holyapostlescoupkitchen.wordpress.com
Henry David Thoreau via recitethis.com
Category Archives: Encouragement
Celebrate!
Lucia Mejia saved to Canas
Marc Middleton via GrowingBolder.com
Filed under Encouragement, Faces, Favorite Quotes
Role Model
Golda Radner – SayingImages.com
Filed under Amazing Animals, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
Definition of “Age”
Matt Maldre via meetville.com via Quote Master
Filed under Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
The Wisdom of Pooh
A.A. Milne via Begin With Yes
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
Go Make Stuff Today
SweatpantsandCoffee via Cindy Basnett Thurman
Filed under Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
I’m Just Beginning
283 Best Force de lage
“As long as I am breathing, in my eyes, I am just beginning.” ~ Criss Jami
Filed under Encouragement, Faces, Favorite Quotes
Proud
I had a nice chat with our son this morning. He said he had spent most of the day today (It’s 1:00 in the morning tomorrow now) at a cafe he likes, doing computer work for a client.
All of a sudden a Chinese girl came into the cafe, distraught because she had left her purse in a red truck (taxi). Our son was able to talk to her in Mandarin, called the police and talked to them in Thai. They were able to find the particular red truck, the driver, and the purse. Our son said that would have never happened in China. I think it wouldn’t have happened in the United States, either. He said the Thai people are very nice.
I’m so pleased that he wanted to – and was able to – help, speaking in two languages. He has always thought it was important to try to learn the language wherever you are, showing respect for the country and its people. I’m happy that all his work on language classes actually helped someone in distress today.
(The picture above shows the Chinese people on the left, including the girl with her Cat’s Eye bag. The Thai red truck driver in the middle, and the Thai police on the right.) It makes me feel good that the driver was honest, the police were helpful, and the girl was helped. There is still good in the world!
Any Time You Can
Max Eastman via sayingimages.com
“A sense of humor… is needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.” ~ Hugh Sidey
“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.” ~ Mark Twain
I don’t know why, but I’m thinking of my dad today.
Part of his life was hard. He fell off a horse when he was three and busted his arm in three places. Back then, the doctors did the best they could, but his left arm was much shorter than his right, curved, and his hand almost useless. He was teased about it in school. He felt bad because they wouldn’t accept him to serve in the military because of it. He learned to use humor as a way to break through people’s initial reaction to his arm. In fact, there were whole patches of time I would forget that others might consider him ‘handicapped.’ He learned to use his humor and wit to make his living- carving out a space writing radio advertising spots. He billed himself as the second worst radio voice in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He went from barely making a living to never having to look for clients again, winning Addy awards – plus a silver one for “Lifetime Achievement.”
He couldn’t control his alcohol consumption and smoked heavily, ending up an alcoholic with emphysema. He joined Alcoholics Anonymous. He learned to carry an oxygen tank.vHe still kept his sense of humor, drawing cartoon drawings of himself, making others laugh. He taught my brother and me to appreciate humor – puns, jokes of all sorts, funny stories, funny situations, sarcasm, and to practice the ability to stand back and look at things, trying to see the funny side. This has been a lifesaver for me.
When he died, he wrote on a scrap of paper, “Remember me laughing.” And I do. I remember him telling stories, laughing so helplessly he could hardly finish. He and the lucky people listening would all be exhausted when he finished – stomachs hurting from laughing, cheeks hurting from smiling so hard – at the stories, but also enjoying the joy we all experienced as he told them.
“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” ~ Charlie Chaplin
“I have always felt that laughter in the face of reality is probably the finest sound there is and will last until the day when the game is called on account of darkness. In this world, a good time to laugh is any time you can.” ~ Linda Ellerbee
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Family, Funny Signs - Humor, life lessons, Tribute
My To-Do List Reminder
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes, Good Thoughts
Priceless
Me Amore 5 on Flickr
“In terms of days and moments lived, you’ll never again be as young as you are right now, so spend this day, the youth of your future, in a way that deflects regret. Invest in yourself. Have some fun. Do something important. Love somebody extra. In one sense, you’re just a kid, but a kid with enough years on her to know that every day is priceless.” ~ Victoria Moran, Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit
Filed under Encouragement, Faces, Favorite Quotes, Good Thoughts
Thoughts on Getting Older
The Motivated Type on Etsy
“I’ve enjoyed every age I’ve been and each has had its own individual merit. Every laugh line, every scar, is a badge I wear to show I’ve been present, the inner rings of my personal tree trunk that I display proudly for all to see. Nowadays, I don’t want a “perfect” face and body; I want to wear the life I’ve lived.” ~ Pat Benatar
Filed under Encouragement, Faces, Favorite Quotes, Good Thoughts
Fountain of Youth
57besteverdaypeopleimagesonPinterest
“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.” ~ Sophia Loren
Filed under Attitude, Childlike Fun, Creativity, Encouragement, Faces, Favorite Pictures, Favorite Quotes
Making a Difference
Mandy Hale via HealthyPlace.com
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes, Friendship, kindness
Awesome!
