life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “Winning”

21 Jan 2015

It was a very good day…the bravest are the tenderest…it takes courage to bear Light in the world…Beauty, Donna Knutson

Go and open the door.
Maybe outside there’s
a tree, or a wood,
a garden,
or a magic city.

Go and open the door.
Maybe a dog’s rummaging.
Maybe you’ll see a face,
or an eye,
or the picture
of a picture.

Go and open the door.
If there’s a fog
it will clear.

Go and open the door.
Even if there’s only
the darkness ticking,
even if there’s only
the hollow wind,
even if
nothing
is there,
go and open the door.

At least
there’ll be
a draught.

The Door by Miroslav Holub, from Poems Before & After, translated from the original Czech by Ian Milner et al. (Bloodaxe Books, 2006). Text as posted on Scottish Poetry Library.
http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com

Sunrise @ Branford Point, CT this fine chilly morning! My challenge was to get out of the nice, warm covers! SO worth it!! xo

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Beginning, Change, Choice, commitment, connection, courage, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, light, mystery, nature, strength, Tenderness, touch, Winning, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

05 Jan 2015

growing fruit

Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else. Let’s be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.

– Henri J. M. Nouwen
http://www.henrinouwen.org

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Change, Choice, commitment, courage, determination, find art at pinterest, Growth, Habits, Life, Love, Patience, soul and spirit, Winning, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

21 Dec 2014

it’s time

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sounds the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Burnign Bridges, Change, Choice, determination, do, find art at pinterest, Winning, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

02 Dec 2014

how do you wait?

On January 17, 2012 I added these words to the ‘Other Words’ page of this blog…
Timing is everything. How do we wait on things we want more than life? How many times have I run ahead of God and not waited? Almost always. It never seems to get any easier for me, yet I have learned the value and the importance and so I struggle to incorporate this all important lesson into my life. Timing…learn timing…timing is everything. Wait for the right gift, wait for the best blessing, wait for exactly what you need to be prepared and given to you…in the fullness of time!

Help me, dear Lord! May I wait in peace and be ready for action when you show me the way!
💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞
Here we are entering the time of year known as Advent aka Waiting for Jesus to Come.
The only way we can wait is if we believe the waiting will, ultimately, bring us all the things that have been promised! Then the waiting is worth it!
I believe! My foundation is built on solid rock and the roots of faith have grown down deep through the storms of life.
And so I wait the coming of what has been promised! For as long as it takes! I will focus and I will wait! ACL

Prepare your way in me, Lord,
prepare your way in me, my Lord.

Make my rough places smooth,
the crooked make straight, my Lord.

Lay your hand at my root,
that I may bear fruit, my Lord.

Come and empty my heart
of all things but you, my Lord.

Guide my feet in your way,
fill me with your peace, my Lord.

Prepare your way in me, Lord,
prepare your way in me, my Lord.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Blessing, courage, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Growth, Hope, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, Patience, Peace, Reflection, Seasons, soul and spirit, strength, success, thankfulness, Thoughts, Today, touch, Trust, Winning, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

01 Dec 2014

much ado about nothing

Understanding Nothing
from The Power of Nothing
by Barbara Zerfoss

There are fundamental keys to unlocking the door to success. They are so simple that most people never discover the combination. Why is that?

As we grow, we often leave creativity and simplicity behind and start to look for answers in complexity. However, those who are most successful have discovered a foundational principle of success: there is no genius in complexity.

In fact, Abe Lincoln said this,

“I’m sorry I wrote such a long letter. I did not have the time to write a short one.”

History has proven that…the greatest discoveries often come from the simplest of forms. In fact, most breakthroughs come straight out of “nothing,” coming to light while the inventor was simply being present in the world.

In fact, most people naturally have a fear of “nothing” and feel most comfortable and safe holding on to what they already have or what they already know. No matter what the past holds for them—good or bad—it is where they are most at home. Their box is their security, and the walls around them give them plenty of opportunity to admire barriers.

This is why most people find it easier to stay put or simply change or add on to what exists, rather than creating what could be. It’s why people or businesses stay stuck or simply achieve incremental improvements, rather than breakthroughs. It’s what keeps people from discovering their unique purpose, from seeing a vision of the future and creating a life they were truly meant and desire to live. The past is a powerful force filled with stories. It is constantly working to draw us back into the comfort zone.

New experiences or going out on a limb can make us feel uneasy, often causing a type of paralysis within us. Yet, if we can form a new relationship with “nothing”—if we embrace a blank page as a wonderful opportunity to design what we want our future to be—we will have access to unlimited potential.

Posted in Becoming Yourself, commitment, confidence, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Letting Go, Life, Miracles, mystery, Passion, People, power, Purpose, soul and spirit, success, Winning, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

21 Nov 2014

love alone is worth the fight

Tradition claims the Prince of Love
is ruler of the universe,
that forgiveness is above every power,
that grace overwhelms every dominion.

Skeptics demur. But what else sustains,
what else is worth it?
What but love bore Christ along,
and fueled his touch, his speech,
his dying breath? And what but grace
could make and use his rising?
If you’ve a better god, choose boldly.
Make sure it’s big enough for your whole life,
worth ruling you like your death.

In this world of seas and stars,
of music and the intricacies of your flesh,
of sundogs and tree frogs and memory,
of tragedy and the way its children survive,
even chaos is a feeble, flimsy thing,
and selfishness a bridge to nowhere.

I’ve seen sixty-one years
of a crazy world and all its wonders,
my dying and rebirth, forgiveness,
and what holds me in the wind.
The little candle in the darkness was love,
the strength that bore me was love,
my only failures a failure to love.
It’s the warp my life is woofed upon,
the only sense that everything makes,
the only reason that everything is.

You can have your randomness;
the old mosaics have it right:
even in the storm of chaos, the roar of evil,
love is the Lord of heaven and earth,
its teacher my sovereign, my truth.
It’s the little swaying bridge I’ll take
over the foaming, thundering chasm.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in attitude, awareness, beloved, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, Trust, truth, Winning, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

11 Nov 2014

the voice of calm still whispers

Times may turn dark;
they always have.
Our calling remains unchanged.
The voice of hope is undiminished.

The world may turn
toward ravage and greed;
the acid of fear stain our faces,
the voracious appetite of power
consume the earth and its silent ones,
but the Holy One’s tender mercy
does not waver or abate.
The voice of calm still whispers.

Your path may take you
through ulcered valleys of shadow.
The Gentle One is still with you.

Our path is not to save the world;
only One may do that.
Our path is to learn to love
even in the darkness.

Our calling is still to be woven in,
to cry out for the hurting,
to take mercy to the streets,
to be gentle among the violent
and strong amidst the fearful,
to mend the fabric even as it is torn,
to heal and bless even in our defeat.

Life may turn dark; it often does.
Crucifixion reoccurs.
But the world in its suffering
will be made pure light.
Even in the evening of our power,
even in the dusk of the world,
the light of the Merciful One shines on,
and we are given this: to share the light,
to share the light
until we ourselves are pure light.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.org

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, beloved, Blessing, confidence, find art at pinterest, Freedom, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, soul and spirit, strength, success, Trust, Uncategorized, Winning, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

07 Nov 2014

filled with graces

A little drop of the sky, a little drop of the land, a little drop of the sea, on your forehead, beloved one. To protect, to shield and to surround you. The little drop of the Three, to fill you with the graces.
– Traditional Celtic Prayer