Anger? perhaps there is a better way.

Anger? perhaps there is a better way. - jlh Know that anger is always fear and frustration. What if we could lean back into the arms of Spirit and trust the future? What if...

sometimes i could hear his voice raised in anger. other times i could hear what essentially sounded like whimpering. as if he were a small puppy being whipped. - mary anne radmacher

Happiness is free

The really great secret - Happiness is free. - jlh Happiness is a stock market crash? Perhaps not exactly, but it is a great opportunity to refocus our perspectives on what is really important - and free - in our lives.

In choosing joy, the finish line dissolves into a different matter altogether. - mary anne radmacher

Choose the World You See

Choose the World You See, and See the World You Choose. - jlh This tree is dead. Dead as in "Death." Does that make it any less starkly beautiful?

More to the point is this: stop dreading the thing. Whatever it is. Choose joy. If all of our lives are a matter of perspective (and they are) then I can bring to whatever task whatever attitude I wish. - mary anne radmacher

Home is our sanctuary

home is where we feel comfortable. - jlh Home is our sanctuary, where we: relax into being ourselves. play with our inner child. paint the walls green and pink. dig in the dirt. grow something. love somebody else. love ourselves even more. snuggle with a warm blanket on a Sunday afternoon. hang "go away" on the door whenever we want. clean and tidy often... or never. launch from and return to. are truly ourselves.

In my prayers I never said I needed a Home. I said I wanted a sanctuary. - mary anne radmacher

Our own perspective on life

Each one of us has our own perspective on everything we see in life. - jlh

I took this picture on the beach near my house. Looking at this picture, I see a beautiful beach that is teaming with natural life - birds, mollusks, fish. Deer walk this beach. Sea otters play here. In the foreground, I see an antique - a piece of history - lying on this beach. I don’t know whether storms have recently removed layers of sand from this truck axle, or whether the storms have recently brought the antique here from far away. It doesn’t matter. Either way, this axle, these tires, are a part of history and have a story to tell. While I personally will never know their story, there’s a story here - a bit of history. Like a miniature Roman Coliseum or Stonehenge, this axle played a role in lives now past. Ugly? Beautiful? Personally, I find this section of beach especially compelling. For me, this historic object adds to the interest of the area. Each one of us has our own perspective on everything we see in life.

---

A quote from LIVE BOLDLY
it is a better thing to weigh and measure priorities in the illuminating light of your own mission than to have your activities formed by the impressions and expectations of others.
- mary anne radmacher

Say NO to the demands of the world

This week we continue with our overview of the concepts of Simply An Inspired Life (SAIL) by looking at CHOICE - the fourth of the Eight Points of an Inspired Life. CHOICE - the fourth Point of SAIL 

I CHOOSE with Open Mind and Open Heart - I renounce all assumptions and expectations, and I declare that I will thoughtfully consider all possibilities. I will CHOOSE with courage, awareness, consciousness, and compassion toward all.

Wake up to profound perspective that allows me to celebrate the choices of my moments, of my life. - Mary Anne Radmacher 

Say NO to the demands of the world. Do we ever stop to ask ourselves WHY we "need to do" something? What is the "need," and on whose authority has the need been established?

We disrespect ourselves and our free-will whenever we say that we NEED TO DO something. - jlh

Everything we do is a choice! In every instant, we are making a choice about what we will do in that instant (as well as a choice about what we will think in that instant). We may choose to turn off and shut down our conscious attention, and allow the autopilot of our habits and instincts to make our choices, but they are still choices.

I have no need to conform to the stereotypes others have defined for me. - jlh

Your spouse says "You need to go to the grocery store today," and you say "I need to go to the grocery store today," or perhaps you say to yourself "I need to get a divorce." Look at all the "need to's." Who says so? There is no inherent "should," "must," or "need to" here. There are choices and there are consequences. The consequence of not going to the grocery store today may be eating peanut butter sandwiches or sleeping alone tonight, but there is no "need to."

