Positive Quote Wednesday - On Regrets
February 1, 2012 by admin · View Comments
None of us like to feel regretful. We want to believe our decisions lead us in the right direction. But often that isn’t the case. What do we decide on something that didn’t work out quite as planned…and we hold ourselves responsible?
Regret is … an unavoidable result of any loss, for in loss we lose the tomorrow that we needed to make right our yesterday or today.
GERALD LAWSON SITTSER, A Grace Disguised
Often regret is very false and displaced, and imagines the past to be totally other than it was.
JOHN O’DONOHUE, Anam Cara
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.
SYDNEY J. HARRIS, Sam Horn’s Tongue Fu!
Remorse is the poison of life.
CHARLOTTE BRONTE, Jane Eyre
In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.
STEFAN ZWEIG, Stellar Moments in Human History
So it is with all life. A tedium that includes the expectation of nothing but more tedium; a regret, right now, for the regret I’ll have tomorrow for having felt regret today.
FERNANDO PESSOA, The Book of Disquiet
Of all Sad Words of Tongue or Pen, the Saddest are these, “It Might Have Been.”
GEORGE ADE, More Fables
Is it really so difficult to tell a good action from a bad one? I think one usually knows right away or a moment afterward, in a horrid flash of regret.
MARY MCCARTHY, My Confession
Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.
AMBROSE BIERCE, The Devil’s Dictionary
Regret, which is guilt without the neurosis, enables us … to move forward instead of back.
JANE ADAMS, When Our Grown Kids Disappoint Us
You’ll never regret writing any letter out of love. However, it’s a good idea to reread anything you’ve written in anger.
MARY MATALIN, Letters to My Daughters
Regret is an odd emotion because it comes only upon reflection. Regret lacks immediacy, and so its power seldom influences events when it could do some good.
WILLIAM O’ROURKE, Idle Hands
Beth
The Largest Living Roof 3 Years Later
January 31, 2012 by admin · View Comments
It’s been three years since the green roof was planted on Vancouver’s new convention centre.
Is it a success? Is it as good as they promised it would be?
The answer is that some parts are terrific — attractive, quality planting; a beautiful habitat for songbirds and insect life.
But other areas are untidy, scrubby, a bit of a mess; you might even say, an eyesore, and a fair ways from what they could or should be.Overall, the roof is more a success than a flop, but there’s definitely room for improvement, so the designers should not spend too much time patting themselves on the back. There’s still some refining work to do.
Covering 2.4 hectares (just over six acres), it is still the largest living roof in Canada and the largest non-industrial green roof in North America.
But being 10 storeys above ground, you can’t see much of it from street level, say from outside the Fairmont Pacific Rim at Canada Place.
The roof is mostly visible to people working in adjacent highrise office blocks, such as the Shaw Tower, or living in luxury condos opposite.Read more at the Vancouver Sun.
Beth
Worry-freedom - an Everyday Practice
January 23, 2012 by admin · View Comments
From Only Positive News writer Beth Mann:
I worry. More than I care to admit. Sometimes I don’t feel as if I have any control over it. But I do. (I mean, if I don’t, who does? The mailman?)
And it’s tough not to worry in today’s age. Our economy is hurting, our ecology is ailing and we’re disconnecting from one another, based on ever-growing need to be “connect” virtually.
I wanted to share with you a few techniques to stop worry in its tracks. Because I don’t know about you, but I’d rather live my life than worry about it!
1. Laugh. I can’t stress the importance of laughter as a worry-buster. A funny movie or a quick-witted friend can inspire those belly laughs that make you feel free and easy afterward. Can’t find anything funny? Fake it! Tests have proven that even fake laughter has therapeutic effects. Fake some laughter for 30 seconds and notice the difference.
2. Look skyward. Worry tends to make us think very small. We’re locked in a box. The simple solution: open it up by going outside. Look up into the sky and breathe. Take in the world around you and remember, you’re part of something greater. Go for a walk. When you return, check in with yourself. You’ll feel less stressed and more open-minded.
3. Write it out. This one is tough for people because we have trouble making time for it. But simply writing out your worries is a great tool that provides instant relief - so try to fit it in. This doesn’t have to be any masterpiece. On the contrary, purge. Let it all out on the paper in a big, unrecognizable blob. The idea is to simply put the inner chatter on paper, so you can close that notebook and leave the worries on the page.
