Olympia Snowe Voices Her Frustration Regarding Polarization

WASHINGTON -- Maine Republican Olympia Snowe says the Senate spends too much time in political battle and not enough on solving problems, and more than a few of her colleagues agree.
Snowe, the Senate's most liberal Republican, found herself in a familiar spot Thursday as the only member of her party to join with Democrats on a politically freighted vote. This time, it was a vote to affirm an Obama administration directive requiring employers to provide contraception coverage to their workers regardless of religious or ethical concerns.
The vote, originally demanded by Republicans in a political battle that Democrats came to embrace, provided ample fodder for political ads but had nothing to do with an underlying highway bill. That measure continues to twist in the wind despite widespread support, trapped in a divisive, polarized Senate that rarely seems to legislate and often seems incapable of tackling politically challenging problems.
So Snowe, 65, is leaving at the end of the year, voicing frustration that the Senate is simply too polarized and that she doesn't know whether she could be "productive" in a fourth Senate term.
"It's a reflection of the political dynamic in America, where we don't look at America as a whole. We look at it through the red and blue prism," Snowe said in an interview. "And so it becomes more divisive and I think ultimately has manifested itself in the Senate and an overall process that lends itself to dysfunction and political paralysis that doesn't allow problems to be solved."
Snowe's departure continues a steady exodus of the chamber's moderates. Centrists like Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., are also leaving, following on the heels of the recent departures of Evan Bayh, D-Ind., Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.
"People in the center are increasingly vilified by the far left and the far right," said Sen. Susan Collins, Snowe's home-state GOP colleague. "We used to be applauded for bringing people together to solve problems. Now we tend to be criticized by both sides."
Snowe is leaving even though she would have been poised to take the helm of the Commerce Committee if Republicans take control of the chamber. She also serves on the Finance Committee, which has sweeping jurisdiction over health care, taxes and trade.
There's little real legislating going on in the Senate these days, however, as the chamber lurches from one politically staged vote to another.
The chamber hasn't debated a budget since 2009. Annual spending bills are passed in huge omnibus measures with little discussion, much less amendment.
"There's a rank-and-file rebellion brewing here," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "Most people who come to the Senate work hard to get here and have done things in their lives of accomplishment. And I think a lot of us are getting tired of sitting around looking at each other."
"This body is supposed to be a great deliberative body. It's supposed to do what's right for the nation," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "If everything here is political, it it's to score points rather than solve problems, then what good is the United States Senate?"
Added Feinstein: "It's a heartbreak. And it's a heartbreak to lose (Snowe), candidly."
Republicans say Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is too quick to employ parliamentary maneuvers – used frequently by leaders in both parties – to block Republicans from offering and getting votes on their ideas. And they charge that Reid, when he does schedule votes, is more interested in painting Republicans into a political corner, as he did during last fall's debate on extending a 2 percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax and on a tax surcharge on millionaires pressed by Democratic leaders.
Democrats, who control the Senate with 53 votes, counter that Republicans require Democrats to produce 60 votes for virtually everything and deny Reid approval for parliamentary steps that were considered routine just a few years ago. A long roster of presidential nominees remains stuck in limbo, blocked by Republicans.
"It's supposed to be deliberative. Instead now the floor is just a wasteland of quorum calls and lurching from one filibuster to another," said the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois. "It really, I'm afraid, has damaged the institution."
Since it takes 60 votes to do anything, virtually nothing passes that doesn't have the approval of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. What that often means is that much of the real legislating is done by a handful of top leaders and committee chairmen, leaving most senators out in the cold.
After a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, GOP leaders emerged optimistic that the House and Senate would work together more productively on bipartisan jobs and energy legislation.
Snowe sounded unconvinced in a statement announcing her retirement.
"Unfortunately," she said, "I do not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term."

