Living Out Loud

Invent your future

(a Thought for the Week)

"When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened." ~ John M Richardson Jr

"As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it." ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"The secret to living the life of your dreams is to start living it, at once, to any degree that you possibly can."  ~  Mike Dooley 

"Decision changes everything." ~ Douglas Verneeren

"The best way to predict your future is to invent it. It's up to you." ~ Frank Maguire

You can view my Thoughts archive here

Count your blessings

(a Thought for the Week)

"When a person thinks about the things, people and experiences that they're grateful for, their awareness of the good in their life increases, and they start to feel good. What you focus on increases, so the more you feel good about all there is to be grateful for, the more will show up." ~ Jamie Smart

"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation." ~ Brian Tracey

"Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play." ~ Og Mandino

"An attitude of gratitude can fend off any sad- itude." ~ Karen Salmansohn

Celebrate your Life

(a Thought for the Week)

"Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think." ~ Horace

"This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy." ~ Susan Polis Schutz

"I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I've written for myself, and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part." ~ Shirley MacLaine

"May you live all the days of your life." ~ Jonathan Swift

All is well, no matter what it looks like

(A Thought for the Week)

"Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution." ~ Deepak Chopra

"A jug fills drop by drop." ~ Buddha

"Your joy is divine and so is your suffering. There's so much to be learned from both." ~ Wayne Dyer

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." ~ Douglas Adams

"Life has to be lived forwards, but it only makes sense backwards." ~ Rod Briggs

"All is well, no matter what it looks like. It's all happening perfectly." ~ Susan Jeffers

You can view my Thoughts archive here

Step into the field of all possibilities

(a Thought for the Week)

"Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security." ~ John Allen Paulos

"Impossible is a word humans use far too often." ~ Jeri Ryan

"Our aspirations are our possibilities." ~ Samuel Johnson

"Relinquish your attachment to the known, step into the unknown, and you will step into the field of all possibilities." ~ Deepak Chopra

Expect the best

(a Thought for the Week)

"Set your sights high, the higher the better. Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now. Realize that nothing is too good. Allow absolutely nothing to hamper you or hold you up in any way." ~ Eileen Caddy

"High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation." ~ Charles F. Kettering

"Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations." ~ Ralph Charell

"Expect the best and a funny thing happens. You often get it." ~ Unknown

You can view my Thoughts archive here

Seize the day, dammit!

(part of the Happy Friday series)

5 tips by Karen Salmansohn

If there is an honest conversation you need to share, DO IT. Today! Live without regret. Speak from your heart. Know: the better your communication with others, the better your life. Know: The more love you have in your life, the happier and more meaningful your life.

Believe in FORGIVENESS AND FORGETNESS. Stop carrying grudges. They simply weigh you down. Indeed, Carrie Fisher said it amusingly well when she said: Resentment is the poison you swallow hoping the other person will die. Today think about who you need to forgive, and let go of these bitter attachments.

Appreciate the people you love, by letting them know what you adore about them. Live with Emile Zolas philosophy in mind: I CAME INTO THIS WORLD TO LIVE OUT LOUD. Today share with friends and family the specifics of what you appreciate about them. Count your blessings out loud to them.

In "The Tibetan Book Of Living and Dying," author Rinpoche warns about the Western tendency for ACTIVE LAZINESS, our need to cram our lives compulsively with a myriad of unimportant activities, leaving little time to confront what really matters. He jokingly renames the petty projects we call our RESPONSIBILITIES as our IRRESPONSIBILITIES. Today ask yourself how might you edit down your TO DO LIST to a WHAT MATTERS MOST TO DO LIST? Are you finding time to be with the people you love -- and the time for doing the passions you love?

Give back to the world. I mean this both in the obvious ways of altruism and volunteerism -- which are essential to creating a happy, meaningful life. Plus, I also mean this in those the less obvious -- but still important ways -- of giving of yourself -- your true self -- your heart, thoughts, talents -- share it all. After all: Everything that is not given, is lost. Every thought and feeling we ever have, every beautiful sight we ever see, every material possession we own, every talent we possess, will ultimately be lost. UNLESS WE SHARE IT.

Today ask yourself how deeply and intimately you are connecting with those most important to you? Which brings to mind a favorite metaphor - the one about the pebble in a pond. It's as if each of us are tossing the pebble of ourselves into the pond of life, and ripples are created. If we hoard ourselves - our love, our thoughts, our feelings, our insights, our words, our gifts, our talents - we will make a very little splash, and the ripples will soon end. But if we give fully, with abandon and abundance, the ripples will go out infinitely, overlapping and intermingling with others.

With this in mind, ask yourself: What kind of ripple do you want to be? Seize the day, dammit!

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Dream it, Believe it, Achieve it

(a Thought for the Week)

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe." ~ Anatole France

"Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves. They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision." ~ V. S. Naipaul

"Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future" ~ Charles F. Kettering

"Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations." ~ Ralph Charell

"If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

You can view my Thoughts archive here

on choosing Happiness

(a Thought for the Week)

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections." ~ Unknown

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." ~ Frederick Keonig

"The foolish person seeks happiness in the distance; the wise person grows it under his feet." ~ James Oppenheim

"Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain." ~ Unknown

"Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination." ~ Roy Goodman

You can view my Thought archive here

Slow down

(part of the Happy Friday series, posted on Sunday - oops!)

Slow down, you move too fast
You've got to make the morning last
Just kickin' down the cobble stones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy!

~ Simon & Garfunkel