I've been trying to get my blog to have a number of backlinks but am having a slow time of it. If you have the opprotunity, go to http://theeulogywriters.com and take a look.

CONSTANT VIGILANCE

Ever notice how life throws you curves on a pretty regular basis - and pretty serious ones? 

What did you want to be when you were a child? Didn't happen did it? 

Remember when you were about to graduate high school and you knew exactly where you were headed? Took a different route didn't you?

How about that dream spouse you envisioned? He/she is great but not at all like the person you fantasized.

Who would have guessed you'd have the friends you have or the car you drive or the house you live in or attend the church you attend or the kind of kids you have?

It would be nice to have a crystal ball sometimes - just so you know what's coming. But my guess is that, even then, you would find a few surprises along the way.

Here is the thing: We should EXPECT the unexpected. That's life. Sunshine and rain, storms and clouds and warm breezes - it all happens in a way we can't really control nor anticipate. But we can live our lives in anticipation of changes that surprise us. We can welcome them as blessings or new challenges or opportunities or we can be "bummed" every time we are blind-sided. I think we ought to choose the former rather than the latter. We'll be happier. We'll be more satisfied with life. We'll be ready for the next big surprise to surprise us.

DON'T HURRY - DON'T WORRY

The two biggest happiness and health killers in our lives are summed up in my title: Hurry and Worry.

When we are constantly on the move - going at top speed to get done all we think we have to do - we harm ourselves. The stress of always being on the go and feverish accomplishment simply is not good for us. We get headaches and stomach aches and muscle tension, we feel tired all the time, our heart rate and blood pressure is elevated...

Worry does much the same thing. When we worry we are distracted and unable to think about nor appreciate the good things in life, we become irritable, we have nightmares, we feel irrationally insecure.

So take a break from the busyness of the day. Take a deep breath and realize that worry has never accomplished anything and try to see the positive and good in your day.

EVER WONDER

I subscribe to one of those joke-a-day emails. I begin my day, like most Americans, by watching the news. Probably not the best way to get off to a positive start. So I attempt to neutralize it with something light-hearted. Today I received one of those "Ever Wonder..." lists. Ordinarily I wouldn't pass it on but today I saw one that really struck me as somehow significant. Here is the list with the one that hit me highlighted:

Ever Wonder:

- Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

- Why women can't put on mascara with their mouths closed?

- Why you don't ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

- Why "abbreviated" such a long word?

- Why it is that doctors call what they do "practice"?

- Why it is that to stop Windows 98, you have to click on "Start"?

- Why lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dish-washing liquid is made with real lemons?

- Why the man who invests all your money called a broker?

- Why the time of day with the slowest traffic is called rush hour?

- Why Noah didn't swat those two mosquitoes?

- Why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

- Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

- Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together? 
- If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?   

- If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

THE UNSEEN CEREMONY

The world is watching the Olympics this week. It's a wonderful thing to see the nations of the world getting together and compete in peace. There ought to be so much more of that. 

A friend sent me a link to a section of the opening ceremony that Americans didn't get to see. For some unknown reason NBC omitted it in favor of a Ryan Seacrest/Michael Phelps interview. It is, apparently, not uncommon for networks to cut from some of the opening ceremonies to insert commercials but to omit an entire performance NOT because of commercials is unprecedented. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if it had something to do with the religious tone of the performance. The music was a hymn: "Abide With Me." Nevertheless, the performance was a tribute to terrorist victims of 7/7, Britains attack the day after the Olympic Committee chose Great Britain as the site for these games.

The announcer announced it this way:

Ladies and gentlemen, please pause silent for our memorial wall for friends and family who can't be here tonight. The excitement of that moment in Singapore seven years ago when England won the games was tempered the next day with sorrow from the events of July 7th that year. A wall of remembrance for those no longer here to share in this event.