Purple Clover via Cindy Basnett Thurman
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Favorite Quotes, Funny Signs - Humor
Poor Little Fishes!
Our aquarium filter pump suddenly died. I’m not really sure how long it had been on the fritz, but suddenly I noticed that the little fish weren’t happy and that their water looked cloudy. I had just changed the filter cartridge on the first, but I changed it again. I couldn’t get any movement of the water when I plugged it in!
This kind of situation is when I usually ask my husband for help. I couldn’t this time because he was helping a ham guy take down his ham radio towers and wouldn’t be home until it was too late for the poor little fishes. I looked in my supplies and found I did have another pump, but it was a different size and style from the one we were using. I sat down and read the instructions and put the pump together, put the cartridge that came with it in the pump, installed it in the aquarium and plugged it in. It worked!
The pump is actually the wrong size and the top of the aquarium won’t go on the way it should. I’ve ordered a replacement pump like the one we had before, plus more filter cartridges, and I’ll change things out when the new stuff arrives, putting the too-large pump back in storage in case of another failure. I feel good, though, that I was able to do an interim fix so the poor fishes wouldn’t be too uncomfortable.
Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Challenges, Encouragement
Together
Zen to Zany via Cathy Ruggiero
Filed under Attitude, Bright Ideas, Encouragement, opportunities
What is Happiness?
No Sidebar via Stephanie Youmans Wilson
Filed under Encouragement, Favorite Quotes
“What are You Doing Special for Your Birthday?”
BoredPanda
We just got back from our Friday Lunch Bunch and errands. Linda and Kay helped me celebrate my birthday. I told them that I really appreciated the gifts, but that the REAL gift was their friendship. Linda asked me, “What are you doing special for your birthday?” I thought a minute, then smiled, saying, “Absolutely nothing. My whole life is a celebration.”
We got the mushroom compost that the good co-op people had ordered for me and some onion sets. We’ve just come in from mixing a while bunch of Mel’s Mix and we topped off the two brick tomato planters on the east side of our house.
I’m hot (even though it’s a really beautiful day), breathing a bit hard, and gulping some iced tea as I type. I’m going to rest awhile, and then go out and plant my onions.
When I come back in I’ll play in my art room awhile, working on a new theme for thank you notes, stationery, and note cards.
My friends and relatives have made me feel special today. How could one ask for a more special day than this?
Filed under Attitude, Encouragement, Family, Friendship
Debbye’s Bouquet
My friend Debbye Hughes was fighting cancer when she got me into art. She was creating watercolors, actually giving me a couple, and got mad at me when I oohed and ahhed over her work, wishing I could do something like that. She glared at me, saying, “What’s keeping you from it, Linda? You have no excuse. YOU have the time. YOU can practice until you do as well as you can. Who cares if your paintings don’t go anywhere but your own refrigerator door? JUST DO IT!
When I went to her funeral several months later, there were two huge bins on either side of the chapel door. At the end of the service, we were told to take a handful of the daffodil bulbs from a bin and plant them. The idea was that we would think of Debbye (just in case we didn’t remember how special she was by herself) each spring when the daffodils bloomed. I had never heard of anyone asking this and loved the idea.
I planted mine all in a bunch in the front yard, hoping that when they came up, they would form a kind of daffodil bouquet. This picture shows you that the idea was pretty successful. Just an added reminder of the wonderful lady I had the opportunity to know, and a reminder not to give up on trying to create art.
When I was out walking Amber (she’s now clamoring for me to take her out again, putting her head under my arm and bumping my fingers off the keys over and over while ‘complaining’ in her dramatic whine) and saw the sun shining through the greenery and flowers in this group of daffodils in the back yard. I hope that Mother Nature doesn’t send crushing cold through here, freezing all the nice blooms that have come up all around the yard.
Filed under Encouragement, Mother Nature
creativeartworksblog 