Heaven

 

Nothing goes far

 "To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say."

Will Durant



Thoughts: We waste a lot of words and energy talking about what politicians, religions, other groups and individuals, and even people in our circles do wrong.

Would it not be more productive to think/talk about what people are doing right and start there?

Would it not be more honest to forget comparing and just try to always do our best as we understand it?

Would it not make our lives more useful if we accepted that it is not helpful to speak ill of others?

Speaking ill of others, regardless of how acceptable it is or how much we feel someone deserves it serves no purpose other than for us to sound and feel superior, widen the gaps of understanding and obscure our chances of listening or understanding.

While I may not agree with all the opinions in Will Durant's book "Fallen Leaves - Last words on; Life, Love, War, and God" I appreciate the entertaining discussions of alternate views and thoughts he shares while coming to his conclusions and I understand why he arrives at them. 

Cheers
Jeanne

Happy

 "Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude."

Denis Waitley

"When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself."
Tecumseh

"Often people ask how I manage to be happy despite having no arms and no legs. The quick answer is that I have a choice. I can be angry about not having limbs, or I can be thankful that I have a purpose. I chose gratitude."
Nick Vujicic

Thoughts: As I think about gratitude and appreciate the gifts surrounding me all the time whether I am conscious of them or not, I wonder why I ever let myself think of "wanting more", and then when I really think about that  I am grateful as much for the things I can't do as they give me opportunities I wouldn't have dreamed of if I could do whatever I wanted when I wanted it.

What's love got to do with anything??

 "A man is only as good as what he loves."

Saul Bellow

My thoughts: 

It seems like we don't spend much time determining what we love and putting that first. 

I listen, read and wonder at the hatred that seems to be a force field feeding itself with anger like oxygen to a fire, consuming kindness, empathy and compassion and fanning fear, blame and hate into a flame that threatens to take the decency and love out of our society and combust our world into an Armageddon of war and global environmental catastrophe until there is nothing left but ashes.

My ask after this little rant is that we step back for a bit to think about what we really love. 

Take a day off from making blanket statements to express our dissatisfaction with something or someone. 

Take a day off from feeding the fire of hatred to think about what love and kindness mean. 

Think about what being grateful for our family, or a friend, or a smile, or a sunny day, or being alive really means; they don't cost anything, but make our lives brighter. 

Before we think, act and vote with blame and hate let's take the time to think about the consequences with a broader and kinder framework.

Cheers

Jeanne