Lotus...like beautiful woman...

Summer Light, originally uploaded by Giovanni88Ant

"The leaves break the bandage of the green stem,
stretch themselves and form a green pool with untidy edges.
Now the flower comes from out of the vast surface of the water,
just like a very beautiful woman coming gracefully from her bath."

~translated from an old Chinese poem

The lovely stars...

Forget-me-not, originally uploaded by Balakov

Silently, one by one,
in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars,
the forget-me-nots of the angels.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

One-winged Angels...

Embraced flight, originally uploaded by See El Photo

We are each of us angels with only one wing,
and we can only fly by embracing one another.

~Luciano de Crescenzo

The Size of your Heart...

My Heart Grows, photos taken by Sean Montreal
Originally uploaded by Flowers4Zoe

It isn't the size of your house as such,
That matters so much at all;
It's the gentle hand and its loving touch,
That make it great or small.

The friends who come and the hour they go,
Who out of your house depart;
Will judge it not by the style you show,
But rather ... by the size of your heart.

It isn't the size of your head so much,
It isn't the wealth you found;
What will make you happy is how you touch,
The other lives that are all around.

For making money is not hard,
To live life well is an art:
How people love you and how they regard ...
Is all in the size of your heart.

~ Author Unknown ~

He who is humble...

Dock in the water, originally uploaded by lukescheminger

He who is humble is confident and wise.
He who brags is insecure and lacking.

~ Lisa Edmondson

It's never between you and them...

People are often unreasonable,
irrational, and self-centered,
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish,
ulterior motives,
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,
you will win some unfaithful friends
and some genuine enemies,
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere
people may deceive you
Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating
others could destroy overnight,
Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness
some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today
will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.

Give the best you have,
and it may never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis it is between you and God
It was never between you and them anyway.

~Mother Teresa~

A father's pride...

A father's unconditional love, originally uploaded by windscreen fly

"A man never stands as tall
as when he kneels
to play with his child..."
~unknown~

The gift of knowing you...

My Gift, originally uploaded by bpitzer20

There are gifts of many treasures
For both the young and old,
From the tiniest little trinkets
To great boxes filled with gold.

But, put them all together
And they could not stand in lieu,
Of the greatest gift of all
The gift of knowing you.

When your times are filled with troubles
Sadness, grief, or even doubt,
When all those things you planned on
Just aren't turning out.

Just turn and look behind you
From the place at which you stand,
And look for me through the shadows
And reach out for my hand.

I will lift from you your burden
And cry for you your tears,
Bear the pain of all your sorrows
Though it may be for a thousand years.

For in the end I would be happy
To have helped you start anew,
It's a small price to pay
For the gift of knowing you.

The Gift of Knowing You
By Dave Stout

To Sean, my Sweetest Blessing...

Celebrating this special day, the 20th of August,
how grateful i am of being reminded of how lucky i am
to have received the greatest gift four years ago...
And it's the GIFT OF KNOWING YOU.....

And as i live my days and count all my blessings,
as i reckon of all the times you wiped
those tears that fell from my eyes,
for the moments my lips form a smile,
for all the laughters that echoes in my ears,
for the scents that lingers in the air...
They all turn my thoughts to YOU...

And if to ask why i love so true?
The answer will always and only be YOU...

with all my LOVE,
Stacey

In the hands of another...

My heart in your hands, originally uploaded by aussiegall

A Relationship is placing one’s heart and soul
in the hands of another
while taking charge of another
in one’s soul and heart

~Kahlil Gibran~

Rise up!

Rise Up, originally uploaded by 3mre

Our Greatest glory
is not in never falling
but in rising
every time we fall

-Confucius

Time...

Space and Time, originally uploaded by liyen

Time is a sort of river of passing events,
and strong is its current;
no sooner is a thing brought to sight
than it is swept by
and another takes its place,
and this too will be swept away.

Marcus Aurelius

The Fern and the Bamboo...

