Inspirational Category Archives :: Consider This

Is Your Aim Too High?

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.
—Michaelangelo

Source: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Teachers: Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes 2008 Calendar by Andrews McMeel Publishing ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-6680-0

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

A Spitfire like the one flown by John Magee

He was flying Spitfire VZ-H, serial number AD-291 on Dec. 11, 1941.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air….

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
— JOHN G. MAGEE, JR., “High Flight,” September 3, 1941.

Source: Bartleby.com's Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations 603.John Gillespie Magee, Jr. (1922–41)
See also:
> It is the birthday of John Gillespie Magee, Jr. He was born in 1922 in Shanghai, China, of missionary parents—an American father and an English mother—and spoke Chinese before English. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in late 1940. In Britain he flew in a Spitfire squadron and was killed on a routine training mission on December 11, 1941. He wrote the above sonnet and sent it to his parents on a back of a letter.

Focus on the World's Hope

Focus not on the world's tragedies, but on the world's hope.
Many sad things happen in our world, but rather than focusing on them, have hope for the future. Think of the world's potential. Perhaps the future holds the curing of diseases, the end of violence, the amelioration of poverty and hunger.
—David Niven, Ph.D. in Focus not on the world's tragedies, but on the world's hope: Number 84 of The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People

Over nine in ten Americans are uncomfortable or worried about aspects of the world and society. The difference between more and less happy people is what they do with that discomfort. Less happy people wallow in the problems they see, while happier people focus on potential improvements in the future.
—Garrett R. 1996. "Wisdom as the Key to a Better World." In Contemporary Issues in Behavior Therapy New York: Plenum.

Source: The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It. by David Niven, Ph.D. 2000 HarperCollins ISBN: 0-06-251650-7
See also: Country Inns & Suites by Carlson Read & Return It program.

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: By age: 34-year-olds
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

Do You Keep the Channel Open?

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.
—Martha Graham

Source: Garr Reynold's blog: Presentation Zen, April 12, 2008 entry Ichi-nichi issho: Each day is a lifetime
See also:
> The incredibly inspiring The Last Lecture | Randy Pausch and the lecture itself :
(about 76 minutes you can't miss!)

Update: July 25, 2008
Randy Pausch, 47, Dies; His ‘Last Lecture’ Inspired Many to Live With Wonder
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: July 26, 2008 (NY Times Online)
Dr. Pausch was the Carnegie Mellon University professor whose “last lecture” made him a Lou-Gehrig-like symbol of the beauty and briefness of life.

Love: Not Perfect Caring

Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.
—Fred Rogers

Source: The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember by Fred Rogers 2003 ISBN 1-4013-0106-1
Today is the birthday of Fred Rogers, producer, writer, puppeteer, composer, lyricist, ordained minister and devoted student of child development. Mister Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1928. He died on February 27, 2003 at his home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
See also:
> Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac for Thursday, Mar. 20, 2008
> Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
> About Fred Rogers

Pursue a dream

What do you pack to pursue a dream, and what do you leave behind?
—Sandra Sharpe

Source: Reach for the Stars window card series, by Compendium, Inc.

Who, if not I?

I am the wind on the sea.
I am the ocean wave.
I am the sound of the billows.
I am the seven-horned stag.
I am the hawk on the cliff.
I am the dewdrop in sunlight.
I am the fairest of flowers.
I am the raging boar.
I am the salmon in the deep pool.
I am the lake on the plain.
I am the meaning of the poem.
I am the point of the spear.
I am the god that makes fire in the head.
Who levels the mountain?
Who speaks the age of the moon?
Who has been where the sun sleeps?
Who, if not I?
—The Song of Amergin

Source: Speaking of Faith Public Radio show of Feb. 28, 2008 (and repeated on Sunday, Mar. 2, 2008) The Inner Landscape of Beauty | Program Particulars, a program interviewing the late Celtic poet John O'Donohue.
See also:
> Amergin, Amirgin, Amairgen by Dedanaan: Myth Is What We Call Other People's Religion.
> Short biographical sketch of John O'Donohue.

