When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

Came across this lovely poem by Mary Rita Schilke Korazan that I thought you might enjoy. It's a message every adult should read because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator,

and I wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking, 

I saw you feed a stray cat,

and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw you make my favorite cake for me,

and I knew that little things are special things.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I heard you say a prayer,

and I believed that there was a God to talk to.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I felt you kiss me goodnight,

and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn't looking, 

I saw tears come from your eyes,

and I learned that sometimes things hurt,

but it's alright to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I saw that you cared,

and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking,

I looked....

and I wanted to say thanks for all the things 

I saw when you thought I wasn't looking. 

Different Drummers

I came across this excerpt from David Keirsey's book, Please Understand Me II, in an old email today and thought I would share it with you. 

These words resonate pretty strongly with me at the moment as I try to understand the beat of another's drummer and they similarly try to understand the beat of mine. It can get pretty hairy sometimes because we can both be stubborn, but there are lessons in the words below that I will endeavor to take to heart in my less stubborn moments. 

Different Drummers

If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong.
Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view.
Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly.

Or yet if I act, or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action, let me be.
I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you.


I may be your spouse, your parent, your offspring, your friend, or your colleague. If you will allow me any of my own wants, or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right -- for me. To put up with me is the first step to understanding me. Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And in understanding me you might come to prize my differences from you, and, far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences.


Amen.

Give Everyone An A: The Art of Possibility

In recent weeks I have been employing a little trick I learned from the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, Benjamin Zander with great success. In his book, The Art of Possibility, Mr. Zander takes a decidedly positive approach to personal and business relationships and, among many other lessons, asks you to give everyone you meet an A right off the bat. They don't have to earn it, you just give it to them with your whole heart, and see what magic unfolds. 

It has been some time since I read the book, but the lesson of giving everyone an A has stuck with me and proven extremely helpful with a difficult working relationship. I will read the book again and write a more in-depth review a bit later, but in the meantime, here is a video I found on YouTube to whet your appetite. He is a delightful man and I hope you will be moved to learn more about him and his work.

Benjamin Zander - Giving An A

Book Review: To Bless the Space Between Us

Just finished this lovely book of poetry, To Bless the Space Between Us, by the late John O'Donohue. I first came across his poetry a few years ago and I have loved his work ever since. 

The book is divided into major life categories with poems within each chapter that cover pretty much anything you can think of.

Chapter 1: Beginnings

Chapter 2: Desires

Chapter 3: Thresholds

Chapter 4: Homecomings

Chapter 5: States of Heart

Chapter 6: Callings

Chapter 7: Beyond Endings

While I liked almost all of the poems (some I just could not make heads or tails out of at this point in time), some of the ones that spoke the most to me were A Morning Offering, For A New Beginning, For A New Home, For Freedom, A Blessing of Angels, For Longing, For the Traveler, For A Mother-To-Be, For a Friend on the Arrival of Illness, For a Parent on the Death of a Child, To Come Home to Yourself, Before Sleep, For Courage, For An Exile, For Solitude, For Grief, For the Interim Time, For One Who is Exhausted, For A Nurse, For the Time of Necessary Decision, For Citizenship, For a Leader, On the Death of the Beloved, and For the Dying.

O'Donohue's poetry touches my soul on a personal level. I would have loved to have known him in person, but the perception I have of him through his poetry is that he seems to have been a very intuitive and kind man who sought to give everyone who crossed his path kind words and comfort on the journey of life. Definitely a must-read for any of his fans. Be sure to check him out on YouTube, too!


All opinions are my own. I am not receiving compensation for this review.

When Death Comes

When Death Comes

by Mary Oliver

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When it's over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

For Courage

For some friends and for myself on occasion when life seems so very dark. I hope you will find comfort in these words by the late John O'Donohue.

******************************

For Courage

When the light around you lessens

And your thoughts darken until

Your body feels fear turn

Cold as a stone inside,

When you find yourself bereft

Of any belief in yourself

And all you unknowingly

Leaned on has fallen,

When one voice commands

Your whole heart, 

And it is raven dark,

Steady yourself and see

That it is your own thinking

That darkens your world,

Search and you will find

A diamond-thought of light,

Know that you are not alone

And that this darkness has purpose;

Gradually it will school your eyes

To find the one gift your life requires

Hidden within this night-corner.

Invoke the learning

Of every suffering

You have suffered.

Close your eyes.

Gather all the kindling

About your heart

To create one spark.

That is all you need

To nourish the flame

That will cleanse the dark

Of its weight of festered fear.

A new confidence will come alive

To urge you toward higher ground

Where your imagination

Will learn to engage difficulty

As its most rewarding threshold!

Miracles

The Journey of Life

Here is another lovely poem by Terah Cox. Hope you enjoy it!

Measure of a Man

Found this lovely poem by Terah Cox that I thought you might enjoy.

Wounds

Wise words from Oprah Winfrey

The Present

Photo by Moi!

Possible

Start

Love yourself...

Go ahead and give yourself a hug, too. No, really!

Your time is limited...

Wise words from Steve Jobs

Courage

How far you go in life...

A bit of wisdom from George Washington Carver today...

Book Review: the first phone call from heaven

POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT

What's not to like about a book written by Mitch Albom? I  have enjoyed his books for years, and his newest novel does  not disappoint.  When various people in the small town of Coldwater, MI begin to receive phone calls from heaven, the other residents begin to learn more about themselves and their belief in heaven, or lack thereof. Soon pilgrims from the world over are arriving in tiny Coldwater for a chance to be a part of the miracles. Sully, a man recently released from prison for his inadvertent role in a heart-breaking tragedy that killed his wife is particularly affected as his son begins to believe in the miracles and waits for a call from his late mother. To protect his son, Sully does his best to debunk the so-called miracles, and learns lessons in forgiveness, grace, and faith along the way. Note: I am not being compensated for this review.

Smile

Sharing a bit of wisdom from the late, great Marilyn Monroe today. Smile!

Your spark