Bamboo Bokeh, originally uploaded by Steve Webel

One day I decided to quit....
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality.
I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.
"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me...
"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"
"Yes", I replied.
"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.
I gave them light. I gave them water.
The fern quickly grew from the earth.
Its brilliant green covered the floor.
Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo".

He said. "In the third year,
there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.
But I would not quit.

In the fourth year, again,
there was nothing from the bamboo seed.
I would not quit."

He said. "Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.
Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant.

But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 Feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots.
Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.

I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle."


He said to me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling,
you have actually been growing roots. I would not quit on the bamboo.
I will never quit on you. Don't compare yourself to others."

He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the Fern,
yet, they both make the forest beautiful."
"Your time will come, "God said to me." You will rise high!"
"How high should I rise?" I asked.
"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.
"As high as it can?" I questioned.
"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

I left the forest and brought back this story.
I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you........

The Hands of Time...

The Hands of Time, originally uploaded by darin11111

The hands of time cannot erase
The thoughts of you and your embrace
The longing for a single kiss
Your touch, your voice, I always miss
The hands of time, like the rolling sea
Cannot wash away what you mean to me
My Heart, My Soul, I'll give to you
The greatest Love I ever knew T
The hands of time, that past so fast
My Love for you will always last
To be together, is on my mind
This special love, is one of a kind
The hands of time,
We cannot turn back
But Love and Devotion, you will never lack
I vow to you, You will always be
The only Man in my life for me
The hands of time, will stop one day
But there is one thing to you,
I'll say If I should go before you do
I'll be there waiting, for only you.

~Beckie Martell

Here's to our INSPIRATION...

Donkey and five simple rules

DonkeyFullBody, originally uploaded by Wooliedales

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well.
The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.
Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway,
it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him.
They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.
At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly.
Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down.
A few shovel loads later,
the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw.
With every shovel of dirt that hit his back,
the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal,
he would shake it off and take a step up.
Pretty soon, everyone was amazed
as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!


Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt.
The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up.
Each of our troubles is a stepping stone.
We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up!

Shake it off and take a step up!

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Click here for the interactive site of this story...

Let me age...

Floating Cottons, originally posted by Mitchcraft

Clouds do not stand still.
Trees bloom, then shed their leaves.
Tides come to shore, then retreat.
Night follows day which in turn follows night.
Life is a constant cycle,
Ever changing, yet never changing
And we are a part of it all.

We will be here for a time, but only until our time is done.
We have only just so much time to make our mark,
So that we are worth remembering.
We should realize that we are as important as the clouds,
The tides and the seasons.
We have our place and must play our part as best
We can in life's ever-unfolding story.
Let me age Lord, gracefully.
In love and strength and dignity.
Let me grow in wisdom each day.
And be a blessing in some little way.

~Change a Natural of Life (Valerie Bauer Rousseau)

Give Thanks...

Intoxicating, originally posted by egefan

Early morning dawn
Mist swirls mid the trees
Dew heavy on the lawn
Awed I drop to my knees.

Suns rays filter through the haze
God’s gift of light so bright
Such a sight to amaze
God’s wondrous morning light.

Dazzled by His Blessings
I continue on my way
Giving praise and confessing
Giving thanks as I pray.

The trees that give us life
The oxygen that we need
Crisp air removes my strife
On His gifts my spirits feed.

Song birds sing His praise
While flowers bloom His colours
These gifts I do appraise
And give thanks that it’s all ours.

~A Walk in the Woods by Larry Matthews

A Runaway Star...

You r my Shining Star, originally uploaded by Meeshosa

" I know not who you are
Even less of what you do
You are distant...a runaway star
Yet your LOVE light shines through"

~Patricia Whir~

Like the Flowing Rivers...

Like the Flowing Rivers... A compilation of great thoughts from such great writer, Paulo Coelho. Like his bestselling book, the Alchemist, this empowers us with wisdom. His stories teach us lessons of life. He takes us to places with his adventures. His writings touch and feed our souls, and lift our spirits with inspirations, hopes, and gladness.


Some qoutes from the book:

There was no point in squabbling over the inheritance love was enough.

If you want something, you need to look the other person in the eye.

