The Best Gifts

The best gifts to give:
To your friend, loyalty;
To your enemy, forgiveness;
To your boss, service;
To a child, a good example;
To your parents, gratitude and devotion;
To your mate, love and faithfulness;
To all men and women, charity.
—  Oren Arnold
[In the original, the quote is a single sentence.  I’ve modified the format to suit my “poetic” taste.  There is a variation on this quote which reads:  ]
“A Christmas gift suggestion:  To your enemy, forgiveness.  To an opponent, tolerance.  To a friend, heart.  To a customer, service.  To all, charity.  To every child, a good example.  To yourself, respect.”  —  Oren Arnold
[I like both versions – even when it’s not Christmas Season.  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Sweep!!!
	We Must Be Living In TRULY Historic Times
2017	The Best?
2016	Timely Opinions On “The Donald”
	Even Allowing For Coincidence
2015	First Things First
2014	Without The Other
2013	Earn This
	Seeking A View
2012	Stumblin’ Along My Way
	We’re Proud Of You, Jr!
	Union Card
	Two Philosophies
2011	Simply Unpredictable

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Don’t Forget: Fire Burns

When men have harnessed the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, they will harness for God the energies of love, and then for the second time in the history of this world, man will have discovered Fire.
—  Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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On This Day In:
2018	Especially In The Middle East
2017	A Good Local
2016	Life Unlimited
2015	Still Trying
2014	Destiny, n.
2013	No Apologies
2012	Utterly Convinced
2011	A Key To Effectiveness

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Don’t Be Small

Hate, among all our base instincts, is the most distinctly human.  In animals, violence and venom are tools of survival; in humans, of supremacy.  Small, scared people hate, self-hating people hate, bullied and betrayed people hate, as though hate will make them large and safe and strong.
—  Nancy Gibbs
From her article in Time Magazine (dtd: 12 November 2018):  “The Only Way Forward“
The online version of this article is titled:  “The Only Way to Fight Hate“
The article can be found online at: http://time.com/magazine/us/5441415/november-12th-2018-vol-192-no-20-u-s/
I choose to love people, not to judge them.  I want to experience them as they are, not as I would want them to be.  I want to grow with them, allowing each new moment to tell its own story, rather than perceive it as a product of our past.  I want us to search together for fresh alternatives to our incompleteness, to our negativity, to our deception, to our fear and to our despair.  I don’t want us to spend our lives thinking about life and change and celebration.  Rather, I want us to spend our lives celebrating and living and changing.  And I never want to forget what the wonderful author William Saroyan reminded me of many years ago:  People is all everything is – all it has ever been, and all it can ever be.  People.  You and me.  Together in love.
—  Leo Buscaglia’s Credo for Relationships
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On This Day In:
2018
2017	Are You A Loser?
2016	Constitution And Conscience
2015	Separate, Fearful And Imprisoned
2014	Something Worth Making
2013	Absolutely
2012	Can Do
2011	Wise Criticism

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Blow Between Your Ears

Sometimes you love a person so much you have to walk away.  Sometimes, for them; sometimes for you.  This song reminds me of that…
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On This Day In:
2018	Thinking Ahead
2017	I’d Like To Try
2016	Or Blog (And Bound)
2015	Welcome The Virtuous
2014	Closing The Gap?
2013	On Parenting
2012	What Knowledge Is
2011	The Indefinite Accumulation Of Property

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Be Brave

A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.
—  Mahatma Gandhi
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On This Day In:
2018	What Else Matters?
2017	Slow Go
2016	A Tiny Ripple Of Hope
2015	Liberating Books
2014	Discover God
2013	Without Witness
2012	Nutritarian

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My Irish Diet

It’s easy to halve the potato where there’s love.
—  Irish Proverb
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On This Day In:
2018	Feeling Both
2017	Just Start
2016	Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall
2015	Restraint At The Inn
2014	To Not Discovering
2013	I Have Less To Say
2012	Not The Best Prediction I’ve Ever Read

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Patient Understanding

A Letter From A Mother To A Daughter
My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through.  If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the same thing a minute ago”…  Just listen, please.
Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep.
When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me.
Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl?
When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t look at me that way…
Remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day…  the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through.
If I occasionally lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous, impatient or arrogant.  Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you.
And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked.  When those days come, don’t feel sad…  just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love.  I’ll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared.  With a big smile and the huge love I’ve always had for you, I just want to say, I love you…  my darling daughter.
— available on the web at multiple locations
I found it at: http://kindnessblog.com
The specific link is:  http://kindnessblog.com/2019/01/01/letter-from-a-mother-to-a-daughter-2/
[Please visit the original site if you have a spare moment.  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Form
2017	Fashionista
2016	A Faulty Model Of God
2015	Non Sequitur
2014	No Flags League
	I Ain’t Who Am
2013	Spoiling For Fame?
2012	How Many?
2011	Too Tired To Chat Much
2010	I Must Be Crazy!!

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