself, and encourage others to speak differently of you. For example, if you describe yourself as "shy," choose a more positive term, such as "reserved."

Further reading: It Matters What You Call Something Or Someone

Finding Balance in Life Beats Moderation

        

Patience is a Form of Wisdom

 

Patience is a form of wisdom.
It demonstrates that we understand and accept
the fact that sometimes things must unfold in their own time.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Patience, persistence, and perseverance.
A little more each day, a little better each day.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions,
do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.
- Saint Francis de Sales

The mountain remains unmoved at seeming defeat by the mist.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Patience and fortitude conquer all things.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you would know strength and patience,
welcome the company of trees.
- Hal Borland

Further reading: The Wisdom of Patience

Try Again Tomorrow

Strength in Silence

Beyond Worry

Emulate the Patience of Nature

Fortitude
    

Kindness Dissolves All Walls

 

Kindness is the light that dissolves
all walls between souls, families, and nations.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

Tread Lightly:
1. Don't step on anyone's toes.
2. Don't look for trouble.
3. Keep your sense of humor.
4. Carry the Light of God wherever you go.

These are the keys to a great life...
taking oneself lightly, forgiveness, and acceptance.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.
- Gilbert (G. K.) Chesterton

Today's affirmation:
I go gently into the world, and radiate kindness.

Further reading: The Storms of Life

Live Gently

The Melody Within Your Soul

Lighten Up

Dance Gently With Life

Create Light
      

Cherish TODAY

 

Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That is why it is called Present.
- Anonymous

Do not say, "It is morning,"
and dismiss it with a name of yesterday.
See it for the first time
as a newborn child that has no name.
- Rabindranath Tagore

If you aren't in the moment,
you are either looking forward to uncertainty,
or back to pain and regret.
- Jim Carrey

Today's affirmation:
I walk today's march with courage.
I create today as my celebration of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies - the Small Miracles of Our Life

Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

Simple is Marvelous

What If Every Day Were Your Day

Being Fully Present in TODAY

Today is for Living
    

Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom

Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.
- Rabindranath Tagore

You Don't Own Me [watch the video]
- song by John Madara and David White
- sung by Lesley Gore

He that is jealous is not in love.
- Saint Augustine

We really have to understand the person we want to love.
If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love.
If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our
own needs and ignore the needs of the other person,
we cannot love.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

You know you love someone when you know
you want them to be happy,
even if their happiness means
that you are not a part of it.
- Anonymous

Let Your Relationship be the Frosting on Your Already Fully-Baked Cake of Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The #1 Secret of Great Relationships

Granting Space

Love Tenderly

A Loving Relationship
       

Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation

You know that you have fully experienced love
when you turn into love -
that is the spiritual goal of life.
- Deepak Chopra

Love is the ultimate meaning of everything around us.
Love is not a mere sentiment.
Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Love is an undulating energy that moves through you,
within you, and radiates out of you,
and changes everything.
- Bartholomew

Further reading: The Power of Unconditional Love

What Does Love Look Like?

Giving Love and Comfort
     

Friendship of the Heart

Distance cannot matter - ours is a friendship of the heart.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Love is not a mere sentiment.
Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Love that does not renew itself every day becomes a habit and in turn a slavery.
- Khalil Gibran

A friend is someone who understands my past,
believes in my future,
and accepts me just the way I am.
- Anonymous

A true friend is the one who walks in when others walk out.
- Walter Winchell

Our relationships - love and friendship - are at the core of the meaning of our lives. Let today be a day to appreciate your relationships and friendships. Let today also be a day to be clear which connections are committed, and which are merely for temporary convenience.

Further reading:  Appreciate Your Friends

Happy Friends - Happy You

Today's picture features words and calligraphy by my dear friend Mary Anne Radmacher and art by my wife Suze Huie.
     

Take Time to Laugh at Yourself

 

What appears very scary is probably nothing to fear when thoughtfully examined in the light.

Take time to laugh at yourself. Those who feel too important to laugh at themselves rob themselves, their family, and their friends of a great source of joy.

Grin your smile; giggle your laugh; unfurl your joy;
dash the last trace of your self-consciousness;
and cavort your most uninhibited play.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
- e. e. cummings

The burden of the self is lightened when I laugh at myself.

- Rabindranath Tagore

Laugh at yourself and at life.
Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity,
but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain,
cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective
that seemingly terrible defeat and worry
with laughter at your predicaments,
thus freeing your mind to think clearly
toward the solution that is certain to come.
Never take yourself too seriously.
- Og Mandino

I will not play tug o' war.
I'd rather play hug o' war.
Where everyone hugs instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins,
and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.
- Shel Silverstein

Further reading: Lighten Up, Be Happy

Laughter

The Need for Humor

Not Too Serious
        

Our Greatest Selves

Your success and happiness lies in you.
Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you
shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
- Helen Keller

Only when life is difficult, are we challenged to become our greatest selves.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When It’s Darkest, Men See the Stars.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life,
your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Further reading: Nothing to look forward to?

