Appreciate Something Beautiful Today

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful,
for beauty is God's handwriting.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take time today to appreciate beauty -
natural beauty, art, people.
Slow down, breathe deeply, smile.
It's a beautiful world.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Forests, lakes, and rivers,
clouds and winds, stars and flowers,
stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes -
every form of animate or inanimate existence,
leaves its impress upon the soul of man.
- Orison Swett Marden

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
- John Muir

All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.
- Alexander Pope

Further reading: Healing in Nature

The Melody Within Your Soul

Tending the Garden of Our Lives

The Beat of the Universe
    

Your BEING Makes a Difference to the World

 

YOU make a difference to the world.

Act on your dreams today.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search,

but life lived to the edge of all that I may be.

- Mary Anne Radmacher

Life is not easy for any of us.

But what of that?

We must have perseverance

and above all confidence in ourselves.

We must believe that we are gifted for something

and that this thing must be attained.

- Marie Curie

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.

There is an almost universal quest

for easy answers and half-baked solutions.

Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Eternity

I am drawn to the wild edge of the ocean of my being

My curiosity unbound, I test the limits of the limitless and the boundaries of the timeless.

I walk the path - the way - the way of ways - to the end that is not an end.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading:Your Legacy - Making a Difference

Fulfilling Your Dreams

Follow Your Bliss

Only Today

Nobody Promised That Life Would Be Fair

 

When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard,"
I am always tempted to ask, Compared to what?
- Sydney Harris

Adversity can crush our spirit - or strengthen it - it is our choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What if we just acted like everything was easy?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Whenever you say or even think, "This is hard,"
that task or challenge becomes difficult.
Dread it, and it becomes terrifying.

When you choose to move past fear -
fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of "looking bad," fear of losing respect -
life becomes much lighter, and most any task becomes possible - perhaps even enjoyable.
Most any challenge can become an adventure of discovery.

The secret to a great life is recognizing that life was never intended to be fair.
Life simply isn't "fair," and that's okay.
The joy of life comes from playing the game of life as best we can,
focusing far more on the love and good example we can contribute
to other lives than on demanding money, stuff, love, or appreciation.
Service becomes a source of joy when it is not viewed as a duty.

Life Is Not "Fair," But It Can Still Be Joyful.
Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Do Not Rail Against Life

Strength In Hard Times

Circumstance Reveals What You Are Made Of
      

Unsmiling, Grim, and Humorless is No Way to Live

 

Life is too important to be taken seriously.
- Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was a writer, playwright, humorist, satirist,
and astute observer of the human condition.
What does he mean by, "Life is too important to be taken seriously?"
Is it just a simple joke?

"Serious" can mean thoughtful, careful and profound,
but it also can mean unsmiling, grim, and humorless.

Life is too important to be spent being unsmiling, grim, and humorless.

Dance lightly with life today and every day.
Life is too short not to be joyful and celebrate each day.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Seriousness is a sickness; your sense of humor
makes you more human, more humble.
The sense of humor - according to me -
is one of the most essential parts of religiousness.
- Osho

Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world.
Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak.
Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor,
and your picture begins to lighten up.
- Allen Klein

Smile.
Today would be a wonderful day
not to take life so seriously.
Today may end up the way you prefer -
and it may not.
Happiness is not about being a winner -
it's about being gentle with life -
being gentle with yourself.
Let life be a dance,
and choose the kind of
dance you want for today -
perhaps a gentle loving dance.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Humor in the Face of Adversity

As a Child Again

Be Gentle with Yourself

Time to Smell the Flowers
      

Make Today Your Day

 

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

Love bravely, live bravely, be courageous;
there's really nothing to lose.
There's no wrong you can't make right again,
so be kinder to yourself;
have fun, take chances. There are no bounds.
- Jewel

To love what you do and feel that it matters,
how on earth could anything be more fun.
- Katherine Graham

Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal.
Live this day as if it were your last.
The past is over and gone.
The future is not guaranteed.
- Wayne Dyer

I am the poet of my mind.
I am the painter of my heart.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Canvas Of Life

Create Your Masterwork

Fun and Success

Big Dream - Big Adventure
     

Seek Beauty, Charm and Adventure

 

Everything has beauty,
but not everyone sees it.
- Confucius

Beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love.
- Evelyn Underhill

Those who find beauty in all of nature
will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself.
- L. Wolfe Gilbert

We live in a wonderful world that is
full of beauty, charm and adventure.
There is no end to the adventures that we can have
if only we seek them with our eyes open.
- Jawaharlal Nehru

Look closely... See with new eyes...
Don't just pass by what is familiar without a thought.
Pay attention and look closely.
There is beauty - there is discovery -
there is a whole new world hiding
beneath the face of the familiar.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Beauty is Everywhere

How We See Things

Art of Seeing

Simply Marvelous

Observe
    

Bring Light to the Darkness

 

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
- Chinese proverb often quoted by Eleanor Roosevelt

The unknown is like the darkness of a cave -
it can be illuminated by the brief light
of one adventurer's small candle.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times,
if one only remembers to turn on the light.
- J.K. Rowling

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.
- Aristotle Onassis

Further reading: Divine Spark

Create Light for Others

Dark Days