Finding Peace After a Loss

Petals of Hope by Thomas Kinkade

Eckhart Tolle on Peace After a Loss


Questioner: My sons drowned in the sea ten months ago. I did surrender, but when I felt the peace and calm coming over me, it felt wrong. It was not right to feel peace and calm with such a loss.
ET: The natural way of being after death of a loved one is suffering at first, then there is a deepening. In that deepening, you go to a place where there is no death. And the fact that you felt that means you went deep enough, to the place where there is no death. Conditioned as your mind is by society, the contemporary world that you live in, which knows nothing about that dimension – your mind then tells you that there is something wrong with this. Your mind says “I should not be feeling peace, that is not what one feels in a situation like this”. But that’s a conditioned thought by the culture that you live in. So instead we can recognize when this happens, when that thought comes – recognize it as a conditioned thought that is not true.
It doesn’t mean that the waves of sadness don’t come back from time to time. But in between the waves of sadness, you sense there is peace. As you sense that peace, you sense the essence of your children as well – the timeless essence. So death is a very sacred thing – not just a dreadful thing. When you react to the loss of form, that’s dreadful. 
When you go deep enough to the formless, the dreadful is no longer dreadful, it’s sacred. Then you will experience the two levels, when somebody dies who is close to you. Yes it’s dreadful on the level of form. It’s sacred on the deeper level. Death can enable you to find that dimension in yourself. You’re helping countless other humans if you find that dimension in yourself – the sacred dimension of life. Death can help you find the sacred dimension of life – where life is indestructible.
Surrender can open that door for you. Complete acceptance of it. So honor that sacred dimension and realize that what your mind is saying, that it isn’t right, is just a form of conditioning – it isn’t the truth. It is supremely right.
This is always the window into the formless. As you accept it, surrender. Because the form is gone, your mind becomes still when you surrender to death. It’s not through explanations that you accept death. You can have explanations, mental explanations that say, well, he or she will move on or reincarnate, or go to some place of rest. That can be comforting, but you can go to a deeper place than that, where you don’t need explanations – a state of immediate realization of the sacredness of death, because what opens up when the form dissolves is life beyond form. That is the only thing that is sacred. That is the sacred dimension.
You can get tiny glimpses of that when you lose something, and you completely accept that it’s gone. This is a tiny glimpse of death and it can give you a tiny realization – maybe even more than tiny, if you’re ready.


*Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual teacher and author who was born in Germany and educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge. At the age of 29, a profound inner transformation radically changed the course of his life. The next few years were devoted to understanding, integrating and deepening that transformation, which marked the beginning of an intense inward journey. Later, he began to work in London with individuals and small groups as a counselor and spiritual teacher. Since 1995 he has lived in Vancouver, Canada. Eckhart Tolle is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Power of Now (translated into 33 languages) and the highly acclaimed follow-up A New Earth, which are widely regarded as two of the most influential spiritual books of our time.

The 8 Habits of Healthy Living

‘The art of living well and the art of dying well are one.’ ~Epicurus

"Gram's Recipe", by artist Ruane Manning


1. Stop smoking. This is by far the most important habit, as it affects almost every single one of the leading causes of death. It’s also the hardest of these habits to change. It’s not at all impossible — I quit six years ago next month (read my tips).


2. Lose weight (if you’re overweight). This is not exactly a habit — the best habit to form to lose weight is to eat less. Or eat more of things that don’t have a lot of calories, like fruits and veggies. Being overweight is just below smoking the worst risk factor for many diseases.


3. Exercise. You don’t need me to tell you to exercise, but listen to this: lack of exercise is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, colon & rectal cancers, diabetes, breast cancer, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If you don’t exercise, you’re just asking to get a major disease. It’s almost a magic pill: do a bit of exercise every day, and you get healthy. You don’t need much — start with 5 minutes a day in the morning.


4. Drink only in moderation. Heavy drinking is one of the worst risk factors for many diseases. That’s more than 2 drinks of alcohol a day for men, and more than 1 drink for women. A glass of red wine is a good thing, but too many and you’re greatly increasing your risk of disease.


