Tag Archives: Joy Jar

The 09/04/13 Joy Jar

4 Sep

After a holiday, sometimes it is just hard to get going. Everyone at one time or the other needs motivation to put the foot one before the other. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is motivation.

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
Dalai Lama

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
Norman Vincent Peale

A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
Ayn Rand

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
C. S. Lewis

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.
Confucius

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
Helen Keller

If you can dream it, you can do it.
Walt Disney

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
Thomas A. Edison

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The 09/03/13 Joy Jar

3 Sep

Moi was walking and came across this yard with pinwheels everywhere. Was it a celebration? What could be the meaning? Pinwheel Girls offers one explanation:
Pinwheel Symbolism
Did you know that the symbolic meaning of a pinwheel is “to turn one’s luck around?” Chinese culture believes the pinwheel is an instrument to turn obstacles into opportunities and as such they are a revered symbol during Chinese New Year festivities.
Pinwheels are found world-wide all over the globe and basically have retained their simple, recognizable shape and function from culture to culture. Their symbolism is really quite profound representing such diverse concepts as childhood innocence, unseen energy, wish fulfillment and transformation. In many parts of the world, pinwheels have a deep spiritual significance as well. http://pinwheelgirls.com/history-of-pinwheels
Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are those beautiful pinwheels.

“The whirligig of time brings in his revenges.”
William Shakespeare

“The intellect is a very nice whirligig toy, but how people take it seriously is more than I can understand.”
Ezra Pound

The world itself was a whirligig, its myriad parts invisibly linked, the hidden crankshafts and connecting rods carrying motion across the globe and over the centuries.”
Megan Kinsworthy

One thing that was ubiquitous to every flower market that I had gone to during The Spring Festival, were the many bright and colorful pinwheels that children and young people had with them. There were tons of vendors too, that only sold pinwheels. Kimi had once explained to me that this was not just a colorful toy for the children, but that it was also a powerful symbol that dated back thousands of years. He said that the spinning pinwheel was a traditional symbol that represented the the flowing in and out of fortune. As the colorful pinwheel spun, the bad luck was being cast out and was being replaced by the good luck.
Arby, Blogger

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The 09/02/13 Joy Jar

1 Sep

Labor Day is a time to celebrate the workers and to give thanks for how their labors have enriched us all. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is gratitude for all the workers.

I believe that summer is our time, a time for the people, and that no politician should be allowed to speak to us during the summer. They can start talking again after Labor Day.
Lewis Black

Here are some great Labor Day quotes from Celebrate American Holidays:

Labor Day Quotes

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.
~ Indira Gandhi

Men are made stronger on realization that the helping hand they need is at the end of their own right arm.
~ Sidney J. Phillips

I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
~ Thomas Jefferson

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
~ Confucius

The man who rolls up his shirt sleeves is rarely in danger of losing his shirt.
~ Anonymous

If a man will not work, he shall not eat.
~ 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NIV)

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.
~ Albert Einstein

Work is no disgrace; the disgrace is idleness.
~ Greek proverb

Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, some done,
Has earned a night’s repose.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

No great achievement is possible without persistent work.
~ Bertrand Russell

There is no substitute for hard work.
~ Thomas Edison

A man is not paid for having a head and hands, but for using them.
~ Elbert Hubbard

I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.
~ John D. Rockefeller

Under the spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith a mighty man is he
With large and sinewy hands.
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
He earns whatever he can,
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

There is no labor a person does that is undignified; if they do it right.
~ Bill Cosby

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive;
but it is lightning that does the work.
~ Mark Twain

Before the reward there must be labor. You plant before you harvest. You sow in tears before you reap joy.
~ Ralph Ransom

Work hard, but not just to please your masters when they are watching. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
~ Ephesians 6:6-7
http://www.celebrate-american-holidays.com/Labor-Day-Quotes.html

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The 09/01/13 Joy Jar

1 Sep

As folk reflect on what Labor Day means and even what “middle class” means or who is “middle class,” there are certain values that define the “middle class.” See, Middle Class Values Do Differ From the Rich — My Answer to Senator Kyl http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/jon-kyl-middle-class-_b_1697164.html and The State of America’s Middle Class in Eight Charts http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/two-american-families/the-state-of-americas-middle-class-in-eight-charts/ Today’s deposit into the “Joy Jar’ is middle class values.