Let today be the day that you choose to become your own greatest Hero

To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform. - Theodore H. White 

Who do we most respect and admire? Why our Heroes of course. What are the characteristics of a Hero? Heroes are courageous and self-reliant, and they are greatly admired. Being courageous and self-reliant are the characteristics that create heroes. Being admired is something that comes afterward. Name a genuine Hero who followed the crowd? It's a crazy question, because Heroes don't follow the crowd. A hero may or may not lead other people, but all heroes lead themselves. Heroes are self confident independent thinkers who make courageous choices. Let today be the day that you choose to become your own greatest Hero.

courage doesn't always roar. sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying, "i will try again tomorrow." - mary anne radmacher

it's foggy and it's gray - let's play. - jlh

it's foggy and it's gray - let's play. - jlh 

For both the weather outside, and the weather of our inner life, foggy and gray can be fully as much cause for joy and play as sunshine and blue skies. There is as much joy in a cup of hot chocolate and a roaring fire as in a day at the beach; as much joy in a quiet day with a book as in closing that long awaited business deal. Life comes in quiet moments and grand ones. As always, our joy is in our perceptions of our lives, rather than in the events themselves.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

just another cold, misty morning inviting, "want to go again?" - mary anne radmacher

Grin your smile; giggle your laugh; unfurl your joy

Today is your day to smile broadly, sing loudly, paint your rooms in bold colors, search every rabbit hole for a magical white bunny, have caviar for breakfast and oatmeal for dinner, wear a purple coat with a red hat - a day to dance lightly with life. - jlh 

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

Life looks more joyful when viewed from the back of a horse. - Suze Stewart

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

it is of the small joys and little pleasures that the greatest of our days are built. - mary anne radmacher 

"Life is not supposed to be fair." - jlh

There is a secret wisdom-of-the-ages that holds the key to breaking our cycle of self-imposed suffering. The secret wisdom is, "Life is not supposed to be fair." - jlh   This is not sad news. This is GLORIOUS news! Life is not broken. Nothing is wrong. God has not failed, died, or gone on vacation. The world is working perfectly. We just misunderstood. Somewhere along the way, someone got the idea that life was "supposed" to be "fair," and all the trouble started - expectation, disappointment, resentment, anger - a whole cycle of suffering that began with the belief that life is "supposed" to be "fair." If you still think that life is supposed to be fair, read National Geographic or watch Animal Planet. Humans are not exempt from the nature of life. We admit to our children at a fairly young age that the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause are fairy tales. Why not prevent immeasurable suffering and confess to our children at that same age that life is not supposed to be fair?

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

i awakened. is that not a wonderful statement? - mary anne radmacher

Choose Love & Trust God

 

The Two Great Lessons of Life: Choose Love & Trust God. - jlh Love shows up in many forms. All true love is a wonderful thing. Celebrate Love. You are my family because I CHOOSE you. Let us swim together in the ocean of our being. - jlh

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

Just because it's true, I say as often as I can in as many ways as I can form, "I sure love you." - mary anne radmacher

Stay adaptable, stay Joyful

A Joyful Life comes from zigging as Life zigs and zagging as it zags. - jlh When your SAILboat of Life runs aground, go clamming. There is no single way your life is supposed to be. Stay adaptable, stay Joyful.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

change of any sort requires courage. - mary anne radmacher 

Gratitude for Rainbows & Butterflies

This week we continue with our overview of the concepts of Simply An Inspired Life (SAIL) by looking at GRATITUDE - the third of the Eight Points of an Inspired Life.

