Joy

"Shared joy 

is double joy, 

and shared 

sorrow is 

half-sorrow."

-Swedish proverb

 

The joy of sharing is what makes life worth living.

To have enough to share is a joy in itself.

Sharing does not mean you have to give things, although food, clothing and shelter 

are great donations, the most important thing is that you share your love.

"Without a rich heart,
wealth is an ugly beggar."      ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Giving of your time to listen to someones sorrow

may be all that you will ever need to share.

"Wealth is the ability to fully experience life." ~ Henry David Thoreau

To measure wealth, do not look at a persons wallet

or pocketbook, look at their heart.

"The real measure of your wealth is how much
you'd be worth if you lost all your money."       ~ Anonymous

Because you are a joy to be with, and because you are

kind enough to listen to the woes of others, you will have friends.

In your time of sorrow, those friends will be there to listen to you.

Do not be needy and manufacture worries that are

used to elicit sympathy on a daily basis.

Perceived worries are not true sorrows.

We cannot survive on sympathy.

We live a better life when we share the joy of loving and being loved.

Joy is a simple thing.

Joy is a smile.

Joy is a thank you.

Joy is just being there.

True joy is having someone to be there with you.

If you do not have a friend it is because you do not want one.

You must first be a friend to have a friend.

The joy of a really good friendship is not having to keep score.

Who listens the most, who gives the most, who sacrifices the most, 

are things true friends never even consider.

True friends are the ones who laugh with you,

cry with you and most of all, just enjoy being with you.

Joy is not just being "in" the clique, it is belonging to a group 

of friends who share common interest and whose interest include 

making this world a better place for all.

Beware, there are negative cliques and cliques that know

everything, and cliques that are always right.

Friends are not negative, they want to learn with you and

they are willing to make a mistake trying to do joyous things.

Cliques tend to be exclusive, friends are inclusive, be a joy and share the love.

Do the will of your Higher Power and approach living with a positive attitude.

When things happen and you are emotionally moved to

have feelings, find the appropriate feelings and deal with life.

Negative feelings of rage, anger and spite are never appropriate.

If you do not know how to feel or what to feel, call a friend or three.

If the event brings you sorrow, share the sorrow with a friend,

learn to grieve, accept, and get on with your life.

Do not miss a present joyous event because you are stuck in a past

sorrow that you cannot change.

Today, accept sorrow, share sorrow, but look for joy.

Today, make your gratitude list and start the day with a thought

of joy , love and laughter.

Laugh often, Sing loud, and, Dance when you get the chance!

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

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ME and the Boss

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What You See Is What You Get

Under the influence of the alter ego, 

we became the Mr. Hyde to our Dr. Jekyll.

We became the super powered person, the 

 great dancer, the great conversationalist, 

the greatest sales person, the great lover, 

 the great hunter, the greatest whatever

they were talking about.

If they did it, we did it one better.

For those who wish to live a healthy and sane life, the grandiose

la la land of our alter egos is a place that can no longer be visited.

It is also important to note that seeking to alter the mind and mood 

 by the use of external influences is only adding fuel to the fire.

In spite of who or what you may want to be,

you are who you are, and what you see is what you get.

Everyone has a small split in their personalities,

that small moment between the good thought and the evil thought,

  

and we must learn to live with it.

Today, make a conscious effort to know which side of the split you are on.

"All speech, written or spoken ,is a dead language,   
until it finds a willing and prepared hearer."  ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

 It takes two to communicate.

Talking to yourself, inside that little space on the top of your head, 

 does not qualify as a conversation.

No one is prepared to listen to lies, and include yourself on that list.

Most sane people know that the most willing and prepared hearer is a Higher Power.

Prayer is talking to your Higher Power to seek His or Her

guidance, meditation is listening for the answer.

Those people that talk to their Higher Power on a regular basis

are people who are happy and content with who and where they are.

 If you do not like where you are, move, but be sure to take your mind with you

.

If you have no friends, the family has disowned you, and the dog ignores you, 

don't move, just change the side of the split that your personality is on.

"I have resolved that from this day on,
I will do all the business I can honestly,
have all the fun I can reasonably,
do all the good I can willingly,
and save my digestion by thinking pleasantly."  ~ Robert Louis Stevenson 

Whether it was a hundred years ago, or just yesterday, a good mantra,

a good philosophy of living has always included being honest, having fun

, 

helping others and obeying the will of a loving Higher Power.

The most honest thing we can do is to be honest to ourselves.

Having fun is being able to laugh at ourselves and with others.

When we help others, we help ourselves.

Doing the will of a Higher Power means we do only those

things which come from the good side of our split personalities.

Pray to your Higher Power.

"Give us grace and strength
to forbear and to persevere.
Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind,
spare to us our friends,
soften to us our enemies."   ~ Robert Louis Stevenson 

Today, remember that your day will be as good as you make it, 

 so go with the personality that is on the awesome side.

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Michael_e

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Sponsor

I can't give solutions
to all of life's problems, doubts, or fears,
 But I can listen to you,
and together we will search for answers.

I can't change your past
with all it's heartache and pain,
nor the future with its untold stories,
But I can be there now
when you need me to care.

I can't keep your feet from stumbling,
I can only offer my hand
that you may grasp it and not fall.

Your joys, triumphs, successes,
and happiness are not mine;
Yet I can share in your laughter.

Your decisions in life are not mine to make, nor to judge;
I can only support you, encourage you, and help you when you ask.

I can't prevent you from falling away from friendship,
from your values, or from me;
I can only pray for you, talk to you and wait for you.

I can't give you boundaries which I have determined for you,
But I can give you the room to change, room to grow,
room to be yourself.

I can't keep your heart from breaking and hurting,
But I can cry with you and help you pick up the pieces
and put them back in place.

I can't tell you who you are.
I can only love you and be your friend.

--Unknown
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High Hopes

Can

the ant

move the

rubber

tree

plant??

Yes he can;

because he has high hopes.

With the help of your Higher Power you to can hope to move mountains,

just remember to bring along your shovel.

"Hope is the parent of faith."    ~ Cyrus A. Bartol

Plan, wish, hope or faith, it is necessary that one awakes

every day with thoughts of positive confidence.

Today, you may not have to move a rubber tree plant or a mountain 

but be prepared to do your best in service to yourself, mankind 

and your Higher Power.

Don't lose hope, when the sun goes down, the stars come out.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

The most important thing is to get out of bed and live life to its fullest.

Unless you are making your gratitude list or planning life's activities, 

sitting around thinking could get you into a bad space, your head.

Idle time produces idle thoughts and idle thoughts bring trouble.

Do not look at responsibilities in life as a burden and feel blessed if 

someone thinks you are responsible enough to help them to live, 

love and hope.

Family dysfunction is caused by a fear of expressing feelings

or by displaying inappropriate feelings at the wrong time, even though 

we know there is never an appropriate time to display bad manners??

Everyone in the family becomes selfish, self centered and hopeless.

To make your family functional, establish boundaries

and put love on top of the list of appropriate feelings.

Temper tantrums are never on the list of appropriate feelings:

"Where did that child learn those behaviors??".

Do not let negative people drag you down into their dismal swamp of despair.

There will be negatives in everyone's life, you do not need to go looking for more.

Today, have high hopes that  that you can make at least one person smile 

because you truly care about them.

"To love means loving the unlovable.
To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable.
Faith means believing the unbelievable.
Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless."  ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

My wish for you today is that you will find your Higher Power

and that She or He will give you more than you could ever hope for.

Happiness is helping someone help themselves.

Michael_e

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