5. Cut out red & processed meats. Eating red meats, and processed meats like sausages, bacon, canned meats and so on, is a risk factor for colon/rectal cancer, stomach cancer, and high cholesterol, which in turn is a leading risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke. While this won’t sit well with many people, the overwhelming mass of research supports this. I recommend going vegetarian.


6. Eat fruits & veggies. This is obvious, but it’s amazing how few veggies most people eat. Eating fruits and veggies reduces your risk of several leading diseases, and it’s one of the easiest habits to form. Eat a salad (without heavy dressings, bacon or other meats, croutons or cheese), add veggies to soups or veggie chili, cook up veggies as a healthy side dish with dinner or lunch. Eat fruits with breakfast and as snacks.


7. Reduce salt, and saturated/trans fats. Salt and saturated or trans fats are in so many processed or prepared foods, and they increase risks of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which increase risk for heart disease and stroke. Despite what the Weston Price Foundation and other people on the Internet tell you, saturated fat isn’t healthy — read the sources. Note that this isn’t a controversy in the medical community, but the “harmlessness” of saturated fats is perpetuated by the diary and meat industries, and lay writers like Gary Taube. Cook your own healthy meals instead of eating out or eating prepared foods.


8. Reduce stress. Stress is a risk factor for heart disease and high blood pressure, which is itself a risk factor for stroke. Simplify your workday so that you’re not overly stressed, and exercise to relieve stress.


The 8 Habits of Healthy Living by Leo Babauta.

The Secret of Contentment

"The secret of contentment
is knowing how to enjoy what you have, 
and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond
your reach."
Lyn Yutang

The Secret Rule of Changing Anything

Thomas Kinkade

Post written by Leo Babauta.


I’ve learned a lot about changing habits over the years, and have taught thousands of people how to do it.
The hardest habits to change, by far, are the ones people can’t seem to control. They want to change, but can’t seem to find the “willpower” (a term I don’t believe in).
For me, some of the things that seemed out of my control: smoking, eating junk food, overeating during social occasions, procrastination, anger, patience, negative thoughts.
I learned one little secret that allowed me to change it all:
When you are aware, you can change it.
OK, don’t roll your eyes and stop reading yet. That secret might seem obvious to some, or too simplistic. So let’s go a bit deeper.


When we have urges to eat something we know is bad for us, we often give in. But is it that simple? The truth is that our mind is actually rationalizing why we should just eat that cake, why it’s too hard to not eat it, why it isn’t that bad to eat it. It asks why we’re putting ourselves through pain, why can’t we let ourselves just live, and don’t we deserve that treat?
All of this happens without our noticing, usually. It’s quiet, in the background of our consciousness, but it’s there. And it’s incredibly powerful. It’s even more powerful when we’re not aware it’s happening.
It beats us all the time — not just with eating, but with anything we try to do and end up quitting, caving in, doing it despite our best efforts.
How can we defeat this powerful force — our own mind?
Awareness is the key. It’s the start.


1. Start by becoming aware. Become an observer. Start listening to your self talk, observe what your mind does. Pay attention. It’s happening all the time. Meditation helps with this. I also learned through running — by not taking along an iPod, I run in silence, and have nothing to do but watch nature and listen to my mind.
2. Don’t act. Your mind will urge you to eat that cake (“Just a bite!”) or smoke that cigarette or stop running or procrastinate. Listen to what your mind is saying, but don’t act on those instructions. Just sit still (mentally) and watch and listen.
3. Let it pass. The urge to smoke, eat, procrastinate, or quit running … it will pass. It’s temporary. Usually it only lasts a minute or two. Breathe, and let it pass.
4. Beat the rationalizations. You can actively argue with your mind. When it says, “One little bite won’t hurt!”, you should point to your gut and say, “Yeah, that’s what you said all those other times, and now I’m fat!” When it says, “Why are you putting yourself through this pain?”, you should say, “It’s painful to be unhealthy, and it’s only painful to avoid the cake if you look at it as a sacrifice — instead, it can be a joy to embrace healthy and delicious foods, and fitness!”
There are lots of times when “willpower” fails us. These are the times we need to become aware of our minds.