Finish Each Day

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source: Teachers: Jokes, Quotes, and Anecdotes Daily calendar Thursday, February 7, 2008 Andrews McMeel Publishing ISBN-13: 9780-7407-6680-0

Falling from High Places

A fall from the third floor hurts as much as a fall from the hundredth. If I have to fall, may it be from a high place.
—Paulo Coelho

Source: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better. Herter Studio. Running Press. 2006 ISBN 13: 978-0-7624-2514-3
See also:
> Official site of Paulo Coelho

Giving Credit

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
—Sir Isaac Newton

Source: Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac for Friday, January 4, 2008
It is the birthday of Sir Isaac Newton who was born in Woolsthorpe, England in 1643. He died on 31 March 1727 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
See also:
> The BBC's Historic figures: Isaac Newton

Loving Ourselves

When we love ourselves, we refuse to allow others to manage our emtions from afar. Forgiveness is our means to that end.

Source: Everyday Wisdom by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer published by Hay House 1993 ISBN 1-56170-076-2
See also:
> Dr. Dyer's Official Web site

Purpose: What?

Your purpose is always about giving, loving and serving in some capacity.
—Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Source: Everyday Wisdom by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer published by Hay House 1993 ISBN 1-56170-076-2
See also:
> Dr. Dyer's Official Web site

Making Mistakes and Feeling Good About Them

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior; the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.
—Henry C. Link

Source: The Portable Life 101: 179 essential lessons from the New York Times bestseller Life 101: Everything We Wish We Had Learned in Life In School—But Didn't by Peter McWilliams 1995 ISBN: 0-931580-41-2

Human Doing?

You are not a human doing but rather a human being.
—Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Source: Everyday Wisdom by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer published by Hay House 1993 ISBN 1-56170-076-2
See also Dr. Dyer's Official Web site

Our Own Behavior

We create our fate every day . . . most of the ills we suffer from are directly traceable to our own behavior.
—Henry Miller

Source: The Best Liberal Quotes Ever: Why the Left is Right by Wlliam Martin. Sourcebooks, Inc. 2004 ISBN: 1-4022-0309-8

Children Never Listen

children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they never fail to imitate them.
—James Baldwin

Source: A Hand to Guide Me: Legends and Leaders Celebrate the People Who Shaped Their Lives by Denzel Washington, Meredith Books 2006 ISBN 13: 978-0-696-23049-3

Sleep, Perchance to Dream

All our dreams are going to come true,
so we better have some good dreams.
—Joe Davis, biotech artist associated with MIT

Source: Java House counter on July 3, 2007.
Java House
210 W Evergreen Blvd # 400
Vancouver, WA 98660
(360) 737-2925
See also:
⇒ Viweing Space's Joe Davis: Genetics and Culture

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: By age: 36-year-olds
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Getting Up in the Morning

I get up every morning determined both to change the world and to have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning the day difficult.
—E. B. White, writer (1899–1985)

Source: Java House counter on June 25, 2007.
Java House
210 W Evergreen Blvd # 400
Vancouver, WA 98660
(360) 737-2925
See also:
⇒ Wikipedia's E.B. White

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: By age: 35-year-olds
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Nature of Courage

Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.
—Eddie Rickenbacker

Source: The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John C. Maxwell 1999. Thomas Nelson, Inc. ISBN: 0-7852-7440-5, page 39.
See also:
⇒ Auburn University's biographical sketch, Edward Vernon "Eddie" Rickenbacker.

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
—Eleanor Roosevelt

Source: The Quotations Page on Eleanor Roosevelt.
See also:
⇒ Biography of Eleanor Roosevelt at WhiteHouse.gov.

Don't Give Up the Ship

US Navy Historical Center

USS Lawrence (DDG-4) underway

USS Lawrence (DDG-4) underway near Cape Henry, VA May 3, 1973. DDG-4 was one of five US Navy ships named in honor of Captain James Lawrence, War of 1812 naval hero.

Fight her 'til she sinks and don't give up the ship
—James Lawrence, Captain, USN

Source: New York Times On This Day for June 1, 2007: See 1813.
See also:
⇒ Wikipedia's James Lawrence.
⇒ Wikipedia's USS Chesapeake.

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: By Age / 25-year-olds
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

Even Better

Just when you think you know exactly how it's going — it gets even better.
—Unknown

Source: Java House counter on May 29, 2007.
Java House
210 W Evergreen Blvd # 400
Vancouver, WA 98660
(360) 737-2925

We the People

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
—Preamble to the United States Constitution

Source: The National Archives US Constitution Transcript.
⇒ It was on this day in 1781 that the Constitutional Convention convened in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the time, Independence Hall was the Pennsylvania State House.
See also:
⇒ The National Archives Constitution of the United States: A History.

