MIXED BAGGAGE

[MajestyJo]

Received this from a friend in Texas:

Sometimes I think, Sometimes I don't.

Maybe this world is another planets hell.

The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.

It is my observation that too many people are spending money that they haven't earned to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like.

How much can I get away with and still go to heaven?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

If the product says "Do not use if seal is broken", how are you supposed to open it and use it?

Women won't be equal to men until they can walk down the street
with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
When lightning strikes the ocean why don't all the fish die?

God looks beyond your faults. When will you?

[MajestyJo]

Nature is the Art of God.
--Sir Thomas Browne

My relationship with nature and plants is almost like religion with me.
--Monty Cralley

Trying to pray is praying.
--Anonymous

"Nothing is good or bad but by comparison."

-- Thomas Fuller

[MajestyJo]

A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice.

The older preacher walked up to a rose bush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing any of the petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But, because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rosebud while keeping every petal intact . . . It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do.


Noticing the young preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite the following poem:


It is only a tiny rosebud
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
Then, in my hands, they die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
The flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?

So, I'll trust in Him for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the Pilgrim's way.

[MajestyJo]

The following is a list of 110 self-nurturing ideas that have to do with "Esteem Needs." Do at least one of these activities every day.

Psysiological Needs:

Eat breakfast
Take a nap
Break a bad habit, if just for today
Get at least 7 hours sleep
Drink 8 glasses of water today
Eat a healthy snack

Safety Needs:

Repair something in your home
Learn how to protect your health
Wear a seat belt

Belonging and Love Needs:

Call your mother or father
Search out a long-lost friend
Open up to the person closest to you
Pay a compliment
Turn off the TV and talk
Get to know the neighbor's dog or cat
Listen to what you hear
Tell someone you love him or her
Hold a hand
Hug someone
Contact someone you've been thinking about
Admire a child
Get to know the neighbors
Kiss a friend
Tell someone how much you appreciate him or her

Esteem Needs:

Blow up a balloon and turn it loose
Make your own candles
Walk instead of ride
Give yourself a compliment
Read a poem aloud
Look at the stars
Use a new word
Frame a picture
Forget an old grudge
Take yourself to lunch
Go to the library
Try a new food
Listen to the rain on the roof
Feed the ducks
Jump in a pile of leaves
Appreciate trees
Sign up for a class
Study a dew-laden cobweb
Learn something new
Sing in the shower
List ten things you do well
Walk in the rain
Waste a little time
Curl up before an open fire
Buy a ticket to a special event
Return something you've borrowed
Organize some small corner of your life
Pop popcorn
Draw a picture, even if you can't draw
Keep a secret
Enjoy silence
Walk to the nearest park
Go wading
Light a candle and read by candlelight
Pick up some travel brochures and dream
Smell a flower
Clean out your wallet
Take an early morning walk
Look at old photos
Run down a hill
Write a poem
Start a new project
Walk barefoot
Tell a joke
Take a different road to get home
Build a sandcastle
Ask someone for help
Let someone do you a favor
Reread a favorite book
Listen to the dawn
Imagine being your favorite tree
Watch the sun set
Hide a love note where a loved one will find it
Make a surprise gift
Go to a fair
Lie on the grass
Go for a swim
Rearrange a room
Let someone love you
Drop a quarter where someone will find it
Hum
Bake bread

Self-Actualization Needs:

Visit a lonely person or a shut-in
Help a stranger
Be thankful
Take a risk
Do something you've always wanted to do
Say "yes"
Say "no"
Meditate
Throw away something you don't like
Try to feel another person's hurt (or joy)
Practice courage in one small way
Warm a heart
Laugh at yourself
Send a card to someone for no reason
Encourage a young person
Follow an impulse
Put yourself out for someone
Acknowledge when you are wrong
Volunteer some time to a good cause
Give yourself a present
Allow yourself to make a mistake
Allow yourself to make another mistake
Do something hard to do
Don't do something -- sit there
Take time to talk to neighborhood children

Source unknown to me

[MajestyJo]

Hugs to you all.



Steps To Happiness

Author Unknown


Everybody Knows:
You can't be all things to all people.
You can't do all things at once.
You can't do all things equally well.
You can't do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.

So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of *being you*.

Then:
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you'll be a most vital mortal.

Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it's more than a right, it's your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you'll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.

"People will forget what you said
People will forget what you did
But people will never forget how you made them feel"

[MajestyJo]

Happy IVGLDSW Day!

