Creating Your Future

Every thought we think is creating our future.
- Louise L. Hay

Those who believe they can do something and those who believe they can't are both right.
- Henry Ford

Well-being is making its way to you at all times.
If you will relax and find a way to allow it, it will be your experience.
- Abraham (Esther Hicks)

Attitude is Everything.
- Anonymous

When we complain, our lives get worse. When we trust in the natural goodness around us, we open ourselves for the blessings of life to flow toward us.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less. - Rick Warren

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less. - Rick Warren

 Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful. - John Wooden 

 Real excellence and humility are not incompatible one with the other, on the contrary they are twin sisters. - Jean Baptiste Lacordaire 

 There is no virtue in speaking or thinking badly of oneself. The virtue is in focusing one's energy on serving others. - jlh

 Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude 

  Many people allow their need for other people's approval to control their lives. Rick Warren

May you be blessed by rainbows and butterflies

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.
- Irish Blessing

Today is your day to dance lightly with life.
Sing wild songs of adventure.
Invite rainbows & butterflies out to play.
Soar your spirit and unfurl your joy.
- jlh

May you be blessed by rainbows and butterflies and all things good.

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

May the road rise up to meet you

All things are bound together

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. - Chief Seattle (attributed) 

 We are all connected to everyone and everything in the universe. Therefore, everything one does as an individual affects the whole. All thoughts, words, images, prayers, blessings, and deeds are listened to by all that is. - Serge Kahili King 

 Today's affirmation: We are all one - the web of life.

Balance is Key

Manage the remarkable balance between acting from your heart and close to your gifts with completing the obligations that your labor and tasks require of you. Leverage opportunity AND seize joy. - Mary Anne Radmacher 

  Better learn balance. Balance is key. - Miyagi: character in the movie Karate Kid 

  Balance activity with serenity, wealth with simplicity, persistence with innovation, community with solitude, familiarity with adventure, constancy with change, leading with following. - jlh 

 A time for everything: a time to relax and a time to be busy, a time to frolic and a time to lay up food for the winter, a time to receive and a time to give, a time to begin and a time to finish. - jlh

Thanksgiving: A Day of Gratitude

The struggle ends when the gratitude begins. - Neale Donald Walsch 

  Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie 

  We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. - Thornton Wilder 

 Today, Thanksgiving Day in the United States, make a list -- a very long list -- of everything you have for which to be grateful. My own gratitude list begins with health, family, friends, and the beauty around me - from the butterflies and rainbows, to the dolphins, to the birds, to the works produced by the human hand. This year, I am especially grateful for the scientific progress that lets us live far longer and healthier lives than our forefathers. Half of the Pilgrims who arrived at Plymouth Rock died of starvation their first winter in America. Starvation, sickness, pain, and early death were the way of life throughout the world in those days. I am very grateful for modern medicine - the pain-free surgeries, antibiotics, and other life-saving drugs that let us live far longer and in far greater comfort than our ancestors.

 Further reading: Thanksgiving: Let Each Day be a Thanksgiving

Dance in the Rain - quote by Vivian Greene

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
It's about learning how to dance in the rain.
- Vivian Greene

I will dance a little. I will move with the wind.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Life may not be the party we hoped for,
but while we are here we might as well dance.
- Anonymous

Is today a day to gather strength from the storm - a day to to learn life lessons for the next battle? Or is today a day to sit by the fire and watch the storm rage outside? Either way, the storm is just life. Give thanks for all of Life.

Further reading: Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

5 Secrets For Breaking Your Bad Habits
     

A life, deeply rooted, lives and grows in memory. - Mary Anne Radmacher

A life, deeply rooted, lives and grows in memory. - Mary Anne Radmacher 

  The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. - Oprah Winfrey

Today is the first and last day of forever. - Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga)

You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way. - Walter Hagen 

 Let your life be meaningful -- but not serious. 

 Further reading: Steve Jobs Three Rules of Life 

  Life and Death: Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

There is beauty and adventure in the commonplace

There is beauty and adventure in the commonplace for those with eyes to see beyond.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.
- Socrates

It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.
- Amelia Barr

Give thanks for the simple pleasures of life.

Further reading: When You Feel Sad for No Apparent Reason

Joy is a Choice - but Not an Easy Choice

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.
- Chief Seattle [attributed]

Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.
- St. Francis of Assisi

Drop the sword - for there is but one flesh to wound, and that is the one flesh of all humankind.
- jlh

Today's affirmation: I Am One With Spirit and All Creation - I give thanks for the unity of all creation and for everything that has brought me to this moment. I release my entire being to the gentle nurture of Spirit.