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: By Age / 24-year-olds
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

Letters We Should Have Burned

'Lives' of great men oft remind us as we o'er their pages turn,
That we too many leave behind us –
Letters that we ought to burn.
—Thomas Hood

Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac for Wednesday, May 23, 2007.
See also:
⇒ Wikipedia's Thomas Hood who was born on this day in London in 1799. He died on May 3, 1845 in Camberwell, England.
⇒ Consider This March 10, 2004 entry Lives Sublime quote by Longfellow.

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: By Age / 23-year-olds
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

Fear Thought?

Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam

Mount St. Helens in early morning sunlight

Today is the 27th anniversary of the Sunday morning eruption of this Cascade Mountain range volcanoe in Southwest Washington. Photo grabbed 0748 May 18, 2007.

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth—more than ruin—more even than death. ... Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.
—Bertrand Russell

Source: Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac for Friday, May 18, 2007.

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: By Age / 22-year-olds
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

Accept Our Family

Some families are better than others at preparing us for the world. What we learn from our families, even if they are simply blank spots on our family trees, becomes the basis of our identities as individuals. Rather than denying our connections, we can choose to accept their presence in our lives. Acceptance does not mean we have to like them; we simply acknowledge that we are connected to them and honor that connection for like it or not, there is a reason. When we can embrace all that they bring into our experience, we may be grateful for all we have learned from them and have to learn, while we experience everything that comes with family fully and completely.
—extract from the DailyOM for Thursday, May 17, 2007

Source: For the entire contemplation visit: DailyOM Gifts From The Universe: Accepting Your Family published Thursday, May 17, 2007.

Tears and Sweat

All I have to offer is blood, toil, tears, and sweat.
—Winston Churchill, Acceptance Speech, 1940

Source: Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac for Thursday, May 10, 2007
⇒ It was on this day in 1940 that Winston Churchill took power as the prime minister of Great Britain, a position he would hold for the rest of World War II. He came to power at a very dark moment for Europe. In less than two years, almost all of Western Europe's mainland was either controlled by or allied with Nazi Germany. And then, on this day in 1940, Churchill became the prime minister.
⇒ See also: NobelPrize.org's Winston Churchill – Biography, Churchill was awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature for 1953

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: By Age / 20-year-olds
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark.......

01: Don't miss the boat.
02: Remember that we are all in the same boat!
03: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
04: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
05: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
06: Build your future on high ground.
07: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
08: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
09: When you're stressed, float awhile.
10: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
11: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.
—Unknown

Source: Daily email "humorous" subscriptions, Tuesday's Humor -- 10 Apr 2007 by Robert Karas.
⇒ April 10, 1912: RMS Titanic departs Southampton, England on its maiden voyage bound for Cherbourg, France; Queenstown, Ireland; and New York City, New York, USA.

End of Triumph

Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew.
It's the same when love comes to an end,
or the marriage fails and people say
they knew it was a mistake, that everybody
said it would never work. That she was
old enough to know better. But anything
worth doing is worth doing badly.
...
I believe Icarus was not failing as he fell,
but just coming to the end of triumph.
—Jack Gilbert in his poem Failing and Flying

Source: Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac for Friday, April 6, 2007. The poem, Failing and Flying is included in Gilbert's book, Refusing Heaven.

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: Army
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

Keep Reading

Those who read books benefit from what they learn and the entertainment they receive. But, in addition, they get to exercise their brain, and when we do that, we feel satisfied that we are spending our time wisely.
—David Niven, Ph.D. in Keep Reading: Number 94 of The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People

Reading engages the mind. Reading materials, by exercising our memory and imagination, can contribute to happiness in ways similar to active positive thinking. Regular readers are about 8 percent more likely to express daily satisfaction.
—Scope E. 1999. "A Meta-Analysis of Research on Creativity." Ph.D. diss., Fordham University, New York, NY.

Source: The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It. by David Niven, Ph.D. 2000 HarperCollins ISBN: 0-06-251650-7
See also: Country Inns & Suites by Carlson Read & Return It program.