Is Hope Futile?

Every Day, a New Day
       

Naming DOES Matter

Do not say, 'It is morning,' and dismiss it with a name of yesterday.
See it for the first time as a newborn child that has no name.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Shakespeare says, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,"
but I disagree...There is great power in naming.
"Urban wall art" and "graffiti" are very different, even when they are identical.
Think of other word pairs, like "flower" and "weed" - "antique" and "used" - "freedom fighter" and "terrorist"
that greatly color our perception of the object or person being described.
Call a plant beautiful, and it becomes a flower.
Call it ugly, and it becomes a weed.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Exercise: Consider the words that you and others in your life use to describe you. If the words are not complimentary, take action to change how you refer to yourself, and encourage others to speak differently of you. For example, if you describe yourself as "shy," choose a more positive term, such as "reserved."

Further reading: It Matters What You Call Something Or Someone

Finding Balance in Life Beats Moderation

         

Patience and Fortitude Conquer All Things

Patience is a form of wisdom.
It demonstrates that we understand and accept
the fact that sometimes things must unfold in their own time.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Patience, persistence, and perseverance.
A little more each day, a little better each day.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions,
do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.
- Saint Francis de Sales

The mountain remains unmoved at seeming defeat by the mist.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Patience and fortitude conquer all things.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you would know strength and patience,
welcome the company of trees.
- Hal Borland

Further reading: The Wisdom of Patience

Try Again Tomorrow

Strength in Silence

Beyond Worry

Emulate the Patience of Nature

Fortitude
    

Tread Lightly

Kindness is the light that dissolves
all walls between souls, families, and nations.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

Tread Lightly:
1. Don't step on anyone's toes.
2. Don't look for trouble.
3. Keep your sense of humor.
4. Carry the Light of God wherever you go.

These are the keys to a great life...
taking oneself lightly, forgiveness, and acceptance.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.
- Gilbert (G. K.) Chesterton

Today's affirmation:
I go gently into the world, and radiate kindness.

Further reading: The Storms of Life

Live Gently

The Melody Within Your Soul

Lighten Up

Dance Gently With Life

Create Light
      

The Gift of Yourself

 

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments,
but what is woven into the lives of others.
- Pericles

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice,
and is never the result of selfishness.
- Napoleon Hill

Death is not extinguishing the light;
it is only putting out
the lamp because the dawn has come.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Be unselfish.
That is the first and final commandment for those who
would be useful and happy in their usefulness.
If you think of yourself only, you cannot develop because
you are choking the source of development,
which is spiritual expansion through thought for others.
- Charles William Eliot

No person was ever honored for what he received.
Honor has been the reward for what he gave.
- Calvin Coolidge

He who would accomplish much must sacrifice much.
- James Allen

Those we love don't go away,
They walk beside us every day,
Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed and very dear.
- Anonymous

A hero is someone who has given his life
to something bigger than himself
or something other than himself.
- Joseph Campbell

Farewell My Friend
It was beautiful as long as it lasted
The journey of my life.
I have no regrets whatsoever
save the pain I'll leave behind.
Those dear hearts who love and care...
And the strings pulling at the heart and soul...
The strong arms that held me up
When my own strength let me down.
At every turning of my life I came across good friends,
Friends who stood by me,
Even when the time raced me by.
Farewell, farewell my friends
I smile and bid you goodbye.
No, shed no tears for I need them not
All I need is your smile.
If you feel sad do think of me
for that's what I'll like when you live in the hearts
of those you love, remember then
you never die.
- Gitanjali Ghei

When people get caught up with that which is right
and they are willing to sacrifice for it,
there is no stopping point short of victory.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Further reading: Coping With Loss, Grief, and Mortality

Words of Comfort on the Death of a Loved One

Going Home to God

Coping with Heartbreak

What is Honor? Is there a place for Honor today?
       

Celebrate TODAY

 

Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That is why it is called Present.
- Anonymous

Do not say, "It is morning,"
and dismiss it with a name of yesterday.
See it for the first time
as a newborn child that has no name.
- Rabindranath Tagore

If you aren't in the moment,
you are either looking forward to uncertainty,
or back to pain and regret.
- Jim Carrey

Today's affirmation:
I walk today's march with courage.
I create today as my celebration of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies - the Small Miracles of Our Life

Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

Simple is Marvelous

What If Every Day Were Your Day

Being Fully Present in TODAY

Today is for Living