I have to live for others and not for myself: that’s middle-class morality.
George Bernard Shaw

I worry a lot about taking care of my dependents, all those perfectly ordinary middle-class preoccupations.
Orson Welles

“The vast majority of Americans, at all coordinates of the economic spectrum, consider themselves middle class; this is a deeply ingrained, distinctly American cognitive dissonance.”
Ellen Cushing

Morality is only for the middle class, sweet. The lower class can’t afford it, and the upper classes have entirely too much leisure time to fill.
Lisa Kleypas

Upper classes are a nation’s past; the middle class is its future.
Ayn Rand

Right now, America’s middle class is struggling to meet their basic needs.
Ruben Hinojosa

“A smaller government reflecting the needs of the middle class and poor is superior to a big government reflecting the needs of the privileged and powerful.”
Robert Reich

The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control, and outnumbers both of the other classes.
Aristotle

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The 08/31/13 Joy Jar

31 Aug

Every person has a mission. Each of us was placed here for a reason. As we go through the Labor Day weekend, we are reminded that while work is important, it is not necessarily your mission. One’s work may further their mission, but work alone cannot be the mission. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is finding one’s mission in life.

Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t.
Richard Bach

Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone’s task is unique as his specific opportunity to implement it.
Viktor E. Frankl

When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.
W. Clement Stone

Perhaps the mission of those who love mankind is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth.
Umberto Eco

Perhaps the mission of those who love mankind is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth.
Umberto Eco

Make your life a mission – not an intermission.
Arnold H. Glasow

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The 08/30/13 Joy Jar

30 Aug

This is the beginning of the Labor Day weekend and it gives moi a chance to reflect on the meaning of work. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is work that sustains life and provides meaning.

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.
Confucius

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.
Vince Lombardi

It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man.
Benjamin Franklin

It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man.
Benjamin Franklin

I think the person who takes a job in order to live – that is to say, for the money – has turned himself into a slave.
Joseph Campbell

Nothing will work unless you do.
Maya Angelou

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The 08/29/13 Joy Jar

30 Aug

Interstate 5 divides Seattle. It is showing its age. There are actual ruts and chucks of pavement missing as one goes from Northgate through the University District and on the city center. Moi is guessing that many of those who drive Interstate 5 on a regular basis long for a good road. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are good roads.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
Buddha

The road to perdition has ever been accompanied by lip service to an ideal.
Albert Einstein

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It’s jolted by every pebble on the road.
Henry Ward Beecher

I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.
Stephen Hawking

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.
Yogi Berra

The middle of the road is where the white line is – and that’s the worst place to drive.
Robert Frost

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don’t like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don’t expect freedom to survive very long.
Thomas Sowell

You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it.
Oprah Winfrey

We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.
C. S. Lewis

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The 08/28/13 Joy Jar

29 Aug

One of the most recited prayers is the very perfect Lord’s Prayer. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the Lord’s Prayer.
Dennis Fuqua posts these thoughts at his site:

About the Lord’s Prayer
Here are some quotes from others who have found the power of the Lord’s Prayer in their lives.According to Augustine, “whatever else we say when we pray, if we pray as we should, we are only saying what is already contained in the Lord’s Prayer” (Letter 121, 12).

Thomas Aquinas explains why the Lord’s Prayer must be “…the most perfect prayer that we can say…” “Now in the Lord’s Prayer what we are asking for from God is everything that we may lawfully ambition. It is, therefore, not only a cataloger of petitions but also, and especially, a corrective for our affections….”

