Posted: under "When You're Down to Nothing God's UP to Something", Advice & Tips, Inspirational Poetry, Inspirationals.
Tags: advice, age, aim, anxiety, belief, bliss, care, check, cheer, Christ, color, colors, comfort, day, depression, determination, direction, duty, encouragement, era, example, faith, family, friends, friendship, funds, goal, God, happiness, hope, inspiration, instruction, instructions, insurance, Jesus, job, journey, joy, King, labor, learning, life, light, Lord, love, man, money, moon, new year, others, path, perception, period, perseverance, relaxation, rest, road, role model, Savior, smiles, star, stress, success, sunset, sunshine, task, time, tips, tour, travel, trip, vehicle, war, winner, wishes, woman, work
“Seize the Day, greet the sun, welcome the moon, wish upon a star!”
- Annie Danielson
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“DON’T QUIT”
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When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
(~)~(~)~(~)
Life is odd with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.
(~)~(~)~(~)
Success is failure turned inside out,
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Jan 01 2012
Posted: under "A Scripture A Day Keeps The Devil Away".
Tags: aid, aim, belief, blessings, bliss, caring, Christ, community, concern, contribution, day, desire, donation, earth, example, faith, gift, global, globe, goal, God, happiness, heart, hope, inspiration, Jesus, joy, kindness, King, life, Lord, love, man, neighbor, neighborhood, new year, others, present, psalm, role model, Savior, scripture, sharing, smiles, success, surprise, universe, wishes, woman, world

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MAY HE GIVE YOU THE DESIRE OF YOUR HEART
AND MAKE ALL YOUR PLANS SUCCEED.
– Psalm 20:4
Jan 01 2012
Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", "DID YOU KNOW", Inspirationals.
Tags: Africa, African-American, age, aim, America, American, anniversary, arm, arms, army, beauty, black, blacks, bliss, body, bracelet, Brazil, Britain, British, campaign, caring, celebrity, ceremony, challenge, check, children, Chinese, college, community, companion, computer, couple, culture, designer, diamonds, diet, duty, earrings, earth, effort, election, England, era, Europe, example, exercise, family, fashion, finger, fingers, first lady, flag, food, funds, game, garden, global, globe, goal, gold, government, hair, hairdo, hairstyle, hand, hands, happiness, health, home, honor, House, hug, hugs, husband, icon, inspiration, internet, interview, jewelry, job, joy, kisses, labor, language, leader, life, London, love, magazine, man, Mathematics, military, money, moral, morning, mother, nation, navy, necklace, neighborhood, New York, online, partner, performance, period, photos, politics, power, president, project, recipe, ring, role model, school, service, sharing, show, smiles, soldier, soldiers, South Africa, sport, spouse, style, support, task, television, time, tour, universe, updo, values, veggie, veggies, veteran, veterans, voter, White House, wife, woman, words, work, world, youth

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As the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama has become a role model in the awareness arena for healthy eating, sharing her homegrown recipes via her cookbook. Next celebrity chef? She has also become a fashion icon and has been named by Forbes Magazine as the eighth most powerful woman in the world.
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First lady Michelle Obama speaks at the Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum in Washington….
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First lady Michelle Obama speaks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 17, 2011, during an event to honor schools that met the first lady’s goal to double the number of participants in the HealthierUS School Challenge in year.
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Michelle Obama attends cultural performances in Brasilia, Brazil….
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Michelle Obama introduces President Barack Obama at a DNC fundraiser at Gotham Hall, New York-
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Michelle Obama gestures before introducing her husband President Barack Obama at a DNC fundraiser at Gotham Hall in New York. She’s mingled barefoot among Aspen’s elite, stirred a Vermont utility executive to tears and bucked up disenchanted New Yorkers. The 2012 presidential campaign is well under way for Michelle Obama, and the first lady is promising to put herself into the election effort like never before. More than a year from Election Day, she is hauling in millions in campaign cash and sketching a portrait of her husband drawn with an intimacy that no one else could duplicate.
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Michelle Obama speaks to children at Christ Church College in Oxford, England.-
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Michelle Obama speaks to children from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson school in London as they visit Christ Church College in Oxford, England.
***
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Dec 18 2011
Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", "LOVE is LOVELY".
Tags: age, aim, attention, beauty, bliss, bus, car, care, charity, check, christmas, church, colors, companion, contribution, couple, donation, elderly, fashion, gift, goal, happiness, home, House, husband, inspiration, jail, job, journey, joy, life, lifestyle, lifetime, love, man, minister, miracle, money, music, neighborhood, New York, opportunities, partner, pastor, preacher, present, priest, rain, road, seniors, sermon, service, snow, spirit, spouse, storm, style, tablecloth, task, time, traffic, travel, vehicle, water, wife, wind, woman, work
True Story:

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The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished.
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On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.
On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colour, crocheted tablecloth with
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Apr 13 2011
Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", Advice & Tips.
Tags: achievement, activities, advice, appreciation, beauty, bliss, boss, champagne, choices, computer, contribution, control, couple, day, desire, difference, dinner, donation, dreams, earth, experiences, family, focus, friends, future, gift, goal, halloween, happiness, health, home, husband, inspiration, internet, job, joy, kindness, laughter, lessons, life, love, man, moment, money, nature, online, relationships, secrets, smiles, sports, spouse, success, tips, today, Valentine's Day, wife, wine, woman, work, world