WashingtonPost.com's Faces of the Fallen: Army National Guard
U.S. Service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

Run for It

What I admire is her optimism. Rationally considered, she could not have packed all her stuff into the house in one trip. But there are times when people will not accept rational limitations. Go for it. Because you just might pull it off. And she did. Mostly.

What's this about?
In such moments as these I see the pilot light of reckless courage fire reserves of fuel to meet the small challenges of daily life. A stubborn refusal to accept obvious limitations. A delight in taking risks and defying odds. She didn't notice me across the street. It wasn't a performance, but an innate personal response to a challenge. It's a miniscule example of what's brought to bear in far more heroic situations. People run into burning buildings to save a life out of the same inclination. It's just a matter of scale.

That's a good thing about us. Something to like. What seems improbable just might be possible. More often than not, given the options, we don't play it safe and dry. We run for it.
—Robert Fulghum

Source: RUN FOR IT published March 05, 2007, Written Sunday, March 4, 2007 Seattle, Washington by Robert Fulghum.

Let Go of Bitterness

The nature of bitterness is rooted in the fact that the pain we feel provides us with a rationale. We may feel that we deserve to embrace our bitterness to its full extent. And to be bitter is, in essence, to cut ourselves off from all that is positive, hardening our hearts and vowing never to let go of our hurt. But just as bitter feelings can be self-defeating, so too can the release of bitterness be life-affirming in a way that few other emotional experiences are. When we decide that we no longer want to be bitter, we are reborn into a world filled with delight and fulfillment unlike any we knew while in the clutches of bitterness. The veil it cast over our lives is lifted, letting light and warmth touch our souls.
—extract from the DailyOM for Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Source: For the entire contemplation visit: DailyOM Lifting Pain's Veil: Bitterness published Wednesday, March 14, 2007.
⇒ This entry is in honor of my daughter, Jennifer, who seems to me to continue to hold a deep bitterness in her heart towards me. I prayer that I may release the bitterness I feel towards her, and move on in my life. I prayer that she will be able to find the strength and courage to release her bitterness, and let light and warmth touch her life. I love you so much, Jen Marie!

150 Years Since the Horrid Dred Scott Decision

The words 'people of the United States' and 'citizens' are synonymous terms, and mean the same thing. They both describe the political body who, according to our republican institutions, form the sovereignty, and who hold the power and conduct the Government through their representatives. They are what we familiarly call the 'sovereign people,' and every citizen is one of this people, and a constituent member of this sovereignty. The question before us is, whether the class of persons described in the plea in abatement compose a portion of this people, and are constituent members of this sovereignty? We think they are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate [60 U.S. 393, 405] and inferior class of beings, who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained subject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the Government might choose to grant them.
—Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, March 6, 1857

Source: U.S. Supreme Court DRED SCOTT v. SANDFORD, 60 U.S. 393 (1856) on FindLaw.com
⇒ Dred Scott Decision on the US National Archives and Records Administration Web site.
⇒ "The decision of Scott v. Sandford, considered by legal scholars to be the worst ever rendered by the Supreme Court, was overturned by the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution, which abolished slavery and declared all persons born in the United States to be citizens of the United States."—US National Archives and Records Administration
⇒ Dred Scott Case Collection of the Washington University in Saint Louis.

Let Us, Then, Be Up and Doing

A Psalm of Life

What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
    Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
    And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
    And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
    Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
    Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
    Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
    And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
    Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
    In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
    Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
    Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, act in the living Present!
    Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
    We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
    Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
    Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
    Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
    With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
    Learn to labor and to wait.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This is my tribute to the great American poet, Henry Wadsworth Lonfellow. Today is the 200^th anniversary of his birth, having been born on February 27, 1807, in Portland, Maine. Longfellow died in Cambridge on March 24, 1882. In London his marble image is seen in Westminster Abbey, in the Poet's Corner.
⇒ See: Books & Writers short biography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807–1882
⇒ Also: PoetryFoundation.org's Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that includes links to many of his works, including the above, A Psalm of Life.
⇒ It is also the birthday of my sweet Mother-in-Law, Ruth, who was born in Sweetwater, Oregon in 1918. Happy Birthday, Mom. I am honored to be your son-in-law.

Eight Worldly Preoccupations

Our intention should not be spoiled by the eight worldly preoccupations: gain or loss, pleasure or pain, praise or criticism, and fame and infamy.
—attributed to His Holiness, The Dalai Lama

Source: Insight from the Dalai Lama Daily Calendar Wednesday, October 11, 2006.
See Also: The Tibetan Government in Exile: About His Holiness The Dalai Lama.