Today is International Very Good Looking, Darn Smart Woman's Day, so please send this message to someone you think fits this description. Please do not send it back to me as I have already received it from a Very Good Looking, Darn Smart Woman! And remember this motto to live by: Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO what a ride!'
Have a wonderful day!

To the Girls.

Inside every older person is a younger person -- wondering what the heck happened.
- Cora Harvey Armstrong-

Inside me lives a skinny woman crying to get out. But I can usually shut her up with cookies.
(Unknown)

The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.
-Helen Hayes (at 73)-

My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first one being -- hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.
- Erma Bombeck -

Old age ain't no place for sissies ..
-Bette Davis-

Forty is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart.
- Caryn Leschen -

If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
-Catherine-

I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on.
- Roseanne Barr-

Behind every successful man is a surprised woman.
- Maryon Pearson-

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.
-Eleanor Roosevelt-

When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over. Make an exception for me, just lemonade please. I have an allergy to alcohol.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
- Dr. Seuss

Posted Step 10, 2010 a bit belated, but good any day!

[MajestyJo]

The greatest achievement is selflessness.

The greatest worth is self-mastery.

The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.

The greatest precept is continual awareness.

The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.

The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.

The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.

The greatest generosity is non-attachment.

The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.

The greatest patience is humility.

The greatest effort is not concerned with results.

The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

- Atisha

Think of something that you fear to lose, then ask yourself, 'Were I to lose it, would I be a different person than I am today?' In yourself, be contented. Be whole.

From Do It Now!, by J. Donald Walters


A lot of these I fall short on. I am a firm believer though in what I think and project comes back to me. If I put out negativity, it comes back in kind.

[MajestyJo]

According to Jamie Sams' Animal Medicine book, the skunk means respect. It means to attract others with your charm, yet repel those who steal your energy.

THE TAO OF POOH!

"Those who have no compassion have no wisdom. Knowledge, yes; cleverness, maybe; wisdom, no. A clever mind is not a heart.Knowledge doesn't really care. Wisdom does."

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast? said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.

"What's that?" the Unbeliever asked.
"Wisdom from the Western Taoist,"I said.
"It sounds like something from Winnie-the-Pooh ," he said.
"It is," I said.
"That's not about Taoism," he said.
"Oh, yes it is," I said."

Through working in harmony with life's circumstances, Taoist understanding changes what others may perceive as negative into something positive.

When you discard arrogance, complexity, and a few other things that get in the way, sooner or later you will discover that simple, childlike, and mysterious secret known to those of the Uncarved Block: Life is Fun.

The wise are not learned; the learned are not wise

A well-frog cannot imagine the ocean, nor can a summer insect conceive of ice. How then can a scholar understand the Tao? He is restricted by his own learning.

"Lots of people talk to animals," said Pooh.
"Not that many listen though."
"That's the problem."

You'd be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Things Are As They Are.

Everything has its own place and function. That applies to people, although many don't seem to realize it, stuck as they are in the wrong job, the wrong marriage, or the wrong house. When you know and respect your Inner Nature, you know where you belong. You also know where you don't belong.

" ... but, no matter how he may seem to others, especially to those fooled by appearances, Pooh, the Uncarved Block, is able to accomplish what he does because he is simpleminded."

" From the state of the Uncarved Block comes the ability to enjoy the simple and the quiet, the natural and the plain. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work, odd as that may appear to others at times. As Piglet put it in Winnie-the-Pooh, "Pooh hasn't much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they turn out right."

"Not like Pooh, the most effortless Bear we've ever seen."
"Just How do you do it, Pooh?"
"Do What?" asked Pooh.
"Become so Effortless."
"I don't do much of anything," he said.
"But all those things of yours get done."
"They just sort of happen," he said"

" It's not surprising, therefore, that the Backson thinks of progress in terms of fighting and overcoming. One of his little idiosyncrasies, you might say. Of course real progress involves growing and developing, which involves changing inside, but that's something the inflexible Backson is unwilling to do."

"While Eeyore frets ...
... and Piglet hesitates
... and Rabbit calculates
... and Owl pontificates
...Pooh just is."
"Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind, "Pooh!," he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you."

"Rabbit's clever," said Pooh thoughtfully.
"Yes,"said Piglet, "Rabbit's clever."
"And he has Brain."
"Yes," said Piglet, "Rabbit has Brain."
There was a long silence.
"I suppose," said Pooh, "that that's why he never understands anything."

