Little And Large Choices

Decide that Joy is the hue you want your heart to be.  Then start making the little and large choices that over time will paint your heart happy.
—    Thomas Kinkade
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On This Day In:
2020	When?
2019	Two Guides
2018	A Call For You
2017	Because I Read
2016	On What Matters…
2015	Social Security
2014	Bewitching
2013	Visiting Joy
2012	Dedication To Today
2011	Project Second Chance – Adult Literacy
	Turning Coal Into Diamonds

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First Thing Every Morning

Man In The Mirror
Favorite Line(s):
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
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On This Day In:
2020	Like #45 And Many Of His Supporters
(Leap Year 29th)	With Some Epic Scenery Along The Way
2019	Creative Prayer Time
	ADF: Day 9:5
2018	#DumbDonald: Start With Hearing What You Don’t Want Said
2017	The Press Is NOT The Enemy
2016	It Ain’t Easy
(Leap Year 29th)	Or Try To, Anyway…
(Leap Year 29th)	Circles Within Circles
2015	A Series Of Funerals
2014	And Your Point Is?
2013	Infinitely Care
2012	In My Room
(Leap Year 29th)	Stingray – TV Series Review  (This is my most popular post since starting my blog – hands down!  It still draws hits almost every week.  The hits seem to come mostly from Central Europe.  I guess the show must be in syndication there.  //  2020 update:  While this is still my all-time, most popular post, it is no longer being viewed every week – or even month.  I guess the show is no longer in syndication.)
(Leap Year 29th)	A Single Thread
2011	Lyrical Mixture
	Teaching = Translating

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Even Being President For Almost Four Years

No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.
—    Ralph Waldo Emerson
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On This Day In:
2019	And Autumnal Foliage
2018	Up Hill, Both Ways
2017	Trump Carnivores – The Revolution So Far
2016	Election Results
2015	Speak Louder
2014	Why I Frequently Give In
2013	Am Remembering
2012	Sustained Fear
2011	Commitment

 

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Risk Free

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing.  He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow or love.  Chained by his certitude, he is a slave;  he has forfeited his freedom.  Only the person who risks is truly free.
―     Leo Buscaglia
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On This Day In:
2019	Speak Up / Call Out
2018	Does Smiling Count?
2017	Giving Much
2016	Sounds Like Class
2015	Inert Ideas
2014	Worth Anything?
2013	Bruises Before Bed (Or Why You Didn’t Answer)
	Revealed Riches
2012	Extra Gears
2011	Say What?
2010	Hello Frogs…

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The Spirit Of A Fighter, The Heart Of A Saint

Rest In Peace:  John R. Lewis
U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 5th congressional district
21 February 1940 – July 17, 2020
You are a light.  You are the light.  Never let anyone — any person or any force — dampen, dim or diminish your light.  Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant.  Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates.  […]  Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge.  Release all bitterness.  Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won.  Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice.  And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.
―    John Lewis
Take a long, hard look down the road you will have to travel once you have made a commitment to work for change.  Know that this transformation will not happen right away.  Change often takes time. It rarely happens all at once.  In the movement, we didn’t know how history would play itself out.  When we were getting arrested and waiting in jail or standing in unmovable lines on the courthouse steps, we didn’t know what would happen, but we knew it had to happen.
Use the words of the movement to pace yourself. We used to say that ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year.  Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term.  Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.  And if we believe in the change we seek, then it is easy to commit to doing all we can, because the responsibility is ours alone to build a better society and a more peaceful world.
―    John Lewis
Both quotes are from his book:  “Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America“
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On This Day In:
2019	Most Hire
	Just The Three Of Us
2018	Sounds Like #45’s White House
2017	Have We Started Winning Yet?
2016	Still Springy
2015	Well Concealed
2014	The History Of Warriors
2013	A Cult Of Ignorance
2012	Counting Valor
	Understanding Faith
2011	I Can Hear You Now
2010	Inception

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Make A Fuss

If one is going to change things, one has to make a fuss and catch the eye of the world.
—    Elizabeth Janeway
[Happy Birthday, James!    —    Mum and Dad]
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On This Day In:
2019	Hopefully, You’re Learning To Forgive
2018	Enjoy The Sunsets As Well As The Sunrises
2017	Enjoy
2016	I Got A Feeling
2015	Fiction Leading To History
2014	A Self-Correcting Process
2013	None But He Knows
2012	99% Are Demanding
2011	All In The Family
	Take Your Pick

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The Most Pressing Task

We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change.  And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.
—    Peter F. Drucker
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On This Day In:
2018	Seek A Clear View
2017	Living With Myself
2016	Still Looking In Mirrors?
2015	Fear No Evil
2014	And Nothing Can Be As Tragic As…
2013	Your Tax Dollars At Work
2012	Historically Unacceptable
2011	Niners Are NFC West Division Champions!!
	The Essence Of Leadership