GRATITUDE - the third Point of SAIL I Receive ALL of Life with Thanksgiving - I have gratitude for EVERYTHING that has ever occurred to bring me to this moment. I give thanks for the joys and the sufferings, the moments of peace and the flashes of anger, the compassion and the indifference, the roar of my courage and the cold sweat of my fear. I accept gratefully the entirety of my past and my present life. Yes. As the evening beckons with the promise of tomorrow... may your gratitude rise up and with strength answer, "yes." - mar Gratitude for Rainbows & Butterflies Our "Rainbows & Butterflies" are the small miracles of our life - the little things that are so easy to overlook, yet so awe inspiring when we take a moment to notice and to pay attention. Give thanks for the rainbows, for the butterflies, for all God's creatures - large and small, for the bright blue sky and the soft fog and the gentle rain, for the tree veiled in the season's first frost, for the baby's laugh, for the touch of a hand and the whispered "I love you."

Too Much of a Good Thing? - Choose Gratitude

Mae West -known for her wit and double entendre - said “too much of a good thing can be wonderful,” but for the rest of us, “too much of a good thing” tends to be a confusing situation.

It’s Autumn and the ground beneath our apple tree sports an abundance of fallen apples. The deer, rabbits, and squirrels are feasting. I watch as a squirrel picks up an apple almost half as big as itself. It looks confused. Takes a small bite. Puts the apple down. Looks confused. Scurries to another apple, and repeats the process. “What to do? I can’t eat them all. I can’t bury them all. I may be hungry this winter. Right now, there are so many apples. What to do?”

In 21st Century America, we suffer from a profusion of fallen apples… an epidemic of abundance. We are so spoiled that we can’t even see what is right in front of our faces. Unlike the fallen apples in my backyard, the “fallen apples” we feast on in America are a year-round cornucopia.

“But I’m tired of ‘apples’ and I don’t like them fallen.” Remember “manna from Heaven” in the Bible? Sounds a lot like “fallen apples.” Are we sick and tired of our abundance of manna? Most 21st Century Americans truly are sick and tired of their abundance of manna. “Same thing - day after day. And I have to bend over to pick it up. And it touched that dirty ground. Sheee... germs. And everyone else is eating the same thing. How boring.”

When we are surrounded by abundance, not only do we stop being grateful, we actually STOP SEEING our abundance. We are not aware of, let alone grateful for the air we breathe. “What air? I don’t see any air.” As we don’t notice the air, we also don’t notice the abundant food, shelter, health, comfort that surrounds us. “But, But, what about…” Our glass isn’t half full, its 99.9% full. Open your eyes… Notice… Become Aware… CHOOSE… Gratitude or Complaint?

Change who you think you are

 To change who you are, change who you think you are. - jlh Today, try something you have never tried before. Maybe just a food that is new to you - maybe a whole new way of living

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

live boldly. - mary anne radmacher

Life is in our point-of-view

 Life is all in our Perspective. - jlh Exotic or ordinary, glamorous or plain, exciting or boring - it's all in our point-of-view.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

may a thread of comfort be woven through your difficult days. - mary anne radmacher

Rainbows

capture a shadow, dance with the wind, stand in a rainbow, begin at the end. - mary anne radmacher Let rainbows always remind us of the unlimited possibilities of our future, and the magnificence of our nature and of Life.

Jimmy Yen - My Personal Greatest Hero

Who do we most respect and admire? Why our Heroes of course. What are the characteristics of a Hero? Heroes are courageous and self-reliant, and they are greatly admired. Being courageous and self-reliant are the characteristics that create heroes. Being admired is something that comes afterward.

Name a genuine Hero who followed the crowd? It’s a crazy question, because Heroes don’t follow the crowd. A hero may or may not lead other people, but all heroes lead themselves. Heroes are self confident independent thinkers who make courageous choices. By committing their entire focus to their goals, Heroes leave no time or energy for worry or self-inflicted emotional suffering. Heroism is a path to a joyful life as well as to inspired service.

Want to be a Hero, just pick one to emulate - WRONG. To be heroic, don’t emulate a hero, learn from one. Heroes don’t follow anyone, they set their own course.

At the end of this article there is an exercise for considering your own greatest hero and which of their qualities inspire you.