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How to Be Happy
================
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Find joy in the people and places around you!
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Last night, I had dinner with a friend who has everything I
want: a beautiful brownstone house filled with expensive
furniture, a smart and funny husband, an adorable baby girl and
a published novel.
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She just told me that she’s miserable.
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“I know it’s terrible,” she said. “I have nothing to complain
about. But I’ve always been miserable. I get it from my mother
— she was a real grump.”
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I was surprised; I had always thought she was happy. Not that I
ever asked her. Of course she’s happy, I figured, she has all
the toys. This deduction is a common mistake, says David Niven,
Ph.D., author of “The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People.”
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“One thing that continually shocks people is that the events of
a person’s life have little to do with how happy he or she is,”
says Dr. Niven.
.
Rather, as my friend suspected, genetics is about 50 percent
responsible for our level of happiness, says Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., author of the groundbreaking book
“Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.” Fortunately, we
have a significant amount of control over the other half.
.
Here are some ways to tend to your mental health and happiness
today:
.
Appreciate the moment:
Many of us view happiness as a future state: something we’ll
achieve when we get that great job, beautiful home or handsome
husband. And while we do often feel quite elated when we attain
these goals, the bliss is usually short-lived — and quickly
followed by a desire for something else, whether it’s more
money, a renovated kitchen or flowers on Valentine’s Day.
“That’s why winning the lottery or getting a promotion doesn’t
work.
.
You’re always looking toward the next step,” explains Dr.
Csikszentmihalyi. To break that looking-ahead cycle, you need
to cultivate an appreciation of your life as it is now —
dissatisfying job and all.
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Csikszentmihalyi says people have a natural tendency to think
about what’s not working in their lives and ignore the good
stuff. So make a list of everything that you love about your
life — Thursday-night Chardonnays with the girls, the nature
trail nearby, the way your two-year-old looks in her Halloween
costume — and then remind yourself to really savor them.
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Give yourself a higher calling:
Csikszentmihalyi says that people are happy when they feel that
they are contributing to something greater than themselves,
whether through their job, family or community. “Happy people
don’t ruminate about themselves and their problems. They say,
Life is short. I’d better do something useful.” But you don’t
have to have a large family or a job vaccinating orphans in
order to lead a fulfilling life.
.
Take the real-estate agent I know. Truly invested in helping
people find the right home, he will often steer prospective
tenants away from listings he considers subpar, depending upon
their needs and desires. If he was strictly out for his
commission, he wouldn’t get nearly the same job satisfaction
(and, in the long run, he probably wouldn’t make as much money,
either). So think about the ways you can transform your
perspective of your daily tasks.
.
Build small acts of kindness into your day:
You can always build small acts of kindness into your day, such
as giving up your seat on the bus, putting a quarter in a
stranger’s ready-to-expire parking meter or clicking on The
Breast Cancer Site (www.thebreastcancersite.com), where you can
help fund mammograms for poor women. These things do make a
difference in others’ lives. You flow, girl (or guy).
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Find your flow:
We’ve all had those moments when things feel completely right in
our world. Perhaps you were cross-country skiing through a
beautiful ice-coated forest or creating a scrapbook of snapshots
and ticket stubs from your trip to Los Angeles. You spent the
day completely immersed in the activity, and when you finally
looked at your watch, you were startled to realize how much time
had passed.
.
Csikszentmihalyi says these moments of complete absorption are
when people are happiest, a state he calls “flow.” “These are
the moments people treasure in their lives, and the more of them
you get, the better off you are,” he says.
.
To find your flow, first get a hobby — an activity you do for
pure enjoyment. Think about the stuff you loved to do as a kid
— ballet lessons, pottery, pickup basketball — and then just go
with it.
.
Examine your options:
One crucial difference between happy people and unhappy people
Posted: under "A Slice Of Life", Inspirationals.
Tags: advice, beauty, car, child, church, family, father, feelings, goal, Heaven, home, inspiration, life, man, mother, parents, road, scenery, school, smiles, spirit, thought, travel, trip, view, woman

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“Thanks for inviting me to go to church with you next Saturday, Uncle Al.” Tim and his uncle were on their way to Bonny Lake. They had heard the fishing there was great. “I . . . I don’t want to hurt your feelings,” continued Tim, “but . . . well . . . I’m not sure I want to get into this religious stuff. Besides, Mom and Dad don’t think it’s a good idea.”
..
“Oh?” asked Uncle Al in surprise. “I thought you said that your parents wouldn’t mind if you went with me. You sounded quite interested last week. You even said the Gospel was beginning to make sense to you.”
..
“Yeah, but since then I’ve done a lot of thinking,” Tim said slowly. “I don’t think I feel like getting ‘saved’ right now. The crowd I hang around with at school wouldn’t understand, and I like being with them. Someday I’ll start going to church, but I think I’ll just go on the way I am for a while. I know I’m not perfect, but I’m not so bad, either.”
..
Tim’s uncle drove on silently for a few minutes. “Oh, no!” he exclaimed as they passed a road sign. “I was so intent on our conversation that I missed the turnoff! We should have gotten off this road five miles back!”
..
“Guess we’ll have to turn around and go back now, huh?” asked Tim.
..
But Uncle Al shook his head. “I don’t feel like turning around right now,” he said. “I guess we’ll just keep going
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Jul 23 2010