New Year Suggestions

I thank everyone who added their New Year's Resolutions to the resolutions list.

For those who haven't yet created a focus for next year, let me offer a few suggestions...

1. Worry less and relax more.

2. Take better care of your body, not to meet someone else's standards of weight or shape, but strictly in order for you to feel your best.

3. Plant a tree for your great-grandchildren. While literally planting a tree is always a good project, I mean this suggestion symbolically. Consider, in everything you do, how your decisions and actions will impact the legacy you leave for future generations. How can you leave your family, the political system, the environment, the whole world, better than you found it?

Have a happy and safe New Year, and enjoy a wonderful 2010.

Further reading: We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children. - Native American traditional

Albert Pike: What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us.

New Beginnings: A Time to Begin Anew

Celebrate endings - for they precede new beginnings.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
- Lao Tzu

From small beginnings come great things.
- Anonymous proverb

It is again that time of year when people begin to think about New Year's Resolutions. I have mixed feelings about New Year's resolutions because EVERY day is the beginning of a new life for each of us. On the other hand, I appreciate that we set aside one day each year to remind ourselves of the power of new beginnings. In that sense, New Year's Day is similar to Thanksgiving Day. I think of Thanksgiving Day, not as the one day each year to express gratitude, but as a day to celebrate the gratitude that I feel each day of the year.

Further reading: It is never too late to begin.

The darkest night is often the bridge to the brightest tomorrow - jlh

Mary Anne Radmacher: Old Beginnings versus NEW beginnings

Beyond the Grief of Divorce - 7 Steps Toward New Beginnings

Celebrate endings - for they precede new beginnings. - jlh

New Years Resolutions: What is Your Resolution for the New Year?

Every day is a good day to make a resolution for beginning a new way of living, but the New Year's Day holiday provides a good focus for reviewing our lives and resolving to live each day with conscious attention.

What are your plans for the new year? Do you have any resolutions for making new beginnings in the upcoming year? If you want, share your resolutions as a comment below. Feel free to remain anonymous if you like.

Powerful Dreams Inspire Powerful Action.
When you can taste, smell, and touch your dreams, you can enroll the world.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Standing in the inspiring vision of my future, I boldly take every step - large and small - with courage and intent.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Positive Attitude: When life gives you lemons, Make Lemonade.

When life gives you lemons, Make Lemonade.
- Anonymous saying

Every day is a day to have a positive attitude. Smile and keep positive regardless of the circumstances that attempt to beat you down.

Read today's longer article How to Keep a Positive Attitude and Stay Positive Around Negative People

Further reading: The Serenity Prayer - God grant me the serenity...

Forgiveness and Aceptance, Another Look at the Challenges

Maybe So, Maybe Not. - Ancient Taoist Proverb

Appreciation: Abraham Maslow: Appreciate again and again

Appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder and even ecstasy, however stale these experiences may have become to others.
- Abraham Maslow

Never let frustration or disappointment tarnish your appreciation for all that is good in life. Every day say Thank You to the source of all that is good.

Further reading: Marianne Williamson: Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, Thank You, that would suffice. - Meister Eckhart

12 Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

How To Be Happy In Life - The 9 Paths To Happiness

don Miguel Ruiz: Be skeptical, but learn to listen.

Be skeptical, but learn to listen. - don Miguel Ruiz 

 don Miguel Ruiz' fifth agreement sounds harsh at first, but the message is crucial to living a conscious and joyful life. Everyone has an opinion on many subjects and is ready to share those opinions - labeling them as "truth." Sometimes it is relatively easy to filter out these opinions. Upon hearing an ad for the latest weight-loss powder on late-night TV, our skepticism leaps to our defense. However, if we have heard the same opinion for years from our parents, friends, government officials, or religious leaders, we are more likely to believe without questioning than to raise our filter of skepticism and ask the hard questions. 

 Truth is not defined by how many people believe something. Ask. Question. Think. Decide - for yourself.

 Further reading: Ask questions 

  Mark Twain: It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so. 

  Honor tradition AND question tradition. - jlh

Happy Birthday Jesus

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Love Your Enemies - Matthew 5:43-44 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Never An Eye for an Eye - Matthew 5:38-39 38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Forgive Your Brother from Your Heart - Matthew 18:21-22 21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Since the year 336 most Christians have chosen December 25 as the date to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (although both biblical and historical evidence strongly suggests that he was not born in the winter season).

Whether you worship Jesus Christ as God, or whether you respect him as a great teacher, let us take today to focus on his words of compassion, love, and service toward all humans.