When we are aware, we can change it. This is a small secret, but it’s life changing. It changed my life, because I can now change anything. I watch, and I wait, and I beat it. You can too.

A Lesson In Economics

Understanding politics and the economy can be accomplished by starting with two cows.


COMMUNISM
You have two cows.
The state takes both and gives you some milk.


FASCISM
You have two cows.
The state takes both and sells you some milk.


NAZISM
You have two cows.
The state takes both and shoots you.


BUREAUCRATISM
You have two cows.
The state takes both, shoots one, milks the other and then throws the
milk away.


TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.


ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters
of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.  The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.


A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot and block the roads, because you want three cows. You get them.


A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called "Cowkimon" and market it worldwide, making millions.


A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You reengineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month and milk themselves.


AN ITALIAN CORPORATION (My favorite)
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have a good lunch and search later.


A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5,000 cows. None of them belong to you --you just charge the owners for storing them.


A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.


AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.


A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.


AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows and you should admit it.
You tell them that you have none.
No one believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a democracy.


AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go to the pub for a few beers to celebrate.


A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive. You sell her to a dairy company.


A GREEK CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You borrow against the cows from the Germans.
You kill the cows and make souvlaki.
You can't pay the interest, so the Germans lend you more money.
You can't pay the interest, so the French lend you more money.
You can't pay the interest, so the Italians lend you more money.
You can't pay the interest, so the Spaniards lend you more money.
You can't pay the interest, so your people hold a general strike.
You can't pay the interest, so the EU bails you out.
You drink more ouzo. Problem solved.

Brief Reflection on Wisdom

"By three methods we may learn wisdom:

First, by reflection, which is noblest;

Second, by imitation, which is easiest;

and Third by experience, which is the bitterest."

Confucius

Steve Jobs and the 7 Rules of Success

By Carmine Gallo\Entrepreneur


Steve Jobs' impact on your life cannot be underestimated.  His innovations have likely touched nearly every aspect -- computers, movies, music and mobile.  As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs' that a presentation can, indeed, inspire.  For entrepreneurs, Jobs' greatest legacy is the set of principles that drove his success.


Over the years, I've become a student of sorts of Job's career and life.  Here's my take on the rules and values underpinning his success.  Any of us can adopt them to unleash our "inner Steve Jobs."


1.  Do what you love.  Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better."  Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about."  That's how much it meant to him.  Passion is everything.


2.  Put a dent in the universe.  Jobs believed in the power of vision.  He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?"  Don't lose sight of the big vision.


3.  Make connections.  Jobs once said creativity is connecting things.  He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss.  He too calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh.  Jobs traveled to India and Asia.  He studied design and hospitality.  Don't live in a bubble.  Connect ideas from different fields.


4.  Say no to 1,000 things.  Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did.  When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period.  Why?  So he could put the "A-Team" on each product.  What are you saying "no" to?


5.  Create insanely different experiences.  Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience.  When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives.  Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand.  What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?


6.  Master the message.  You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter.  Jobs was the world's greatest corporate storyteller.  Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.


7.  Sell dreams, not products.  Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer.  He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated.  The result?  One button on the front of a iPad.  It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it.  Your customers don't care about your product.  They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions.  Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.


There's one story that I think sums up Jobs' career at Apple.  An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice.  His counsel?  Dream bigger.  I think that's the best advice he could leave us with.  See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas.


Carmine Gallo is a communications coach, a popular keynote speaker and author of several books including The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs.  His latest is The Power of Foursquare (McGraw-Hill, 2011). 

An Aphorism

An Aphorism is a short, pointed sentence that expresses a wise or clever observation or a general truth.


