Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Mother Teresa

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@joannaoftheforest, Angels, Charity, God, Helpers, Holy Spirit, Love, Mother Teresa, Sacrifice, Selflessness, Service

Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.

Mother Teresa

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

Mother Teresa

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

Mother Teresa

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

Mother Teresa

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.

Mother Teresa

The whole situation in Ukraine prompted me to borrow Mother Teresa’s quotes today. She, like many others, helped those who could not help themselves and suffered right along with the people they were helping. There was a story shared by one of the blogs I follow about a grand niece who experienced a visit from a relative who passed. The niece was calmed by this family member’s presence, even though she had passed many years earlier.

These “helpers” or angels are all part of the spiritual hierarchy in my religious path. They aid those who cannot aid themselves. This is one way the Holy Spirit helps each of us in times of trouble. So, like Mother Teresa, these Souls continue to serve, even after they have passed. They return to help those in this current life when they most need it. Like my friend’s story, they do not do anything, other than smile, listen, or provide some other type of comfort. For many, these experiences will be something that never leaves them.

If you’d like to learn more about Mother Teresa, here’s her Wikipedia Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa

I hope all of you have a terrific Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Valentine’s Day

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Fatigue, habits, Learning, Loss, Love, memories, motivation, pain, Valentine's Day

After reading some posts on the blogs I follow, I was taken aback by some of the sentiments they expressed. One blogger posted about wishing everyone well. Another, explained that she felt better when she served other people, especially when she was in a mourning period.

One of my wife’s friends passed last week from a heart attack. She overdosed and expired in the ambulance speeding to nearby hospital.

How do we stay motivated when our lives are falling apart? I think both of my blogging friends offer some great advice.

When things are bad, you have to grieve. There’s no escaping that. It’s human. Some days it’s ok to just lay in bed and sleep. But all of us have responsibilities. We can only lay in bed and sleep or deal with our depression or sadness or whatever feelings you have for so long, before it disrupts all of your ability to live life.

I have discovered that habits play a huge part in this. When we have habits, we will do what we need to unconsciously. We may not do the best job we could do, but on days where we are really feeling it, doing something is better than doing nothing.

Building habits is something that takes time. You can’t build a habit overnight. Most of my readers have good habits. They write in their blog. Some do a lot of exercise. All do daily what their passions demand–crafting, photography, writing, or creating.

Life would not be life without suffering losses. We are all only here for a finite amount of time. As we age, we experience new pains, fatigue, lose our friends, lose our family, and all the rest. Where is the meaning you ask? The meaning comes from what we do with our lives while we are here. Do we serve others? Do we wish others well? Do we take care of ourselves?

Life is a beautiful thing. It is finite. It is fleeting, but it is a wonderful experience to learn from. Love given–love received.

I wish all of you a terrific Valentine’s Day.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Thomas Merton

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Ambition, Experience, Happiness, Love, scholars, Soul, Thomas Merton, Wisdom Wednesday

Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.

Thomas Merton

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

Thomas Merton

When ambition ends, happiness begins.

Thomas Merton

We do not exist for ourselves alone, and it is only when we are fully convinced of this fact that we begin to love ourselves properly and thus also love others.

Thomas Merton

Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.

Thomas Merton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton

The above link will take you to Thomas Merton’s Wikipedia page. Wow, what a life! I encourage each of you to take a few minutes, and share a cup of coffee or tea with Thomas as you explore his life. It was truly an inspiring one. This is the first of my Wisdom Wednesday posts in 2022, and this was an awesome find. I continue to wish all of you health, prosperity, love, and high adventure in 2022.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – Happy New Year!

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Adventure, Goals, Happines, health, Hobbies, Love, New Year, Projects, Prosperity

I’m posting this roughly 12 hours before the New Year, but since many of you are in so many different time zones, it just made sense to get this out there. 2021 was a good year and 2022 will be even better. This year, like every year, presents the opportunity for growth, improvement, and learning. I wish each of you a terrific 2022 filled with love, prosperity, good health, and achievement.

If you are finalizing your goals for the New Year, here are some areas you may want to consider if you are stuck.

Relationships

Health

Finances

Hobbies

Spirituality

Learning

Creative Projects

Travel Plans

These are some areas that I am diving into this year and figured some of you may benefit from seeing what I am doing and it will prompt you to do the same.

I’ll be back on my blogging schedule on Monday. It was a great idea taking December off. It was nice to just do my thing without a schedule, to-do list, or some other mechanism I normally use to track things. It allowed me the freedom to just be for a month, enjoy my family and friends, and get in some serious gaming. Now it’s time to get ready for the new year and get cracking at my new goals scheduled for the year.

Happy New Year!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – Merry Christmas

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Cheer, Christmas, family, Friends, God, Good Food, Hope, Love, pets, Presents, Reflect

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas or a holiday specific to your country. This a time to reflect on the year, enjoy our friends, pets, and families, and celebrate how terrific life is. It is a time of hope, thanksgiving, and sharing love for one another.

