Inspiration Shared By Lady Braids

Inspiration On 2/14/12

 

The last thing I wanted to do was go out for lunch. Even with my best
friends. Since my husband and I had separated three months before
I didn’t really want to see anyone.

“Come on,” my friend Kristin urged when she called to invite me. “It’ll
do you good to get out and have a few laughs.”

I couldn’t imagine ever laughing again, not the way I was feeling. But
I couldn’t put my friends off any longer. I showed up at the restaurant,
knowing I wouldn’t be very good company.

Everyone looked so sunny and happy, I felt like a black cloud as I
settled into my chair. Please, God, help me have some fun today.
I didn’t want to ruin everyone else’s good time.

My pals passed around the salsa and told jokes. I pasted a smile on
my face and let my eyes drift around the restaurant.

A young girl sat with her parents at a table opposite ours. When her
big eyes met mine I felt like she saw right through me, down to the
sadness inside.

A moment later the girl appeared at our table and dropped something
into my palm: a sticker. A little brown bear hugged a bright red heart.
“Somebody loves me,” it read.

The little girl returned to her table. I stuck the bear on my blouse.
My friends—these dear friends—burst out laughing, and so did I.

Somebody loved me, all right. Enough to send me the perfect message
on a silly sticker.

How could I not take joy in that?

 -- Karen Clanin 

 

 

Inspiration On 2/2/12

The only accurate label, is the one that identifies a dangerous substance.

I am, for the most part, an introvert. I enjoy the setting of my quiet country
life, I keep my own counsel and enjoy my own company. But, if you labeled
me an introvert, your assessment of me would be incorrect.

I love to laugh and converse at social gatherings, and I'm perfectly comfortable
standing at a podium and addressing a room full of people. If you stopped by
the local high school on a Wednesday evening, you'd find me dancing up a storm,
with microphone in hand, and calling out steps to my clogging class. You'd hear
a lot of loud laughter too. (Especially when the dancers are following my lead
and I flub a step.)

The 'quiet' me, is the person I am at my core, but my outgoing characteristics
are an integral part of my makeup.

So... how would you label me? An introvert with extroverted tendencies?

You can't slot me into one specific category.

Labels are inappropriate and misleading when they're place on people.
Often times, they're hurtful or have negative connotations. Vague labels,
used to differentiate the 'us' group from the 'them' group, are one of
the biggest blockades on the road to world harmony.

Save your labels for poison. Don't poison your perceptions with them.

 -- Living in love and loving life,
     Terri McPherson

Inspiration On 1/26/12

An artist went to visit a dear friend.  When he arrived, she was
weeping. He asked why.  She showed him a handkerchief of
exquisite beauty that had great sentimental value, which had
been ruined by a drop of indelible ink.

The artist asked her to let him have the handkerchief, which
he returned to her my mail several days later.  When she opened
the package she could hardly believe her eyes.  The artist, using
the inkblot as a base, had drawn on the handkerchief a design
of great beauty with India ink.  Now it was more beautiful and
more valuable than ever.

Sometimes the tragedies that break our hearts can become the
basis for a more beautiful design in our lives.  Be patient with the
hurts over which you have no control.  They may become a source
of healing, help and beauty.

 -- Thomas Land Butts

Inspiration On 1/18/12

When you are poked or prodded or pinched
or squeezed, what comes out of you?

Does anger come flying out in a torrent of words?
Anxiety dampen your skin with a fearful sweat?
Uncertainty make you apologize for your opinion?

A breakdown of communication between your
mind and heart and soul will leave you unsure
of how you truly feel or why your feelings make
you uncomfortable.

The surest indication of internal separation is
the injurious way you respond to the world. The
surest indication of internal wholeness is the
unflustered, calm and caring way you react in
the face of crisis.

What's inside of you, is what comes out of you.

 -- Living in love and loving life,
     Terri McPherson

Inspiration On 12/15/11

Persons are the gifts of God to me! They are already wrapped, some
beautifully and others less attractively. Some have been mishandled in
the mail; others come "Special Delivery." Some are loosely wrapped;
others very tightly closed.