*The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.
*Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his   tail.
*If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all.
*Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.
*A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.
*How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?
*Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.
*Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks?
*Scratch a cat and you will have a permanent job.
*No one has more driving ambition than the teenage boy who wants to buy a car.
*There are no new sins; the old ones just get more publicity.
*There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 a.m.-like, it could be the right number.
*No one ever says "It's only a game" when their team is winning.
*I've reached the age where 'happy hour' is a nap.
*Be careful about reading the fine print--there's no way you're going to like it.
*The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.
*Do you realize that, in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of old ladies running around with tattoos?
*Money can't buy happiness--but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Cadillac than in a Yugo.
*After 60, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you're probably dead.
*Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind...and the ones that mind don't matter.
*Life isn't tied with a bow--but it's still a gift.
*Politicians and diapers should be changed often and for the same reason.

Pursuing Your Dreams

Artist Thomas Kinkade

Want to Reinvigorate Your Life? The Power of Pursuing Your Dreams
When was the last time you dreamed? I’m talking about dreaming and achieving something that you really want in your life. I bet, when you were younger, you dreamed all the time, but something happened and it didn’t turn out. That’s probably when you slowly gave up on dreaming. Or maybe you’re one of those people who achieved your dreams and didn’t bother to create new ones. Or you’re in the large pool of people who never really dreamed at all. Don’t worry. That’s common. Often people get busy in their daily lives and forget to dream. Or they’re afraid to dream because it brings up lots of emotions that put them at risk for being hurt or disappointed. It’s comfortable to live without emotional risk, but that’s not where the fun is in life. Having dreams engages you in your life, makes it more exciting, and connects you to yourself and what’s important to you.
Pursuing a Dream Puts You on a Shortcut to an Improved Quality of Life
As a life coach, I help people figure out their dreams and what they really want. There are lots of types of dreams and goals to achieve in your life. At the Handel Group®, we break down a person’s life into 18 areas. These areas are: relationship to self, relationships with another, character traits, family, career, time, body, spirituality, money, bad habits, community, sex, romance, home, personal space, learning, fun/adventure and health. When I work with a client, we tackle every area of their life to make sure they are dreaming and seeing the bigger picture of what they can really have. It’s about dreaming and being happy and healthy in every area of your life.
Start with a pen and paper and look at the list of 18 areas of life. Let yourself think deeply about what you want in your life and choose three areas you want to address and create a dream. For each area, choose one or two specific goals that you can accomplish in the next six months that would make you happy and proud. Once you have identified your dream, you are the one who can make it happen. For example, if you chose home as one of the areas you would like to improve, make a plan to find a new place to live that works better for you. If you are unable to move for financial or other reasons, redecorate your home or get rid of the clutter. There are many things you can do to create a better home for yourself, but if you don’t dream, nothing will change.
The Right Dreams Inspire the Right Actions
The dreams you pursue should be attainable and based on ideas that totally excite you. It’s important that you make sure you are creating dreams for you and not what you think you should do or achieve. Dreams are what you really want for yourself. And it’s important that you formulate your dreams in language such that you believe that they are possible to achieve.
One obstacle that you may encounter as you go after your dreams is cynicism, which may rear its ugly head with thoughts like, “I’m not talented or smart enough,” “That’s way too hard,” or “I can’t afford it.” Negative thoughts are excuses and need to be ignored. They are just keeping you from your dreams. Your actions are what makes things happen. Connect with people you know and ask for a favor, a loan or an opportunity for something. One phone call to the right person can change everything.
The Best Way to Stay on Track with Your Dream Is to Stay Faithful to It and Have the Confidence to Pursue It
Many clients stumble almost immediately when pursuing their dreams because they aren’t truly committed to them and don’t really believe they’re possible. It’s the difference between thinking you are going to do this and hoping you might. The uncertainty that comes with hoping leaves you more scared than energized and happy about your dream. Fear will stop any dream in its tracks. You must believe in it, want it and know it’s possible. Honestly believing in your dream is exciting and makes the work that you do toward attaining that dream much more fun.
Our actions follow our thoughts. Your actions must be consistent with your dream or you won’t achieve it. For example, if you want a healthy, fit body but you’re eating pizza four times a week, your actions are not consistent with your dream. Another example would be if you want to be a chef, but don’t sign up for a cooking class that is offered in your area. It’s all up to you. Your actions are the fulfillment of your dreams, and through your heartfelt dreams you can make lasting change in your life.
Life is about having real dreams that are special to you and going after them. please take some time now to think and feel about what your dreams are for 2012. Now is the perfect time to tell fear to shut up, debunk some dumb theories you may have about yourself and make some real plans for action. We’d love to help.

