Tag Archives: inspirational

Weed Killer

27 Replies

The seeds have been planted,

They are starting to grow.

What will develop,

What will they bestow

 

Will the seeds become flowers,

That mean love and respect?

Or will they be weeds,

Their job to deflect?

 

Bigotry and avarice,

Can choke out a life.

If allowed to ferment,

There’ll be nothing but strife.

 

Hatred and ignorance,

Will kill kindness and joy.

We must be vigilant,

Our weapons deploy.

 

We have the tools,

To protect what is good.

All that it takes,

Is to defend as we should.

 

Knowledge protects,

And keeps us secure.

All that remains,

Is for us to endure.

 

 

This was inspired by a post by Frank at beachwalkreflections.wordpress.com.  Check him out, you won’t be disappointed.

Honour

29 Replies

A friend made a comment,

She made it to me.

You’re silly you know,

My advice here is free.

 

With joyous abandon,

You live life to the full.

It is said from the heart,

I tell you no bull.

 

With laughter galore,

And a chuckle or two.

You look for the best,

In all around you.

 

Each day with a smile,

You greet every dawn.

With honour a suit,

Each day you put on.

 

Life is a journey,

You share with the best.

Our days may be numbered,

So we’re on a quest.

 

Be kind to each other,

Is the quote for the day.

And live every moment,

As we all join the fray.

Rose Coloured Glasses

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When we all started wearing masks there was an issue for people who wore glasses. They fogged up. Yes, it can be rectified but it takes a little thought and I was feeling lazy. My glasses are for distance so I don’t wear them all the time. I decided to invest in a pair of sunglasses that were non-prescription. I could wear them further down my nose so there was no fogging involved. I nipped into the pharmacy and bought an inexpensive pair. Well, I got more than I paid for.

We’ve all heard about looking through rose-coloured glasses at the world. It means we see the good not the bad but it’s not necessarily considered a good thing.  The implication is that we’re living in a fantasy world. And yes, sometimes I am! Seriously, with the world we’re living in right now! But I digress. When I looked through my glasses the world wasn’t rose-colored, more sepia toned and it made me wonder…

People really do see what they want to see. We judge based on our history, how we have been treated and sometimes it’s not all good. When I see a group of young men laughing and walking down the street, I don’t automatically think they’re up to no good. In my world they’re just a bunch of kids out having a good time. Because I have never experienced any of the horrors that others have. That colours my thinking. And the way I look at the world.

I have been told that I wear rose-coloured glasses because I look for the positive. I may be aware of the negative but I don’t have to fixate on it. I will try to correct it if I can but I don’t spend my life worrying about it.  That is an action that has no value. Why would anybody want to focus on it?

We live in trying times. These are the moments that can make us or break us.  Ordinary heroes are standing next to each other performing extraordinary acts of kindness.  In the beginning of this pandemic, we pulled together, we sang from our balconies and we cared about each other. Now apathy has crept in and we are trying to return to a past that no longer exists. Covid is here to stay. So are we. How we manage to coexist remains to be seen. I’m counting on us. All of us.

Ginger Snaps   

32 Replies

I would like to share something a little different today. These are not my quotes. Someone I met here on my blog has been commenting for a while now and I think she happens to be brilliant. Unfortunately, she does not have a blog of her own. It’s a shame because I think she’s wonderful! My opinion. These are her actual words on some of my posts. Please enjoy.

Ginger Snaps

24 May 2022  “Why thank you! Hardly witticisms though. Maybe Ginger Snaps!

Ginger”

 

Contemplating the day ahead is much more productive than contemplating your navel!

In a world where you can be anything you want to be, be kind.

We won’t know what we can accomplish if we don’t try.

The things we fight the hardest for are so easily lost.

I think we all march to a different tune. And because we march to a different tune we look out of step, but we’re not! We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.

Very often the “grand gestures” are just bluster and hot air.

Sometimes after getting there from here, we realize we didn’t need to go there after all!

Don’t ever give up on your dreams. They are the soft spot where we can land when we’re having a tough day.

True friendships know no boundaries.

The absolute best laughter is the one you’re trying so hard to suppress.

Laughter is the thread that holds us together and joins us together with others.

Let’s show some gratitude for attitude! No platitudes please.

Some of us don’t understand what they DO know!

We need to stick our toe in the water and dive in instead of running back to our blanket on the beach!

Too often we just “decide” that something is impossible without seeing all the possibilities right in front of us.

Sometimes a single thought is all it takes to put something wonderful into motion.

Life requires we get off our butts and make ourselves useful and get involved. Couch potatoes not welcome!

