Archive | December, 2012

The 12/31/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
The first definition of enthusiasm in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is:
: belief in special revelations of the Holy Spirit
Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is enthusiasm.

Chief Tecumseh’s words of wisdom

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.

Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled
with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep
and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

Chief Tecumseh 1768-1813 Shawnee Nation

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The 12/30/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
The ‘Joy Jar’ is a year long exercise which began on December 21, 2012 when moi realized that she was still here and the Mayan doom advocates were wrong. As the new year 2013 approaches, the frame of reference for any new year should be to expect the best. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is to expect the best.
A little girl walked daily to and from school. Though the weather this particular morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her trek to the elementary school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning.
The child’s mother, concerned that her daughter would be frightened and possibly harmed by the storm got into her car and drove along the route to her child’s school.
As she did so, she saw her little daughter walking along happily but at each flash of lightning the child would stop, look up, and smile.
Stopping the car, the mother called to the child to get in with her. As they drove toward school, the girl continued to turn toward each lightning flash and smile.
The Mother asked, “What are you doing?”
The child answered, “Well, I must do this, God keeps taking pictures of me.”
— Author Unknown
“You begin by always expecting good things to happen”
Tom Hopkins quotes (American best selling author known as the world’s leading sales trainer.)
Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian”
Dennis Wholey
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
Lao-Tze
“If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.”
Abraham Lincoln
The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.
A. A. Milne
We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.
Marcel Proust

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The 12/29/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
According to the Phrase Finder:
Been there, done that

Meaning

To have experienced the topic under discussion, to the point of boredom or complacency.
Really has anyone really been there, all of there? Has anyone really done all of that? Really. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is surprise.
“Would you like to know your future?

If your answer is yes, think again. Not knowing is the greatest life motivator.

So enjoy, endure, survive each moment as it comes to you in its proper sequence — a surprise.”
Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

“Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.”
Mae West
“Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
“How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“I know enough of the world now to have almost lost the capacity of being much surprised by anything”
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.
Henry Ford

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The 12/28/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec

Sometimes as you walk along the paths of life, there is a presence walking beside you. Sometimes it feels as if the presence is not there and you wonder where the presence has gone. But, you know the presence is always with you and has not left. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is faith.

 

“When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you you’d walk with me all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.” The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”
Mary Stevenson
“Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be… a prudent insurance policy.”
Elizabeth Gilbert
“God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars.”
Elbert Hubbard
“Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.”
Max Lucado, He Still Moves Stones
“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
Søren Kierkegaard
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
Corrie ten Boom

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The 12/27/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
Everyone likes to think it is the big things that make one happy. But, for many happy people, it is the small things strung together like pearls that bring a smile to one’s face. No, many of these small things are not the same as giving a speech at the UN. Instead of bringing peace to nations, small things that make you grateful bring peace to your soul. Moi just loves going into Bartell Drugs and finding Lindt chocolate is on sale. Wow, what a feeling. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is about the small things.

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

“Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
and the pleasant land.

Thus the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.”
Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney

For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great.
Jose Ortega y Gasset

“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things. I am tempted to think there are no little things.”
Bruce Barton

There are some things that you can fulfill with money, but at the end of the day these are not the things that make you happy. It is the small things that make life good.
Sebastian Vettel

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The 12/26/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
All of us need grace and we all hope that people will grant us grace. It is harder to give others grace and forgiveness, but that is what we must learn to do. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is grace for ourselves and others.

“By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

“Our worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”
Jerry Bridges

“Life is grace. Sleep is forgiveness. The night absolves. Darkness wipes the slate clean, not spotless to be sure, but clean enough for another day’s chalking.”
Frederick Buechner, The Alphabet of Grace

“You must pay for everything in this world one way and another. There is nothing free except the Grace of God. You cannot earn that or deserve it.”
Charles Portis, True Grit

“The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you.”
Frederick Buechner

“When grace moves in… guilt moves out”
― Max Lucado, Max on Life: Answers and Insights to Your Most Important Questions

“If I’m not showing grace . . . have I forgotten the grace I’ve been shown?”
― John F. MacArthur

“Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.”
Confucius, The Analects

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The 12/25/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
People should have a vision or goals to help guide them along their life journey. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ deals with vision:
Proverbs 29:18 “For lack of vision my people perish”
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
Bruce Lee
“The most pathetic person in the world is some one who has sight but no vision.”
Helen Keller
Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!
Bob Marley
I’m most proud of the blessings that God has bestowed upon me, in my life. He’s given me the vision to truly see that you can fall down, but you can still get back up. Hopefully I’ll learn from my mistakes and have the opportunity to strengthen and improve the next thing I do.
Martin Lawrence

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The 12/24/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
Many folk wonder what the true meaning of Christmas is? Is it the gift card, the game, or a fashionable this or that? Is the meaning something deeper? Here is today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar.’ It is the true meaning  of Christmas.
1 Corinthians 13:13
New International Version (©1984)
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Hope is a waking dream.”
Aristotle
“Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire. You don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.”
Desmond Tutu
“Christmas doesn’t come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more….”
Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Christmas is a feeling that should last more than one day.

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The 12/23/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
Optimism is the fuel that keeps your engine going. Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar.. is optimism:
“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 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 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 great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.”
― Christian D. Larson, Your Forces and How to Use Them

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The 12/22/12 ‘Joy Jar’

30 Dec
Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is hope:
According to Rev. Trev:
All of us are one phone call away from slipping from our perch on the rope . It’s good to take time to be reminded how to hope.
1. Hope brings strength –

but those who hope in the LORD 
will renew their strength. 
They will soar on wings like eagles; 
they will run and not grow weary, 
they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

2. Hope brings joy and peace –

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
Romans 15:13

3. Hope brings unfailing love –

May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, 
even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:22

4. Hope makes effective witnesses –

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 2 Corinthians 3:12

5. Hope brings rest –

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; 
 my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5

http://revtrev.com/hope/why-is-hope-so-important/

“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must of felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.
” Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget, that until the day God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words, ‘Wait and Hope.”
― Alexandre Dumas
“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
― Emily Dickinson

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