Lauren Zander
coach@handelgroup.com
Free Intro to Coaching!

In the words of Steve Jobs



Stanford University
Photography by Maxie

"Your work is going to fill
 a large part of you life, 
and the only way to be
truly satisfied is to do what
you believe is great work.
And the only way to do 
great work is to love what you do.
If you haven't found it yet,
keep looking.  Don't settle.
As with all matters of the heart,
you'll know when you find it.
And, like any great relationship,
it just gets better and better
as the years roll on.
So keep looking until you find it.
Don't settle."


 Steve Jobs
-Stanford Commencement Address 2005

The Mentally Healthy Person

From the Lake by Georgia O'Keeffe

 Mental health, like physical health, is a dynamic, ever-changing condition.  Some days you are bound to be in better shape than others.  The mentally healthy person does not experience wide personality swings--on the moon one day and in the dumps the next.  He has the qualities of  sameness and predictability.


Mentally healthy people think well of themselves.  They do not waste time and energy worrying if every hair is in place, or if they made a favorable impression on Ms. or Mr. X., or if they used the right fork or wore the right attire.


On occasion when every hair is not in place, or they may have used the wrong fork or wore the wrong clothes, they don't agonize over it.  They have a good sense of priorities and a sense of what is really important.


Mentally healthy people accept the inadequacies and shortcomings of others.  They do not feel the need to overhaul everyone who does not fit into the mold they have decided is "correct."  They are satisfied to live and let live.


Mentally healthy people are able to accept whatever life visits upon them without going to pieces.  This means financial reverses, illness, death, divorce, separation, unrequited love--the list is endless.  And they have the ability to withstand the cruelties and inequities of life, to regroup, re-energize, think their way through a problem and go forward in a positive, constructive way.

Acceptance

Photography by Russell Burden

 "The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely."  Carl Gustav Jung

Lessons About Life

Love starts with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a tear.


Don't cry over anyone who won't cry over you.


Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.


You can only go as far as you push.


Actions speak louder than words.


The hardest thing to do is watch the one you love, love somebody else.


Don't let the past hold you back, you're missing the good stuff.


Life's short.  If you don't look around once in a while you might miss it.


A BEST FRIEND is like a four leaf clover, HARD TO FIND and LUCKY TO HAVE.


Some people make the world SPECIAL just by being in it.


BEST FRIENDS are the siblings God forgot to give us.


When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you and your BEST FRIEND will be there.


TRUE FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS.  Friends are FOREVER.


Good friends are like stars....You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.


Don't frown.  You never know who is falling in love with your smile.


What do you do when the only person who can make you stop crying is the person who made you cry?


Nobody is perfect until you fall in love with them.


Everything is okay in the end.  If it's not okay, then it's not the end.


Most people walk in and out of your life, but only friends leave footprints in your heart.


Author Unknown 

At The Center of Our Being

Lacewing Butterfly

Many of us grow up believing there is some terrible flaw at the center of our being, a defect we must hide.


Feeling unlovable and condemned to loneliness if our true selves become known, we set up defenses against sharing our innermost feelings with anyone.


 Bernard Siegel 

There Is No Death

Death is something that so many people fear and a subject that often goes unspoken.  The passage below belongs to an American short-story writer, poet and essayist by the name of Henry Van Dyke (1852 -1933).  It is a passage many people take comfort in reading.

