Do It Anyway By Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed Anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

A Sure Thing By Me

There is no possibility of changing the past.
Trust me, I've tried.
And there is certainly no way to see into the future.
Believe me, I've attempted that too.

The turning of tides will continue to roll in --
what do you do?
You get up each day, breathe in and out.
How do you do that?
You look over, see my face and know --
Know that I love you.
And if that doesn't keep you going,
No love ever will.
Because my love - for you- is greater.
Less weary than the tides.
And stronger than the waves.

The Dream By David Solway

I dreamed that you had ceased to love me—
not that you had come from other beds
back to mine, or gone from mine to others,
just that something in your heart had stopped.

I willed myself awake to find you still
beside me. It was just a dream, I thought,
yet when I turned to kiss you, in your eyes
I saw that you had ceased to love me.

I willed myself awake a second time
to find myself alone, as I have been
these many months, but did not know if it
was terror or relief I felt, and whether

dreams unfold the past or make the future
plain. I dreamed that you had ceased to love me,
and know when I see nothing in your eyes
I can't dream myself awake a third time.

By Unknown

I've travelled the world twice over.
Met the famous; saints and sinners.
Poets and artists, kings and queens.
Old stars and hopeful beginners.
I've been where no-one's been before.
Learned secrets from writers and cooks.
All with one library ticket.
To the wonderful world of books.

Litany By Billy Collins

Litany

You are the bread and the knife
The crystal goblet and the wine...
-Jacques Crickillon

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.

180 Movie

Here I am To Worship

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're altogether lovely
All together worthy,
All together wonderful to me

King of all days
oh, so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came
To the earth You created
All for love's sake became poor

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're altogether lovely
All together worthy,
All together wonderful to me

I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross
I'll never know how much it cost

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're altogether lovely
All together worthy,
All together wonderful to me

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're altogether lovely
All together worthy,
All together wonderful to me

I'll never know how much it cost
to see my sins upon that cross.

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep

Written by Mary Elizabeth Frye:

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sun on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight.

I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there; I did not die.

The Blessing Of Friendship

This is from my other blog, which I don't use as much as I'd like, but this particular post is especially important to me. This was posted in May and it still rings true for our friendship. I don't know what my life would be like without her in my ear each day, but I feel so blessed to have her. We are only 4 years out of high school, but there were other pairs like her and I that we thought would be friends forever, have not stuck it out. They have either lost touch, disagreed, or just let each other go. In fact, I had one relationship that I thought would go further than it has, but our differences have separated us.

Sometimes people come into our lives that stick around, and they aren't family. I wish each person could find another that they were able to connect to in this way - friends are one of the greatest gifts God can give us. So here is that post from May:

I wish you this friendship.

“She’s the mother I never had. The sister everybody would want. The friend everybody deserves. I don’t know a better person. It’s making me cry because I’m thinking how much I probably never told her that. We’re not like, ‘Oh, you, you’re my dearest friend . . . thanks.’ The therapy I didn’t have and don’t need is because of my thousands and thousands of hours on the phone with Gayle.

I get to release the day by talking it through. And I just realized she’s the friend everybody should have. I have said we are not gay enough times. I am not lesbian. Not even kind of lesbian. That irritates me because it means somebody must think I’m lying. That’s No. 1. No. 2, why would you want to hide it? That is not the way I run my life.”

Oprah was quoted as saying this during her interview with Barbara Walters about her relationship with Gayle. How frustrating it must be for both of them to have to confront such RIDICULOUS questions about who they are as individuals and as a pair.

I have concluded that not many people are blessed with such a person in their lives and that is why it is so heavily questioned - I, however, have been fortunate enough to find a best friend. And I don't use that term lightly; she truly is the BEST friend I could have ever hoped for.

She is the one person I am able to be completely honest with - I have no fear in telling her everything about myself. No hesitations, no insecurities. I am just totally myself, good day or bad. She lives 9 months out of the year in Virginia while I live in Michigan. We are 10 hours away from each other yet we still find the time to talk each day. To laugh, to cry, to vent, to discuss, to learn, to fight, and to love. We challenge each other yet we support each other, we bicker and laugh, we cry, and we fight - our emotions toward each other are completely unguarded. If I feel it, I show it. If I think it, I say it - but only with her.

I am not a lesbian. Nor is she. We both are very attracted to the opposite sex and are almost constantly talking about the men around us and hopefully one day each of us will find the man we are supposed to spend our days with, BUT she is still my soul mate - forever and for always.

Three

Three things that I know to be true:

1. Sometimes words aren't enough.

2. The imagination I used to have and the creativeness I used put into my writing has diminished substantially since starting college.

3. I am most relaxed when I'm listening to the radio.

Three people I'd love to meet:

1. Maya Angelou

2. Ellen Degeneres

3. Sarah Kay

Three places I'd love to go:

1. New York City

2. Bora Bora

3. Australia

Three things I'd take in a fire:

1. My phone

2. Photos

3. My bible or In Lieu of Flowers

Three favorite words:

1. liberate

2. encourage

3. laugh

By E.E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Santa Baby

I have officially begun listening to Christmas music. Is it a bit early? Probably, but I don't care. It is my favorite time of the year and I am going to cherish it as much as I can.

Say What?

I need to be sleeping. I need to be laying in bed (preferably listening to Delilah) and letting my mind drift into a dream that I'll awake to and say "what the hell?"

But here I am - searching the internet, looking for something new and interesting, waiting for something news worthy to happen. I don't know why I do this to myself. It seems as though each night I need to be sleeping, I can't and each night I can be wide awake, I am exhausted.

Maybe deep thinking about whatever I'm about to write here will tucker me out. I don't think I've ever had thoughts THAT deep, but you never know.

Classes are going well - my senior psychology class has been a struggle for me. We don't have exams, or long papers, but we discuss theories and ideas about life that I don't agree with. There are times I sit in my desk, next to my peers and bubble inside with anxiety and defensive thoughts wondering why anyone would want to take their beliefs about LIFE in that direction. The topic was the existential theory. For those that don't know, it is the idea that our lives don't hold any true meaning. We only hold meaning in our lives because we have the ability, as humans, to do so. It is what separates from animals. Those that agree with this say there is a positive side: we are able to create our own meaning through self-actualizing, and also know that true meaning is fictitious.

...I'm sorry. What? That doesn't make ANY sense. FYI, if you read about this theory it is going to sound a lot more academic and unbiased, but that is pretty much what I got from it.

Go ahead and make your own interpretations of it, but here are my overall thoughts: PISS ON THAT! Our lives hold meaning and purpose that is worth pursuing: where would we be if everyone thought this way?