Truth will always shine its high-powered beam on a lie and show it for what it is. Sometimes it takes a while, but beware lest you find yourself in the spotlight!

If we have life and chocolate, we pretty much have Everything. There’s not much room left for Nothing.

A smile, a kind word, a small thoughtful gesture, can make a huge difference in the big picture.

Maybe the lie is what we want to hear! The truth can be hard to take.

Free can be very expensive, especially if it’s in the form of advice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image originally via the Internet. I did modify it somewhat.

Theheritagecook.com

Is it not about life?

29 Replies

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

William Shakespeare – Macbeth  Act 5 Scene 5

2022 AD – 1606 AD

This is one of the most popular soliloquies written by William Shakespeare. There have been many explanations for the reasoning behind it in the context of the play. But I had another thought. Is it not about life?

Are we walking shadows? Perhaps. While we live, we can create, inspire and impress. When we are gone can we still?  Some do. William Shakespeare lived 400 years ago and yet we still speak his words. We still try to understand his words. We engage with his words. But can we know the man just through his words? What did he desire? What was his favourite colour? Did he love to kiss gently like a butterfly or with mad passion thrown to the wind? The man is gone. His essence is no more. His shadow walks still.

Will my shadow still touch after I am gone? Will yours? Does it matter? I will not worry about what will happen after I’m gone. I would like to think that perhaps, just for a little while, I will be remembered fondly. But quite frankly at that point I probably could care less. We don’t know what waits beyond the veil.  It could be a new adventure; it could be nothing. So, I intend to make my presence known here, in this world, in this adventure.

We don’t remember the individuals who built the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China or even the buildings that became our cities. These people with sweat and blood and tears built our world. We can see their legacy but we don’t remember the individuals, perhaps that’s the way it should be.

I want my sound and fury to be joyous and positive. I want to touch people with my words and nudge them with my ideas. I want to share who I am. In 100 years, no one may remember my name but if the spirit of who I was resonates somewhere, in a word,  an idea, in a thought. Then I have lived well.

A Hook

28 Replies

A simple little hook,

Hangs upon the wall.

There to do its duty,

So, the coats won’t fall.

 

Perhaps it not that simple,

The duty it performs.

Could it be more complicated,

Perhaps a few reforms?

 

What if it’s a symbol,

To show us what we need?

Be support to another,

Could that be our creed?

 

Look upon this simple hook,

As it looks back at you.

Have you done all that you could?

All that you should do?

 

Time upon the earth is short.

But we can leave a mark,

Walk with pride throughout your life,

And be another’s spark.

 

Are You a Reason?

40 Replies

I was sitting back in my chair the other day with my mind wandering. It should not be allowed out unsupervised but this day it was. I remembered a conversation I had had over lunch with a dear friend many years ago. We had been laughing about something that I do not recall and he slapped the table and said with a grin, “men need a place, women need a reason”. I burst out laughing, hysterically.

Now, if you understood what he meant then shame on you! Welcome to my world. If you didn’t understand then your mother raised you right. And you have so much to learn. It got me thinking about reason. Are you a reason? Are you a reason that someone smiles first thing in the morning? Are you the reason people want to come to work because they enjoy what they do and who they do it with? Or are you the reason someone is crying into their pillow at night? What’s the reason someone chooses a different career path?

We never truly know or understand what effect we have on other people but if we go out of our way to be kind and to be considerate, the impact we have on others will be positive. Should be positive. Some people don’t like positivity and will go out of their way to be negative. Perhaps then we should simply try harder. Don’t dismiss someone because you don’t agree with them or they don’t understand you. Find another way. Find other actions. Communicate. Hear their side, their opinion. Do you want them to listen to you? Then show them respect by listening to them.

There is so much in this world that we do not understand and we cannot control. Some of that is the natural world that hopefully will survive us but some of it is created by people. So many untenable situations are created because of a need or a greed.  What we can control is our reaction to it all. We need to remember that we are not alone on the little blue planet. Not only do we share this world with 8 billion other people, we also share it with 1 trillion other creatures. OK that is not a scientific number but it’s a big one.

When you go about your day try to think, try to reason. Try to be the reason for positivity around you.  All it takes is a little thought and a little will.

Taking Up Space

39 Replies

I was fascinated recently watching a bug outside my window. It was furiously insistent on doing . . . something. I don’t know what kind of bug it was, it had wings and was far enough away that I couldn’t make out any details. Think of a really big ant with wings. And then it dawned on me that this tiny insignificant insect was part of the whole picture. It wasn’t insignificant, it had a role to play. As do I. As do you.

