yup and these are my nephews, a little bit of my heart in a nutshell. Or should I say in a very rambunctious and wonderfully spontaneous package!

Dare to be great, dare to be powerful beyond measure!

Let me tell you something you already know, the world aint all sunshine and rainbows, its a very mean and nasty place and I dont care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.
You, me, or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life; but it aint about how hard you hit, its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward.
Thats how winning is done.

Cause if youre willin to go through all the battling you gotta go through to get to where you wanna get, whos got the right to stop you.
I mean maybe some of you guys got something you never finished, something you really want to do, something you never said to somebody, something.
And youre told no even after you pay your dues, whos got the right to tell you that, who? Nobody.
Its your right to listen to your gut, it aint nobodys right to say no, after you earn the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do.

Now if you know what youre worth, then go out and get what youre worth.
But youve gotta be willing to take the hits.
And not pointing fingers saying you aint where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody.
Cowards do that and that aint you!
Youre better than that!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Gratitude

Two thumbs way up for this awesome example of extreme praise expressed in this great song by Nichole Nordeman.

Gratitude - Nichole Nordeman

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case ...

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case ...

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view
If no roof is overhead
And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
Everything we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case ...

We'll give thanks to You with gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessd beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace ...

But, Jesus, would You please ...

Smashing and firmly convicted!

This post from the HIM site really motivated me to deepen my relationship with the essence of the spirit of the lord, the spirit of love, and really "abide by the principles of truth", Gods truth, so that I too can answer those who ask of me with the same conviction and resolution as this girl and with that realize that every day a new and improved conviction and understanding of the spirit of the Lord (love) can be achieved and multiplied through our daily decision to choose to really dive into not what seems or what we "presume" to be the will of God in our lives but that we may have such a deep and thriving relationship with the lord that it enhances our faith and courage and makes us merge with His love to the point that having his mindset, attitudes, and manifesting his love comes not as a conscious effort but second nature and gives us conviction to follow what His will is in our personal lives through our deep relationship with Him so that we may freely flow with His spirit in a way that it makes possible the unique and unprecedented love that God has for each one of us to be manifested in its entirety to us and to those around us.

May we have the honesty and openness to accept and conviction, faith and courage to act on the love that we have freely been given and therefore also freely give according to the need.

Seeing people in a new light

Sometimes our perception of things in our own personal lives centers a little too much on things that are past or an aspect of our personality, mistakes, habits, modus operandi, or idiosyncrisies more than actually taking each day and experience step by step and realize that we never remain the same and are always changing, its usually just our inner focus and perspective that doesnt change and therefore sometimes makes it difficult for us to change. Here is a little something from the Lord that helped me see this in a different light and put skin on what to do. TYJ!

(Jesus:) Have you ever seen the frames in a strip of movie film? Each frame is a still picture, but each picture is very slightly altered from the one before it. The result of all those constant little changes is that as the frames fly past your vision, you see movement taking place: The man is running, or the car is careening down the road.

People and situations are like that piece of film. But when you’re too focused on one frame of their lives from the past, it’s easy to miss the little changes that are always happening. You have to remember to keep the ever-changing frames of how you perceive people and situations rolling through the projector of vision rather than the slide viewer of familiarity. Then you’ll be on the edge of your seat, excited by the action, and cheering them on to the finish line! -- HIM Seeing People in a New Light

Nice song!

Dive!

A whole new season, through the passengers door.

So, once the Yuletide is over, the new year festivities enjoyed to their maximum and all the holiday long awaited hellos and... timely farewells -that can only be likened to the removal of a band-aid, the quicker, the less... sticky- here we are, a new year and a new set of challenges; an ocean of opportunities just waiting for someone to muster up the courage, step up and tackle them one by one by their very own Achilles heel. Haven't had the most positive outlook when faced with some of the more twisting and turning sides of change, -comparing ones self with the happiness of others can be an ugly thing- but yesterday I read something that changed my perspective a tad.

Tem gente que tem a vida muito parecida com a de seus amigos, mas não entende por que eles parecem ser tão mais felizes. Será que nada dá errado pra eles? Dá aos montes. Só que, para eles, entrar pela porta do lado, uma vez ou outra, não faz a menor diferença. O que não falta neste mundo é gente que se acha o último biscoito do pacote. Que "audácia" contrariá-los! São aqueles que nunca ouviram falar em saídas de emergência: fincam o pé, compram briga e não deixam barato. Alguém aí falou em complexo de perseguição? Justamente. O mundo versus eles. Eu entro muito pela outra porta, e às vezes saio por ela também. É incômodo, tem um freio de mão no meio do caminho, mas é um problema solúvel. E como esse, a maioria dos nossos problemões podem ser resolvidos assim, rapidinho. Basta um telefonema, um e-mail, um pedido de desculpas, um deixar barato.
Eu ando deixando de graça...
Pra ser sincero, vinte e quatro horas têm sido pouco pra tudo o que eu tenho que fazer, então não vou perder ainda mais tempo ficando mal-humorado. Se eu procurar, vou encontrar dezenas de situações irritantes e gente idem; pilhas de pessoas que vão atrasar meu dia. Então eu uso a porta do lado" e vou tratar do que é importante de fato. Eis a chave do mistério, a fórmula da felicidade, o elixir do bom humor, a razão por que parece que tão pouca coisa na vida dos outros dá errado." Quando os desacertos da vida ameaçarem o seu bom humor, não estrague o seu dia... Use a porta do lado e mantenha a sua harmonia. Lembre-se, o humor é contagiante - para o bem e para o mal - portanto, sorria,e contagie todos ao seu redor com a sua alegria. A "Porta ao lado" pode ser uma boa entrada ou uma boa saída... EXPERIMENTE!

— Dr. Dráuzio Varella

Working it out, trying it out! Great stuff!