Watch it. You will be one of the few Americans who have the opportunity.

http://deadspin.com/5929778/heres-the-opening-ceremony-tribute-to-terrorism-victims-nbc-doesnt-want-you-to-see?tag=abidewithmeolympics

TAKE A MOMENT (OR TWO)

I usually think of myself as being pretty "even" temperamentally. I don't often get stressed or uptight about things. I am not much of a worrier. But I know a lot of people who are. I've even tried to convince some of them that worry doesn't actually change anything (except within themselves - all change being for the worse). So I was a bit disconcerted when I received a link twice today for the same site - calm.com Are people trying to tell me something?

It's really a pretty cool site. The idea is that you take a couple or a few minutes every so often to just look at beautiful scenery, listen to soothing music and, a new addition, listen to words of peace. I can't help but to think that, if everyone did this each mid-morning and mid-afternoon, our own personal worlds would be better places to be.  Check it out: http://www.calm.com

COURAGE TO GO ON

You must do the things you think you cannot do.
                                            - Eleanor Roosevelt

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

                                             - William James

Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success.
They quit on the one yard line.They give up at the last minute of 
the game one foot from a winning touchdown.
                                              - Ross Perot

Those who believe they can do something and 
those who believe they can't 
are both right.
                                                - Henry Ford

Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless 
when facing them.
                                                - Rabindranath Tagore

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
                                                - Eleanor Roosevelt

You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.
                                                 - Rabindranath Tagore
Don't give up.
There are too many nay-sayers out there who will try to discourage you.
Don't listen to them. The only one who can make you give up is yourself.
                                                 - Sidney Sheldon
 
One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.
                                                - Helen Keller

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is 
that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
                                             - Eleanor Roosevelt


You must do the things you think you cannot do.
                                             - Eleanor Roosevelt

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
                                              - William James

Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success.
They quit on the one yard line.They give up at the last minute of 
the game one foot from a winning touchdown.
                                                   - Ross Perot

Those who believe they can do something and 
those who believe they can't 
are both right.
                                              - Henry Ford

Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless 
when facing them.
                                              - Rabindranath Tagore
 
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
                                              - Eleanor Roosevelt

You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.
                                                - Rabindranath Tagore

Don't give up.
There are too many nay-sayers out there who will try to discourage you.
Don't listen to them. The only one who can make you give up is yourself.
                                                - Sidney Sheldon

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.
                                                - Helen Keller

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is 
that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
                                                - Eleanor Roosevelt

Smile

It's a sad but beautiful song written in 1936 by America's premier comedian, Charlie Chaplin - "Smile." The suggestion is that life is so very difficult - it is filled with heartbreak and problems. Life is filled with clouds and storms and discouragement. But perhaps, even in the midst of all that, if we can muster a smile, life won't be so hard. Crying does no good, giving up does no good, being sour does no good - - but maybe putting a smile on your face will work to change your perspective - your life - your fortune - your world.

It may - it may not. But neither can it hurt anything.

SMILE

Smile though your heart is aching;
Smile even though it's breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by.
If you smile through your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow,
You'll see the sun come shining through for you.

Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever so near,
That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile,
If you just smile.

That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile.

Lyrics by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons.
Music written by Charlie Chaplin, 1936.

"Smile - Give it a Try" 

(Click to see a video and hear the song sung by Nat King Cole)

SAVE YOUR LIFE - IN WORDS

Ever forget some of the things you've thought about? Of course you have. We forget 90% of what passes through our fertile minds. The internet has made it easy for people like me (and you if you are so inclined) to spout forth our ideas and impose them on anyone who has a bit of time on their hands and doesn't mind reading. But many have more private thoughts - deeper thoughts - more trivial thoughts - that ought to be chronicled. Start a journal. Do it on line if that is the best way for you (blogs can be made private by simply checking a box). Over the course of time you will find it interesting, fascinating, wonderful and scary to go back and see what you thought about things, people, events, ideas from your past. Setting up a Blogger.com blog takes about ten minutes and the "learning curve" is small. The down side.... Well, I don't think there is one. You've always wanted to journal. Start doing it today!