Since the beginning of sentient thought we have questioned our existence. Life is the ability to reproduce, to grow.  Existence is a fact or state of living. But of course, it is so much more than that. In its simplest form to live one must only breathe.  To have a life, that’s a tad more complicated. Plants and animals in all forms reproduce but humans have the capacity to enhance that life. Reproducing is biological, the ability to love is chemical, what to do with those two can be magical.

We all take up space on this tiny blue ball floating in a vacuum.  What we do with that space is what defines us. We are alive but living is what we do with that life. Some people have made incredible contributions to the whole while others have been quietly in the background. And still others believe they have made no contribution at all and yet I disagree. That small insignificant bug is part of a chain.  A chain that binds us all together. That insect is as important in the long term as am I. But I’m sure for very different reasons. I like to think that my efforts are significant but perhaps only to me and to those around me.

I remember a news story many, many years ago about a town in, I think, Australia where a neighbourhood was overrun by very loud birds. People were irritated at being woken up too early by these annoying creatures. So, they set about to relocate or eradicate them. They did. And shortly thereafter there was an incredible influx of poisonous snakes. What they didn’t take into consideration was the fact that these annoying birds’ favourite snack was said poisonous snake.

It is the domino effect all over again. I’m not the one that has to make the miraculous discovery but if my words inspire someone who then inspires someone who then inspires someone . . . you get my drift. My comment, my smile at stranger might be one of the pieces of the chain. No person, no insect no comment is insignificant. We all take up the right amount of space at the right time.

What did I forget?

28 Replies

I know what I remember

It says so on this card

That really is quite easy

The other stuff is hard!

 

There is a moon round Jupiter

Or maybe that’s the sun

You see I can’t remember

I wonder what I’ve done!

 

Years ago I knew the truth

The reasons they put forth

Now the problem surely is

My thinking has gone north!

 

Silly me that phrase is wrong

It really should be south

I hear the stuff that’s spoken

All by word of mouth!

 

Now I wonder what I meant

What I had to say

It all is going sideways

It seems to every day!

 

The things that I remember

Are written on a card

It makes my life so easy

When others find it hard!

 

Was My Miniature Poodle Gay?

33 Replies

This is actually a blast from my past. It was originally posted in August 2017. He made me smile then and I hope he makes you smile now. Enquiring minds wanted to know…

I was five years old when Beau Brummel joined our merry family.  My parents had been promising my brother, sister and I that we could get a dog one day.  One Sunday afternoon we were out for a drive (I guess it was a way to stimulate curiosity in us young’uns.)  We stopped for lunch a few towns over from where we lived.  After eating, my siblings left the table only to return a few moments later with an announcement:  There was a kennel in town. (They had checked the phonebook.) (For those of you too young to remember payphones, they were in most restaurants and on the street for people to make phone calls without going home.  There were no cells phones or Internet in those days. It was the ‘60s Sigh.)

Busted!  My father had promised.  We came home with an 8 month old, pure bred, champion stock, black, miniature poodle. His front legs had been broken when he was a few days old and had healed incorrectly so his walk was always slightly off.  We never noticed.

Beau ruled. Well, at least us kids.  He played when he wanted to, he cuddled when he wanted to.  And he always looked like he knew better.

Because Beau was of champion stock, breeders wanted to use him as a stud.  My parents agreed. Evidently it didn’t go well.  He didn’t seem to know what to do. The first indication?

About few years later we added another dog to the mix.  A beautiful Chesapeake Bay Retriever, we called her Blue. She idolized Beau. On the last day of school before summer break, both dogs went missing.  Eventually they showed up again and the summer continued as planned until . . .our beautiful Blue was pregnant!

Our first thought was: Beau! You ole dog!  But no. We think he pimped her out to another retriever in the neighbourhood: Blacky, a black lab. The pups were stunning!  I watched them being born. Quite an experience for a child. Beau hovered like a worried godfather. Second indication?

A few days later my brother, Blue and her five puppies left for university.  Beau moped for twenty minutes and then started putting everything back to normal. But he did find a friend.

My best friend lived across the street.  Her father was a hunter and had hunting dogs.  Strictly off limits to curious children.  They also had a male cat.  Rusty was an outdoor cat whose job was to keep the mouse population in decline.  He was very good at his job. We lived just outside a small city surrounded by forests and fields. It was a great place to live.  Rusty was beautiful and affectionate. In those days your animals ran free so chances were good they would meet up.  They did. Beau and Rusty became friends. The two boys met up most days and Beau often invited Rusty into the house for snacks or even a nap.  Third indicator?

A few years later we moved to another province.  Beau never again had a special friend like Rusty. I wonder if they found each other across the Rainbow Bridge?