One walks alone
yet not alone
One walks with
the beauty of
the sunrise
the happiness of
the morning song of the birds
the silver of a morning dew
and the light of day
One walks alone with the miracle of life....


I identified so much with this as an adult child. For so many years, I didn't see the birds and animals and the joys of living around me. I was so caught up in the "oh woe is me, I am so hard done by" and went through life not seeing the beauty of life.

We are all God's children and loved. Love the line "Pooh just is!" That is how I try to live each day.

[MajestyJo]

How would you rate your level of "Inner Peace"?
Enough to stay calm in a den of lions?
Enough to get through a good day?
Enough for the next five minutes,
so long as everybody leaves you alone?

You may need a good case of inner peace,
a disease that could leave you stress-free
and contented for years to come.
A chiropractor named Jeff Rockwell
composed a list he calls
"Symptoms of Inner Peace."
You may have already caught this disease!
See how many of these symptoms you exhibit:

1.
A tendency to think and act
spontaneously rather than from
fears based on past experiences.

2.
An unmistakable ability
to enjoy each moment.

3.
A loss of interest in judging self.

4.
A loss of interest in judging others.

5.
A loss of interest in conflict.

6.
A loss of interest in interpreting
the actions of others.

7.
A loss of ability to worry
(this is a serious symptom).

8.
Frequent,
overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

9.
Contented feelings of connectedness
with others and nature.

10.
Frequent attacks of smiling
through the eyes of the heart.

11.
Increasing susceptibility to love
extended by others as well as
the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

12.
An increasing tendency
to let things happen.

Inner peace is a communicable disease
that could possibly infect
your home or workplace.
You may already be showing signs of it
and quite possibly be passing it along to others!
Rockwell warns:
"If you have all or even most
of the above symptoms,
please be advised that your condition
of PEACE may be so far advanced
as to not be treatable."

Have you caught it?

[MajestyJo]

When you consciously invoke growing, you consciously invoke the parts of yourself that are not whole to come into the foreground of your life. With each recurrence of anger, jealousy, or fear, you are given the choice to challenge it, or to give in to it. Each time you challenge it, it loses power and you gain power.

- Gary Zukav

On Oprah, she talked about not giving up your personal power. Just because you are a strong woman, there is no reason to give up a part of yourself for someone else. It is okay to be you. Own your own power. Ironically, she was talking to one of the most powerful woman in the world, Serena Williams.

For so many years, I gave away my personal power. I did not know I had a choice.

Each time I am faced with an old scenario, I am given the choice in recovery as to whether I am going to let it continue to play out in my life or am I going to step up to the plate and challenge it and do what I can do to heal and change things.

When I surrender, I am empowered to do what I need to do for myself. I no longer have to give those old patterns and behaviors the power to rule my life.

Just for today, I take back my power. I am worthy of a new life and a new sense of well being and peace.

When I surrender, I am empowered to do what I need to do today for my sobriety.

[MajestyJo]

If you plant honesty, You will reap trust
If you plant goodness, You will reap friends
If you plant humility, You will reap greatness
If you plant perseverance, You will reap victory
If you plant consideration, You will reap harmony
If you plant hard work, You will reap success
If you plant forgiveness, You will reap reconciliation

If you plant openness, You will reap intimacy
If you plant patience, You will reap improvements
If you plant faith, You will reap miracles

But If you plant dishonesty, You will reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, You will reap loneliness
If you plant pride, You will reap destruction
If you plant envy, You will reap trouble
If you plant laziness, You will reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, You will reap isolation
If you plant greed, You will reap loss
If you plant gossip, You will reap enemies
If you plant worries, You will reap wrinkles
If you plant sin, You will reap guilt.

Source Unknown

[MajestyJo]

God and the Spider



During World War II,
a US marine was separated from his unit
on a Pacific island.
The fighting had been intense,
and in the smoke and the crossfire
he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle,
he could hear enemy soldiers
coming in his direction.
Scrambling for cover,
he found his way up a high ridge
to several small caves in the rock.
Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves.
Although safe for the moment,
he realized that once the enemy
soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge,
they would quickly search
all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed,
"Lord, if it be your will,
please protect me.
Whatever your will though,
I love you and trust you.
Amen."

After praying,
he lay quietly listening to the enemy
begin to draw close.


He thought,
"Well, I guess the Lord isn't going
to help me out of this one."
Then he saw a spider begin to build a web
over the front of his cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy
searching for him all the while,
the spider layered strand after strand of web
across the opening of the cave.

"Hah,"
he thought.
"What I need is a brick wall
and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web.
God does have a sense of humor."

As the enemy drew closer he watched
from the darkness of his hideout
and could see them searching
one cave after another.
As they came to his,
he got ready to make his last stand.
To his amazement, however,
after glancing in the direction of his cave,
they moved on.
Suddenly, he realized that
with the spider web over the entrance,
his cave looked as if
no one had entered for quite a while.
"Lord, forgive me,"
prayed the young man.
"I had forgotten that in you a spider's web
is stronger than a brick wall."

We all face times of great trouble.
When we do,
it is so easy to forget
the victories that God
would work in our lives,
sometimes in the most surprising ways.
As the great leader,
Nehemiah,
reminded the people of Israel
when they faced the task of rebuilding Jerusalem,
"In God we will have success!"
[Nehemiah 2:20]

Remember:
Whatever is happening in your life,
with God,
a mere spider's web can become
a brick wall of protection.
Believe He is with you always.
Just speak His name through Jesus His son,
and you will see
His great power and love for you.

[MajestyJo]

I Will Come Home To You

~*Marge Tindal*~



O' Maker Of Life
into this earthly shell I am bound
until I am washed upon your shore
awaiting passage
forevermore at peace
among the oceans of my people
Having floated many moon-moved waves
I now await the tide that will bring me
into the serenity of your gentle waters
Whenever you are ready
I will come home to you

Posted on my site in 2010

[MajestyJo]

God Forgive Me When I Whine



Today upon a bus I saw a lovely girl with golden hair. I envied her - she seemed so gay - and wished I were as fair.

But suddenly she rose to leave. I saw her hobble down the isle, she had only one leg and wore a crutch, but as she passed, a smile…

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I have two legs, the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold them had such charm. I stopped to talk to him, he seemed so glad - if I was late could do no harm. As I left he said to me, “I thank-you, you had been so kind. It’s nice to talk to folks like you, you see,” he said, “I am Blind.”

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I have two eyes, the world is mine.

Later while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue. He stood and watched the others play, he did not know what to do. I stopped a moment and said, “Why don’t you join the others, dear?” He looked ahead without a word and then I knew, he couldn't hear.

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I have two ears, the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I go, with eyes to see the sun-set glow, with ears to hear what I would know.

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I am blessed indeed, the world is mine!

-unknown

[MajestyJo]

Received from my friend in Texas.

This is the kind of story you need when it seems like the world is spiraling out of control. Not many people get a picture of this proud bird snuggled up next to them!



Freedom and Jeff.

Freedom and I have been together 11 years this summer.
She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings.
Her left wing doesn't open all the way even after surgery,
It was broken in 4 places. She's my baby.

When Freedom came in she could not stand and both wings
were broken. She was Emaciated and covered in lice. We
made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took
her to the vet's office. From then on, I was always around
her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and
it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in.
I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and
she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes.
We also had to tube feed her for weeks.

This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't
stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to
euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week. You know you
don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab,
and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put
down that Friday, and I was to come in that Thursday. I
didn't want to go to the center because I couldn't bear the
thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and
when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I
went back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her
own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was
just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.

We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to
glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to
jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools
in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers and
Radio (believe it or not) and some TV. Miracle Pets even did
a show about us.

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ
plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo.
Lost the hair - the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I
felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom
out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams
and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time
again.

Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving.
I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer
was not gone after 8 rounds of chemo. My last option was a
stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had
to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and
I was told that all the cancer was gone.



So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and
take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty
and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her
up, and we went out front to the top of the
Hill. I hadn't said a word to Freedom, but
somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped
both her wings around me to where I could feel
them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle
wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and
stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like
that for I don't know how long . That was a magic
moment. We have been soul mates ever since she
came in. This is a very special bird.

On a side note: I have had people who were sick
come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has
some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was
terminal come up to us and I let him hold her.
His knees just about buckled and he swore he could
feel her power course through his body. I have so
many stories like that..

I never forget the honor I have of being so close to
such a magnificent spirit as Freedom.

Hope you enjoyed this!



Feel free to share this in memory of anyone you know who has been
struck down by cancer or is still living with it
or just someone who enjoys a GREAT STORY.
Snoopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/freedom.asp