What Are the 2 Most Important Languages to Learn for a Happy Life?

From Denny: Because so much of humanity has rejected educating themselves in these two most important languages ever created over the centuries there is unfulfillment in people's lives, unhappiness and broken relationships.

Perhaps this new age, new era, new millennium will bring a better understanding and willingness to learn these languages. They do take a lifetime to master but the journey is well worth it!



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* There is only one religion, the religion of Love. There is only one language, the language of the heart. - Sathya Sai Baba

When You Speak Your Opinion: What Are You Revealing About Yourself?

cool retro poster from the 1930's

From Denny: Now here's a thought-provoking quote that will make you stop, pause and downright hesitate the next time you think about expressing an opinion! Emerson never ceases to impress me with how he thinks about the world. What a legacy he left us!

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* People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Does Your Emotional Heart Suffer? Do This to Feel Better

Photo by h.koppdelaney @ flickr

From Denny: There were psychology studies done during the Bush years about how Republicans have more fearful dreams than Democrats. They talked a lot about the fear inside those who possess rigid belief systems, with no room to accept new knowledge. Dreams really do come from the heart level of ourselves with the message to inform us about our current state of health and spiritual development. Denying those dreams with fear only complicates matters and distorts reality, preventing us from benefiting from what God is trying to gently tell us.

What's interesting is that to call yourself a Christian also means you trust Jesus Christ. Too many believers today have yet to give their trust over to God, even in their dreams. When you don't open your heart to truly love, you don't gain anything in return. By refusing to feed the souls of others, you end up starving. Is this not the essence of the message of the true Jesus Christ? Love feeds all our souls!

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* The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers. - Deepak Chopra

What Wonders Can You See With Your Eyes Closed?

Photo Silent_Surrender_by_bibbles @ deviantart

From Denny: OK, if you haven't read an ounce of any culture's mysticism this one will make your mind do somersaults. It is true though about how important it is to remove life's distractions, especially those so appealing to our eyes: food, clothes, money, places to see, places to own and more. Sometimes, it's just a good idea to find a quiet spot, take a while to relax, close your eyes, drift and then look inward. You will find beauty that is undescribed, unuttered and unusual.

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* Close both eyes to see with the other eye. - Rumi

What If You Could Sell Your Experiences: What Would They Be Worth?

cute retro poster from the 1930's

From Denny: This is a funny quote, especially since there is so much truth in it! It really does make your mind start wondering "... what if I could sell my experiences? ... just what would they be worth?"

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* If we could sell our experiences for what they cost us... we would all be millionaires. - Abigail Van Buren

3 Funny Quotes About Human Nature

Photo by snuzzy @ flickr

From Denny: While I was setting up a new account on Twitter now called DennyLyon7 (the old one - warriorlight - got messed up from putting a badge of support on my avatar.

Note to self: Never put a badge of support on your avatar ever again. Write this 1,000 times on the blackboard or digital equivalent thereof. It was a lemonade badge to support kids with cancer. No good deed goes unpunished. :)

So, while I was laughing at myself (and groaning about all the tedious tech work for the past week this has required) I thought I'd fish around for some funny quotes about human nature so you could laugh with me! Even the dog is laughing...

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* Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, a sense of humor to console him for what he is. - Oscar Wilde

* All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it. - H. L. Mencken

And my absolute favorite:

* Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century. - Dame Edna Everage

Video: Making a Difference, Unknown Donors Can Help Those in Need

From Denny: These folks came up with a great idea of how to help a friend or neighbor without the embarrassment of knowing it was you - GivingAnon.com.

"From the desperation of an empty bank account came the inspiration Lionel Thompson needed to help others who were stuck in a similar situation."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Video: Kennedys New Memoir Offers Surprise Stories to Sons

From Denny: Senator Ted Kennedy's new memoir book is out: True Compass. I am surprised to learn this is the only memoir actually written by a Kennedy! The Senator worked hard to finish this book in his last days and did not want it released until after his death.

