Daily Jots

Thought of the Day:
“There is no amount of darkness that can extinguish the inner light. The important thing is not to spend our lives trying to control the environment around us. The task is to control the environment within us.”
Jean Chittester
Thinking Outside of the Box:
Too often, we look to change the circumstances that happen in our life. We can’t. That’s a hard one to accept. Events occur, they are out of our control, and at times, they devastate our lives.
But, we are not totally out of control. We cannot change what happens to us (well, there …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.”
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Thinking Outside of the Box:
Not everyday can be full of deep and meditative thoughts! When I woke up this morning, I couldn’t seem to get my brain and mind in the same time zone as my body. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is better than a cup of coffee on mornings like that.
When morning fog still has not lifted and it hugs the earth, the aroma of the freshly ground beans is an invitation to the day. This is especially so in winter, when the …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“O God, source of life and power, Who feedeth the birds of the heavens, increase our tenderness towards all the creatures of Thy hand. Help us to refrain from petty acts of cruelty, or thoughtless deeds of harm to any living animal. May we care for them at all times, especially during hard weather, and protect them from injury so that they learn to trust us as friends. Let our sympathy grow with knowledge, so that the whole creation may rejoice in Thy presence.”
Unknown
Thinking Outside of the Box:
Everyone knows the Biblical story of creation. God created light …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
Helen Keller
Thinking Outside the Box:
Kind of reminds a person of “no pain, no gain.” Or on a deeper level, “The Dark Night of the Soul.” The bottom line, according to Helen Keller, and countless philosophers before her, is that if we do not suffer, we stagnate. Small comfort in the middle of the suffering.
But looking at the nature of our difficulties, trials, and struggles from this point-of-view, allows us to look …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“Be careful how you touch her,
for she’ll awaken
and sleep’s the only freedom that she knows
and when you walk into her eyes,
you won’t believe
the way she’s always paying
for a debt she never owes
and a silent wind still blows
that only she can hear and so she goes.”
Skylark

Thinking Outside of the Box:
I was interested in using the quote above, and a few below today, and that led me to search for quotations about women. What I found on the Internet was interesting. The bulk of them had to do with feminism.
Now I have nothing against feminism. I …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“Round the spruce top the blue was deepened, concentrated by the fixed point, the memory of that spot, as it were, of the sky is still fresh – I can see it distinctly – still beautiful and full of meaning. It is painted in bright color in my mind, color thrice laid, and indelible; as one passes a shrine and bows the head to the Madonna, so I recall the picture and stoop in spirit to the aspiration it yet arouses. For there is no saint like the sky, sunlight shining from its face.”
Richard Jefferies
Thinking …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.”
Willa Cather
Thinking Outside of the Box:
My daughter tells me that there is an scientific explanation for the fact that winter lasts forever in the country. Willa Cather is from Nebraska, by the way, and I just happen to live in Nebraska. I love Nebraska but winter? I could do with a bit less.
Anyway, back to my precocious 15 year-old. She says the scientific reason is that cities generate heat and power and the lack of people …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family. This courtship will begin with a long journey – a journey that will take them hundreds of miles across the continent by foot, in freezing cold temperatures, in brittle, icy winds and through deep, treacherous waters. They will risk starvation and attack by dangerous predators, under the harshest conditions on earth, all to find true love.”
“March of the Penguins,” Warner Bros.
Thinking Outside of the Box:
I have always had a special fondness for penguins. I’m …read more

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So, tomorrow is Thesaurus Day. I’m trying to think of another way to say this.
Technorati Tags: Quotes, quotations, thesaurus

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I didn’t know it, but today is “Ditch your New Year’s Resolution Day.” Now, under the theory that it takes 21 days to build a new habit, I don’t think that is a good idea. All it takes is hanging in there another 4 days!
Has anyone bagged their New Year’s Resolutions yet? I’d love to hear about it.
Technorati Tags: resolutions

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