Clipper Ship by Corey Ford

"I am standing upon the seashore.

A ship at my side spreads her white

sails to the morning breeze and starts

for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength.

I stand and watch her until at length

she hangs like a speck of white cloud

just where the sea and sky come

to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says;

"There, she is gone!"

"Gone where?"

Gone from my sight.  That is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull

and spar as she was when she left my side

and she is  just as able to bear her

load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone

 at my side says, "There, she is gone!"

There are other eyes watching her coming,

and other voices ready to take up the glad

shout;

"Here she comes!"

And that is dying."

A Blessing of Prosperity

Notre Dame Cathedrall in Paris France

May you be blessed with an amazingly abundant day today!
May the clouds break and the heavens pour down upon you more joy, more love, more laughter and more money than you could have ever dreamed of.
May the sun shine its golden light of prosperity through every cell of your extraordinary body.
May you be cleansed today of any resistance or feelings of unworthiness that you may still be holding onto.
May your false illusions of doubt, fear and scarcity gently fall  away like soft white feathers on a gentle breeze.
May you be willing, simply willing, to allow the Universe to shower you with miracles today.
May the Angels wrap you in their shining wings of opulence.
May the fairies deliver you to their pot of gold at the end of a majestic rainbow.
May your eyes shine with the glorious truth of who you really are and may that truth uplift others in your presence to their own inner knowing.
May your ears hear the sound of perfection ringing in your soul.
May you taste the deliciousness of every precious bite of life as your day unfolds moment by moment with amazing grace, heartfelt love, and a bounty of magnificent money.
As this day ends, may you slumber wrapped in an exquisite blanket of enduring peace and profound gratitude.
And may the last words you speak today be Thank you!


A Prosperity Blessing by Veronica M. Hay
Copyright 2004


* Veronica Hay is the author of, In A Dream, You Can Do Anything, A Collection of Words " and is the publisher of, A Magazine of People & Possibilities  ~ Calgary, Alberta, Canada
http://www.intouchmag.com/prosperityblessing.html

A Look at the Positive Side of Life

"Say What" by Artist June Dudle

Living on Earth is expensive,
but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.


How long a minute is depends on what side of the
bathroom door you’re on.


Birthdays are good for you;
the more you have,
the longer you live.


Happiness comes through doors you
didn’t even know you left open.


Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier
than the people who have to wait for them?


Most of us go to our grave
with our music still inside of us.


You may be only one person in the world,
but you may also be the world to one person.


Some mistakes are too much fun
to only make once.


Don’t cry because it’s over;
smile because it happened.


We could learn a lot from crayons:
some are sharp, some are pretty,
some are dull, some have weird names,
and all are different colors….
but they all exist very nicely in the same box.


A truly happy person is one who
can enjoy the scenery on a detour.


Have an awesome day,
and know that someone who thinks you’re great
has thought about you today!

You are alive!

Excerpt from the book, The Winner's Notebook ,by Theodore Isaac Rubin 


The insistent fact of life itself


Of course, you are alive.  But don't let's joke this one away.  Are you convinced that being alive at any age makes change and growth possible?  I have seen patients who have been chronically ill and confined in state hospitals for over forty years get well enough to leave and then go on to lead useful lives.  This has happened spontaneously, often without any "logical" explanation whatsoever.  Yes, protoplasm ---living matter ---has an inherent way of bouncing back, or responding, of resisting obliteration.  So to be alive is to have hope, and hope is no small item.  People can grow and become healthier as long as they live, whatever their age.


How wonderful ---you are here, now.  You are breathing, hearing, feeling and seeing.  You are alive and growing.