Here The Today Show's Matt Lauer interviews the two sons of Ted Kennedy:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

This video is from 3 Sept and gives the highlight recap news clips of many of the best videos coverage of the passing of Ted Kennedy:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Bad Day? Do This to Feel Better Fast and Succeed

From Denny: Can I tell you that Friday was a tough day? It was the September 11th anniversary and I could literally feel everyone's emotions throughout the country. People were clearly unsettled and upset. People were also excessively rude and obnoxious as a result that day. And, of course, I got abused that day like so many, just for breathing I suppose. What explains abusive people?

Well, I wanted to blow off the negativity as quickly as possible and turned to what I always do when too much negativity tries to make a home for itself in my world: I close the door on it and dissolve it.

How? Easy. When you experience a negative moment it's important to balance that negative energy with positive energy, a lot of positive energy.

Rather than pull inward and retreat from the negativity or decide to attack it and fight, the smart thing to rid yourself of negative energy is to go outside yourself. What am I talking about? I'm talking about when negativity tries to park on your doorstep, get moving. Go out and start promoting a hundred other people and fast!

By promoting other people you are powering outward positive energy that goes out and brings back to you more positive energy. Eventually, often in a short time, it completely dissolves the negative energy with overwhelming force.

So, what did I do to promote other people? The idea struck me to go on over to Twitter since it was Follow Friday and I started looking for poets and writers to promote. Started up a Word doc to record each line of 7 to 10 names to promote with the hash tag of #FF@then their name and I was off and running. Originally, I only planned to do so for about 50 people. But then I just felt to keep going, didn't know why but followed my intuition, just that it was a great idea for some reason.

After a few hundred names later, I felt great! No more negative energy anywhere around and a lot of people were grinning from ear to ear because it gave them a great day too. It always helps to reaffirm and validate their worth in the world too.

I left it at that as I felt refreshed knowing I had refreshed others in my process of promoting positive energy in the world. To my surprise today I get this tweet from Twitter that tells me I was number 1 on Follow Friday recommendations! To me that was too funny - and icing on the cake - and made me grin yet again. As I was checking other stats I found out that random act of positive kindness jumped me up in Twitter ranking by quite a bit.

So, you now see, that doing something for others can often lead to interesting and unforeseen good happenings for yourself too! In the end, when you help others, you help yourself. It's important to keep the circle and the energy moving to keep this a happier world. Besides, it's fun too!

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Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty. - Anne Hebert

Beautiful Night Art Photo and Reflection on Life Quote

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* Listen to your life. All moments are key moments. - Anonymous

Beautiful Angel Photo, Quote, Healing Poem Link

Psalm 91:11 - And He will give His Angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways.

From Denny: Since this particular poem was a hard write, and I'm a bit emotionally tired and saturated to say the least, here's the link to my latest poem over at The Social Poets, called Rock, My Children. Found some awesome art photos over at flickr to illustrate it!

Rock, My Children is about how to deal with loss. Never planned on writing about these experiences but lately there has been so much news about people encountering terrible loss in their lives. And, here it is the 911 anniversary, a tough day for so many folks all over the world.

When I was fishing around for inspiration I found Robin's blog Naked in Eden and some of those word phrases sprinkled throughout one of her posts just struck me right (like "abyss of emotion") and before I knew it the poem was forming in my head. Went to flickr first before writing it down as the poem was still a lot of raw emotions swirling and I needed some visual anchors.

Rock, My Children deals with loss, disappointment, and looking to the future for understanding Life's Plan. When you ask the question, you receive the answer though it may take fifteen years like it did in my case.

Received an incredibly awesome comment from fellow spiritual blogger Robin from Naked in Eden after I sent her the link to show her how she had inspired me to write the poem. Just skip on past the poem to read what she has to say it's that great! I've been grinning silly all day - and behind in my posting - since she posted that loving comment...