But the wrapping is *not* the gift, and this is an important realization.
It is so easy to make a mistake in this regard...to judge the contents by
the cover.

Sometimes the gift is opened very easily; sometimes the help of others
is needed. Maybe, it is because they are afraid. It could be that they
were once opened and then discarded... Maybe they have been hurt
before and don't want to be hurt again. They may now feel more like
"things" than human persons.

I am a person; like everyone else I too am a gift. God filled me with
a goodness that is only mine. And yet, sometimes I am afraid to look
inside my wrapping. Maybe I am afraid I would be disappointed, and
maybe I don't trust my own contents. Or, it may be that I have never
really accepted the gift that I am. Every meeting and sharing of
persons is an exchange of gifts.

My gift is me.

Your gift is you.

We are gifts to each other.

 -- Author Unknown

Inspiration On 11/29/11

At a certain moment in Nietzsche's life, the idea came to him of
what he called 'the love of your fate.' Whatever your fate is,
whatever the heck happens, you say, "This is what I need." It
may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an
opportunity, a challenge. 

If you bring love to that moment - not discouragement - you
will find the strength is there. Any disaster that you can
survive is an improvement in your character, your stature,
and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity
of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when
looking back at your life, you will see that the moments
which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage
were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll
see that this is really true. 

Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though
it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. 

 -- Joseph Campbell   

Inspiration On 10/20/11

For a good part of my life I suffered from a disease. This disease
dampened my spirits, drained me of my energy, and robbed me of
my vitality. Sometimes it even made it hard to get out of bed in
the morning. It made every part of my life more difficult and
demanding. For a while too it looked like this disease would be
a weight I would have to carry for the rest of my life. This
disease was called, "And then I’ll be happy." 

I think I first caught it in middle school. During my younger
years I seemed to always enjoy the moment and relish each
day of my life. At some point during those middle school years,
however, I remember starting to look to the future more and
more and enjoying today less and less. At first I thought getting
into high school and being a teenager would make me happy. Then
the dream switched to being the high school football star. That
was followed by being on my own in college. Next came having a
great career and high paying job. Getting rich and having that
big house followed it. After that was the dream of raising a
family. Then there was retiring and finally enjoying my life.
Each dream postponed my happiness a little further down the
road. Finally I realized that if I kept going this way, I would
be dead before I was happy. 

That is when I came to see that it would be a lot better to be
happy now than to live with this disease. Life I knew would
always have fresh problems and frustrations, but I thought
it would be a lot better to meet them with a happy heart and
loving soul rather than waiting for life to be perfect.

These days I am in remission.  I still have occasional flare ups
of "And then I'll be happy," but I heal them by knowing that
I can choose love and joy every second of my life.

God loves us all so much and wants us to be happy today,
tomorrow, and forever. Let’s not let Him down. Let’s choose
love, share joy, and spread happiness with every moment we have.

 -- Joseph J Mazzella

Inspiration On 09/13/11

 

May you find serenity and tranquility
in a world you may not always understand.

May the pain you have known
and the conflict you have experienced
give you the strength to walk through life
facing each new situation
with optimism and courage.

Always know that there are those
whose love and understanding
will always be there
even when you feel most alone.

May a kind word, a reassuring touch,
a warm smile, be yours every day of your life,
and may you give these gifts as well as receive them.

May you not become too concerned
with material matters, but instead place
immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart.

May you see your future
as one filled with promise and possibility.

May you find enough inner strength
to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent on another's judgements
of your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved.

 -- Author Unknown

 

Inspiration On 08/23/11

The purpose of your life is far greater than your
own personal fulfillment, peace of mind, or even
your happiness. It's far greater than your family,
your career, or even your wildest dreams and
ambitions.

If you want to know why you were placed on this
planet, you must begin with God. You were born
BY His purpose and FOR His purpose.

 -- Rick Warren

Inspiration On 07/29/11

All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find
with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will
not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus
off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your
unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another
feel guilty about something by blaming him, but you won't succeed
in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy.

 -- Wayne Dyer