A Blessing and a Morning Prayer

Recently at Perfectly Imperfect, Yolanda shared this "Blessings award" together with a call for prayer for those affected by last week's tornados & an amazing Tribute from Union University. I encourage you to watch this video when time permits, offer up your own prayers, and pass the award and information on to readers at your own blog.

In 1994's
ILLUMINATA
Marianne Williamson shares
"Thoughts, Prayers, and Rites of Passage"
and this is one of my favorite
prayers for the morning.

"Dear God,
I give this day to You.
May my mind stay centered on the things of spirit.
May I not be tempted to stray from love.
As I begin this day, I open to receive You.
Please enter where You already abide.
May my mind and heart be pure and true,
and may I not deviate from the things of goodness.
May I see the love and innocence in all mankind,
behind the masks we all wear
and the illusions of this worldly plane.
I surrender to you my doings for this day.
I ask only that they serve You and the healing of the world.
May I bring Your love and goodness with me,
to give unto others wherever I go.
Make me the person You would have me be.
Direct my footsteps, and show me what you would have me do.
Make the world a safer, more beautiful place.
Bless all Your creatures.
Heal us all, and use me dear Lord,
that I might know the joy of being used by You.
Amen."

Sacred Life Sunday - Prayer for the Evening

In 1994's
ILLUMINATA
Marianne Williamson shares
"Thoughts, Prayers, and Rites of Passage"
and this is one of my favorite
prayers for the evening.

"Dear God,
Thank you for this day.
Thank you for my safety and the safety of my loved ones.
As I enter sleep, may these hours give me peace.
May they bring healing to my mind and body.
While I sleep, dear Lord, please bless the world.
Where there is pain,
where there are people who have no place to sleep,
who suffer and who die,
may Your angels come unto them and minister to their hearts.
Dear Lord,
Please let the light stream in.
Please use my hours of sleep.
Please prepare me, during these hours of rest,
for greater service to You.
May the light that surrounds me, tomorrow shine through me.
Soften my heart.
Thank You, Lord.
Amen."

A 2nd Belated Friday Haiku - On Change

Volume #12

Once again I'm late
writing this Haiku today.
Thinking here of change

how we dare to dream
following these visions with
action can feel strange.

Habits hard to break,
I must substitute a new
option for the old

choosing daily 'til
well established pathways and
mental patterns shift.

Starting where I am
taking one step at a time
gradually change

an adventure brings
joy unlooked for ... what delight!
Rather than a curse

or a burden, choice
brings new ways of seeing and
believing. Success

happens all the time
when I notice little things.
I am good enough

as I am right now!
My desire points the way,
yet it's not the goal

but the journey I
focus on these days because
life is much too short

to berate myself
or blame others foolishly.
Everything's a choice.

Procrastination?
Seems a harmless choice, and yet
all I have is now

I don't choose to waste
precious moments any more!
"If not now, then when?"

My new mantra is
helping me to embrace change
rather than resist.

For a Mr. Linky to other Haiku Fridays
go to A Mommy Story.

Haiku Friday Volume 11
"Email Woes" is here

To see my previous Friday Haikus,
click on the Haiku Friday label below this post.

Thought for Today
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." ~~ Aristotle

Inspiration in Times of Trouble

While checking out Google Gadgets this morning, I happened upon "The Don't Quit Poem" and decided to pass it along. Clicking on the link takes you to an inspiration video presentation of the text that follows. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and I wish you a delightful day! If you haven't already done so, feel free to take a copy of miss*R's "blogging friend" award to post on your blog and pass along to all who visit you.

The Don't Quit presentation is based on a famous poem which was written many years ago. The author of this poem is unknown. Sadly, in recent years a number of people have claimed ownership of the poem and some have even claimed to have written it themselves!

Here is the original poem in it's entirety:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Author unknown

FYI -- If you didn't watch the video, there is a free "Dare to Dream" newsletter with articles, inspirational stories of perseverance and success, audio interviews with successful people, and motivational quotes. I've signed up to see what's there because you know how I love this kind of thing.

Sacred Life Sunday - Reflecting Again

As I do from time to time, today I share
Five Really Good Things Once More.

1. I'm feeling much better today and think I'm over the flu/cold bug from last week. I'm glad I gave myself permission to do less than usual, choosing instead to focus my attention on recovering as quickly as possible ... allowing myself to rest. I'm especially grateful for Zicam, Vitamin C, chicken with wild rice soup, Gatorade, and lemon tea.

2. Today's rain was a gentle drizzle with light winds, rather than a repeat of the gusty deluge of last week that blew my patio furniture out of my front yard. It stopped in time so that Molly and I could enjoy a walk together along the beach.

3. Today I completed my list of 101 Things About Me at Small Reflections and finished the Friday Haiku Volume 10 at Sacred Ruminations albeit belatedly. As of this morning, I was caught up with Blog-related email and comments, although I'm still behind on my visits to others' blogs. I hope to remedy that next week.

4. I always enjoy my weekly telephone chat with Jan, my Taos Writer's Retreat buddy, but today I'm inspired by the goals I've set for myself and believe they'll help me accomplish some specific tasks I've been putting off for too long. In addition, enjoyed lunch with my friend J last week and a wonderful phone visit with Kara yesterday. I plan to call my sister when I finish posting tonight.

5. Because the passing on of awards to some (rather than all) sometimes results it hurt or sad feelings for those who may be overlooked at times, miss*R at Tales of Inglewood has created this "blogging award" to share with every one who visits there. She encourages us to take, post, and pass this award on to every single blogging friend who visits our blog(s) ... and so forth so that it gets shared with love to all in the hope that no one will feel left out again. Here it is for you to take, display on your blog, and pass along to YOUR readers ... and I hope you'll encourage them to do likewise .

Thought for Today
from NATIVE AMERICAN WISDOM
edited by Kent Nerburn and Louise Mengelkoch

"Love is something you and I must have. We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it. We must have it because without it we become weak and faint. Without love our self-esteem weakens. Without it our courage fails. Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world. We turn inward and begin to feed upon our personalities, and little by little we destroy ourselves. With it we are creative. With it we march tirelessly. With it, and with it alone, we are able to sacrifice for others." Chief Dan George

In case you missed it the 1st time around
to everyone I offer this brief but powerful video
May You Be Blessed

Belated Haiku Friday - Volume 10

(Started on 2-1-08 at 5:22PM but
finished and published on
2-3-08 at 2:43 PM)

Better late than never, right?
Cloudy skies foretell
rain is on it's way tonight.
Drizzles starting now

yet the weatherman
says tomorrow will be clear.
Sunday comes the rain.

My brain does not work
right when I am sick and so
this will have to wait!

Sunday Continuation
Better now I feel
so I will continue this,
posting this one late.

Rain and wind arrived
early in the morning, but
currently a break

in the storm allowed
Moll and I to take a walk.
Rough the ocean is!

Wet-suited surfers
sit upon their boards and wait
for the perfect wave.

We are back at home.
I have put the kettle on
for a cup of tea..

Soon I will be warm
and I'll write a 2nd post.
Sacred Life Sunday.

I have finally
finished my One Hundred One
Things About Myself!

For a Mr. Linky to other Haiku Fridays
go to A Mommy Story.

Haiku Friday Volume 9 is here.

To see my previous Friday Haikus,
click on the Haiku Friday label below this post.

Wellness Wednesday Links

Links to my Wellness Wednesday posts

1. A Brief Introduction

2. Saturday Edition - Meditation for letting go of old habits

3. Choices

4. Living for Ourselves