Martin Luther said “A Christian has prayed abundantly who has rightly prayed the Lord’s Prayer.” He called it the “…model prayer of Christianity.” Other prayer should be suspected which do not have or comprise the content and meaning of this prayer.

To this day I suckle at the Lord’s Prayer like a child, and as an old man eat and drink from it and never get my fill. It is the very best prayer… It is surely evident that a master composed it and taught it. Everybody tortures and abuses it; few people take comfort and joy in its proper use.

Elmer Towns – The Lord’s Prayer includes everything you need to ask when you talk to God. It is a model prayer that teaches us how to pray.

David Yongi Cho – Like within fruit, the Lord’s Prayer contains every requirement for which a Christian may pray each day.

J. I. Packer – This prayer is a pattern for all Christian praying. Jesus is teaching that prayer will be acceptable when, and only when, the attitudes, thoughts, and desires expressed fir the pattern, That is to say: every prayer of ours should be a praying of the Lord’s Prayer in some shape or form. We never get beyond this prayer; not only is it the Lord’s first lesson in praying, it is all the other lessons too.
http://www.livingprayer.net/?page_id=89

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The 08/27/13 Joy Jar

27 Aug

The City of Seattle has a ‘pea-patch’ program which provides spaces for urban gardeners. The ‘pea-patches’ are plots of land scattered throughout the city where urban gardeners can work their magic. These plots show the personalities of the communities and the gardeners. They add character and community to an urban area. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the urban gardeners.

“At the heart of gardening there is a belief in the miraculous.”
Mirabel Osler

“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.”
Rachel Carson

“Gardens, scholars say, are the first sign of commitment to a community. When people plant corn they are saying, let’s stay here. And by their connection to the land, they are connected to one another.”
Anne Raver

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”
Nelson Henderson

“You don’t have a garden just for yourself. You have it to share.”
Augusta Carter

“You ask how many friends I have? Water and stone, bamboo and pine.
The moon rising over the eastern hill is a joyful comrade.
Besides these five companions, what other pleasure should I ask? ”
Yon Sun-do (1587-1671), Korean Poet, Sigo

“Out of gardens grow fleeting flowers but lasting friendships.”
-Beverly Rose Hopper

“A garden is a public service and having one a public duty. It is a man’s contribution to the community.”
Richardson Wright, Truly Rural, 1922

“That which is not good for the beehive cannot be good for the bees.”
Marcus Aurelius

“If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain.
If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees.
If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people.”
Chinese Proverb

“The best things that can come out of the garden are gifts for other people.”
Jamie Jobb

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The 08/26/13 Joy Jar

26 Aug

Walking around one just has to notice all the dirt. Things grow out of dirt and sometimes dirt is just there to let us know that it is there. There is a whole cleaning industry build around the idea that thirt must be removed. Still, without dirt, no food. No food, no moi or you. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is dirt.

People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.
Plato

I sometimes think that the price of liberty is not so much eternal vigilance as eternal dirt.
George Orwell

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
Margaret Atwood

A book reads the better which is our own, and has been so long known to us, that we know the topography of its blots, and dog’s ears, and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins.
Charles Lamb

This magnificent butterfly finds a little heap of dirt and sits still on it; but man will never on his heap of mud keep still.
Joseph Conrad

I’ve always believed that if you don’t stay moving, they will throw dirt on you.
Paul Anka

“The way I see it, the difference between farmers and suburbanites is the difference in the way we feel about dirt. To them, the earth is something to be respected and preserved, but dirt gets no respect. A farmer likes dirt. Suburbanites like to get rid of it. Dirt is the working layer of earth, and dealing with dirt is as much a part of farm life as dealing with manure. Neither is user-friendly but both are necessary.”
E.L. Konigsburg, The View from Saturday

If you see a whole thing – it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives… But up close a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern.
Ursula K. Le Guin

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