Clinging To The Familiar

Canyons of the Colorado Plateau
by Daisy Gilardini

People do not know the extent to which "clinging to the familiar" and "fear of the unfamiliar" affect their lives.  This force is so prevalent in all areas of human encounter that just not knowing about it constitutes a major muddle.  What am I talking about?  I am saying that people will cling to the familiar, only because it is familiar, even when doing so may be highly destructive, inhibiting and even paralyzing.  They would rather stick to old and bad jobs and continue to stay in long-standing destructive relationships than go on to much-improved but uncharted territory.  The statement, "At least I know what I've got," is a highly significant one, but few people really know what force this clinging to the familiar plays in their lives.  Knowing this---that you don't want to do something or to meet someone only because you haven't done so before, can often enable you to break a stultifying inhibition.  This can help you to open the door to uncharted and enriching territory.    Psychiatrist  know only too well how patients stick to their neuroses, anxieties and depression, however painful, because these have become commonplace to them.  For any person to meet new, really new, situations and new people, really new people, with openness and without the banner of prejudice and prejudgment often born of fear of the unfamiliar, means taking a chance.  But this can be such an interesting, potentially rewarding chance!  This cannot be done if you are unaware that you are afraid of the unfamiliar.  You may not even be aware that you have narrowed your life's activities and relationships down to a minimum "safe" and repetitious pattern, which   guarantees no contact with anything outside (unfamiliar).  Or you may be aware of a tight and narrow existence but unaware of how come or what can be done about it.


It is therefore necessary to examine yourself and your recent activities and to question:  Have you done anything new lately?  Have you been to museums that you never before visited?  Have you read books with new ideas that you never encountered before?  Have you gone to places that you've never been to before or met people (and different kinds of people) that you haven't known before?  Have you explored new job possibilities or the possibility of new business and cultural enterprises?  If the answer is no, no and more no, then try to open up and become aware of the extent to which you cling to known territory.


Of course being in touch with your assets and having greater self-esteem and greater feeling for values and self will be enormously helpful in exploring new areas.  People with little feeling for who they are rely very heavily on a known environment (and status quo---place, job, people) to give them a sense of identity.  Though they do not know it and are only aware of increased anxiety---getting into new areas, especially new human encounters, often represents a potential and terrifying loss of identity.  Some people cannot step out of the familiar until they have greater certainty about who they are and the solid emotional awareness that they will continue to be themselves wherever they go and whatever they do.  Some people, of course, need professional help in order to accomplish this.


* An excerpt from THE WINNER'S NOTEBOOK by, Theodore Isaac Rubin, M.D.

In Regard To Time...

 

Time is an equal opportunity employer.  Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day.  Rich people can't buy more hours.  Scientists can't invent new minutes.  And you can't save time to spend it on another day.  Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving.  No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.  Success depends upon using it wisely---by planning and setting priorities.___ Denis Waitely 


Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well.  Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.___Louisa May Alcott 


Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.___Carl Sandburg 


Every day I live I am more convinced that the waste of life lies in the love we have not given, the powers we have not used, the selfish prudence that will risk nothing and which, shirking pain, misses happiness as well.___Mary Cholmondeley 


Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes.  No reward is offered, for they are gone forever.___Horace Mann

An Analogy of Anxiety

Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind.  If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.


~ Arthur Somers Roche ~

Be Open To Change

Cats In Still Life... Painting by Braldt Bralds

A person needs at intervals to separate himself from family and companions and go to new places.  He must go without his familiars in order to be open to influences, to change.

~ Katherine Butler Hathaway ~

The Importance of Being Yourself

A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so much the risk of loneliness as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men---and people in general.

~Lorraine Hansbury~

For Special Fathers and Grandfathers Everywhere

Happy Father's Day

Emperor penguin

There are few examples in nature of a father more dedicated than the emperor penguin. After the female lays the egg, her nutritional reserves become depleted and she must return to feed in the ocean for two months. This leaves the responsibility of keeping the egg warm through the freezing Antarctic winter to the father.

The father spends the two months holding the egg precariously between the tops of his feet and his brooding pouch, without feeding, throughout the brutal winter (when freezing winds can reach 120 mph). If he moves too suddenly or the egg becomes exposed to the freezing temperatures, the chick will perish. But his dedication — and his balance — ensures the survival of a new generation. What a dad!