Benefits of Struggling

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.
 Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.
                                          Neither happened!
 In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
                                         It never was able to fly.
 What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.

Be Happy. God Bless.

Learn From Mistakes

Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing.” Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.”
Every mistake is a lesson if you look with a positive attitude.

Be Happy. God Bless.

The Invitation

The Invitation- Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
And if you dare to dream of meeting 
Your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
For love, for your dream, 
For the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
If you have been opened by life's betrayals,
Or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, 
Mine or your own,
Without moving 
To hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, 
Mine or your own,
If you can dance with wildness 
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes 
Without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, 
or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. 
I want to know if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty 
Even when it is not pretty every day,
And if you can source your life 
From its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, 
Yours and mine,
And still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 
"Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone, 
And do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand 
In the center of the fire with me 
And not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you 
From the inside 
When all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone 
With yourself,
And if you truly like the company you keep 
In the empty moments.

Be Happy. God Bless.

Universal Timing - Life’s Natural Rhythm

A friend of mine e-mailed this beautiful letter to me which I love to share with you all.
Slowing down & listening to your own natural rhythm can quickly connect you to the Universe.
Nature’s natural rhythms orchestrate when day turns to night, when flowers must bloom  & provides the cue for when it is time for red & brown leaves to fall from trees. As human beings, our own inner rhythm is attuned to this universal sense of timing. Guided by the rising & setting of the sun, changes in temperature, & our own internal rhythm, we know when it is time to sleep, eat, or be active. While our minds & souls are free to focus on other pursuits, our breath & our heartbeat are always there to remind us of life’s pulsing rhythm that moves within & around us. Moving to this rhythm, we know when it is time to stop working & when to rest. Pushing our bodies to work beyond their natural rhythm diminishes our ability to renew & recharge. A feeling much like jet lag lets us know when we've overridden our own natural rhythm. When we feel the frantic calls of all we want to accomplish impelling us to move faster than is natural for us, we may want to breathe deeply instead & look at nature moving to its own organic timing: leaves shedding, or rain falling. A walk in nature can also let us re-attune is to her organic rhythm, while allowing us to move back in time with our own. When we move to our natural rhythm, we can achieve all we need to do with less effort. We may even notice that our soul moves to its own internal, natural rhythm – especially when it comes to our personal evolution. Comparing ourselves to others is unnecessary. Our best guide is to move to our own internal timing, while keeping time with the rhythm of nature.

Be Happy. God Bless.

Your Dimension Of Greatness

                                    Your Dimension Of Greatness - Author Unknown 

No one can know the potential,
Of a life that is committed to win;
With courage - the challenge it faces,
To achieve great success in the end!

So, explore the Dimension of Greatness,
And believe that the world CAN be won;
By a mind that is fully committed,
KNOWING the task can be done!

Your world has no place for the skeptic,
No room for the DOUBTER to stand;
To weaken your firm resolution
That you CAN EXCEL in this land!

We must have VISION TO SEE our potential,
And FAITH TO BELIEVE that we can;
Then COURAGE TO ACT with conviction,
To become what GOD MEANT us to be!

So, possess the strength and the courage,
To conquer WHATEVER you choose;
It's the person WHO NEVER GETS STARTED,
That is destined FOREVER to lose!

Be Happy. God Bless.

Things Work Out

Things Work Out - Edgar A. Guest 
Because it rains when we wish it wouldn't, 
Because men do what they often shouldn't, 
Because crops fail, and plans go wrong- 
Some of us grumble all day long. 
But somehow, in spite of the care and doubt, 
It seems at last that things work out.


Because we lose where we hoped to gain, 
Because we suffer a little pain, 
Because we must work when we'd like to play- 
Some of us whimper along life's way. 
But somehow, as day always follows the night, 
Most of our troubles work out all right.


Because we cannot forever smile, 
Because we must trudge in the dust awhile, 
Because we think that the way is long- 
Some of us whimper that life's all wrong. 
But somehow we live and our sky grows bright, 
And everything seems to work out all right.


So bend to your trouble and meet your care, 
For the clouds must break, and the sky grow fair. 
Let the rain come down, as it must and will, 
But keep on working and hoping still. 
For in spite of the grumblers who stand about, 
Somehow, it seems, all things work out.

Be Happy .God Bless.

Happy Easter

But only with OUR HEARTS can we feel the MIRACLE of GOD'S LOVE which redeems all men... And only with OUR SOUL can we make our "pilgrimage to God" and inherit His Easter Gift of ETERNAL LIFE.