Even when a friend does something you do not like, he continues to be your friend.

Any action committed in anger is an action doomed to failure.

You can give a fool a thousand intellects, but the only one he will want is yours - Arab proverbs.

The fool who loves giving advice on our garden never tends his own plants at all.

Each of us contains in our soul the same universe.

The greatness of God always reveals itself in the simple things.

However brightly a piece of coal may be burning, it will soon burn out if you remove it from the flames. However intelligent a man may be, he will soon lose his warmth and his flame if he distances himself from his fellow man.

In taking fifteen minutes of your day to stop and look at the world, and at yourself, and simply do nothing?: Everyone has time to do that. It's just that they don't have courage.

He passed through life. He didn't live it.

I don't know why we human beings are so obsessed with making rules about everything.

That desire to share something meant that we could enter the world of language without words, where everything is always clear, and there is no dander of being misinterpreted.

Seeing death: "I will touch you, but you don't know when. Therefore live life as intensely as you can.

He died while he was alive.

My dreams may be nonsense too, but i don't want to run the risk of not following them.

How often, for the lack of one brick, we completely distort the original plan of our lives.

How can he possibly want to see me, my son? He doesn't even believe I exist!

People are charitable to me, and so I must be charitable to others.

Sometimes the world asks us to fight gor things we do not understand, and whose significance we will never discover.

We can each of us only offer what we have.

The happiness of one does not mean the unhappiness of the others.

The Alchemist...

The Alchemist is a great treasure in a book. Authored by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian writer . He worked wonders on this fable that yet another dreamer, as he himself, can only tell of the tale. A book like so rare that we couldn't find much these days.

It tells of a story of Santiago, a shepherd, and of how he fulfilled his Personal Legend. This book can help us discover our treasures of life, the path that will lead us there, and of facing adversities that we may encounter along the way. Life is an evolution and it's only desire is to fulfill itself.

Such full of wisdom, the Alchemist unraveled to us about life in a language that people can hear and understand even in silence...

Some quotes from the book:

Dreams are the language of God. When we speak in our language, i can interpret what he said. But it speaks in the language if the soul, it is only you who can understand.

It's this: that a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.

The Soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness. And also by unhappiness,envy, and jealousy. To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation. All things are one.

If you start but by promise what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it.

In order to find the treasure, you will have to follow the omens. God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you.

The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.

I'm like everyone else - I see the world in terms of what i would like to see happen, not what actually does.

Only one thing makes a dream impossible: fear of failure.

It's called the principle of favorability, beginner's luck. Because life wants you to achieve you Personal Legend.

You have been a real blessing to me. Today, I understand something I didn't see before:" every blessing ignored becomes a curse. I don't want anything else in life. But you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons I have never known. Now that i have seen them, and now that i see how immense my possibilities are, I'm going to feel worse than i did before you arrived. Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish, and I don't want to do so.

Sometimes, there's just no way to hold back the river.

When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it.

We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of world were written by the same hand.

In alchemy, it's called the Soul of the World. When you want something with all your heart, that's when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It's always a positive force.

You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons that pursuit, it's because it wasn't true love....the love that speaks the Language of the World.

Wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure.

When you possess the great treasure, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.

That's what Alchemist do, they show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us comes better too.

Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time - Arab Proverbs.

What good is money to you if you're going to die? It's not often that money can save someone's life.

It's true: life really is generous to those who pursue their Personal Legend.

The Witch of Portobello...

The Witch of Portobello... another book by my favorite Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho. This is story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who know her well, - or hardly at all...

A different kind of approach in writing novel and i say another book of magic. Reading through pages to know more of Athena, it came to me that i was revealing more of myself. Every turned leaf of the book was like making me travel back in time, warping me to the scenes and taking part in the story. It's like reading within my deepest thoughts and giving me answers for some questions in life about sacrifices, faith, hope and love. The story reached out my soul and touched my heart, and empowered me to understand that Love simply is....


Some quotes from the book:

Our time on earth is sacred and we should celebrate every moment.

