What is the Simplest Most Unusual Way to Live Our Life to the Fullest?

Water balloons like little egos all in a row - Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: And I'm getting caught up since my power outage yesterday from the massive thunderstorms that dropped so much water we thought for sure we would see Noah's Ark appear and float by on our front yard...

This quote is both instructive and downright amusing. How many times have we looked back at a situation we found difficult only to find our own ego was what got in the way of our success? Some egos are bloated with pride, others with doubt, still others with fear.

Forget about feeling guilty or unworthy as those feelings are useless to us. It really doesn't matter what caused the "bloating" over time but rather the ego is so out of shape like a huge water balloon that it is easy to trip over it while pursuing something worthwhile! The whole point of this quote is to get rid of the bloat that is holding us back and making life more difficult than it has to be.

Reality is about interacting with life as it happens without the Negative Nannies filter in our heads. Once we set aside all these silly habits we grew from this or that disappointment here and there along the way in our lives we soon realize it's all old garbage that is time to trash.

Once unburdened of our past attitudes or ideas that have been holding us back, it's easy to relate to this quote. This profound quote is the most wonderful way I've ever seen to describe how easy it can become to live our lives to the fullest!

Quote

“When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless." - Byron Katie



Byron Katie, Bloat, Water balloon, Home, positive attitude, Family, trauma, PTSD

How Do You Gauge How Happy You Are?

Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Apologies to everyone who was looking for their quote today. We had serious thunderstorms move through yesterday and we lost power. It was like the heavens opened up and decided it was time for a deluge!

Anyway, today's quote was from a U.S. President. We hear a lot of quotes and sometimes don't realize they were said originally by American Presidents. Even a culture often grows up over time around the thought in that quote, so it is with this one.

Generations later we are now addressing how to work our attitudes to improve our lives. Well, Abraham Lincoln, who knew an awful lot of terrible adversity, certainly understood what it took to build and maintain a positive attitude.

He lost 69 elections and he lost all his children over a span of time. He was also President during the trying times of America's only Civil War and was ill with a slow disease. His wife went into a terrible depression upon the loss of their youngest son from illness.

Lincoln was a strong-willed kind-hearted man who even brought his political enemies into his administration in the effort to govern the country in a bi-partisan manner. Lincoln is most famous for several of his inspiring speeches and deciding to dare to go against the tide of convention and free America's slaves. He was all about doing the best job possible for the sake of ALL the American people.

Quote

"People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be." - President Abraham Lincoln



quotes, politics, positive attitude, presidential quotes, American Civil War, United States, History, Civil War, President, List of Presidents of the United States

How Authentic a Writer or Blogger Are You? Quote Included.

Image by Bern@t via Flickr

Blogging with all the other millions of bloggers

From Denny: A lot of people these days are starting up blogs. After a few months many get discouraged and quit; others find out how much work it is to post every day. Right now there are over 1 billion blogs on the planet and Technorati watches the top 100 million blogs. I'm thrilled to be in the top 400,000 as I never expected a quotes blog with my idea of commentary thoughts to do this well. I was just writing and living out loud as I advise others! (Practice what you "preach"!) :)

Technical issues of blogging

As a blogger and writer it isn't just about writing down our thoughts into words on the page; there are the time-consuming technical parts of working with a slowed down computer connection when everyone in the world happens to be online at the same time (usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays here in America), working with the online editor to post when Blogger or your other blogging platform decides to do maintenance and other pesky delays that eat up your time.

Divining readers' interests through free Lijit and StatCounter services

Personally, I love to write and always have; I plan on being here for some time to come. Already I look back at the beginning days of all my blogs and am quite pleased with how my vision has grown as well as the ability to fine tune the theme of the blog and its message and then respond to the readers for your needs and interests.

Responding to readers does take time to "divine" when you don't have a plethora of comments to gauge interest. There are various free services that tell a new blogger which of your posts people liked the best. Some provide the ability to vote up or down like Lijit does which is why you see a Lijit search widget on the sidebar. Others just count the numbers and about a week later let you know how a post on a particular subject did on that particular blog like StatCounter does. StatCounter is out of Australia so if you decide to join their site but you live in America be aware their 24 hour period is not quite the same time zone as yours! :)

Blogging helps you define, explore and expand "You"

As I grow in my knowledge of blogging I'll keep sharing what I've learned along the way to help you in your blogging. Always, I encourage others to write down their thoughts, their feelings, their aspirations. When you write regularly, God starts blessing you with the ability to access your inspirations that were previously locked up inside you all along, waiting to be released for others to benefit.

Authenticity and opportunities

Today's quote is more than about being perceived as authentic when you write, when you blog. Yes, your credibility is truly on the line with others who don't know you in person. But it's much more than that.

Today's quote takes us beyond the field of work outside ourselves to another angle of how to look at authenticity. It talks about every person on the planet is an author without perhaps even realizing it! It is through our authenticity that we become true writers: writing the plot line of what happens to us and how we choose to respond, writing the characters into our lives and how they decide to treat us, writing the theme of our lives as to what we find to call worthy.

