encourage others

... and sometimes myself (I like to write ‘em, too :>)...

I have been putting together these blogs of quotes with photography for people I’ve networked with in my profession—writing. I post them with artwork or photography I find scattered around the Internet. It is a fun little project for me to lay them out, but I have taken to doing it based on all of the despair I have seen circulating through the country as of late (I swear the earth is off axis or something!). With war, crime, pollution, poor diet, seasonal discomfort, disease, the economy, the dollar sinking, gas prices being so high, and mere life challenges of our every day…... depression and negativity have become an epidemic. It all seems to be getting worse for so many people, and I safely assume many more people just suffer in silence. So, like I said, I’ve taken to putting these posts together of inspirational quotes I have collected. I’ve had sooo many people drop me notes about how they enjoy them or “they couldn’t have come at a better time”, so I’ve kept it up. Now I do them out of a sense of duty somewhat, but it is honestly fun for me. It is fun to search for just the right image to go with the words. I thought I would post the URL for any of you who wanted to look through them, if you’re interested… :)

http://www.myspace.com/rubsaltintheheartbreak

... not so sure yet, but…

I have a friend who is going through hard knocks. The situation she is facing on the horizon for 2008 is quite close to the one I just went through in June. Though we have much different lives, our hearts are in the same place—a gamut of emotions both great and gargantuan. I have been frightfully honest with her, but also giving her all the support I feel she needs, and that is utter encouragement. The core word to encourage is courage and I just don’t think enough people realize that. She’s going to be fine, but it doesn’t always feel that way when the hard knocks knock sense into ya. :)

Today I took my 4-year-old daughter to a nursing home to pass out presents (Beanie Babies) to the people who lived there. She lit their faces when she walked over in her elf costume (her names was “Jingles”) and said, “Happy Holidays!” It is a small gesture, but I think it encouraged her to practice kindness and patience. I think she put 2+2 together and realized what a smile can do to brighten the slightly dimmed. I also think it gave the residents a little jilt of jolliness. :) It was a whole lot of fun!

My friend Jen passed this little passage along to me and then I passed it along to my husband who is his own worst self critic. I thought I would pass it along, one more time, to all of you. :>

“Human potential is the same for all. Your feeling, “I am not of value, ” is wrong. Absolutely wrong. You are deceiving yourself. We all have the power of thought—so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can do anything. It is usually said that you are your own master.” ~ Dalai Lama