The Virgin is the one whose search springs from her complete independence and everything she learns is the fruit of her ability to face challenges alone. The Martyr finds her way to self-knowledge through pain,surrender, and suffering. The Saint finds her true reason for living in unconditional love and in her ability to give without asking anything in return. Finally, the Witch justifies her existence by going in search of complete and limitless pleasure.

The physical world and spiritual world are the same thing.

And the best way to know who we are is often to find out how others see us. This doesn't mean that we should do what others expect us to do, but it helps us to understand ourselves better.

Life , however , had other plans - when fate is very generous with us, there is always a well into which all our dreams can tumble.

Lines by Robert Frost:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

"What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order top discover what she already knows."

The brush with which you are making these lines is just an instrument. It has no conciousness, it follows the desires of the person holding it. And in that it is very like we call life. Many people in this world are merely playing a role, unaware that there is an Invisible Hand guiding them. At this moment, in your hands, in the brush tracing each letter, lie all the inten tions of your soul. Try to understand the importance of this.

Learn, but always learn with other people by your side. Don't be alone in the search, because if you take a wrong step, you'll have no one there to help put you right.

Poverty might bring unhappiness, but money won't necessarily bring happiness.

We're surrounded by Universal Desire. It's not happiness, it's desires are never satisfied, because once they're, they cease to be desires.

Faith is not Desire. Faith is will. Desires are things that need to be satisfied, whereas Will is a force.

And is there anything you would withhold? Some day, all that you have shall be given. The tree give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

And what greater merit shall there be than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving? You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

Our imaginations larger than the world around us; we go beyond our limits.

People learn twenty-five percent from their teacher, twenty-five percent from listening to themselves, twenty-five percent from their friends, and twenty-five percent from time.

Changes only happen when you go totally against everything we're used to doing.

A line of ants. They all think they're wise. They have memory, intelligence, organizational powers, a spirit of sacrifice. They look for food in summer, store it away for the winter, and now they are setting forth again, in this icy spring, to work. If the world was destroyed by an atomic bomb tomorrow, the ants would survive.

Train your eyes: they were made to see more than you think.

Eat in moderation, but take the pleasure in eating: it isn't what enters a person's mouth that's evil, but what leaves it.

Love is not a habit, a commitment, or a debt. It isn't what romantic songs tell us it is - love simply is.

Love and don't ask too many questions. Just love.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven...

All endings are beginnings... we just don't know it at the time...
by: Mitch Albom

"Strangers are family you have yet to come to know... " ~Blue Man

"There are no random acts... we are all connected...You can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind..." ~Blue Man

"Each of us was i your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth..." ~Blue Man

"People stop sacrificing for one another, they lose what keeps them human." ~Captain

"Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It;s someting to aspire to." ~Captain

"Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else." ~Captain

"Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that by hating someone we hurt them. But hatred is a curved blade... and the harm we do to others... we also do to ourselves." ~Ruby

"Lost love is still love, Eddie. It just takes a different form, that's all; you can't hold their hand... you can't touch their hair... but when those senses weaken another one comes to life: memory... memory becomes your partner, you hold it... you dance with it... Life has to end, Eddie.... Love doesn't..." ~ Marguerite

Persuasion...

"There could have been
no two hearts so open
no Tastes so similar...
no feeing so in unison..."


~Persuasion by Jane Austen~

We'll Remember It was Me and You...

When you're close to tears remember
Some day it'll all be over
One day 'we're gonna get so high
And though it's darker than December
What's ahead is a different colour
One day 'we're gonna get so high

And at
The end of the day
We'll remember the days
We were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through
And at
The end of the day
We'll remember the way
We stayed so close to till the end
We'll remember it was me and you

'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You'll always keep me flying high in the sky of love

Don't you think it's time you started
Doiing what we always wanted
One day 'we're gonna get so high
'Cause even the impossible is easy
When we got each other
One day 'we're gonna get so high

And at
The end of the day
We'll remember the days
We were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through
And at
The end of the day
We'll remember the way
We stayed so close to till the end
We'll remember it was me and you

'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky of love

~High-Lighthouse Family~

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