My History

Each of us is a piece of a larger puzzle. We are all born into the unique and complex network of individuals, settings, and circumstances that constitute our heritage. Whether or not you are aware of your ancestors, you family's country of origin, the cultural history of your people, or the trials faced by the people responsible for bringing you into the world, these forces have had a hand in shaping your values. Knowing your family history and reflecting often upon your own personal history as it relates to your heritage empowers you to look at your life in a larger historical context and to understand that you are a vital part of an ongoing drama greater than yourself.
—extract from the DailyOM for Monday, February 5, 2007

Source: For the entire contemplation visit: DailyOM Unearthing Your Roots: Knowing Your History published Monday, February 5, 2007.

Happy Birthday, FDR

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want--which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear--which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor--anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt

Source: Annual Message to Congress, January 6, 1941 [commonly referred to as the Four Freedoms Speech] by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thirty-Second President 1933-1945.
President Roosevelt was born on this day in 1882 in Hyde Park, New York. He died: April 12, 1945 in Warm Springs, Georgia.
See WhiteHouse.gov's very short biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Forgiveness and Understanding

When we truly forgive, we reach an understanding that allows us to forgo anger or grief. We become ready to let go of the past, despite its painful memories—but not the memories themselves. these remain though we do not dwell on them.The emotional undertow lessens and is brought under control; most of the time, at any rate. We accept, however reluctantly, that we cannot change the past, and become willing to move forward. Through forgiveness of the wrongdoer, and ourselves, we can learn to love and laugh again. We choose to embrace the present, to move on to whatever new experiences life has in store for us, and to face them strengthened by our survival.
—Gillian Stokes

Source: Forgiveness: Wisdom from Around the World by Gillian Stokes Red Wheel 2002 ISBN: 1-59003-036-2.

Being Lost and Trusting

Learning to be okay with being lost and trusting that we will be guided, we begin our journey.

We can support ourselves by confirming that we don�t need to know exactly where we are going in order to take our first steps. We are learning to feel our own way, rather than following an established path, and in doing so we learn to trust ourselves. It is this trust that connects us to the universe and reminds us that no matter how lost we feel, and even as we journey, on the inner level we are already home.
—extract from the DailyOM for Thursday, January 11, 2007

Source: For the entire contemplation visit: DailyOM Uncharted Territory:Feeling Lost published January 11, 2007.

Done Me Good: A Christmas Carol

I have always thought of Christmas time, as ... the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore ... though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!
—Charles Dickens

I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.

Their faithful Friend and Servant, C.D.

December, 1843.
—Charles Dickens, Preface to A Christmas Carol

Source: Garrison Keillor's A Writer's Almanac for Tuesday, December, 19, 2006
It was on this day in 1843 that Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol.
See also: Literature.org's A Christmas Carol

Pearl Harbor Day: 2006

Congressional Medal of Honor
SAMUEL GLENN FUQUA

Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Arizona.
Place and date: Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, 7 December 1941. Entered service at: Laddonia, Missouri.
Born: 15 October 1899, Laddonia Mo.

Upon the commencement of the attack, Lt. Comdr. Fuqua rushed to the quarterdeck of the U.S.S. Arizona to which he was attached where he was stunned and knocked down by the explosion of a large bomb which hit the guarterdeck, penetrated several decks, and started a severe fire. Upon regaining consciousness, he began to direct the fighting of the fire and the rescue of wounded and injured personnel. Almost immediately there was a tremendous explosion forward, which made the ship appear to rise out of the water, shudder, and settle down by the bow rapidly. The whole forward part of the ship was enveloped in flames which were spreading rapidly, and wounded and burned men were pouring out of the ship to the quarterdeck. Despite these conditions, his harrowing experience, and severe enemy bombing and strafing, at the time, Lt. Comdr. Fuqua continued to direct the fighting of fires in order to check them while the wounded and burned could be taken from the ship and supervised the rescue of these men in such an amazingly calm and cool manner and with such excellent judgment that it inspired everyone who saw him and undoubtedly resulted in the saving of many lives. After realizing the ship could not be saved and that he was the senior surviving officer aboard, he directed it to be abandoned, but continued to remain on the quarterdeck and directed abandoning ship and rescue of personnel until satisfied that all personnel that could be had been saved, after which he left his ship with the boatload. The conduct of Lt. Comdr. Fuqua was not only in keeping with the highest traditions of the naval service but characterizes him as an outstanding leader of men.
—extract from Captain Fuqua's Congresional Medal of Honor citation