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A Temporary Surrender

If we don’t change, we don’t grow.  If we don’t grow, we are not really living.  Growth demands a temporary surrender of security.
—    Gail Sheehy
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On This Day In:
2018	I Am Spartacus
	The Privilege Of Milking
	Day 20: Relief
2017	Try Not To Run Short, Too
2016	I Feel The Same (Thankful)
2015	It Couldn’t Hurt
2014	Sir, I Have Reasoned It Out!
2013	What Are We Becoming?
2012	Miracles
2011	“W” Finds A Nut!
2010	No Strain At All, But I’m Not Sure About Stress…
	An Evening at the Pavilion…

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Carrying Humanity

Books are the carriers of civilization.
Without books history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.  They are the engines of change, windows on the world (as a poet said) lighthouses erected in the sea of time.  They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind.  Books are humanity in print.
—    Barbara W. Tuckman
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On This Day In:
2018	Not Necessarily In This Order
	Stock Market Sets More Records Under #DumbDonald
2017	An Accumulation Of Acts
2016	Here’s Lookin’ At You Kid
2015	How To Be Omnipotent
2014	The Promise Of Future Love
2013	Christian, n.
2012	Praise
	Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
2011	A Few More Lyrics From The Past
	5 For The Price Of 1

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Even Tiny Progress

The struggle is a normal, necessary part of the process.  Changing your food is hard.  Changing your habits is even harder.  Changing your relationship with food is the hardest part of all.  The process requires struggle — it’s how you know you’re growing — but don’t make it harder than it has to be!  There is no such thing as the ‘perfect Whole30,’ so if your beef isn’t grass-fed or your travel meal doesn’t look exactly like our meal template, don’t sweat it.  Your only job is to stick to the Whole30 rules for 30 days, and some days, you’ll have to let good enough be good enough.  When you do struggle, remember why you took on the program in the first place, and don’t be overwhelmed by the big picture — just focus on the next day, or the next meal.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it, and high-five yourself for the victories you’re achieving every day you’re on the program, no matter how small.  Even tiny progress is progress.
—    Melissa Hartwig
Quoted by:  Jamie Webber
In the on-line article:  “The Beginner’s Guide to Whole30“
Specific link:  http://greatist.com/eat/whole30-beginners-guide
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On This Day In:
2017	Real Conservatism
2016	The Business Of Life
2015	Alone Again, Naturally
2014	Agreed
2013	Smile From Your Heart!
2012	Like You
2011	Got Days?
2010	K9 Humor – Has Anyone Seen My Setter? (Must read!!)
	A Longer Blog Than You Want To Read (Probably)
2009	Back and Forth and Round Again…

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Change Happens

The notion that change takes time is fanciful.  Change happens in a flash.  The underlying magma may have been heating for a while, but when a well-timed counterforce disrupts the system, change erupts instantaneously, like a volcano, and suddenly nothing is ever the same.
—    Dean Karnazes
From his book:  “The Road To Sparta“
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On This Day In:
2017	Still Removing Bricks
2016	Namaste
2015	Still Learning
2014	Dark Processes
2013	To The Last Link
2012	Slept In Again
2011	Home Again, Naturally
2009	Thoughts after a long day of OT…

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Hoping For Better Come November

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change;  what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.
—    Georg C. Lichtenberg
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On This Day In:
2017	Give And Keep
2016	No Change Here
2015	Campbell’s Law
2014	Dignified Values
2013	Unappreciated Skill
2012	Living Courage
2011	What’s Happening To Us?
2010	Toothbrush, Carbon and Monoxide
	Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!

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Change Is Law

If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever.  Your mind is your predicament.  It wants to be free of change.  Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death.  But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.
―    Socrates
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On This Day In:
2017	A Dog Day Of Summer
2016	Chances Are
2015	Truer Spoken
2014	Not Quite There Yet (Either)
	Many Colors
2013	Distance, n.
	Less Can Be More
2012	Rise Up!
	The Gift
2011	Artful Courage
2010	A Handful of Lessons…

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Is Your Sky Falling?

Changes that appear turbulent to organizations that rely heavily on planning may appear normal to, even welcomed by, those who prefer a more visionary or learning approach.  Put more boldly, if you have no vision but only formal plans, then every unpredicted change in the environment makes you feel like the sky is falling.
—    Henry Mintzberg
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On This Day In:
2017	Unseen Here, Too
2016	Criticized Anyway
2015	Sometimes The Truth Hurts
2014	All Agreed, Say “Aye”
2013	Two Books, Two Movies
	Just Because
2012	God’s Requirements
2011	Greater Purity

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Dangerous Systems

It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system.  For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.
―    Niccolò Machiavelli
From:   “The Prince“
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On This Day In:
2012	Useful Science
2011	Say It, But Please Don’t Make Me Listen

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