Worry doesn’t just have to exist side-by-side with us. Don’t get use to it. No matter what the concern, the more you practice breaking free, the healthier and happier you’ll be.
Beth
The Only New Year’s Resolution that Worked
January 19, 2012 by admin · View Comments
To Touch You More
My New Year’s resolution made over a decade ago was to touch people more. To break that social wall that keeps our hands and bodies a safe distance from one other. To connect more physically.
I’m speaking of the non-sexual variety of contact. We all know when someone is touching us with sexual undertones. That may or may not be welcome. I wanted to offer the kind of touch that wouldn’t be misconstrued.
This was not easy at first. Not because people weren’t receptive; they were. People generally love touch. They bask in it. They appreciate it on a cellular level.
It was a challenge because I wasn’t sure how to do it. My German family is not the touchy-feely sort. Stiff, awkward hugs. Overly firm pats on the back. Touching others freely hadn’t been habituated into me, so it took some training.
But soon, my hands and body reached out to anyone in my world, whether it was via handholding or a quick massage or a touch on the cheek or a full-body hug or a head on a shoulder. Or I’d simply stand closer to people, trying not to invade, but simply enter, their space. I even began kissing some of my closest friends on the lips, which is incredibly sweet and rewarding.
How did people react? Shoulders would drop, breathing would deepen, gentle smiles would appear - people relaxed almost instantly. We so desperately crave human contact, but often aren’t even aware how hungry we are for it. And giving touch is akin to receiving it. I feel touched as well. Cosmic win/win.
Last month, while taking a bus from the Jersey shore to New York City, an older, fragile Indian man sitting across the aisle from me suddenly handed me his cellphone. I accepted it, confused and slightly nervous.
“Um…hello?”
“Hello, my uncle may be having a heart attack. He needs help. He doesn’t speak any English.”
I looked over at the older gentleman and he was grasping his chest and moaning. I went to the bus driver and explained what was happening. As I returned to my seat, the man had fallen to the floor, in the aisle.
The bus pulled over. Emergency help was contacted. Several passengers made suggestions but few had any medical training, myself included. So I resorted to my New Year’s resolution. I placed both of my hands gently on his face and began whispering in his ear, “Calm down. Calm down. Calm down.”
I then unbuttoned his shirt and placed my hands on his chest. He was very agitated and his heartbeat was frighteningly rapid, so it took some time, but finally his breathing resumed to somewhat normal. At one point, he opened his eyes to look at me and they were filled with gratitude. No clumsy words needed.
When the police finally arrived, they instructed everyone off of the bus. (Another was waiting to take us to our destination.) I was afraid if my hands left his body, he would become unwell again. The cop didn’t really want to hear my spiritual take on the situation, so I got up to leave.
Almost immediately, the man’s breathing became erratic and his eyes glazed over and looked filmy. I left the bus feeling a sense of peace regardless. Strangely, I could feel his essence on me for quite some time, like an energetic imprint of some sort.
Fortunately, the man was fine. (His relatives left me a lovely message the next day.) But it was then I realized that touching was something beyond “feel good.” We live for it. I live for it.
So that is my first (and only) working New Year’s resolution - one that would change my life on a level beyond words.
Beth
Finding Life in Prison
January 18, 2012 by admin · View Comments
King spent 29 years in solitary confinement in a six-by-nine-foot cell at Angola Louisiana State Penitentiary.
King was convicted of robbery in 1969 despite the testimony of the main witness who admitted he picked King out of a lineup after being tortured.
King escaped from the Orleans Parish Prison and joined the Black Panther Party in New Orleans—five years after the federal government passed the Civil Rights Act.
He was recaptured within weeks of his escape and sent to Angola, then considered the bloodiest prison in America, in the spring of 1972 where he met Black Panthers Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace in solitary confinement.
They became informally known as the “Angola 3.” Woodfox and Wallace remain in solitary confinement, while King was released on time served in February 2011.
King learned the power of creative, physical activity while he was in Closed Cell Restriction (CCR), also known as extended lockdown, at Angola.
Unlike the other living spaces on Angola’s 18,000-acre prison grounds, the CCR cells did not have a slot for passing food to inmates. King had to eat from his plate through the bars while the plate was on the floor or while he balanced the plate in mid-air.