Further reading: UNITY - the eighth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

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

Dance... enjoy each step along the way - Wayne Dyer

When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way. - Wayne Dyer 

 The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. - Oprah Winfrey 

 Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf. - Rabindranath Tagore

 Gratitude is the prayer, while Celebration is the song and the dance of praise. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

 Whenever you are grateful -- and I hope you are always grateful -- celebrate your gratitude with great enthusiasm and joy. 

 Further reading: The Eight Points of Simply An Inspired Life 

  CELEBRATION - the seventh Point of Simply An Inspired Life 

  Celebrating Rainbows and Butterflies - the Small Miracles of Our Life 

  Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

We must be proactive in our love in order for it to change our lives - Marianne Williamson

Most of us love, to be sure. Yet far too often our love is passive.
We must be proactive in our love in order for it to change our lives.
- Marianne Williamson

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

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

Put your unconditional love of all people into action today.

Further reading: ACTION - the sixth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

A leader has vision and conviction - Ralph Nader

A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done. - Ralph Nader 

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

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

 An inspiring vision -- then courageous action. 

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

  I have a Dream... Martin Luther King Jr.

Choose with no regret - Mary Anne Radmacher

Choose with no regret.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

We cannot choose our external circumstances,
but we can always choose how to respond to them.
- Epictetus

Joy is a choice - but it isn't an easy choice.
- jlh

Whatever happens around you, you always have choices about how you respond.
Choose wisely and never regret your choices.

Further reading: CHOICE - the fourth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

To live is to choose - Kofi Annan

Are your affirmations about your life positive or negative?

We may not always be aware of it, but we all create and repeat affirmations constantly. The problem is, we typically don't pay attention to exactly what those affirmations are saying. Often we go through the day giving ourselves all sorts of contradictory, or even negative messages. We may project confidence to the world around us, while our inner dialogue says... I hope this works. I am so nervous about this. I hope I don't blow it. Affirmations are self fulfilling prophecies. If we say, This is never going to work... then chances are excellent it never will.
- John Assaraf

Gratitude bestows reverence - John Milton

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.
- John Milton

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.
- William Blake

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.
- Cicero

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

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
- Melody Beattie

For me, one of the greatest things about living in the United States is that we have a national holiday - Thanksgiving Day - November 25 this year - dedicated to honoring gratitude. Having gratitude is one of the keys to a happy life. Let every day be a day of profound thanksgiving.

Today's affirmation: 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.





Reduce your stress and increase the joy you find in everyday life with my book 100 Secrets for Living a Life You Love.
www.dreamthisday.com/secrets-life-love


Further reading: GRATITUDE - the third Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Zero-Based Gratitude

Comparisons are odious

The only limits in our life are those we impose on ourselves. - Bob Proctor

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. - Oprah Winfrey

Quotes about Gratitude

Forgiveness is the finishing of old business - Joan Borysenko

Forgiveness ... is the finishing of old business that allows us to experience the present, free of contamination from the past.
- Joan Borysenko

Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.
- Marianne Williamson

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
... Forgive them anyway.
- Kent Keith (often attributed to Mother Teresa)

Forgiving is not a gift to someone else - Forgiving is your gift to yourself - a great gift - the gift of happiness.
- jlh

Forgive those who have injured you - not because they deserve your forgiveness, but because you can never be happy until you release your anger and grant forgiveness.

Further reading: Forgiveness and Acceptance, Another Look at the Challenges

Practical Forgiveness by Sheri Rosenthal

Live with Honor

It is our choices ... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
- J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets)

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
- William Shakespeare

To be a person of true greatness...
Live with honor.
Respect yourself.
Respect others.
Act honorably.

Further reading: What is Honor? Is there a place for Honor today?

The Eight Points of Simply An Inspired Life

HONOR - the first Point of Simply An Inspired Life

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

It is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right - William J. H. Boetcker

Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy

The secret of making dreams come true can be summarized in four C's. 

 They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy; 

and the greatest of these is Confidence.
- Walt Disney

Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers 

you cannot be successful or happy.
- Norman Vincent Peale

I'm not afraid of storms for I'm learning how to sail my ship.
- Louisa May Alcott

Visualize your goal, prepare thoroughly, and step forward. 

Confidence comes from being ready, knowing you are ready, and stepping out.

Further reading: A life of happiness requires a plan and it requires action

When you feel better about life, your life is better - Art Linkletter

Just smiling goes a long way toward making you feel better about life. And when you feel better about life, your life is better. With an optimistic, positive attitude toward life, the possibilities for your second prime are tremendous. - Art Linkletter, who died May 26, 2010 at the age of 97, expressed these thoughts on smiling, positive attitude and a second prime when he was 94. 

 We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. - George Bernard Shaw 

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

Live your best life, not your age.

