Happy 2011!

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me. Anais Nin

And what are the top ten New Year’s Resolutions??? A search today shows these:

1. Spend more time with family & friends
2. Get fit
3. Tame the bulge
4. Quit smoking
5. Enjoy life more
6. Quit drinking
7. Get out of debt
8. Learn something new
9. Help others
10. Get organized

What are the top three on your list? Regardless of resolutions, may your 2011 be filled with lots of love, laughter, caring and sharing! Wishing you great wealth, health and joyous experiences. Happy New Year!

Christmas gift suggestions

We often have difficulty deciding what to give as holiday gifts to those near and dear to us. A friend shared this list with me and I feel compelled to share it with you!

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
…To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.

Merry Christmas to all!
Best wishes for a glorious 2011!

What joy will move through you?

‎Happiness and joy comes to you when it moves through you. There is not other pathway – and that’s the miracle. ~ Neale Donald Walsch

We all can start moving joy through ourselves by being grateful for the little things in our lives, increasing our own happiness quota and allowing that happiness to bubble over to touch others in our daily activities.

This holiday season need not be extravagant to be filled with an abundance of joy. Use your talents to create one-of-a-kind gifts for those you love. If you are feeling less than creative, try sharing your time – create a coupon for an hour of story time for a young relative, pet sitting time for a colleague, a home cooked meal for single friends who do not usually cook for themselves…the list is endless. Donate time at a shelter or soup kitchen – not only will this help others, but you will be amazed how good you will feel afterwards!

Go forth and share your joy!

With autumn the rebirth begins…

Think of the peak experiences of your life — the best times you’ve had, the most joyous times, times when you felt worthy, important, or delighted. Then imagine feeling like that a lot more often. — Richard Brodie

When we feel unworthy it is difficult, at best, to reach one’s full potential. We should take inspiration from the autumn leaves. They drop off the old and work through the winter, storing energy to become new in the spring.

• The use of positive affirmations may be the most effective technique to overcome those feelings. Our real value must be acknowledged by ourselves.
• Taking action is another technique. Begin to build your self-esteem by making a commitment to add more positive to your life daily. Share kind thoughts, express curiosity, be optimistic, work hard, have fun and smile more often.
• And since you know yourself best, be your own judge, but be realistic in your self expectations…remember that the negatives will be replaced slowly so don’t judge yourself too harshly!

Success

Success

He has achieved success
who has lived well,
laughed often, and loved much;

who has enjoyed the trust of
pure women,

the respect of intelligent men and
the love of little children;

who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;

who has left the world better than he found it
whether by an improved poppy,
a perfect poem or a rescued soul;

who has never lacked appreciation of Earth’s beauty
or failed to express it;

who has always looked for the best in others and
given them the best he had;

whose life was an inspiration;
whose memory a benediction.

~ 1904 Bessie Anderson Stanley

According to  Bethanne Larson, Bessie Anderson Stanley’s great-grandaughter:

Success was written as the winning entry in a contest run by Brown Book Magazine in 1904. Bessie won a cash prize of $250 which paid off the mortgage on the house, among other things. It was included in Bartlett’s Book of Quotations for decades, and if you can find an old edition from the 30′s or 40′s, it should be in there. They dropped it, I think in the 60′s, but I don’t know why.

The family isn’t sure how the poem got mangled and attributed to Emerson, but it was further confused by Ann Landers and her sister Abby. Ann Landers used to (mis)quote it all the time and cite Emerson as the source. My great-uncle Art, a retired federal judge who died last March [2000], and she had a decade-long correspondence as he argued for a public correction. She finally conceded and in her book, The Ann Landers Encyclopedia, prints the whole story.

In the Spring 2000 edition of the Emerson Society Papers is an article “Emerson’s ‘Success’–Actually, It Is Not”, written by Joel Myerson; the following review by another detective in search of the secret of Success:

It’s short but interesting, as Joel Myerson tracks down the 2nd volume of a book called, Heart Throbs, published in 1911, which contains the Stanley quote, and then a few pages later, a piece by Emerson titled, “Good-Bye.” He concludes that “the proximity of Stanley’s work to Emerson’s suggests that someone might have made the initial misattribution by copying Stanley’s work, then returning to seek the author and mistakenly using Emerson’s name from three leaves later; Stanley’s name appears on the third line of a verso page, Emerson’s on the fifth of a verso page, making such an eyeskip possible.” He doesn’t address how Robert Louis Stevenson might have gotten connected with the quote, however.

Regardless of the confusion over the origins of this poem, the message is inspired and timeless. What is your definition of success?