From Denny: Have you ever stopped to think about how our modern day culture wastes far too much time dwelling upon the past or worrying about the uncertain future? Living in the present "Now" is wise and makes Life a whole lot more manageable.
Better yet, instead of allowing outside pressures and forces to pull us out of balance, place your focus where it is the most powerful: within. Focusing our minds and inner eye upon what lies within us creates strength to live purposefully and with less stress in our daily lives.
Balance is all about keeping our focus well tuned and well trained to withstand Life's storms. Look within and discover an incredible world full of riches.
Quote
* What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
From Denny: How often do we ask ourselves how we are going to get something done? Especially when we don't have the knowledge or acquired skills to do the job?
It's frustration, that's for sure. But don't let that frustration of what you don't know stop you. Learn to think on your feet and research what you do need to know. There's no sense of staying in the dark about a subject; learn it. Teach yourself the skills you need to accomplish what you desire to do.
It is easy to get paralyzed with fear when we are unfamiliar with a situation and not in control of our environment. You get control back by doing what you already know how to do. It releases you to be active.
As you are open to learning new things, others will be drawn to you to give you the information you require. Keeping an open heart and open mind does wonders for pushing away fears and helping us navigate the uncertain waters of a life challenge.
Quote
* Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. - John Wooden
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From Denny: There are a lot of great ideas that end up in the trash because they were not properly watered and helped to grow into the fullness of your vision.
Take the time and use your talent to work with your idea. Sure it will change direction and maybe alter its course as you work with it. Keep working with it until that idea comes into full flower, even in ways you did not imagine. It's all good!
Quote
* An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it. - Bill Bernbach
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From Denny: How often do we hear someone talking about how they learned more from their failures than they did from their successes? Many of us get into this silly thinking that life is supposed to go a certain way, our way, and we try to too tightly control it.
When life is micro managed we lose out on the unexpected unmanageable surprises! It's those surprises that inspire us, sometimes helping us alter our course for greater success.
Never look a failure in the face and tell it to go away. Instead, invite it over for dinner and a drink and have an all night party to celebrate. Years later when the pieces of your life begin to make more sense you will know that seeming failure to be one of your successes. Live life to the fullest!
Quote
* Flops are a part of life's menu and I've never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses. – actress Rosalind Russell
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From Denny: Have you ever felt restless and didn't know why? After you ran down a list of "maybe whys" it still didn't make any sense. Too often we have these strong desires pulling us but without the intellectual explanation to help us make sense of it all.
When one life test after another gets heaped onto us we grouse and worry how we will get through it. We always do get through it, even when it was the darkest. Suddenly, we turn around one day when there is a quiet calm lull in our life and we realize that we have arrived at the very place we most desired to be. Our vision was fulfilled. Our vision was fulfilled in a manner unexpected and with far greater turmoil than we would have scripted for ourselves. Yet here we are!
Quote
* Vision doesn't usually come as a lightening bolt. Rather it comes as a slow crystallization of life challenges that we one day recognize as a beautiful diamond with great value to ourselves and others. - Dr. Michael Norwood
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From Denny: There's a new book out with research from a study and recounting near death experience stories. It's from an author in my part of the country, Louisiana, Dr. Jeffrey Long who researched this subject and the new book is called "Evidence of the Afterlife."
Reincarnation, near death and after life experiences are often controversial, especially to those who have not experienced the phenomenon. Previously, medical researchers tried to explain away those experiences by declaring the brain was on overload while dying and that explains "the light." What they should have said is "I don't really know." One person's truth is not always someone else's truth - until it happens to them.
I applaud this doctor, a radiation oncologist, for daring to step out there and investigate this subject. He collected more than 1,300 stories from people all over the world.
He offers this book up as proof the afterlife exists, writing there are at least nine lines of evidence and here are two of those lines of proof:
1. People blind from birth have visual near death experiences.
2. His study was with young children with no previous knowledge of the subject, ages 5 to 9, and their near death experiences were identical to that of older children and adults.
Mary Jo Rapini recounts her experience in this video. Previous to her near death experience she had been a skeptic who worked with dying cancer patients who repeatedly told her of their experiences.
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From Denny: This success quote comes from a world leader who was harshly tested during World War Two, Winston Churchill. If anyone understood adversity it was this man. His own peers and the public constantly challenged his wisdom.
When Churchill first saw what was new technology in his time period, airplanes, he figured out quickly that England needed to invest in that technology for military purposes, especially since it was clear to him that Germany was years ahead in that technology and could pose a military threat. He was shouted down and denounced as a dreaming fool. Years later, along came the war and suddenly the government turned to him as the prophet in the wilderness who spoke the truth. Had England listened and prepared as this man had told them, who knows, maybe the Americans would never have needed to enter the war to defend their ally, the United Kingdom.
Churchill well understood what it was to fail and fail again no matter how accurate he was, no matter how softly he pedaled the truth. It's human nature that people don't like change and we don't like to change quick fast and in a hurry as a situation arises that requires just that mindset.
Churchill persevered and keep a good attitude too. Now that's success!
Quote
* Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. - Sir Winston Churchill
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From Denny: Author Dani Shapiro talks about how her faith was tested and the walking of her spiritual journey in her new book, "Devotion." Raised in a traditional religious home of the Orthodox Jew she had set aside her faith yet did not replace it with anything. When her young son began asking questions about her beliefs it was then she decided to stop and consider who she was and where she was in life and so began her spiritual journey.
From Time Magazine about the author Dani Shapiro, "She has the willingness to explore the elusiveness of uncertainty is really to be lauded and it comes through in her book."