Merry Christmas to all of you, from Daily Ramblings.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Percy Bysshe Shelley

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Autumn, English, Harmony, Laughter, Love, pain, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Poet, Poetry, Winter

We look before and after, And pine for what is not; Our sincerest laughter With some pain is fraught; Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Familiar acts are beautiful through love.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

If you could not tell, Percy is a poet. Here’s a Wikipedia link for more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley

Have a great Wednesday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – Black Friday

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Black Friday, family, Happiness, Holidays, Love, Origin, Sales, Shopping, Ted Talk, TedEd, Tuesday

Here is one person’s take on Black Friday. A day that marks the beginning of Christmas shopping in America. I do not go out on Black Friday, because it is so insane, but many people, like my stepdaughters, live for this day. They get up before dawn and head to their favorite stores.

In this short 3-minute (+) video, Black Friday’s origin is explained. You’ll be interested who came up with the idea. I hope you are as excited about the holiday season as I am. It’s a great time of year. In fact it is my favorite time of year. I get in a lot of reading, writing, and of course, video game playing in, during the winter months, because in Michigan, there is nothing else to do, simply because it is snowing outside and cold, and all the rest. Yes, there are many who ski, hunt, and do a lot of outdoor things. For me, my 20 years of service gave me all the outdoor living I’ll ever need to experience. Now it’s a cup of hot coffee, a good book, and looking at the snow, thanking God I do not have to live in that anymore.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope all of you have a great Tuesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Persistence

Tags

Australia, K.M. Allan, Love, passion, Persistence, Struggle, Writer

I recently read a blog posting my friend in Australia wrote. In a nutshell, she did some edits on her manuscript, sent it out to her readers, and discovered she did not fix any of the problems they identified earlier. She simply added more problems.

Have you ever had something like that happen? It’s at these times when many would just throw up their arms, have a temper tantrum, and quit. This is where persistence comes in.

Persistence means we do not quit. We keep pushing forward. We continue to move forward, despite the difficulties.

Many of you have read my thoughts on giving up on goals we have to struggle to do, but here’s the caveat–even the things we love to do and focus on can cause frustration or problems. You need this love or passion for a thing to push through these hard times. If you have to fight against yourself every time you have to do something you’ve set a goal for, stop doing that goal. You see?

Anyway, my author friend in Australia loves what she does, and has the ability to push through these tough times, because of that love. I bet if she really didn’t enjoy writing or working on this book project, this latest round of feedback would have caused her to quit. This is the best example I can give about loving what you do, and letting go of things that you thought you loved, but discovered weren’t your cup of tea. (Are you tired of all my trite expressions yet? HA!)

We got our first snow in Michigan. Wow, was it beautiful! My sister came in for Thanksgiving, and it was great. Good conversations, plenty of movie watching, and great food, courtesy Mom and her. We had a smoked turkey this year. Have you ever had one of those? Smoked turkey is delicious, and makes one hell of a sandwich!

Well, that’s all I got for today, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Life

Tags

Adventure, Dark Night of Soul, enduring, Happiness, Humility, Life, Love, Overcoming, Tragedy

I’m sitting here in my living room, with laptop up, and our little dog Bella resting in her doggy bed. Mom and Dad are out running errands, and I am just relaxing while I knock out my daily tasks.

Today, I am grateful for this life. I have experienced so many things, and sometimes I reminisce and am blown away by all the things I have done, all the people I’ve come to know, and all the adventures that await. It has been one terrific ride.

Now that I am retired, the adventure continues. I have more time to read, write, learn, and pursue all kinds of things. It is terrific to have so many choices and so many opportunities.

Has life been easy. Far from it. But, every experience is a treasure. The hard times made me stronger, more grateful, and more humble. The good times created good memories I can revisit over and over again, when I think about life, like I am today.

Each one of you has experienced trauma, loved ones passing, sickness, and all kinds of tragedies, too many to mention here. You survived, and even though the troubled times may have lingered, things always got better, right?

When I am ever in the “dark night of Soul”, I remind myself that “this too shall pass”. And you know what? It does.

So here’s to the many shades and colors of life. May all of our lives be filled with adventure, love, laughs, tears, and all the rest. Life is truly worth living and one hell of a rollercoaster ride!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – My Wife Graduated!!

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Grateful, Love, Masters Degree, Proud, Sociology, Thankful, Thursday, Wife

Today, I’m grateful again, for my wife. Yesterday, she graduated from Grand Canyon University with a Masters degree in Sociology. I am so proud of her. After two years of hard work, working a full-time job, and dealing with all of life’s surprises (Can you say menopause?), she got through it. I cried yesterday, when she walked the stage. I am just so damned proud of her.

So today, I’ll be short. Here’s to my wife. She has conquered every challenge life has thrown at her and she is still as genuine and generous as they come. I love you, dear.

Have a great Thursday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave