Trust Your Intuiton

Many years ago I learned something. A prayer is us talking to God, and often it's through our intuition that it is He talking to us.

We all have answers to our prayers. Sometimes we're not silent or aware enough to recognize them though. Very often, we simply ignore the promptings of our intuition, or dismiss them as foolish thoughts, reasoning upon them too much.

So continuing from yesterday, the third part of being prepared for abundance is learning to listen to your own intuition: That little voice within you that is speaking. Trust it. It can bring you to the place you desire to be, and it can keep you from harms way if you but pay attention to it.

Be aware of signs and circumstances that happen around you, too. It could be a phone call from out of the blue, or a new person that comes into your life that can lead to answers you've been seeking. It might be a magazine that happens to be open to a certain article with information you need. There are so many occurrences throughout our lives that shouldn't be ignored. Your answers are all around you.

We all can have revelations, illuminations, and inspiration. Those are not just for a few chosen elect, but for everyone, for we are ALL Children of God.

Life is exciting-embrace it,
Donna

Thought for the day:

Don't chase after the butterfly. Be silent, and allow it to gently land on your shoulder.

Visualize and Feel Your Dreams

With the average person who has thought in terms of lack for such a long time, it often becomes very difficult to think in terms of a rich consciousness. However, just as an architect first mentally sees in every minute detail the building he wishes to erect before he draws it out carefully on paper, we have to mentally see our dreams in order for them to be fulfilled in our life.

Continually prepare yourself for abundance. First, watch your words. Don't get lazy and say just anything that pops out. Remember what Helen Keller said, "I jealously guard my thoughts." Your thoughts lead to what you say verbally as well as what you say to yourself silently. They are a doorway to what occurs in your life.

Second, live in expectancy, and become as a little child and use your God-given gift of imagination. Imagine that you already have what you desire. Little children do that at Christmas time. Their hearts and minds are filled with expectancy. They have no doubt that what they've wished for from Santa will come. Do likewise even if you're 94. Get into a childlike state of believing with all your heart and soul. Feel the excitement even though your desires are "not yet seen." That's what faith is. Miracles will happen.

Love to all,
Donna

Thought for the day:

"Imagination is man's workshop, the sizzors of the mind, where he is constantly cutting out the events of his life!" Florence Scovell Shinn

Law of Abundance

Continuing with the posts before our new grandson was born---

You know, my Friend, the Law of Abundance is as definite as the Law of Gravity. It's the kin to the Law of Attraction and works as unerringly. If it's not being demonstrated in your life, it is possibly because your holding back and still under the bond of mental limitation.; however, just remember, there is no lack in "Him in whom all fullness lies."

If you pinch your supply pipe with fears, doubts, the terror of coming to want, or a "what will I do" anxiety mindset, you are limiting the supply of abundance instead of allowing the inexhaustable flow you might have. It's the dwelling on the thing whatever the problem may be; fearing it, worrying about it, expressing anxiety over it, or terror about it, that attracts us to it and it to us.

There's no limitation with God! We just tap into the spiritual supply pipe with a miserable little hole of faith.

However, if you have the faith that creates, the faith that believes the best is coming to you, you can reach out mentally into the Great Stream of Plenty. The supply is there. It rests with you to make the connection that will draw you into the life of abundance; wholeness of mind, body and estate.

Once again, Hebrews 11:1--Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, though the evidence is not yet seen. BELIEVE!

More next time...

Love and joy,
Donna

Smile Away

It's a beautiful Sunday. The sun is shining, and I hope that you are enjoying life today with family and/or friends.

I have a lovely poem for you.

Smile Away

The thing that goes the fartherest toward making life worthwhile,
That costs the least, and does the most, is just a pleasant smile.
The smile that bubbles from the heart that loves its fellow man,
Will drive away the clouds of gloom and coax the sun again;
It's full of worth and goodness, too, with manly kindness blent---
It's worth a million dollars, and it doesn't cost a cent.

There is no room for sadness when we see a cheery smile;
It always has the same good look---It's never out of style;--
It nerves us on to try again when failure makes us blue;
The dimples of encouragement are good for me and you.
It pays a higher interest for it it is merely lent--
It's worth a million dollars, and doesn't cost a cent.

A smile comes very easy--you can wrinkle up with cheer,
A hundred times before you can squeeze out a soggy tear.
It ripples out, moreover, to the heartstrings that will tug,
And always leaves an echo that is very like a hug.
So smile away. Folks understand what by a smile is meant,
It's worth a million dollars, and doesn't cost a cent!

Love and joy,
Donna

Friendship Is Precious

I have been spending time with my daughter today helping her with her new son and two little girls 5 and 3. We were watching children's videos together that the girls love, and they put in the Disney DVD, The Book of Pooh, that I spoke about in a previous post.

It's delightful as I said before. Quite often the children's DVD's bring out points that adults can learn from, too. There are wonderful little stories about acceptance and friendships that we can all take to heart.

One in particular featured Rabbit who can be a bit stuffy and all knowing, and Tigger who is, well, Tigger. After being annoyed and frustrated with Tigger in trying to teach him to grow a garden, Rabbit comes to understand that Tigger, though unlike him, had special qualities of his own that could be appreciated and looked upon with fondness and love.

Everyone has special qualities that can add to our lives. Be a friend and you'll have friends. Just love, be non-judgmental, and enjoy the people you call a friend because "Friendship is Precious."

Love to all,
Donna

A New Life; New Baby

My oldest daughter had her third baby, first boy, a couple of hours ago so this post will be short. What a miracle a birth is! Watching that new life be born is awesome. And, he's so beautiful.

You are awsome, too, my Friend. This world is a beautiful place. Soak in the wonders of your world, and enjoy life, play with children, enjoy your friends, and make new friends. Love, laugh, and be glad to be alive!


Love,
Donna, AKA Nana

Stream of Plenty

It's a beautiful sunny day here in the midsouth. It's wonderful to see the sun shining and feel its warmth again.

I posted yesterday on attracting prosperity. Prosperity is an "inward consciousness" of spiritual opulence, completeness. We can't feel poor when we're enveloped in the all-supply, know that God is our partner-shepherd, and truly believe "we shall not want."

There was a story told many years ago about a poor woman who had all of her life lived in the country. She moved to a progressive little village, and to her surprise, she found that her new home had electricity. She knew nothing about electicity, had never even seen an electric light before, and the little 8 candle power electric bulbs with which the house was fitted seemed very extraordinary to her.

Later, a man came along one day, selling a new kind of electric bulb and asked the woman to allow him to replace one of her little bulbs with one of his new style 60 candle power bulbs just to show her what it would do. Well, she consented, and when the electricity was turned on she stood there in amazement. It seemed nothing short of a magic that such a little bulb could give so wonderful a light. "Almost like sunlight," she said.

She never dreamed that the source of the new flood of illumination had been there all the time. The enormously increased light came from the same current which had been feeding her little 8 candle bulb.

We smile at the story since we are so used to the wonderment of the electric supply to our homes in this modern day. However, the majority of us are far more lacking in the knowledge of our own power than she was of the electric current. We go through lfe using the 8 candle power bulb, believing we are getting all the power that can come to us, all that we can express, or that destiny will give us, believing that we are limited to the 8 candle bulbs of life. We never dream that an infinite current, a current in which we could be perpetually bathed would flood our lives with light, with a light that is inconceivably brilliant and beautiful if we would only put in a larger bulb, make a larger connection with the infinite supply current to our lives.

We seem to think that our source of supply is limited. It never occurs to us that the trouble is not in the current itelf, or that there is limit, but it is in the small bulbs we are using. How do we unplug the source to the "stream of plenty?"

More in my next post...

Love,
Donna

How to Attract Prosperity

There is the infinite, never-failing Law of Attraction. It is as strict as that of mathematical laws. Opulence follows the law as does poverty. If we obey the law we get the opulent flow. If we disobey, we get cut off from the flow.

Fears and doubts repel prosperity. Abundance cannot get to a person who holds such a mental attitude. Things that are unlike in the mental realm repel one another. Trying to become prosperous while always talking poverty, dreading it, or predicting it by flippingly saying such phrases as the one I mentioned a few posts ago, "Money talks, and it always says good-bye to me." How often do we make jokes or remarks about money or our health that are negative? Remember your words are a force.

This will cause you to visualize circumstances, picture lack, and keep you from that which you desire to have-wholeness. Nothing can attract prosperity but that which is expressed in prosperous thought, conviction, faith, words, and ambition.

Most of us tap into the the great life supply with a tiny pipe, and then pinch off the the flow even further with fears, doubts, anxieties, worry, and uncertainties. There is no lack in "Him in whom all fullness lies." The pinching, the limitation, is in ourselves, "for He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with every good thing."

More next time...

Have joy thoughts,
Donna

The Path to Greater Things

Dream constantly of the ideal; work ceaselessly to
perfect the real.

Believe in yourself; believe in everybody;

Believe in all that has existence.

Give the body added strength; give the mind added
brillancy; give the soul added inspiration.

Do your best under every circumstance, and believe
that every circumstance will give the best to you.

Live for the realization of more life and for the
more efficient use of everything that proceeds from
life.

Desire eternally what you want; expect eternally
what you desire; and act as if every expectation were
coming true.

Picture courtesy of www.geekphilosopher.com

Conversations with Children-Cont'd

To continue my posts of a few days ago---

Our conversation should always deal with the strong points of children's character. Take time with them. Find their talents. Discover their strong points and concentrate on those. Everyone has strong points. Frame our conversations with children to focus on those points. Anyone can find faults and weaknesses. To discover the hiddent talents and bring those out is the special gift we can give our children.

We have 6 children who are all grown now. But each one is very different. They all came for the same mold, so-to-speak,; however, they're all as different as night and day in their unique talents. To expect one to be like the other or like ourselves is only building up wall that can become immovable.

Our conversations with them should have an optimistic tendency and an uplifting tone. It should deal with those things in life that are worth while, and it should always give the ideal the greatest prominence. Weaknesses should be recognized as little as possible and should seldom be mentioned.

When people engage in destuctive, negative conversation around your family, endeavor to change the subject by calling attention to positive subject matter-the better side. There always is another and a better side. Thoughts are things: Words are a force. So any conversation around your family should be uplifting and positive.

Admirable qualities exist everywhere in everyone, and it will prove profitable to give these undivided attention.

Love and joy to you,
Donna

Something Each Day

Hope you are doing very well today. Just as a butterfly lands gently on a flower, our words can be a gentle touch on someone's life each day.

Many have expressed to me over the years that they don't have anything to offer anyone. I've just reassured them that they did have something very valuable: their words, their encouragement, a kindness done. These have more worth than anyone can imagine.

Here are a few wise words from a magazine published a hundred years ago. Hope you enjoy.

Something Each Day

Something each day---a word.
We cannot know its power;
It grows in fruitfulness
As grows the gentle shower.
What comfort it may bring,
Where all is dark and drear!
For a kind word every day
Makes pleasant all the year.

Something each day--a deed
Of kindness and of good,
To link in closer bonds
All human brotherhood.
Oh, thus the heavenly will
We all may do while here,
For a good deed every day
Makes blessed all the year.

"Picture courtesy of www.geekphilosopher.com"

"Be Not Anxious"

"Be not anxious for your tomorrow.." -- Matthew 6:34

It's a great scripture. You needn't be anxious-another word for worry-for anything. God is greater than anything that can possibly happen. Have faith. "Faith," the Bible says, "is the assured expectation of things hoped for though the evidence thereof is unseen."--Hebrews 11:1.

Even though you do not know, not see, the outcome of a circumstance, TRUST, believe. Have the "assured expectation," or deep-down feeling, that all you have hope for shall be manifested, and it will be, "according to your faith."

Till tomorrow...

God bless,
Donna

Breathe in the Moments

"Breathe in the moments." - Great line from a movie I recently saw. What a shame it is; what a waste of precious time not to do so.

Live in the now. When you get right down to it, that's all we have. If we live in the past or worry about the future, we may just miss the great "moments" of the Nows; the Todays.

Live in joy filled Moments,
Donna

You and Today

With every rising of the sun
Think of your life as just begun.

The past has shrived and buried deep
All yesterdays--there let them sleep.

Concern yourself with but today;
Woo it, teach it to obey.

Your wish and will, since time began,
Today has been a friend of man.

But in his blindness and his sorrow
He looks to yesterday and tomorrow.

You and today! A soul sublime
And the great pregnant hour of time.

With God between to bind the train
Go Forth, I say--attain, atain.

A Poem: Words

I love writings from long ago. One of my favorites is this little poem.

"Words are great forces in the realm of life.
Be careful of their use. Who talks of hate,
Of poverty, of sickness, but sets rife
These very elements to mar his fate.

When love, health, happiness, and plenty hear
Their names repeated over day by day,
They wing their way like answering fairies near,
Then nestle down within our homes to stay.

Who talks of evil conjures into shape
The formless thing and gives life and scope.
This is the law; then let no word escape
That does not breathe of everlasting hope."---
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

When you inwardly feel what you say, you give spiritual power to your words. So speak only that which is good and that power will produce good and bless your life.

Joy to you today,
Donna

A Loving Word

"Take the time to speak a loving word
Where loving words are seldom heard;
And it will linger in the mind,
And gather others of its kind,
Till loving words will echo where
Erstwhile the heart was poor and bare;
And somewhere on thy heavenward track
Their music will come echoing back,
And flood thy soul with melody,
Such is Love's immortality.

Say loving, kind words to all you meet,

Donna

You Are a Magnet

You are either a magnet that attracts all things bright, desirable, healthy, and joyous---or one that draws all things disagreeable, glomy, unhealthy, and destructive.--Dorothy Quigley

Have joy, gladness, and kindness in your eyes, your step, your smile, your thoughts, and your words, and you will live in joy and prosperity (wholeness).

Best to you today,
Donna

Some Wise Sayings for You

Are you happy now? Are you likely to remain so till this evening, or next month, or next year? Then why destroy present happiness by a distant misery which may never come at all? Every substantial grief has twenty shadows, and most of those shadows are of your own making.--Sydney Smith

Things without remedy,
Should be without regard:
What's done is done. ---William Shakespeare

Have a beautiful day,
Donna

Have a TIGGER Day!

Hope you are having a great day. The rain has been coming down very hard causing flooding in our town as it is in many parts of the U.S. We have flooding in our own home. Because of this, I'll be deviating a little in the next few posts so I can take care of the household things at hand.

However, I was curled up on my living room sofa this morning taking some time out with my sweet 2 1/2 year old granddaughter who came to visit us from 300 miles away with her parents and baby brother two days ago. We were watching a delightful "Winnie the Pooh" DVD which is one of her favorites, and one of the stories was about Tigger teaching Piglet how to bounce.

Tigger sings a song in which he says in part:

"If you want to bounce the bounce,
If you want to pounce the pounce,
You have to have a Joyfuliffic Tiggerish Mental Altitude..."

What a great song/saying from this wonderful children's movie and exactly what I needed as we are facing quite a clean up in the next few days. Sitting with my adorable little angel, watching her giggle at the movie, being around my family who we haven't seen in several months, all I could think was that, "All is well," as the scriptures say.

Look beyond your circumstances in everything, and know that, "All is well."

Stay dry and warm, and may you have a "joyfuliffic" day, as Tigger would say,
Donna

Note: Reference was made from The Book of Pooh-Stories from the Heart by Disney-I would highly recommend it. It's delightful!

Instructing Children in the Positive

Your conversation around children has such an exceptional value, and in many instances your words alone may change the destinies of young minds. To properly train children, their attention should always be directed as much as possible upon those qualities that have worth. The way they are spoken to will largely determine where he or she is going to direct their thoughts and give the greater part of their attention.

To scold and yell at a child is to remind them of their faults and ends up demeaning them. His good qualities are thereby made weaker while his bad qualities are made worse.

It's not possible to improve the mind and the character by telling him constantly not to do "this" or "that." As a rule, it will generally increase his desire to those things you tell him or her they shouldn't. Isn't that what usually happens?

When children are warned, they either enter a state of fear or one of curiosity. And, while in those states, their minds are so deeply and so easily impressed by that which is being warned against, that their whole attention is upon it. The result is that they think so much about it that they get almost completely absorbed in it; carried away, so to speak, not way from the danger, but right into it.

More on this next time...God bless the children.

Love & joy,
Donna

Thought for the day:

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else." --Charles Dickens

Magnify the Good

How do you reprove wisely and constructively? Magnify the good; emphasize that which has worth. To advise or reprove someone in reminding a person of their faults will cause them to become more keenly conscious of those faults. They'll think more about them and so they'll be more likely to focus on those faults. Will that help them become better? Most likely not. Weaknesses of human nature should be recognized as little as possible, and should seldom, if ever, be mentioned.

To help our friends, spouses, and especially our children, we should never mention their faults. Our conversation should focus on the strong points in their character and their greater possibilities. There's enough people in the world that will cut them down and belittle them. We should frame our conversation so that we tend to make everybody feel that there's something of worth in them.

Use an optimistic tone. It should deal with those things in life that are worth while, and always give the ideal the greatest prominence.

Listen to them. Perhaps the problems they have are routed in frustration or feelings of inferiority. There are "neggies" floating around us all the time. You know, there those people who rain on everyone's parade. People who seem to take joy in making sure those around them feel as bad about themselves as possible by saying things that are just destructive. That's the power of words and emotions. Those neggies can make people-children-feel so bad that it causes anger and destructive behavior.

When someone needs to be reproved, you get a lot further with love. Rather than say, "That was just stupid. What were you thinking?" Find out the why's, really listen to them, and make constructive suggestions without belittling. Most of all, be patient. Sometimes it takes time.

We all have worth. We are all unique, special, creations that have never-ending potential and gifts. Find out what strengths are within everyone with whom you associate. By doing so, you'll discover the beauty within them and how special they are.

Next time, more on children...

Love & joy to you,
Donna

Correcting Wisely

There is a second part to the scripture mentioned in yesterday's post. In Proverbs 25: 12, it says:

"Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, is a wise reprover to a listening ear."

There are times when you may want to say something to reprove or advise someone whether you're a boss to an employee, a parent to a child, or to tell your spouse or partner something. How do you then become a wise reprover "like an earring of gold"?

Your words have building power-to build up or tear down. People mentally live with everything that they hear, so the law of constructive speech should be most consciously applied.

When talking with anyone, their attention should be directed as much as possible upon those qualities that have worth. The way that we speak to them will largely determine where the greater part of their attention will be; their strengths or weaknesses.

How do we do this constructively? Cont'd tomorrow.

Thought for the day:

"You get the best ideas when your mind is in the upper story."

God bless,
Donna

Conversation Has Value

There's a scripture in Proverbs that goes like this:

"Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances." Proverbs 25:11

God gave us the ability and gift to think and speak. We don't always consider this as one our many gifts; however, when we consider that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks," it makes it more understandable. Everyone within your space, wherever you are, receives your words whether they be constructive or destructive.

What we say to others will determine to a certain degree what tendencies they will mentally follow. And, since people are the product of their own thought, your self-talk is so important to your welfare. We grow into the likeness of that which we think about most. What we think about most depends largely on the subjects and mode of our conversations.

If our conversation tends toward the inferior, the wrongs of things, complaints, ..., our conversation soon escalates into a destructive mode since it concentrates on faults and defects of people, things, nature, and whatever else could be the subject. If it's about people, it becomes gossip and that's a whole other blog.

On-the-other-hand, constructive conversation should tend to turn our attention to the brighter side, better side, stronger side, superior side of all things so that our minds are kept moving towards higher thought and should make everybody more keenly conscious of the higher potential and possiblities within them. No ill words, no sarcasm, no fault-finding or brought up short-comings should enter the conversation so that it would offend, embarrass, cause sadness, or pain. Every word should convey hope, encouragement, and sunshine. That may take practice. However, the rewards and changes in your life and improved relationships would be so great.

Cont'd tomorrow. Till then..."The best and highest thing a man can do in a day is to sow a seed whether it be a kind word, a kind act, or an acorn." Sow a seed today.

Love to you,
Donna

Say to Yourself

Wishing you a beautiful day. Hope you enjoy this little poem.

Say to Yourself

Say to yourself a hundred times a day and mean it with all your heart:

I am becoming more than I am.

I achieve more and more every day because I know that I can.

I recognize only that which is good in myself;

Only that which is good in others.

When adversity threatens I am more determined than ever in my life to prove that I can turn all things to good account.

And when those whom I have trusted seem to fail me, I will have a thousand times more faith in the honour and nobleness of man.

I shall think only on that which has virtue and worth.

I live to live more.

I speak to give encouragement, inspiration, and joy.

I work to be of service to all.

I send love and forgiveness to all.

And, in every thought, word, and action my ruling desire shall be, to enrich, enoble, and beautify existence for all who come my way.

How Do You Talk to Yourself?

We all say things to ourselves. Do you give yourself uplifting pep talks telling yourself that "This is a great day," or "I am so grateful to be alive?" Or, do you start out your day complaining about the weather, how your spouse didn't complement you on your hair, how the kids didn't pick up after themselves before leaving for school, and so on?

All the words running through your head have an affect on your life. "It's an awful day," "This is terrible weather," and so on, express your feelings towards the weather, but is it going to change anything? No. It's only going to start your day off with those neggies-negative thoughts.

Those same feelings can be expressed towards yourself when you say things such as, "I can't stand that," "I feel so tired," "My memory is failing," "I am getting old," "I had a miserable night," "It seems I just can't get ahead and probably never will," "There's no chance for me," "Everything is uphill," "I don't have anything but hard luck," "My nerves are so frazzled," or, "It seems that I just have to look at food, and I gain weight."

My relatives said this one all the time when I was a girl, "Money talks, and it's always saying good-bye to me." They thought it was cute and funny, but, oh my, how wrong they were.

That and a thousand other statements that I could mention here that people say to themselves and out loud around others are all most destructive. Statements such as these are said flippingly everyday. If you come to understand the power of thought and words, you'll realize that such statements can be nothing but injurious and should be avoided at all costs in order for you to "live in joy and prosperity."

Tomorrow I'll continue on this subject because it is so important for us all and the world we live in today.

God bless,
Donna

Thought for the day:

"It's worth a thousand pounds a year to have the habit of looking on the brightside of things," --Samuel Johnson

Your Words are a Force

I hope you're generally an optimist. However, if you do have a tendency to be a pessimist as many are, it may be hindering you from realizing the best in life as well as those around you who are the receivers of your personal expressions. Why is that?

Our words and feelings are what we daily express to other people, and our words are a force, whether positive or negative. If are words and actions are wholesome, pleasing, and encouraging, it brings contentment and sereneness to ourselves and the recipients. However, if our words are expressed with discontentment, sarcasm, aggression, frustration, or discouragement, they're destructive to us and others; so much so that no one can afford to use them under any circumstances whatsoever. Words wound others, but they, also, do harm to the one who says them; you. No one can afford to give expression to a single word that may wound.

Never give expression to what you don't want to encourage, either. The more you talk about a thing, the more you'll help it along. Never mind the dark, negative side of anything. It will interfere with your welfare.

To tell your troubles or complaints to someone may give you temporary relief; however, if those words become scattered seeds that produce another crop, it can cause more problems. In other words, in talking about problems, your words don't always stay in that room. You know that happens. Complaining never solves anything anyway.

There is a solution to whatever happens. Trust that God will help you find it. Or, if you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them and go on. Nothing is worth pining over again and again and discussing it. Turn your back on problems, look ahead, and begin to speak harmony, love, and success. "Feel" deeply that new and better conditions will exist.

Since our words are a force, never speak unless you have something to say that gives cheer, encouragement, or wholesome conversation. There's a lovely and most appropriate scripture at Proverbs 16: 24, which says:

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb. Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." I love that one.

Till next time...

Share your love and be joyful within,
Donna

What have you decided?

Have you determined if you're an optimist or a pessimist? The easiest way to tell is to measure how you view things. The poem is 100 years old so it was written in a way that expressed it at that time. Now we've simplified it. Ask yourself: Do you look at a glass and see it half empty or half full? Do you look at how bad things are, or how to make lemonade out of the lemons of life? Is your perspective on life on the hopeful side , or do you look situations as being hopeless? Do you live in the past always talking about regrets, or do you wake each morning expecting good things to happen? Are the people around you viewed as a blessing, or is there always something you can find wrong with them?

Live on the "Brightside" of life. As Emerson once said, "Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in your sunshine."

Spread your personal sunshine around to bring joy to those you know.

Have a great day,
Donna

Optimist or Pessimist...cont'd

The pessimist pours cold water on the fires of his own ability;
The optimist adds fuel to those fires.
The Pessimist links his mind to everything that is losing ground;
The optimist lives, thinks, and works with everything that is determined and presses on.
The pessimist places a damper on everything;
The optimist gives life, fire, and GO to everything.
The optimist is a building force;
The pessimist is always an obstacle in the way of progress.
The pessimist lives in a dark, soggy, unproductive world;
The optimist lives in that mental sunshine that makes all things grow.

The End

After sharing this poem I've heard people say, "I'm not a pessimist. I don't live in a dark, soggy world, and put a damper on everything."

However, there are many who don't think they put a damper on everything, but may say something negative to those around them such as, "How do you expect to accomplish this or that," "Do you really think that will work?", "If you would have only done...," and so many more.

Whether it be a child, a spouse, or a friend, watch the words that are used around them. Your words have power, even the words and thoughts you run through your own head. They are a force that can do good or can do damage.

You may not walk under a dark cloud all day such as that little character in the old "Lil' Abner" cartoons, but if we drop neggies-negative words-around anyone we come in contact with, even strangers, those words have the potential to put mental boulders in their life that can be carried around for a lifetime.

Be forever an optimist. Look for the good in everyone and everything. By so doing, your life will be brighter.

"When you meet a person who does not look well, call his attention to the sunny side of things, and aim to say something that will give new interest and new life. You will, therefore, nip in the bud many a threatening evil, and carry healing with you wherever you go."

May you forever prosper,
Donna

Are you an Optimist or Pessimist?

Here is a great saying that perhaps can answer that question for you. Hope you enjoy it.

The optimist lives under a clear sky;
The pessimist lives in a fog.
The pessimist hesitates, and loses both time and opportunity;
The optimist makes the best use of everything NOW, and builds himself up, steadily and surely until all adversity is overcome and the object in view is realized.
The pessimist curbs his energies and concentrates his whole attention on failure;
The optimist gives all his thought and power on the attainment of success, and arouses his faculties and forces to the highest power of efficiency.
The pessimist waits for better times, and expects to go on waiting;
The optimist goes to work with the best that is at hand NOW, and proceeds to create better times...