Too many people try to do it backwards and start writing to find or create along the way their authenticity. Stop for a moment, consider where you are in life and where you would prefer to be if not satisfied, then step out from that authentic moment and begin writing.

Best attitude for successful writing

If you write just for profit the money will elude you; if you write to be admired or acquire status, it will elude you. If you write from an authentic inner place, choose to give of yourself to others, then your writing will ascend and grow steadily in popularity. Don't rush the process; rather enjoy the journey, continue to grow and your writing will show it! If you try to force the process into a certain little box you might just end up cheating yourself in the long run. Stay flexible, enjoy writing, enjoy interacting with others through the comment section or private email (some people are terribly shy online). Opportunities will come your way as you are patiently perfecting your craft of writing and blogging. So it is also true how we choose to author our lives.

Quote

"To be authentic literally means to be your own author." ~ Dan Millman

Was that not a great quote to write about?! Thanks for visiting and have a great day!



arts, Australia, Blog, Dan Millman, Directories, lijit, On the Web, StatCounter, Technorati, Weblogs, writer, Writers Resources, Writing, Society and Culture

What is the 1 Funny Decision That Makes It Difficult to Plan Your Day?

Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Author E. B. White is best known for his children's books he wrote for his nieces and nephews. One of the most famous is Charlotte's Web.

Do you know much about him other than the books? He was born in New York state in 1899. He went into the Army and after the Army he attended Cornell University. He wrote for the college newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun.

What was his real name? It was Elwyn Brooks White and his nickname was Andy at his college newspaper where people just starting calling him that and the name stuck over the years.

After graduation, White went to work as a reporter in 1927 for The New Yorker Magazine and became quite famous. He also wrote a column for the prestigious Harper's Magazine from 1938 to 1943.

White decided to strike out on an unusual tangent for a newsman of his time period and start writing down tales for his nieces and nephews who kept begging him to tell them stories. He thought it great fun and indulged them. Children and parents today benefit from his pastime of story telling. By 1945 White started publishing these stories as small books. Now the "rest is history" as the saying goes and his stories are considered classic children's literature.

By 1957, he and his wife Katherine picked up and moved to Maine where he continued his writing. He died in 1985 at the ripe old age of 86.

Did you know White was terribly shy about giving a speech, reading aloud or reciting a poem aloud as a child in school? He was embarrassed to speak in public (a phobia most people share). He used to write his speeches for class and then beg someone else to read them aloud for him. Now that's shy! Good thing the man could write. He also shared with us a wonderful sense of humor as indicated by today's quote from him.

Quote

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." - E. B. White (1899 - 1985)


Oh, and in case you are interested for your children or grandchildren, nieces and nephews, I found several titles of his books, including some for adults on writing style, and placed them in the Beautiful Illustrated Quotations Store. There are so many versions available. I always wonder what an author from another time period - before our current technology - would think of their books recycled in various forms like this... Who knows what tomorrow will bring for the writers of today's blogs? That will prove interesting to see how the future markets our writing of today!

What Does a Weed Have to Do With Questioning What You Think You Know?

Kudzu weeds smothering 100 foot trees and taking over a drainage ditch by railroad tracks in downtown Atlanta on Piedmont Road - Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Emerson lived in the early 19th century. He was a great writer from whom today we pull a lot of equally great quotes. Emerson was also a minister, not a finger-pointer of faults and tongue-wagging fear-mongerer, but a man who sought to teach people to think clearly and critically. That's why his words are still so valuable 180 years later! Some concepts are eternal, and, as they say on the web, evergreen. :)

Emerson was one deep thinker and constantly pulled metaphors for our lives from his surroundings of Nature. How many times when you go to mow your beautiful perfect lawn have you discovered an ugly weed sticking up and out of character for "the green neighborhood"?

Emerson talks about weeds in this quote as having worth. What? What weeds have worth? Well, I can think of one example. Back in the 1930's kudzu was brought from China to America to feed cattle during the Great Depression. You see, kudzu can grow during the summer up to one or more feet a day, yes, a DAY! It is one fast-growing healthy ancient vine.

That was great back in the 1930's but eventually those family farms were abandoned or sold and no longer farmed. Yes, you guessed it, the kudzu kept growing and growing and growing! When I lived in Atlanta you would see it on abandoned city lots downtown, growing over street lights and creeping and running along high electrical lines and back down again on the telephone poles and over to a large tree to smother that too. Unbelievable. So, now what?

Turns out America became aware of a new herbicide back in the 1980's, 50 years later after the kudzu invasion, called Roundup. Well, I got news for you, it works for the short term but the kudzu wins anyway! OK, again, "So, now what?"

By the 1990's it was learned that the Japanese prize kudzu for its roots. What do they do with it? They harvest the roots and make their version of a food thickener like our own cornstarch. Pretty cool, huh?! :)

So, here you thought kudzu was useless as just some weed when it has beneficial food value! Bet you will never look at a weed the same again! :) Even Emerson soon realized the conventional thought about weeds is not always accurate - and to make sure you question everything you think you know.

Quote

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not been discovered." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanks for visiting this Monday! Have a great work week!


America quotes, gardening, life, minister, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Culture, weeds, 19th century, Great Depression, World Literature, Arts, China, Literature, Atlanta