Father's Day 2019

There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots, the other is wings.
- Hodding Carter

You can never really live anyone else's life,
not even your child's.
The influence you exert is through your own life,
and what you've become yourself.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

The best inheritance a parent can give his children
is a few minutes of his time each day.
- Orlando A. Battista

If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.
- Carl Jung

Let parents bequeath to their children
not riches, but the spirit of reverence.
- Plato

Every parent is at some time the father of the unreturned prodigal,
with nothing to do but keep his house open to hope.
- John Ciardi

Nothing you do for a child is ever wasted.
- Garrison Keillor

Further reading: Feed the Children

Preserve Our Grandchildren's Planet

All Children Are God's Children
     

The Power of Saying, "Thank You"

If you love someone, you say it, right then,
out loud.
Otherwise, the moment just passes you by.
- Julia Roberts

Know the power of saying, "Thank you."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I advocate speaking words of love
with all the sincerity that can be mustered,
as frequently as possible.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Today, say "Thank you" to someone  -- clearly and distinctly, while looking directly at them.
Today, say "I love you" to someone.
Today, say "I appreciate you" to someone.

Further reading: Show Your Appreciation
      

Flag Day 2019

And so, my fellow Americans,
ask not what your country can do for you;
ask what you can do for your country.
- John F. Kennedy

True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
- Clarence Darrow

Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost
my generation to preserve your freedom.
I hope you will make good use of it.
- John Quincy Adams

Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow -
red, yellow, brown, black and white - and we're all precious in God's sight.
- Jesse Brown

We are not afraid to follow truth
wherever it may lead,
nor to tolerate any error
so long as reason is left free to combat it.
- Thomas Jefferson

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.
- Howard Zinn

Patriotism consists not in waving the flag,
but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.
- James Bryce

Further reading: Independence Day

Make a Difference, Vote

Presidents' Day

Save Only the Best of the Old Ways
      

Practice the Art of Seeing

We never see what we are not ready to see.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.
- Jonathan Swift

Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.
- Napoleon Hill

The eye sees what it brings the power to see.
- Thomas Carlyle 

Today is a unique and special day.
It is unlike any other day you have ever experienced.
If you assume that today is like every other day,
you will never notice today's uniqueness.
If you practice keen awareness, you will get
to savor today's uniquely wonderful qualities.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Cultivate Awareness

What You Focus On

Manage Your Wayward Mind

What You See

Be a Passionate Observer
    

Blaze Your Own Trail

Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many people allow their need for other people's approval to control their lives.
They spend their lives worrying about what others think of them.
- Rick Warren

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.
- Elbert Hubbard

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinions;
it is easy in solitude to live after your own;
but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd
keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

For those men who, sooner or later,
are lucky enough to break away from the pack,
the most intoxicating moment comes
when they cease being bodies in other men's command
and find that they control their own time,
when they learn their own voice and authority.
- Theodore H. White

Attempting to "fit in" is not a worthy objective.
There is no point in feeling sad or upset when your plans, your ideas,
or even your fundamental nature do not "fit in" with the majority view.

Be the courageous hero and stay committed to your greatest ideas and ideals,
however they are received by those around you.

Further reading:  Be Yourself

Think for Yourself

Appreciate Yourself

Believe and Take Action

Don Miguel Ruiz: The Four Agreements - The Wisdom of the Ages in Four Sound-Bites