"Happiness is like a kiss. You must share it to enjoy it." - Bernard Meltzer quotes love happiness

Beautiful Earth

"Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God."

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Romantic Poetry

Womanhood

"There are two important days in a woman's life -- the day she is born and the day she finds out why."
-Elaine Cannon

More on Woman

Family

"A true family is not always one's own flesh and blood.  It is a climate of the heart."

-Shirley Barksdale

More on Relationships

Things Aren’t Always As They Seem

Life gives us gifts and challenges in many different forms; sometimes what looks like something great ends up creating disaster or hurting us, other times what appears as tragedies and loss turns into gifts and blessings. Nothing in itself is good or bad it just is. It is up to us to make the most of every moment in our life. Keep our eyes focused on our goals and priorities and not let the distractions of life deter us from getting the most out of our life. Below is cute story from the book “Peace, Love & Healing” by Bernie Siegel, MD. It is a beautiful reminder to approach each day with a non-judgmental attitude and embrace each day for whatever it has to offer.

“This gentleman has a farm. He loves the old-fashioned way and plows his fields with a horse. One day as he was plowing his field the horse dropped dead. Everyone in the village said, “Gee, what an awful thing to happen.” He just responded, “We’ll see.” He was so at peace and so calm that we all got together and, because we admired his attitude so much, gave him a new horse as a gift. Then everyone’s reaction was, “What a lucky man.” And he said, “We’ll see.” A few days later the horse, being strange to his farm, jumped a fence and ran off, and everyone said, “Oh, poor fellow.” He said, “We’ll see.” A week later the horse returned with a dozen wild horses following it. Everyone said, “What a lucky man.” And he said, “We’ll see.” The next day his son went out riding, because they had more than one horse, but the boy fell off the horse and broke his leg. Everyone said, “Oh, poor boy,” but my friend said, “We’ll see.” The next day the army came to town taking all the young men for service, but they left his son because of his broken leg. Everyone said, “What a lucky kid,” and my friend said, “We’ll see.” “

Tips For A Better Life

photo by Hamed Saber

I was cleaning out my email - I think they multiply faster then bedroom dust bunnies! But I found this simple list of ways to improve your life and thought it was a great way to start 2009. Couldn't have said it much better myself. Not sure where it originated so my apologies for not acknowledging the author.

25 TIPS FOR A BETTER LIFE

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.'

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

25. Love yourself.

Arizona's Monsoon Lightning Shows

Monday, September 1, 2008 will mark my 12-year anniversary of living here in Arizona. One of the perks of Arizona is our Summer Monsoon Season where we get sudden outbursts of heavy rain with amazing lightning displays. Thursday night was one of the best.

Around 9:30pm Thursday night it suddenly became very windy with heavy heavy sheets of rain blowing every which way and lightning that lit up the sky every few seconds. The house lights kept flickering like little winks of something exciting about to turn. At the height of the storm I turned off all the lights, opened the blinds and watched the light show with a single candle flickering in the background. It was fantastic! I don't think I have ever seen the whole sky light up like that. It was like a kid playing with a light switch flipping it on and off as fast as he could with a few short breathers (probably when mom was yelling at him to cut it out). What a fun show.

I wasn't able to captured the moment on film, but some others did. Enjoy the photos other Arizonans have taken of our recent storms.

What are some exciting features of where you live?