To be continued tomorrow-

Love to you,
Donna

New Movie: "Freedom Writers"

Have you seen the previews for the new movie Freedom Writers? I just saw it this morning so I had to post about it. It seems as though it will be a good one to see for positive reinforcment. Hillary Swank plays a real-life teacher who turned the lives of her young students around who live in a very hostile, negative environment by having them write a journal.

In one clip, the teacher tells them that they don't have to live their future life based on their past experiences. Remember yesteday's post; how important it is to "jealously guard your thoughts? This teacher encouraged her students to do just that; really focus on possibilities and not the circumstances surrounding them. And, their circumstances were very tough. Instead of continually pulling past experiences out of their mental archives and staying stuck there for the rest of their lives believing that there was no hope, they were encouraged to begin anew and make possiblities their new realities each and every day.

You can change things around. You can literally rewrite a new life for yourself. Speak what is good; think what is good. Every word has an inner life force, sometimes called the hidden power of our words which may be constructive or destructive. The words that we inwardly feel are the words that act as turning points in our life.

If you express feelings and words of doubt, failure, and loss, it leads to feelings of fear which forms tendencies of those things you don't want. On the other hand, when your expressions verbally or through your feelings are towards health, happiness, power, and success, you will move towards those things, and, in like manner, create them in a measure making yourself free from fear and limitations. You'll then experience true FREEDOM.

If you see this new movie, let me know what you think about it. I'd love to hear from you.

Live in the joy & possibilities of today,
Donna

Quote for the day:

"What is good is worth repeating." Plato

Jealously Guard Your Thoughts

Having a great day? If you want a "great day," speak it. You know the scripture: " Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." What's in your heart and soul right now? Are they good, wholesome, cheery thoughts? This is really important, and I'll explain why.

One of my favorite people of history, who made the best of her life in what seeemed to be unbeatable odds, was Helen Keller. She was a beautiful woman. Not only in character but she was physically lovely. When my scanner is working, I'll post a picture of her. She made the comment to someone that she had to learn to "jealously guard her thoughts." Her world was without sight or sound, so she had to place in her mind beautiful pictures and sounds. She would describe objects to herself as she felt a flower or leaf, painting her own pictures in her mind with such vividness that she filled her mind with beauty. She would "feel" things. She felt the beat of the music. She had to learn to FEEL life, and from "feeling life" she literally built a life of fullness and abundance.

My mother had an aunt who was blind. She became blind at the age of around 45. She lived a full, joyful life well into her 80's cooking for her and her husband, taking care of her home, and being a friend to many. However, she once told me that she had to constantly keep her mind on positive, good things for it was very easy in her dark world to allow dark thoughts to overwhelm her. She had to focus on happy things, beautiful things or, as she said, dark thoughts would creep into her daytimes: Nightmares would envelop her, and even her daytimes would be filled with them.

These two women worked very hard to guard their thoughts. In their sphere of existence they chose to center their thoughts on only what was good. That's why I understood what Helen Keller meant when she said she had to "JEALOUSLY" guard her thoughts. It is something she didn't fool around with and neither did Aunt Helga. All they had for input was what was they willed to think about without sight and as with Miss Keller, total silence, too. What do you fill your mind with?

In my next post, I'll continue on this. Till next time, think about how amazing "you" are.

In love & joy,
Donna

Happy New Years!

Good Morning & Happy New Years!
Hope you had a wonderful New Years Eve and are excited about all the wonderful possibilities of 2007. Here is the poem I mentioned a few posts ago. Print it out and place it where you can read it daily. Written by Christian Larson, an author that the respected Oliver Wendell Holmes called one of the greatest writers of his day nearly 100 years ago, it was made famous by the Optmist Club which made it their "Optimist's Creed."

Promise yourself to be an optimist in 2007, if for no other reason, than that it makes you so much healthier-so much more at peace with yourself and with the world in general.

May you have a great day,
Donna

Promise Yourself

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget about the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear; and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.----Christian Larson

"Happy New Years"