Perspective is both a necessary and a sufficient ground for wisdom. - jlh

Perspective is both a necessary and a sufficient ground for wisdom.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

One cannot have wisdom without perspective, but once gaining perspective, one attains wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to view every situation as each person who is in any way affected by that situation might view it. Wisdom benefits from having a knowledge of history, and therefore a historical perspective, as well from as having the perspective of imagination - the realm of the what-might-be inhabited by futurists and science-fiction writers.

Further reading: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Love is saying "I feel differently" instead of "You're wrong."

Lao Tzu: He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.

Teamwork: John Lennon: A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together becomes reality.

Teamwork

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together becomes reality. - John Lennon

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

Imagine what you could accomplish if you enrolled others into your dream. The world changes when people of vision and commitment create an infectious enthusiasm for their ideas. What is your great idea whose time has come?

Further reading: Jimmy Yen - My Personal Greatest Hero

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

Inspiring video of DJ Gregory, a golfer in spite of Cerebral Palsy, walking all the golf courses of the entire PGA tour.

Gandhi: The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.
- Mother Teresa.

What is admirable about those who have been of great service to humanity is not that they suffered in being of service, but that they found their source of happiness (joy if you prefer) in that service.

Further reading: The Wisdom of Gandhi

Mother Teresa quotes: Love begins at home

Joseph Campbell: When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves...

Mark Twain: The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.

Believe

Believe in the goodness of life. Believe in the power of time to heal and to renew. Believe in the power of forgiveness and gratitude. Believe in the gift of rainbows and butterflies. Believe in the laughter of children.

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

CELEBRATION - the seventh Point of Simply An Inspired Life

May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day - Traditional Irish Blessing

Mary Anne Radmacher: A HOLIDAY BLESSING FOR THE CHILDREN IN THE FAMILY HOME

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Choose love. Choose to release all resentments. Forgive everyone. Choose to release all regrets. Forgive yourself for all decisions that you have ever made that didn't work out as you hoped. Forgive yourself for any financial decisions that didn't meet your expectations. Release your regrets if you choose the "wrong" spouse or the "wrong" career. Today, choose love. Choose to love yourself. Choose to love your life. Choose to love all the friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances, and others who share your life.

Further reading: Martin Luther King, Jr. - If a man is called to be a street sweeper

Martin Luther King, Jr. - Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

Love is saying "I feel differently" instead of "You're wrong."

Mother Teresa quotes: Love begins at home

The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you, it is when you don't understand yourself. - Anonymous

The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you, it is when you don't understand yourself.
- Anonymous

If you lose the support of those around you, it is a setback. If you lose your own support and confidence, it is a tragedy.

Believe in yourself, in your vision for your future and in your ability to take a small step each day toward achieving your vision.

If you are unclear what your vision is, re-read Take Charge of Your Life - 9 Secrets for Getting Un-Stuck, especially #6 and #7.

Further reading: Vince Lombardi quote: Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is

Practice makes perfect - sometimes

C. S. Lewis You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream

Mary Anne Radmacher: Welcome the return of those uninformed dreams

Today's message is written by Mary Anne Radmacher, author of many inspiring books and co-author (with me) of Simply An Inspired Life. 

 "I guess everything comes back again, once we have thoroughly exhausted all the alternatives." Dallas, wrote to me. (Dallas is Dallas Dellinger Hlatky) By sifting through my relentless new questions in this day, perhaps I will be lucky enough to see all the sparkly dreams of my youth "come back." Welcome the return of those uninformed dreams that don't understand profit and loss statements and product trend curves and fourth quarter projections. Those dreams that get shuffled under admonitions like "be realistic," and "you have to be practical," and "There's so much to do with the holidays here." All those dreams that, once remembered, make everything sharper, smellier and more enthusiastic. Yes, Dallas, everything comes back again. In this holiday season I want to invite the gifts of my most profound and meaningful dreams into my daily experience. "I have dreamed in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind." Emily Bronte 

 Further reading: The jump is so frightening - Mary Anne Radmacher Life is defined more by its risks than by its samenesses. - Mary Anne Radmacher Mary Anne Radmacher: Dare to dream of your great success The Wisdom of Mary Anne Radmacher - Quotes for an Inspired Life

Let today be a day to have gratitude for our family

A brother is a friend given by Nature.
- Jean Baptiste Legouve

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.
- Isadora James

When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.
- William Shakespeare

God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers.
- Jewish Proverb

Where There is Love, Nothing is Missing.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Let today be a day to have gratitude for our family of birth. Whatever trials you have experienced, whatever regrets and resentments you hold, let today be a day of forgiveness and gratitude.

