Tag Archives: joy
Softer and more beautiful
“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ” ― Norman Vincent Peale When you think of the holiday season, what words come to mind? I’m afraid that too often, we think of words such as busy, excited, rushed, tired, pressured. But no matter how many activities …
So much happiness (2014 version)
“He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted the children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of homes, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk– …
Better throughout the year
“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.”― Laura Ingalls Wilder Do you have any favorite childhood memories of Christmas that bring you joy to this day? I do, and I hope you do too. …
First find thankfulness
“This is the only life you will have before you enter eternity. If you want to find joy, you must first find thankfulness. Indeed, the one who is thankful for even a little enjoys much…It does not matter what your circumstances are; the instant you begin to thank God, even though your situation has not …
All the magic
“The Sussex lanes were very lovely in the autumn. I started going for long lone country walks among the spendthrift gold and glory of the year-end, giving myself up to the earth-scents and the sky-winds and all the magic of the countryside which is ordained for the healing of the soul.” — Monica Baldwin Saturday …
What we give
“Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give.” ― Ben Carson “No one has ever become poor by giving.” ― Anne Frank WOW, thanks to everyone who participated in the second anniversary blog celebration on Monday. I will go into all the details below, but the short version is that $2600 …
A happier state of mind
“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” — George Santayana Here in the northern hemisphere, we are enjoying the colors of the foliage and the cooling weather. Meanwhile, our neighbors south of the equator are enjoying the end of winter and …
The celebration of life
“Grace is the celebration of life, relentlessly hounding all the non-celebrants in the world. It is a floating, cosmic bash shouting its way through the streets of the universe…”― Robert Farrar Capon In at least three generations of my mother’s family, the males outnumber the females by a ratio of two to one, or more. …
The soul is healed
“The soul is healed by being with children.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky “A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.” ― Carl Sandburg What a difference one short year makes in the life of a baby! When I compare the photo above to the one posted one year ago today, which was taken …
We more than gain
“Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.” ― Samuel Butler Happy first day of fall! I hope this season is full of delightful gifts for you. What do you most look forward to at this time of year? Feel free to share some of your …
Outdoors in
“Bring the outdoors in. Plants make for a happy home.” – Mr Jason Grant There were a lot of ways my mother created a happy home for us, and one of them was the way she loved plants, indoors and out. She was often joked about spoken of in regard to her composting and organic …
To find the beautiful
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson A year ago today I wrote about Drew’s beloved toy raccoon Gludgey, who went along with our family everywhere we traveled. Books, favorite snacks, and comfortable shoes are other things we …
There is nothing lacking
“Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” — Lao-tzu It’s a curious paradox that some of the people who have the most possessions never seem to have enough, and some with the least are the most content. …
If we only knew
“Good heavens, of what uncostly material is our earthly happiness composed— if we only knew it! What incomes have we not had from a flower, and how unfailing are the dividends of the seasons!” — James Russell Lowell It’s hard to choose a favorite season, but this time of year I’m especially aware of the …
Sought and found
“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” ― Albert Schweitzer Matt was so happy to be able to return to Camp Baker this year, after missing last year due …
A moment just before
“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.” ― A.A. Milne …
Now that I am fifty
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” — …
Solaced and refreshed
“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.” ― Martin Luther I connect with a lot of things Martin Luther said, but none more than this quote. There is nothing quite like music to soothe, heal, cheer, console or bring cathartic tears. Music …
Stored honey
“Art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on wings of misery and travail.” — Theodore Dreiser Until I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2010, I used to put lots of honey in my tea each morning. I’ve always loved honey. It amazes me how hard the bees have to work to make …
Odd corners
“It is not on mountaintops that the charm of life lies, for we are seldom there. It is in nooks and vales, in odd corners, that life is spent and finds its settings.” — Wallace Nutting Your summer vacation might now be a pleasant memory, or maybe you didn’t even take one. In any case, …
Fuel for our journey
“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” — Kenji Miyazawa That sounds like a good idea to me. However, it may be difficult to implement. As fuels go, pain is an expensive one. And it’s not particularly clean-burning, either. Still, there are times when we don’t have much choice. It …
Wildly enthusiastic
“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things…It has been after such times of joy that I have achieved my greatest creativity and produced my best work.” — Leo F. Buscaglia More than once over the years, people have made fun of me for getting excited over things they considered minor or insignificant. Confusing their …
Unfailing love
“The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” — Psalm 33:5 One year ago today, I wrote of my joy in seeing Dr. and Mrs. Rodriguez, and having a new grandson, and all the ways we had been blessed with gifts of comfort and consolation amid all the sorrows. …
To be the caretaker
“Life is too short to be the caretaker of the wrong details.” — Alexandra Stoddard I don’t have too many regrets in life, but one thing I know for sure I’d do less of, if I had it to do over: FILING. For years, I compulsively kept neatly tabbed file folders with everything from medical …
What is left
“A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen.” — Edward de Bono I’ve written very little here about my younger brother Al. I guess there are a lot of reasons why. As he is my only younger sibling, I’ve always felt a stronger need to protect him, however illogical …
Defeat Despair 