Source: WorldWarIIHistory.net's Congressional Medal of Honor Heroes of Pearl Harbor
See also:
1. Consider This in 2005: Remember Pearl Harbor, 07 DEC 1941 About Dorie Miller.
2. Consider This in 2004: Pearl Harbor Attacked, Dec. 7, 1941 About FDR's Speech.
3. USS Arizona National Memorial (US National Park Service
4. Pear Harbor Survivors Project
5. Arlington National Cemetery's Samuel Glenn Fuqua Rear Admiral, United States Navy

Focus on the World's Hope

Many sad things happen in our world, but rather than focusing on them, have hope for the future. Think of the world's potential. Perhaps the future holds the curing of diseases, the end of violence, the amelioration of poverty and hunger.
—David Niven, Ph.D. in Focus not on the world's tragedies, but on the world's hope: Number 84 of The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People

Over nine in ten Americans are uncomfortable or worried about aspects of the world and society. The difference between more and less happy people is what they do with that discomfort. Less happy people wallow in the problems they see, while happier people focus on potential improvements in the future.
—Garrett, R. 1996. "Wisdom as the Key to a Better Life" Contemporary Issues in Behavior Therapy. New York: Plenum.

Source: The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It. by David Niven, Ph.D. 2000 HarperCollins ISBN: 0-06-251650-7
See also: Country Inns & Suites by Carlson Read & Return It program.

Forgiveness

Understanding is often a prelude to forgiveness, but they are not the same, and we often forgive what we cannot understand (seeing nothing else to do) and understand what we cannot pardon.
—Mary McCarthy (1912 - 1989) US novelist, critic

Source: The Writing on the Wall and Other Literary Essays; on Creative Quotations by Mary McCarthy See also:
» Mary McCarthy on Wikipedia
» Featured Author: Mary McCarthy on the New York Times online. [Requires free registration and log-in]

Love and Gratitude of George Washington

With a heart full of love and gratitude I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable�I�shall feel obliged if each of you will come and take me by the hand.
—General George Washington

Source: Washington's farewell to his officers, December 4, 1783, as he received the officers of the victorious Continental Army in the Long Room of Fraunces Tavern, on the corner of Pearl and Broad Streets, in lower Manhattan, New York City.
See also:
» Fraunces Tavern Museum article Washington Said Farewell To Officers At Fraunces Tavern At War's End
» Library of Congress American Memory for Today in History: December 04

Gettysburg Address Anniversary

...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
—Abraham Lincoln November 19, 1863

Source: Source: University of Oklahoma Law Center's U.S. Historical Documents Collection
Read Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on this blog, Consider This.
See also my Nov. 19, 2005 entry on this blog Path of American Destiny.
This 2006 entry is dedicated to a former colleague, Krista Price, at Heald College, Portland, Oregon campus. Krista always wanted me to memorize Lincoln's speech, but sadly, I've not yet accomplished her envisioned achievement. I promise, Krista, someday soon I will do so, and perhaps we will meet again.

Awaken to the Storyteller Within

Each of us has a story to tell, a story to share with the world.
Artists and writers are in the storytelling business. Others have different ways of telling and sharing their stories. The tackle shop owner sells bait, hooks, and sinkers and tells people where to fish and about the big one that got away. The master carpenter tells his story by carving and hanging a wooden door so well crafted that it swings shut gently on its own. The quilter tells her story by commemorating important moments from her life in her quilts that are colorful works of art.
Each of us has a story to tell and our own way of sharing it with the world. It comes out through our words, through our work, and through the simple actions of our daily life. Listen to the stories of people around you. Listen with your soul. Learn to value without judging and listen with an open heart to the beauty of each story and the importance of the storyteller. Learn to value and and appreciate the story you are living now.
Awaken to the storyteller within and share your story with the world. Tell it with joy and flair. Commit to telling it with love and passion. Tell it through living your life fully, doing your work well, and creating the best life you can. Be who you are and love being that.

Live your life from your heart. Share
from your heart. And your story will
touch and heal people's souls.
— Melody Beattie