CONGRATULATIONS DEVEREAUX!!!

My sister has completed her 48-state, 2 month, 13K mile+ odyssey!
A great, big, huge congratulations on your extraordinary accomplishment!!!

According to the American Heritage Dictionary:

Regret -
To feel sorry, disappointed or distressed about.
To MOURN.
Distress over a desire unfulfilled or an ACTION performed or NOT PERFORMED.
An expression of GRIEF or disappointment.

Regrets are nothing to be ashamed of. And having regrets does not mean denying one's past experiences nor whom one is. Quite the contrary. It is Honesty. And only through honesty can one truly embrace one's Real self.
Regret, as per the dictionary explanation above, mentions the words mourn and grief. So if someone we loved died (especially prematurely) and we loved them and miss them -- that is regret.
Or if one wishes one had taken action to save a loved one's life but didn't,
that is regret.
Mourning a loved one's passing and experiencing grief over an action not performed, is only natural and normal.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

In today's society, we may confuse meekness with a lack of courage or self-respect. But meekness has a fuller and deeper significance in scripture. It grows from commitment to God and humility of soul and leads to inner peace. Jesus calls us to this meekness.
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" (Matt. 5:5).

Meekness comes from a peaceful, humble center.
--Donald L. Maly

Just a thought for the day...

Lately I've heard all this talk about "no regrets." Sure that's a great, lofty ambition to strive towards. And a good motto to try and live your life by. But, if a person has lived on this earth for at least 40 years -- and I mean lived, really lived -- then there WILL be regrets! It's only natural. I believe if a person says they have lived thus far and have no regrets then either: a) they haven't truly lived, b) they're in denial, or c) they are delusional. Let's face it, life is a series of trials and errors. Life is a learning experience. If you live life, you are going to make mistakes. It's only human. We're mortals. Mortals make mistakes. And from mistakes come regrets. If you've lived on this earth for 40 yrs, you've more than likely: fallen in love, loved, been loved, been a victim, been cheated, been lied to, been stolen from, been betrayed. It's all a part of life. When something bad has happened, how can one not feel regrets? Unless you're a robot, cold and unfeeling, it's just not humanly possible. And if you can say you have no regrets, that's either denying it happened, not acknowledging it ever happened or if none of those things have ever happened to you, you must have existed in an extremely remote part of the world, under a rock! With life comes many experiences, good and bad. And to say you have lived it with no regrets means you've never made any mistakes. If you've never made any mistakes, that means you're perfect and lived a perfect life. NO one is perfect. No one has lived a perfect life. And that's not to say you can't have had a happy life or even a wonderful life. You can have achieved goals and made dreams a reality. But if in all life's infinite experiences, all the trials, errors, trips and travails, if you still think you can say you've lived a life without any regrets, then you've forgotten something that's happened, blocked it out or you're in deep denial or you are simply delusional.
Just a thought for the day.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.

Vaclav Havel

But what avail the largest gifts of Heaven,
When drooping health and spirits go amiss?
How tasteless then whatever can be given!
Health is the vital principle of bliss.

James Thomson

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

Aristotle

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.

--Chinese proverb

Hey ya'll! I just have to give a shout-out to my sister Devereaux! She has been through 34 of our great states in the past six weeks. She's conducting interviews for a documentary she's going to make called "America Speaks." There is an article written about her in the Sept issue of The Informed Constituent (out of NY). Check it out at www.fourthbranchofamerica.com, pg 1 and 12.
You can follow her progress by going to her blog: http://www.usa-speaks.blogspot.com/.
I'm so proud of her! Congratulations! Way to go sis!!!

10 Things You Can Do to Fight Global Warming!

1. Recycle and buy minimally packaged goods as much as possible.
2. Wash clothes in cold or warm water, not hot.
3. Install low-flow shower heads to use less water.
4. Run the dishwasher only when full and don't use heat to dry dishes.
5. Replace standard light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.
6. Plug air leaks in windows and doors to increase energy efficiency.
7. Replace old appliances with energy-efficient models.
8. Walk, bike, carpool or use public transportation whenever possible.
9. Adjust your thermostat --- lower in winter, higher in summer.
10. Share these simple steps with friends and family and increase awareness!

May your joys be as deep as the ocean, your sorrows as light as its foam.

Anonymous

The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.

Anais Nin

What a horrendous way to wake up! The sound of demolition and destruction. Another house in the Heights being torn down. Here it is, SEVEN AM in the morning, when the Houston noise ordinance states that all commercial activity/noise should take place between the hours of 8:00 am and 8:00 pm. Whatever. No one pays attention to rules nowadays anyway. Hell, if the President of the United States can defy rules, then why can't the rest of us? Oh, well, don't even get me started on that topic! Back to destruction. I'm so sick of demolition in Houston. NOTHING is sacred. First the Shamrock Hilton, then AstroWorld and for years they've been trying to find an alternative use for the Astrodome. And just the other day, I heard some jerk on tv discussing how keeping the Dome around is wasting taxpayers' money and should be torn down. Now the River Oaks Theatre and the Alabama Bookstop are in imminent danger from the wrecking ball. City Council passed some kind of ordinance deeming them historical entities, but even that is not enough to protect them from demolition. So what's the point then, if the ordinance doesn't have enough bite to protect the properties from destruction??!! They've already torn down a portion of the River Oaks shopping mall across the street, which used to house a Blackeye Pea restaurant. I just know the theatre and bookstore will suffer the same fate. It's a damn shame.
Crash!! Bang!! Whang!! The sound of glass shattering. The sound of wood crunching and breaking up like so much kindling. Not only the physical destruction -- but just think of all the memories, from all the families, that inhabited that house. Who lived their lives there, who shared the happy times as well as the heartache and pain. All the hopes, dreams and cherished moments embedded in those ceilings, walls and floors. And now it's just so much mulch under the devastating plow of the mechanical equipment. What a haunting, disturbing, distressful, depressing, sinister sound. I can literally feel the pain and loss being squeezed out of every single timber. It scratches and scars my very soul. And from the sound of it, they're clearing the whole friggin lot. Which means the killing of all flowers, plants and trees. All for GREED. All for the Almighty dollar. All in the name of Progress...

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

--Mahatma Gandhi

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

--Buddha

St. Theresa of Avila's urging for those seeking their calling:
"Christ has no body now on earth but yours; yours are the only hands with which he can do his work, yours are the only feet with which he can go about the world. Yours are the only eyes through which his compassion can shine forth upon a a troubled world. Christ has no body on earth now but yours."

'Today realize that Spirit has no hands, head or heart like yours. No other woman on earth can do what you alone are called to do, can give to the world what you alone were sent to give through your authentic gifts. The call may be so faint you can barely make out the message, but if you listen, you will hear it.'

--Sarah Ban Breathnach
Simple Abundance

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.

Marcus Aurelius