Further reading: Inspirational Quotes about Families, Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, Sons, and Daughters

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother. - Roe Fulkerson

Shark! Swim for your lives!

Shark! Swim for your lives! NO, this isn't a picture of some cold killer from the deep. It's a friendly warm-blooded dolphin, an animal people pay to swim with, a mammal some experts believe to be as intelligent as a chimpanzee.

Many of us go through life fearing that every shadow is a shark waiting to attack us and our loved ones. While there are real dangers in the world, fear , especially generalized unreasoning fear, causes far greater harm to humanity than all the sharks in the ocean, the financial underworld, and the dark alleys put together.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Further reading: The path of the adventurer is a path of joy - jlh

Life is always lived in the eye-of-the-storm - jlh

Pope John XXIII: Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.

Robert A. Heinlein: One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.

One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.
- Robert A. Heinlein

Sadly, it is human nature to measure success by comparison with our neighbors. A consequence of this tendency is the instinct to wish for others to fail and our own status to therefore appear higher by comparison.

Strive to cheer whenever others succeed and to avoid viewing your own achievements in comparison to others.

Further reading: Mary Anne Radmacher: As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.

Lao Tzu: The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.

Caring - Kindness - Compassion - Appreciation ... It is my choice to care deeply about others. - jlh

Success... A goal is a dream with a deadline. - Napoleon Hill

SUCCESS...

A goal is a dream with a deadline.
- Napoleon Hill

When in doubt, do it.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.
- Dale Carnegie

Further reading: Helen Keller: Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.

Albert Schweitzer: Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.

Winston Churchill: Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Balance ...

Balance...

Balance activity with serenity, wealth with simplicity, persistence with thoughtfulness, community with solitude, familiarity with adventure, constancy with change, leading with following. Let all of life find a welcome in your heart: the smiles and the tears, the mind and the spirit, the knowing and the unknowing.

Further reading: Carl Jung quotes

Albert Einstein: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

Mary Anne Radmacher: Find your balance and stand with it

Keep your feet firmly planted on the ground as you reach for the stars

Where fear is, happiness is not. - Seneca

Where fear is, happiness is not.
- Seneca

Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them.
- Rabindranath Tagore

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

The world is not ending in 2012 or any other time soon. Our civilization is not disintegrating. History is composed of cycles within cycles. Some years are better than others, but across the ages life just goes on.

Individually, we do have our crises - mostly from unexpected directions, but so have all people from all ages.

We can choose to face life with courage or with fear, and this determines our choice for happiness or for emotional suffering.

A life lived in fear is a life half lived

What To Do When Your Whole World Is Falling Apart? 6 Support Ideas To Stop Anxiety and Give You Back Your Life

All things at first appear difficult. - Chinese proverb

All things at first appear difficult.
- Chinese proverb

Before you learned, reading and writing seemed almost magical feats. Remember learning to ride a bike, play the piano (with two hands), even thread a needle?

Today, what have you given up on learning because it appears too difficult? You are never too old to learn a new skill.

Further reading: How to Survive When You Hate Your Job

True learning is not about facts, but about conscious appreciation of the experience of living. - jlh

Paul Tillich: Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the

Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone. - Paul Tillich

There is sanctuary in being alone with nature.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The holiday season is a time when we are especially conscious of missing those we have lost due to death, distance, or family conflict. My new article: How to Cope with Loneliness - 10 Tips for Coping with Feeling Lonely may help you or someone you know.

Further reading: May your spirit soar

Serenity - make a conscious choice to live a stress-free life

How to cope with stress.

Anton Chekhov: Any idiot can face a crisis. It's the day-to-day living that wears you out.

Any idiot can face a crisis. It's the day-to-day living that wears you out.
- Anton Chekhov

Further reading: Mary Anne Radmacher: THE GIFT OF SEEING

Albert Einstein: He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.
- Albert Einstein

From wonder into wonder existence opens.
- Lao Tzu

Further reading: Visualize a kinder world

Lao Tzu: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished

Rabindranath Tagore: Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

Mark Twain: The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.

The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. - Mark Twain 

  Life's burdens are lighter when I laugh at myself. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

  Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can't change. Life's too short to be anything... but happy. - Anonymous 

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

 Further reading: The Serenity Prayer - God grant me the serenity... 