Rock, My Children, go here.

Whats the Best Way to Develop Your Life?

From Denny: Good ol' Ralph Waldo Emerson, he really knows how to transcend Time through the generations. Even though he wrote almost 200 years ago, what he has to say still holds true and has a unique take on the subject up for discussion!

Hope everyone had a great holiday this weekend! I know I finally got caught up on some much needed rest...

BTW, be sure to check back through the posts at least to Saturday as I went back and plugged in some new posts. I've been running hard the past few weeks and have been irregular in posting. Caught up now - finally! (Give me a little "yay!")

Thanks for visiting, much appreciated!

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* All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

What Are People Struggling with the Most Today?

From Denny: This quote really speaks from the heart the whole spiritual truth! Today's world expends far too much energy on the need to control others, control economies, control politics, control business markets, control sickness, control our spouse or partner and control science just to name a few.

We seem to spend so much obsessive time on trying to control something or someone and then, as a society, we wonder why we are tired all the time! All that controlling attitude makes for some really dull and unhappy people.

It also is an indication that on the inner level a person has done little growth for they fear everything and everyone. Be mindful what can happen around you. Be mindful of possibilities that can turn negative. Be mindful that negative scenarios have a way of working a resistant person into the positive space they so desperately desire!

Faith at its core is about learning to become far more emotionally flexible and quit resisting the ebb and flow of life as it happens. Choose to go along for the ride and see where Spirit takes you. You will be happily surprised and find you enjoy your new life far more than your old one!

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* As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit. - Emmanuel Teney

Funny Ted Kennedy Joke Quote

Ted Kennedy, middle, with brothers Bobby and John photo by BL1961 @ flickr - thanks for releasing this into Creative Commons, much appreciated!

With his usual Irish self-deprecating humor he said to his son and nephew one day as they were serving in Congress with him, making it three Kennedys in national politics: "When I hear someone complain, 'Who does that damn Kennedy think he is?' Well, now I know there's only a one in three chance they are actually talking about me!"

Ah, nothing like the ironic truth spoken with a twinkle in your Irish eye, Ted. God Bless.

5 Funny Quotes That Spit on Death

From Denny: Death is a subject few people in America want to deal with and yet it happens to us all - well, almost all, maybe some of us are part of the Highlander's Immortal Clan. Time will tell on that one! :)

Death is like this celebrity no one wants to meet. (Hmmm... sounds like one of those quotable quotes your own spirit speaks out loud when you just know something is really true...)

This past week the news coverage has been heavy on the passing of a political American icon, Senator Ted Kennedy. He was fully prepared for death as he had his faith and relationship with God. People who are spiritually connected do well when their time comes.

People who are more connected only to religion and only on the mental, not heart, level don't do well. The heart really is the center of our spirits. Yet, it's amazing how easily we can hide the truth from ourselves - until a significant event like the passing of a celebrity or a beloved family member opens the door to our heart to take some inventory.

This has been a rough week of spiritual shake-up and awakening for millions of people in America. People are examining their own lives as to their current path and how they would like to alter their course to something far more positive. Observing Ted Kennedy's life in review from the shameful to the triumphant gives us all pause to say, "What's next?"

I thought folks might like a little emotional cool down from all the intensity this past week. Included today are some funny witty quotes about how others perceived Death, that unwelcome odious guy no one wants to invite to their house. To me, there is nothing better than putting your face into the wind and pushing forward into the scary unknown, only to discover incredible new wonders and be delightfully amazed at newly found spiritual awareness. It also helps to laugh a lot along the way.

Quotes

* Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it. - W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, 1874 - 1965

* Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. - Susan Ertz, short story writer and novelist, 1894 - 1985

* I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it. - Mark Twain, writer and American humorist, 1835 - 1910

* I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. - Clarence Darrow, American lawyer, 1857 - 1938

* Some men are alive simply because it is against the law to kill them. - Edward W. Howe, American writer