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From Denny: What can I say? I can seriously identify with the first quote by Einstein. There is a lot of opposition out there in the world from fearful folks. Mediocre minds are not necessarily people with little intellect but often are suffering from a low emotional intelligence and spiritual training, truly a lack of wisdom of how to interact appropriately with others before jumping to conclusions. People often fight a new vision, or even a suggestion, before actually hearing it described fully. They make assumptions without a full understanding, dismissing it quickly.
Henry Ford is accurate in his comment that once you stop yourself inwardly your progress outwardly suffers too. Our inner self really is the engine that drives our lives toward success, mediocrity or failure.
Who knew Goethe could be inspirational? :) He has a very good point that the journey is to be cherished for it changes us forever; the achieved goal suddenly pales in insignificance.
This Japanese Proverb addresses mediocrity in our vision and yet counsels us not to be rash in our decisions.
Napolean Hill, another favorite motivator, refocuses us on our basic instinct of desire and how to differentiate and isolate it from other emotions in order to benefit.
Quotes
* Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
* Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right. - Henry Ford
* What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. - Goethe
* Vision without action is daydream. Action without vision is nightmare. - Japanese Proverb
* Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything. - Napoleon Hill
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*** Join Bloggers Unite in support of the Iranian Opposition Protestors as they celebrate their Victory of the Revolution Day, fighting for their freedom from an oppressive government.
From Denny: So, what's going on with and in Iran today? Today the hard line regime government marks their revolution's anniversary called the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Worse, these hard line fundamentalist rulers are cracking down more on opposition leaders and followers who today attempt to protest against the government. A million people are expected to converge today either in support or protest for this anniversary. Iran's government has already cut off communication so no Western news agencies can get news footage or eye witness accounts to report.
Previous demonstrations were reported to the world through social sites like Twitter, videos through YouTube and photos gotten out through the internet via camera cell phones. Throughout Europe were fellow Iranians and other sympathetic European IT hackers helping route the news from the protesters. They cleverly acted like cockroaches, finding cracks in security to get lines of communication out to the West to tell the truth. It will be interesting to see how the hackers perform under more stringent circumstances this time when the Iranian government is not caught off guard and ready for them.
Iran's current conservative leaders continue to punish opposition followers by beating, raping, imprisoning and executing them. For months now, since the summer, regularly the government jackboots have been coming for individuals in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. Iran's leaders pointedly told their country, "Anyone who dares to challenge this government runs the risk of being permanently silenced!" Read that as dead, very dead. Sweet bunch, aren't they?!
Iran's leaders have also angered the world in their hell-bent stance of deciding to continue the course to enrich uranium to weapons grade, claiming it will be ready in a few short days. How long before the Israelis say, "Enough!" and either destroy the Iranian capability by bombing the factories or start a wave of assassinations against the leadership government? My money is on the assassination wave. They won't be hard-pressed to find male family members willing to help them because of wanting revenge for their wronged or killed relatives.
What has America done? The best idea. Hit them where it hurts the most: in their wallets - or bank accounts, that is. Our Treasury Department tightened up sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Engineering wing. After all, it's the Revolutionary Guard that keeps this despicable government in power. Hamper their ability to operate, hurt the government.
Today, February 11th, is a special day to the protestors in Iran. It is Victory of the Revolution Day which is their American Fourth of July equivalent to promote liberty, independence and freedom. The whole world has watched and witnessed the Iranian government has severely violated those basic human rights of their people. The people have been tortured and arbitrarily arrested for complaining they think the current President stole the election.
They have been censored, prevented from posting on the internet their political views. And the most egregious abuse has been the recent ruthless executions of two activists held in detention before the June 12th Presidential election. Yet, supposedly, though in prison without access or proper representation, they were accused of being the mastermind organizers of the post-election protests against a stolen election. Somehow, that weak and weasely scapegoat tactic just doesn't have any truth to it.
Please, join bloggers like me, Denny Lyon at Beautiful Illustrated Quotations:Bloggers Unite Human Rights For Iran, and show your solidarity today with the protestors. If you are a blogger, please write a post today and send in your link so your voice can be heard. If you are not a blogger, then please show your solidarity and talk about today's Iran news on your favorite social networks and email your family and friends.
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From Denny: This quote talks about our perception of Time. How often have we noticed that when we are impatient then Time seems to just drag on and on? When we experience intense fear then Time seems to speed up and overtake us. When we are grieving the loss of a person or a situation then Time feels like it is an eternity, lasting far too long, wondering if we will ever climb out of that pit of despair. When we are extremely happy then there seems to be enough Time to enjoy the moment. So, when is it that our perception of Time is most balanced? Take a look.
Quote
* Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity. - Henry Van Dyke (American short-story Writer, Poet and Essayist, 1852-1933)
From Denny: Flickr has treated its members to a new feature, creating gallery collections, up to 18 choices per gallery, of any photo on the site. Since I have bookmarked thousands of favorites on flickr I had great fun organizing what I had and featuring them in new galleries. Enjoy - and stress down if it's been a long day for you...
*** For more photos, please visit my photo blog Visual Insights!
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From Denny: I find these all over the place while surfing the net. Many were poached from StumbleUpon who poached them from Photobucket who poached them from flickr who poached them from... you get the idea. :) If anyone knows the original photographers or designers, send me an email with attribution and I'll be glad to attach credit where credit is due.
The Walt Whitman quote is one I really enjoyed and especially the photoshop one with Churchill and Hitler was clever. Which ones are your favs?
Which ones were your favs?
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