Y. C. James (Jimmy) Yen (Yan Yangchu): (1893-1990)
- Charismatic Visionary, Humanitarian, and Educator

An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.
- Victor Hugo

Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Love them
Serve them
Plan with them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have.
- Jimmy Yen

A leader is most effective when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, his troops will feel they did it themselves.
- Lao Tzu

My personal Greatest Hero is Jimmy Yen. You have probably never heard of Jimmy Yen - most Americans haven’t. Not that he went without recognition. The novelist Pearl Buck wrote his biography. Time magazine wrote about him, and Reader’s Digest wrote about him several times - once as a feature article. In 1943, Jimmy Yen received the prestigious Copernican award as one of 10 highly influential "modern revolutionaries" including Albert Einstein, Orville Wright, Walt Disney, and Henry Ford. He also received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1960, and in 1983 he received the Eisenhower Medallion of the People-to-People Foundation for his ‘exceptional’ contribution to world peace and understanding.

Jimmy Yen was a very unassuming man who never sought personal recognition or glory. He didn’t start out with a huge vision, either. His greatest commitments were to his wife, his strong Christian faith, and to the people around him. His immense contribution to humanity began in a very small way, and grew, and grew, and grew exponentially.

In 1918, immediately after graduating from Yale University, Jimmy Yen was swept up into the First World War. He went to France as a YMCA volunteer to interpret for a few of the 180,000 Chinese peasants who had been brought to France by the Allied Forces to work as laborers.

While working among the Chinese laborers, Jimmy found these people to be eager and intelligent, but universally uneducated - that is, unable even to read or write their own name. Jimmy spent many hours reading Chinese language newspapers to these men and writing letters for them to send back to their loved ones in China.

Jimmy wished that he could teach his new friends to read and write, but there was a second reason for these people’s illiteracy beyond the poverty and exceedingly hierarchical class structure of rural China. Chinese is an extremely complex language that is written using tens of thousands of intricate characters - each representing a complete word, rather than a letter.

Even more confounding for a common Chinese speaker trying to master reading and writing, the language that was read and written by educated Chinese at that time was Classical Chinese, which is not a written representation of conversational Chinese, but rather a formalized language virtually unchanged for 2000 years. It was as if the only path for an Italian to learn reading and writing was to learn to read and write Latin.

In spite of the great perceived difficulties, and the mediocre success that other YMCA volunteers had had in teaching the laborers to read and write Classical Chinese, Jimmy still visualized the laborers reading their own newspapers and writing their own letters home.

As he looked at the correspondence he was writing, Jimmy was struck by how often a very small number of characters (words) recurred. Inspired genius struck, and Jimmy selected 1000 characters that he believed could communicate virtually any idea.

Putting flesh on the bones of inspiration, Jimmy made the decision to teach the writing of Vernacular Chinese (Baihua) - a written representation of spoken Chinese - rather than Classical Chinese. Although there had been a effort to promote Baihua in China for several years, it had not gathered momentum, and Baihua remained virtually unused.

Jimmy offered to teach the laborers reading and writing using his 1000 Character System. 40 of the 5000 men in his camp accepted his offer. The training was so successful that many more wanted to join the next class.

Soon, almost all the laborers in that camp were writing their own letters home, and reading a newsletter Jimmy had printed for them in 1000 Baihua characters. Word spread rapidly, and other volunteers started teaching Jimmy’s 1000 Character system throughout the Chinese laborer camps in France.

Jimmy then made a vow to return to his country of birth and educate everyone in rural China.

Jimmy returned to the United States, completed a Masters program at Princeton, obtained financial support from the YMCA-In-China program to launch a Chinese literacy program, and set sail for China with his new bride Alice - who was to become his lifetime companion and committed co-worker in the Literacy and Rural Reconstruction movements.

In 1923, Jimmy established the Chinese Mass Education Movement, and launched what quickly became a nationwide program to teach 1000 Character literacy.

In 1926, Jimmy expanded his work to address the four interlocking problems of ignorance, poverty, disease and civic inertia, with an integrated Rural Reconstruction program of education, livelihood, health and self-government - “integrated, people-centered and sustainable rural development” in his words.

In 1928, John D. Rockefeller Jr. made a large personal contribution to Jimmy’s work and inspired many other Americans to do the same.

With the onset of the Second World War, Jimmy came back to the United States to raise funds for reconstruction in China. Jimmy made powerful friends in America - including Eleanor Roosevelt and Henry Ford - and in 1948 secured funding for post-war reconstruction through the “Jimmy Yen Provision” of the China Aid Act.

In 1950, when his work in China was halted by the incoming Communist government, Jimmy and Alice turned their attention to the world, working with rural reconstruction in the Philippines Thailand, India, Ghana, Guatemala, Columbia, Mexico and Cuba.

In 1960 Jimmy founded the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in the Philippines.

In 1985 the Chinese government finally welcomed Jimmy back to China and acknowledged his immense contribution to Mass Education and Rural Reconstruction in China.

Today, the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), a worldwide organization based in the Philippines, continues the work begun by Jimmy and Alice Yen and serves as a living memorial to their work.

Beginning with the desire to teach a few simple laborers to read and write, Jimmy Yen’s life unfolded over more than 70 years of service to directly benefit tens of millions of people around the world.

Best of all for me personally, Jimmy Yen is my uncle. In 1921 Uncle Jimmy married Alice Huie - my aunt and the daughter of my grandfather - the Reverend Huie Kin, pastor of the First Chinese Presbyterian Church of New York City.

For me, Jimmy Yen represents the ultimate in inspired selfless service. Day after day after day, he just did the best he could to take one more small step toward what he believed in. His commitment and enthusiasm were so infectious that people around the world became inspired by his vision.

Exercise: Who is your Personal Greatest Hero? Take pen and paper. Write why you admire your greatest hero, and which of their qualities you want to emulate in your own life.

The meaning of Life is whatever we Choose - jlh

The meaning of Life is whatever we Choose.
- jlh

We give life its meaning
See life as ugly and painful - if you choose, or see it as beautiful and joyful. There is no inherent meaning in life. We give life its meaning. It's our Choice.

mary anne radmacher: choose in ways that support your dreams

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

choose in ways that support your dreams. - mary anne radmacher

Stand up for what you want

 Say NO to the demands of the world. Say YES to the longings of your own heart. - jlh Some days you have to stand up for what you want. Just take matters into your own hands (or legs) and make your own choices. You can never really please anyone else, so make decisions that bring you joy.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

begin each day as if it were on purpose. - mary anne radmacher

Who said that life had to be serious?

 today is your day to practice whimsey, watch wondrous cloud animals parade your story, find a magical white bunny down every rabbit hole. - jlh Who said that life had to be serious? Imagine, Play, Turn Cartwheels, Be Unstoppable, Dance Wildly With Life.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

Wonder what opportunities you pass, unwittingly, because your hands are so busy clasping what you think you have always known. - mary anne radmacher

Love All Of Life

The human spirit ranges across a truly amazing diversity of experiences and emotions - the highest peaks and the lowest valleys.

One minute we merge in awe with the compassionate creative universal force, and the next minute the imperfections of our human existence focus us toward another aspect of life.

Each of us is loving in some moments - hateful in others. Patient and calm sometimes - harried by urgency at others. Understanding - and self-absorbed. Reassuring - and sarcastic. Generous - and greedy. Trusting - and jealous. Comforting - and snappish. Original - and stuck in a rut. Thankful - and needy. Forgiving - and vengeful. Nurturing ourself - and stuffing ourself with fast food. Honoring our bodies - and overstressing. Being Joyful - and Suffering.

What does all this mean? It means only that we are human - nothing more. Our opportunity is to love ourselves exactly as we are - with all our joys and sufferings. To be grateful for everything. To forgive ourselves for our doubts of our own worthiness - for we have no need to be anything other than what we are.

Our opportunity is always to make the choice for Joy. To see the world with new eyes - open eyes - loving eyes. To choose compassion and understanding - for ourselves, our family, our friends, our community, for the whole world.

Our opportunity is to Soar our Spirit. To see Light and Joy in everything. To spread our wings and fly boldly. To give thanks for rainbows and butterflies - our symbols of renewal and rebirth. To offer daily Thanksgiving - for ourselves, our family, our friends, our community, for the whole world.

Our opportunity is to visualize a kinder world. To sing glad songs of tomorrow - imagining a world of love - of the whole world filled with love. To offer our hand... often. To breathe deeply and honor ourselves. To pause and contemplate... just because.

Play full-out and enjoy all of Life

 Life is a grand adventure - enjoy the ride. - jlh Helen Keller said "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." Right on! Regardless of what we do or don't do, life is a dangerous and ultimately fatal undertaking, so don't hold back, play it safe, or only go halfway. Play full-out and enjoy all of Life.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

and just dance a little. - mary anne radmacher

Life is not about perfection

 None of us is perfect - and that's OK. - jlh Life is not about perfection - or a quest for perfection. Life is about enjoying what we have - for as long as we have it.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

live as if this is all there is. - mary anne radmacher

We never see Life as it really is

 We see Life through the fun-house mirrors of our point-of-view. - jlh We never see Life as it really is. All we can ever see is the reflection of Life - distorted by our unique perceptions.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

your point of view sets you up well in advance for how you view the events as they unfold. - mary anne radmacher

Home is where our loved ones are

 Home is where our loved ones are. - jlh A palace is not a home without loved ones. A shack or an open field can be paradise when shared with a loving family.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

share your heart as deeply as you can reach. - mary anne radmacher

Doors will open

 Stay Alert, and doors will open. - jlh You can never know when and where a magic door will open for you, so pay attention, stay watchful, and never give up hope.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

as you awaken, may your dreams greet you by name, and may you answer, "Yes!" - mary anne radmacher

Smile

 Wear an Inner Smile. - jlh A smile is a universal symbol of welcome and joy. We probably don't want to go through life wearing a big grin, but we can always wear our Inner Smile. Just think contented thoughts and let a grateful mmmm... flow throughout your being.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

share your heart as deeply as you can reach. - mary anne radmacher

Perspectives on the Divine

 The Divine is all in the perspective we take on it. - jlh Today is a day to look at our beliefs from different and broader perspectives. What are our values, and what is our viewpoint toward Spirit and toward Unity with All Creation? The child to the right is from Peru, the child below from Egypt.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

I wrap the potential for bitterness, resentment, martyrdom in the blanket of forgiveness and just set it down. Then it just melts in the warmth. And goes away. - mary anne radmacher

Honor Diversity

 Today is a day to honor other cultures. - jlh Hold your fear of the unknown. Embrace those whose ways are unlike yours. We are all one body in the Unity of All Creation

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

i rest in the light of forgiveness. - mary anne radmacher

if i had known

if i had known... i would have linger over my coffee a little longer. - mary anne radmacher

Go gently into the world

Today is a day to cover your best weapons in velvet. - jlh 

 Go gently into the world. Hold your anger. Keep your competitive spirit in check. Someday you will need your fierce weapons, but not today.

See with new eyes

 See beauty in the familiar. - jlh 

Look closely... See with new eyes... Don't just pass by what is familiar without a thought. Pay attention and look closely. There is beauty - there is discovery - there in a whole new world hiding behind the face of the familiar.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

choose the whole of your environment, things and events, based upon the value, meaning, and function they hold.. - mary anne radmacher

We all have our thorns - and blooms

Today, I give thanks for both my bloom and my thorns. - jlh 

We all have our thorns. We, and Life, have our moments. Life occurs before our morning coffee. Life occurs in our bathrobe with our hair uncombed. Bless and give thanks for All of Life - the bloom and the thorns.

a quote from LIVE BOLDLY

and yes, i loved. - mary anne radmacher