My Mama always said you`ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on - Forrest Gump

My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on.
- the movie Forrest Gump

Before moving on, you have to clear away your cherished beliefs.
- Dick Raymond

People can be more forgiving than you can imagine.
But you have to forgive yourself.
Let go of what's bitter and move on.
- Bill Cosby

Create today as your celebration of life - jlh

Today is your day to paint life in bold colors,
set today's rhythm with your heart-drum,
walk today's march with courage,
create today as your celebration of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Live boldly. Laugh Loudly. Love Truly.
Play as often as you can
Work as smart as you are able.
Share your heart as deeply as you can reach.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Create today as your celebration of life. Express yourself Today! There is something of ourselves that cannot be said in words. Perhaps that something can be expressed in form or color, dance or music. If only with crayons or a tin drum, let that something that cannot be said move your hands or your body today.

Further reading: CELEBRATION - the seventh Point of Simply An Inspired Life

12 Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing. - Edmund Burke

 Most of us love, to be sure. Yet far too often our love is passive. We must be proactive in our love in order for it to change our lives. - Marianne Williamson 

 You ARE what you do - and what you fail to do. - jlh 

 Further reading: ACTION - the sixth Point of Simply An Inspired Life 

  Be optimistic, dream and take action 

  A life of happiness requires a plan and it requires action

Take time to play!

Take time to play!
Ask for what you want.
Laugh.
Live loudly.
Be avid.
Learn a new thing.
Be Yourself!
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Play with life,
laugh with life,
dance lightly with life,
and smile at the riddles of life,
knowing that life’s only true lessons are writ small in the margin.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: it's foggy and it's gray - let's play. - jlh

Who said that life had to be serious?

Cheer Up Quotes

New Beginning Quotes

Inspirational Pictures

Move On Quotes

Perseverance

Our greatest glory lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
- Confucius [quoted by, and often attributed to, Oliver Goldsmith, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nelson Mandela]

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.
- Marilyn vos Savant

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.
- Vince Lombardi

Stay in the game - keep playing.

Further reading: Motivation

Secrets For Getting Un-Stuck

May love and laughter light your days

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.
- Irish Blessing

May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

A special wish of peace and happiness for those who are celebrating Diwali today.

Further reading: Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

From caring comes courage. - Lao Tzu

From caring comes courage.
- Lao Tzu

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.
- Joseph Joubert

If you are sad, find a friend to support you. If someone you know is sad, comfort and support them. Be generous with your love, and don't hesitate to let others show their love for you.

Further reading: How to Get Over a Broken Heart

Offering Comforting Words and Support

What are you doing for others? - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Quotes about Being Happy

Strength Quotes

Sweet Quotes

Sweet Things to Say

Things to Say to Your Girlfriend or Boyfriend

Distance does not decide who is your brother and who is not. - Bono

Distance does not decide who is your brother and who is not.
- Bono

Personal transformation can and does have global effects.
As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us.
The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.
- Marianne Williamson

What we speak becomes the house we live in.
- Hafiz

[The performers in today's picture are from Chile.]

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Love is the great miracle cure. Louise L. Hay

You and I are sons of one religion, and it is the Spirit. Khalil Gibran

Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi: We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts?
      

Fall seven times, stand up eight. - Japanese Proverb

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman,
before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
- John Quincy Adams

You must do the things you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling,
but in rising every time we fall.
- Nelson Mandela

Never give up on the most important goals in your life.
Never give up on your life purpose.
Never give up on your core values.

Further reading: To Thine Own Self Be True

See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil.

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

Why should you bother to vote?

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. - Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. - Thomas Jefferson 

 Why should you bother to vote? There are two critical reasons to make the effort to cast your ballot, and to ask everyone you know to cast theirs... 1. The 2008 Minnesota senatorial race was decided by only 312 votes. Your vote really does count. 2. Far more important than the possibility that your single vote will decide an election is the power of your INTENTION. Voting is an expression of INTENT. INTENT is a powerful energetic force. Our INTENT for the future of our world is the greatest power we can ever control - use it wisely and fully. CHOOSE your future, and take ACTION - be the hammer, not the nail. VOTE!!! 

 Further reading: Choose Inner Peace and a Less Stressful Life 

  Your Intention For The Future Of The Entire World Matters. 

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

Global Community

Daily Inspiration email: a global community that now numbers over 37,000 souls

I am very grateful that the subscribers of Daily Inspiration email now form a global community that numbers over 37,000 souls. 61% live in the United States, 9% in Canada, and 5% in India. 3% live in each of Australia, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. 1% live in each of South Africa, Nigeria, New Zealand, Malaysia, Kenya, and Ghana. The other 10% come from virtually every country on our planet: from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, Fiji to Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan to Djibouti.

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Thank you for sharing with me this journey we call Life.

May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie