Love Requires Thought and Effort

Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens
reflect the kind of care they get.
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

The magic words for a great family are,
"I love you just the way you are."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts.
- Anonymous

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do...
but how much love we put in that action.
- Mother Teresa

Further reading: Let today be a day to have gratitude for your family

Where There is Love, Nothing is Missing - a Parable

Joy at Home

A Parent's Gift

Family Time
      

We Belong to Each Other

 

Always hold peace toward all in your own heart.
If you are healthy, support those who are sick.
If you have a job, support those who have lost theirs.
If you are strong, support those who are feeble of body or mind.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

We can never obtain peace in the outer world
until we make peace with ourselves.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me:
I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
...
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:35-40

If we have no peace,
it is because we have forgotten
that we belong to each other.
- Mother Teresa

Further reading: Feed Just One

Commitment To Service

The Good Samaritan

Help Others

Encourage Others

How Helping Others Helps You
      

The Nature of Love

Love is when the other person's happiness
is more important than your own.
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

You can never love without giving.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
- Mother Teresa

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

Further reading: 7 Secrets of Happy Couples

Mary Anne Radmacher: Frankie's Story (The origin of Live With Intention)

Where There is Love, Nothing is Missing - a Parable
       

Do Not Fear Change

You change your life by changing your heart.
- Max Lucado

Thinkers do not accept the inevitable;
they turn their efforts toward changing it.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

If you take the responsibility for your life,
you can start changing it.
- Osho

It’s the most unhappy people who most fear change.
- Mignon McLaughlin

Everyone thinks of changing the world,
but no one thinks of changing himself.
- Leo Tolstoy

Only when we realize that there is no eternal,
unchanging truth or absolute truth can we arouse in
ourselves a sense of intellectual responsibility.
- Hu Shih

When you are through changing, you are through.
- Bruce Barton

Further reading: A New Perspective

Moving Forward

Rattlesnake of the Mind

Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind
      

Be Flexible

New Times Require New Ways of Thinking and Doing.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again,
but expecting different results.
- Rita Mae Brown (also attributed to Einstein)

Only when we realize that there is no eternal,
unchanging truth or absolute truth, can we arouse in
ourselves a sense of intellectual responsibility.
- Hu Shih

Be resolute in your goals, but flexible in your tactics.
There are times that call for repetition and perseverance;
and there are times that require new ways of thinking and doing.
The challenge is knowing one from the other.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.
- Tony Robbins

Whatever you want in life, start today. Not tomorrow - today.
Let it be a small beginning - a tiny beginning.
Your happiness depends on starting today - every day.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: A Better Plan

It's Never Too Late

How to Keep Your New Years Resolutions
     

Seeing Deeply

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

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

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

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

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:

What You Focus On

What You See

Cultivate Awareness

Be a Passionate Observer

Manage Your Wayward Mind
    

To Be Fully Alive

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake
is to be continually thrown out of the nest.
- Pema Chodron

My idea of education is to unsettle the minds of the
young and inflame their intellects.
- Robert M. Hutchins

Don't ask yourself what the world needs;
ask yourself what makes you come alive.
And then go and do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
- Howard Thurman

One does not become fully human painlessly.
- Rollo May

Further Reading: Stay Flexible

Embrace Change

Welcome Upheaval
    

Compassion to All

One way or another, we all have to find
what best fosters the flowering of our humanity
in this contemporary life,
and dedicate ourselves to that.
- Joseph Campbell

You must not lose faith in humanity.
Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty,
the ocean does not become dirty.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

A generous heart, kind speech,
and a life of service and compassion
are the things which renew humanity.
- The Buddha

We cannot despair of humanity,
since we ourselves are human beings.
- Albert Einstein

Today's affirmation:
I choose acceptance and compassion toward all humanity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: We are One

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

We are most like God when we forgive

Progress of the Human Mind
      

A Person's Religion

A person's religion is what they do and say all day, seven days a week -
not what they say and do at 10 am on Sunday.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

You hold onto religion, you know,
rules, regulations, traditions.
I think what God is interested in
is people's hearts, and that's hard enough.
- Bono

We can never be the better for our religion
if our neighbor is the worse for it.
- Anonymous

I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal
to reason and is in conflict with morality.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

The world is my country,
all mankind are my brethren,
and to do good is my religion.
- Thomas Paine

We must be ready to learn from one another,
not claiming that we alone possess all truth
and that somehow we have a corner on God.
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Further reading: Everything is God

How To Know What To Do

Perspectives on the Nature of God
    

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
      

A World Perspective

Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe,
our class, and our nation;
and this means we must develop a world perspective.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Color of skin, languages, religions, and traditions
are all part of the magnificence of humanity.
Honor diversity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Loyalty to the family must be merged into loyalty to the community,
loyalty to the community into loyalty to the nation,
and loyalty to the nation into loyalty to mankind.
The citizen of the future must be a citizen of the world.
- Thomas Cochrane

Few are the giants of the soul who actually feel
that the human race is their family circle.
- Freya Stark

Further reading: We are All Brothers and Sisters

All things share the same breath

War

Unity with Spirit and All Creation

Natural Web
     

Patience, Kindness, and Empathy

What do we live for, if it is not
to make life less difficult for each other?
- George Eliot

Generally, your greatest service to someone
in their time of trouble, sorrow, or confusion, is your comfort.
Take the time to listen to their troubles and concerns
with patience, kindness, and empathy,
but without offering unsolicited advice or suggestions.
Your kindly hand on their shoulder, supportive hug, and patient listening
are often the greatest gifts you can offer.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I've learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou

There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend.
- Katharine Butler Hathaway

Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always.
- Hippocrates

“Friendship," said Christopher Robin, "is a very comforting thing to have.”
- A. A. Milne

The best comfort I could offer
was to just let her tell her story.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Further reading: True Measure of a Successful Life

This is my wish for you...

Giving Love and Comfort

Encourage Others
      

Dignity in Service

There is dignity in being of service.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Dignity does not consist in possessing honors,
but in deserving them.
- Aristotle

One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked,
but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered.
- Michael J. Fox (afflicted with Parkinson's disease at age 30)

A truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of
labor and the fact that honor lies in honest toil.
- Grover Cleveland

Our vanity is the constant enemy of our dignity.
- Anne Sophie Swetchine

Sweetest Lord, make me appreciative
of the dignity of my high vocation,
and its many responsibilities.
Never permit me to disgrace it by giving way
to coldness, unkindness, or impatience.
- Mother Teresa

The primal principle of democracy
is the worth and dignity of the individual.
- Edward Bellamy

Further reading: Live with Honor and Dignity

Is there a place for Honor today?

HONOR - the first Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Self-Care
      

Bear Defeat Without Losing Heart

 

It's one of life's great paradoxes ...
Accepting with gratitude whatever life throws at us
is critical to happiness.
Yet without a goal and commitment, life loses much of its value.
The best we can do in the face of this paradox
is to play to win, but be cheerful in defeat
and ready to play again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The greatest test of courage on earth
is to bear defeat without losing heart.
- Robert Ingersoll

Remember you will not always win.
Some days, the most resourceful individual will taste defeat.
But there is, in this case, always tomorrow -
after you have done your best to achieve success today.
- Maxwell Maltz

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest (Serenity Prayer)

Make Lemonade

What is Defeat? 
      

Focus on the Most Important

Clarity affords focus.
- Thomas Leonard

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves.
The process never ends until we die.
And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Instead of focusing on that circumstances that you cannot change -
focus strongly and powerfully on the circumstances that you can.
- Joy Page

We can always choose to perceive things differently.
You can focus on what's wrong in your life,
or you can focus on what's right.
- Marianne Williamson

Keep your attention focused entirely
on what is truly your own concern,
and be clear that what belongs to others
is their business and none of yours.
- Epictetus

Remember that there are a million "wrong things" in the world
(as well as a billion "right things"),
so focus your energies on addressing with courage the few issues closest to your heart,
and accept the rest of life with serenity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The Main Thing is to Keep
The Main Thing The Main Thing.
- Stephen Covey

Further reading: Fork in the Road

Life Begins When You Do

A decision about Who You Are

Aesops Fables: The Miller, His Son, and the Ass
     

Listen to the Melody within Your Soul

 

There are choirs singing in your head.
If you listen, you will hear the music.
It is the song of angels.
Pay no attention to the sounds of the world.
They are just noises, and even when
added up all together
they have no value, make no sense.
Strain to hear the song of angels.
Listen to the melody within your soul.
- Neale Donald Walsch

The happiness of one's own heart alone
cannot satisfy the soul;
one must try to include,
as necessary to one's own happiness,
the happiness of others.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

Who will save your soul if you won't save your own?
- Jewel

From far beyond this life,
I hear the call.
From place beyond all place,
I feel the call.
From time before all time,
I know the call.
From one before all ones,
I am the call.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Harmony of the Soul

Be the Melody

May Your Every Tomorrow Be Beautiful

Stillness
    

Cooperation Means Everybody Wins

 

The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.
- Bertrand Russell

Ideologies separate us.
Dreams and anguish bring us together.
- Eugene Ionesco

There is only one way... to get anybody to do anything.
And that is by making the other person want to do it.
- Dale Carnegie

Communication leads to community, that is,
to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.
- Rollo May

Every kind of peaceful cooperation among men
is primarily based on mutual trust
and only secondarily on institutions
such as courts of justice and police.
- Albert Einstein

Further reading: Evolving Toward Cooperation

Progress of the Human Mind

Stand Together
      

Follow Your Heart Drum

 

Set Life's Rhythm with Your Heart-Drum
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Do what you feel in your heart to be right.
You'll be criticized anyway.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

The way is not in the sky.
The way is in the heart.
- The Buddha

March to the beat of your own drum.
- Proverb

Today's affirmation:
I follow my own star and my own inner compass.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Color Today Bright

Primal Rhythmic Power

The Beat of the Universe
      

Focus on the Substance of the Matter

 

Beware that you do not lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.
- Aesop  [Read The Dog and the Shadow - A Fable by Aesop]

It is not the man who has too little,
but the man who craves more, that is poor.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect,
excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.
- John Henry Newman

Of the seven deadly sins, only envy is no fun at all.
- Joseph Epstein

The envious person grows lean
with the fatness of their neighbor.
- Socrates

Further reading: This God Called Money

The Shadow of Worry

Attitude toward Gratitude

Discovery and Adventure, rather than Fear
        

Self-Discipline

 

A happy life consists not in the absence,
but in the mastery of hardships.
- Helen Keller

Only one who devotes himself to a cause
with his whole strength and soul
can be a true master.
For this reason mastery demands all of a person.
- Albert Einstein

Self-disciplined begins with the mastery of your thoughts.
If you don't control what you think,
you can't control what you do.
Simply, self-discipline enables you
to think first and act afterward.
- Napoleon Hill

How different our lives are when we
really know what is deeply important to us,
and keeping that picture in mind,
we manage ourselves each day
to be and to do what really matters most.
- Stephen Covey

Further reading: How to Choose Your Life Purpose

Master of My Emotions

Live Your Inspired Life

Master of My Fate

Laugh at Life
            

Trust Your Own Inner Voice

 

I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.
- William Ernest Henley

Having a personal opinion is great.
Believing that one's personal opinion is absolute truth
leads to most of the world's troubles.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Steve Jobs' Three Rules of Life ...

1. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

2. Don't be trapped by dogma -
which is living with the results of other people's thinking.
Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

3. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition -
they somehow already know what you truly want to become.
- Steve Jobs

Take time to contemplate -
away from the opinions and influence of others -
what you really want
and what you believe to be important in your life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today's affirmation:
I set my own course through the ocean of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Life and Death: Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005 (video)

Big Dream - Big Adventure

Create Your Masterwork

Fun and Success
      

Without Fear

 

True faith needs no guarantees.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The attitude of faith is the very opposite
of clinging to belief, of holding on.
- Alan Watts

Faith is much better than belief.
Belief is when someone else does the thinking.
- R. Buckminster Fuller

Faith is not belief.
Belief is passive.
Faith is active.
- Edith Hamilton

Can you imagine a life with no fear?
What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats?
- Max Lucado

Further reading: The Power of Faith

The Edge of All You Know

Stop Worrying about Tomorrow

Release the Struggle
    

Calm in the Face of Danger

 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me
- Psalm 23

Instead of dwelling on negative thoughts,
cause your mind to dwell on peace and joy.
- Ernest Holmes

Learn to be calm and you will always be happy.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

Today's affirmation:
My life is the eye of the hurricane -
an island of calm in a sea of uncertainty.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Serenity in Times of Crisis

Calm in Chaos

Choose Not To Stress

Thoughtful Response, Not Panic
    

Mastery of Thyself

 
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
- Edmund Hillary

It is better to conquer yourself
than to win a thousand battles.
Then the victory is yours.
It cannot be taken from you,
not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
- The Buddha

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear,
but the triumph over it.
The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid,
but he who conquers that fear.
- Nelson Mandela

I believe that anyone can conquer fear
by doing the things he fears to do,
provided he keeps doing them until he gets
a record of successful experience behind him.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Further reading:  Balance Caution With Courage

Don't Try to Please Everyone

Play to win, but be a good loser
     

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?
       

The Joy is in the Quest

 

Find something to be joyful about, TODAY.

It is good to have an end to journey towards;
but it is the journey that matters in the end.
- Ursula K. Le Guin

Happiness isn't at the end of the rainbow.
Happiness is at the beginning of the rainbow.
Following the rainbow is happiness,
not getting to the end of it.
- Werner Erhard

To live only for some future goal is shallow.
It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.
- Robert M. Pirsig

Come dress yourself in love, let the journey begin.
- Francesca da Rimini

Further reading: Stay Adaptable

The Secret of Happiness

Be Flexible

Choosing to Love Life
       

Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously

Keys to a great life... taking oneself lightly, forgiveness, and acceptance.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If we could all just laugh at ourselves,
in hard times or good times, it would be an incredible world.
- Jena Malone

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

There is no defense against adverse fortune which is
so effectual as an habitual sense of humor.
- Thomas W. Higginson

Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.
- Mark Twain

Life is not a tragedy, it is a comedy.
To be alive means to have a sense of humor.
- Osho

Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.
- Mark Twain

Further reading: Power of Laughter

Cherish the Whimsey

Having a Sense of Humor

As a Child Again 
   

Life is a Riddle

 

Life is a riddle.
We cannot expect to understand life's twists and turns as they occur each day,
and we greatly frustrate ourselves in the futile attempt.
Be content to appreciate that there is an overarching purpose,
though that purpose be known only to God, and to history.
Choose service. Choose joy. Accept the unknowing.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.
- Jose Ortega Y Gasset

We learn more by looking for the answer
to a question and not finding it
than we do from learning the answer itself.
- Lloyd Alexander

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize
how little we understand about life,
ourselves, and the world around us.
- Socrates

Half of everything you were ever taught is wrong;
the question is which half.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The book of life is filled with incoherent riddles.
(and human nature is perhaps life's greatest riddle.)
Life's true lessons are inscribed in a corner of the margin.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Read more about The Book of Life

Further reading:  The Nature of Learning

Lessons from Life

Beyond Understanding
      

Reach for the Stars, but Stay Grounded

 

Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
- Confucius

If you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are,
and if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you're going.
And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong.
- Terry Pratchett

When you jump for joy, beware that no one
moves the ground from beneath your feet.
- Stanislaw Jerszy Lec

The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do,
and the more genuine may be one's appreciation
of fundamental things like home,
and love, and understanding companionship.
- Amelia Earhart

Keep your feet firmly planted on the ground
as you reach for the stars.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Honor Your Roots

Perspective on Tradition: An Open Mind

A Strong Foundation

Fulfill Your Dreams
    

Gratitude & Thankfulness

 

Everything is a miracle,
not just the beautiful and lovely things.
- Anonymous

There can be no joy without gratitude.
- Richard Paul Evans

Today I offer a prayer of forgiveness:
forgive the pettiness of my ingratitude...
the absence of profound thankfulness.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

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

Look at everything as though you were seeing it
either for the first or last time.
Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.
- Betty Smith

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.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading:; Yes, YOU Can Be Happy

Gratitude for All of Life

Tending the Garden of Our Lives