  CELEBRATION - the seventh Point of Simply An Inspired Life 

  Today is your day to dance lightly with life. It really is. - jlh

Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead

To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.
- Kofi Annan

We must become the change we wish to see in the world.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Further reading: This Above All, To Thine Own Self Be True - 5 Ways to Apply William Shakespeare's Advice Today

We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children. - Native American traditional

Plant Trees For Your Grandchildren

Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents,it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children. - Native American traditional

Everything you do, and everything you do not do, is your legacy to future generations.

Ecology is important. Thirty years ago, Tampa Bay was polluted and dying. Today, the fish are swarming. A small island near my home is roost for perhaps 2000 birds, including once-endangered pelicans and frigate birds. The osprey in today's picture visited my dock today. Ospreys are now plentiful, and there are even a few eagles around, That eagles would return to this part of Florida was unimaginable. Few would have thought that Tampa Bay could have recovered, and that recovery has taken decades, but nature is amazingly resilient when we humans stop attacking her.

What you do for your biological descendants is important. The values that you teach your children through your example will be the values that they teach their children through their example.

Today's message is bigger than ecology and bigger than your blood line. EVERYTHING you do, and EVERYTHING you do not do, is your legacy to future generations.

Today's acorns grow into the oak trees of thirty years hence. But what acorns are we sowing today? Imagine what an acorn-sized bit of prejudice or hatred would grow into. Imagine what an acorn-sized bit of pollution can become.

Our legacy to future generations will grow from the acorns of our actions and inactions today in global affairs, energy, ecology, education, and wellness, as well as the personal values we demonstrate to those of this and future generations through our everyday behaviors and attitudes.

Further reading: How do You View the World?

The Paradox Of Living In The Moment - How To Be Happy Today And Prepare For Tomorrow

It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit.

It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit.
- Anonymous

When the best leader's work is done, the people say, "We did it ourselves."
- Lao Tzu

Whether in the business world, in our community activities - such as schools or religious groups, or in our families, there are times when each of us takes on a role as leader.

Do you ever feel that there is no recognition for your leadership qualities? If so, that may be a good thing and a great compliment. Consider today's two quotes and contemplate how much more we accomplish, and how much less resistance we create, when we gently guide a group consensus rather than demanding that everybody do things our way.

Further reading: LtG. Hal Moore: When we step on the battlefield, I will be The First Boots On and the Last Boots Off.

100 Secrets for Living a Life You Love

100 Secrets for Living a Life You Love 

Finding Happiness Despite Life's Roadblocks 

by Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You can live the life you love - even in the face of the most challenging circumstances. While sometimes it may appear that life throws more obstacles in your path than you can handle, you can always choose to be happy. Yes, you are that powerful.

The "secrets" include...
1 - Put Your Faith in Attitude, Not Circumstances
4 - Persevere - Happiness is Not Always an Easy Choice
6 - Give the Gift of Happiness to Your Friends and Family
11 - Choose the Purpose of Your Life
24 - Stop Anger Before It Stops You
36 - Consider How You Want to be Remembered
39 - Create Good Endings - They Precede Good Beginnings
41 - Put Your Dreams Into Action
42 - Gather Strength From Life’s Storms
44 - Have Gratitude for ALL of Life
45 - Be Open to Receiving Unlimited Abundance
56 - Give and Receive Love and Compassion
57 - Look for the Best in People
67 - Make Peace with Your Past through Forgiveness
70 - Learn the #1 Secret of Great Relationships
77 - Find Happiness Beyond the Grief of Divorce
88 - Begin the Practice of a Silent Daily Walk
90 - Know That Life is NOT SUPPOSED to be Fair
100 - Feel Unity with Spirit and All Creation

I leave no trace of wings in the air, but I am glad I have had my flight. - Rabindranath Tagore

I leave no trace of wings in the air, but I am glad I have had my flight. - Rabindranath Tagore 

  Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. - The Buddha 

 It was very good, and now it has ended. Does that make this a time for gratitude or regret? Choose to remember the good times rather than to regret their passing. 

 Further reading:Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. 

  Rabindranath Tagore: The Butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. 

  Beyond the Grief of Divorce - 7 Steps Toward New Beginnings

If a man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favorable to him. - Seneca

If a man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favorable to him. - Seneca 

  Powerful Dreams Inspire Powerful Action. When you can taste, smell, and touch your dream, you can enroll the world. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

 First create a great dream for your future. Then create concrete plans. Finally, take action and persevere. 

 Further reading: VISION - the fifth Point of Simply An Inspired Life