As a solution, King built a cardboard food tray and hung it from strings outside his cell. “All the guys began to do it. Some guys got creative about it. They drew pictures on their trays. They covered them in table clothes. We had fun with it,” King says.
They also made chess boards out of tissue paper. They fastened sixty-four tissue squares to their concrete floors with toothpaste to make chessboards. They made expertly sculpted tissue paper rooks and kings.
Beth
Positive Quotes from Betty White
January 18, 2012 by admin · View Comments
On one’s well-being: “Keep the other person`s well-being in mind when you feel an attack of soul-purging truth coming on.”
On getting rest after a long day: “Oh, I don’t need sleep. I just went to my hotel and had a cold hot dog and vodka on the rocks.”
On living life to the fullest, we think: “I’ve always liked older men. They’re just more attractive to me. Of course, at my age there aren’t that many left! I’ve enjoyed the opposite sex a lot. Always have. Always will.”
On staying active: “I have a two story house and a bad memory! I’m up and down those stairs all the time: ‘What did I come up here for again?’”
On Facebook, after a successful campaign on the social media network site landed White a gig as a host of Saturday Night Live: “I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say: It sounds like a huge waste of time.”
Beth
Positive Quotes from Betty White
January 18, 2012 by admin · View Comments
On one’s well-being: “Keep the other person`s well-being in mind when you feel an attack of soul-purging truth coming on.”
On getting rest after a long day: “Oh, I don’t need sleep. I just went to my hotel and had a cold hot dog and vodka on the rocks.”
On living life to the fullest, we think: “I’ve always liked older men. They’re just more attractive to me. Of course, at my age there aren’t that many left! I’ve enjoyed the opposite sex a lot. Always have. Always will.”
On staying active: “I have a two story house and a bad memory! I’m up and down those stairs all the time: ‘What did I come up here for again?’”
On Facebook, after a successful campaign on the social media network site landed White a gig as a host of Saturday Night Live: “I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say: It sounds like a huge waste of time.”
Beth
From the Mouths of Babes
January 15, 2012 by admin · View Comments
I found this bittersweet video last night while surfing and wanted to share it with you. Riley, a young girl, talks about the limitations of marketing for little boys and girls…and hits home some pretty big truths.
I hope you enjoy it and happy Monday all!
Little Girl Gets Mad about Pink Toys
Beth
Positive Quote Wednesday - on Walking
January 12, 2012 by admin · View Comments
If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk. ~Raymond Inmon
A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White
I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. ~John Muir, 1913, in L.M. Wolfe, ed., John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, 1938
Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow. ~Henry David Thoreau
Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. ~Steven Wright
I have two doctors, my left leg and my right. ~G.M. Trevelyan
My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing. ~Aldous Huxley
When you have worn out your shoes, the strength of the shoe leather has passed into the fiber of your body. I measure your health by the number of shoes and hats and clothes you have worn out. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake. ~Wallace Stevens
After a day’s walk everything has twice its usual value. ~George Macauley Trevelyan
I dream of hiking into my old age. ~Marlyn Doan
No city should be too large for a man to walk out of in a morning. ~Cyril Connolly
Solvitur ambulando, St. Jerome was fond of saying. To solve a problem, walk around. ~Gregory McNamee
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir
Thoughts come clearly while one walks. ~Thomas Mann
In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ~John Muir
Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. ~Soren Kierkegaard
Walks. The body advances, while the mind flutters around it like a bird. ~Jules Renard
Author walking on beach in New Jersey.
Beth
Positive Quote Wednesday - on Gifts
December 21, 2011 by admin · View Comments
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. ~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
What is bought is cheaper than a gift. ~Portuguese Proverb
A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver. ~Thomas á Kempis
The only gift is a portion of thyself. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers. ~Seneca
We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays
But it is a cold, lifeless business when you go to the shops to buy something, which does not represent your life and talent, but a goldsmith’s. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Gifts,” Essays, Second Series, 1844
If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. ~George MacDonald
The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. ~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur
Christmas is the season when you buy this year’s gifts with next year’s money. ~Author Unknown
A hug is a great gift - one size fits all, and it’s easy to exchange. ~Author Unknown
If you give what can be taken, you are not really giving. Take what you are given, not what you want to be given. Give what cannot be taken. ~Idries Shah
Beth
