Pick-me-up

Not having a great day.
I Googled "I need something to cheer me up"... and came across this wonderful remedy.
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole.
Enjoy.

New Year

An optimist stays up to see the New Year in. A pessimist waits to make sure the old one leaves.
~Bill Vaughan


Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can.
~Douglas Pagels, A Wonderful Resolution For The New Year!


“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”
~William Arthur Ward


“New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights”
~Hamilton Wright Mabie


“For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.”
~T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding II


“The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul”
~G. K. Chesterton


A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
~Edgar Guest


One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.
~John Burroughs


Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.
~Benjamin Franklin


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I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions. Over the past few years, I've barely even taken notice of the transition into the New Year. A couple days ago, I would have told you I'm not feeling anything special about the change to 2009, either.

And yet, this morning, I just find myself reading all these quotes, and feeling grateful for the chance for a fresh start, even if it is just a number on a calendar. A lot has happened this year - a lot of good things, and some really frustrating things, and some things I haven't even really talked about publicly. There's a lot I still want to improve about myself. Maybe this year, I'll see a lot of changes for the positive. But I'm still not going to make a formal resolution- that's just asking for a self-imposed guilt trip! ;)

But no matter what the case may be, I truly hope the coming year brings an abundance of happiness and love, despite any trials that may come our way. And not just for me, but for all of you who are my family and friends.

Happy 2009!

Three Great Mysteries

As heard in Stake Conference this morning:

There are three great mysteries in the world:

Air to a bird,
Water to a fish,
and Man to himself.

Meaning, the bird does not perceive the air it flies through, nor does the fish perceive the water it swims through.  Similarly, man does not perceive his own ability and worth.  But it is real.

Today, remember what you're worth, what your fellow human beings are worth.  And treat yourself and others accordingly.

The Questing Spirit

“I hope that you will develop the questing spirit. Be unafraid of new ideas for they are the stepping stones of progress. You will of course respect the opinions of others but be unafraid to dissent—if you are informed.

…Now I have mentioned freedom to express your thoughts, but I caution you that … in that search you will need at least three virtues; courage, zest, and modesty. The ancients put that thought in the form of a prayer. They said, ‘From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth, from the laziness that is content with half truth, from the arrogance that thinks it has all truth—O God of truth deliver us’.”

-Hugh B. Brown

Taken from
http://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/122-80.pdf

A Wizard of Earthsea

"...As a man's real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower: until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he must do..."

The above line is taken from the book "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin. I read this book for the first time after recently watching "The Jane Austen Book Club" movie, where one of the main characters tries (for most of the show) to convince one of the women to give the SciFi/Fantasy genre a chance, this author being the one he focused on, determined that she'd like it. I've never read anything by her, but I had at least heard of "A Wizard of Earthsea," and I already know that I love Fantasy books. I enjoyed the book, the older writing style, and the whole idea behind the story. I will definitely be looking for more of her books in the near future.

As for the quote, it really struck me when I read it. It seems to me that there's a lot of truth in that statement, even from a Gospel point of view: The more you gain in knowledge and true understanding, the more set your path in life is become, until at last there really is no choosing, only doing what you know you must do to live rightly.

Thought for the Day

I read this today, and I *really* like it. Just wanted to share :)

We can't do anything that is not spiritual. It's just a matter of what spirit we do it with.