Joe: “My girlfriend told me, ‘The last thing I want to do is hurt you.'”
Pete: “That was nice of her?”
Joe: “She added, ‘It’s still on my list. It’s just not last.'”
Month: December 2021
🌾 Today’s Poem ~ In The Bleak Midwinter
In The Bleak Midwinter
Christina Rossetti
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
🤗 A Better Life ~ Free the Inner Child
Children are wonderful examples for adults. When they’re learning to walk, if they fall, they get back up and start again. They’ll want to learn to ride a bicycle even if they’re not quite ready. They use their imaginations and create worlds where only they can enter. Dare to free the inner child.
Writers’ Wisdom ~ Write from the Heart
“You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might tell at dinner. This is especially true when you begin to write, when you have not yet developed the tricks of interesting people on paper, when you have none of the technique which it takes time to learn. When, in short, you have only your emotions to sell.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
🌞 Today’s Inspiration ~Keep on Going and Growing
“You’re either growing or dying. Stagnation does not exist in the universe.”
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🤗 A Better Life ~ What If?
What if you suddenly discovered you had an amazing future waiting for you? Would you set out to grab it without delay? The truth is, an amazing future awaits you, it’s calling your name.
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Dealing with Writer’s Block
“I’ve often said that there’s no such thing as writer’s block; the problem is idea block. When I find myself frozen-whether I’m working on a brief passage in a novel or brainstorming about an entire book-it’s usually because I’m trying to shoehorn an idea into the passage or story where it has no place.”
🌾 Today’s Poem ~ The Peace of Wild Things
The Peace of Wild Things
Wendell Berry
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
🍎 Today’s Health Tip ~ High Cholesterol a Problem?
Lifestyle Changes Can Improve Cholesterol Numbers.
Your body naturally produces all the LDL (bad) cholesterol it needs. An unhealthy lifestyle makes your body produce more LDL cholesterol than it needs. This is the cause of high LDL cholesterol for most people. . . .If you have high blood cholesterol, making lifestyle changes is a great first step to lower your risk of heart disease. If those steps don’t reduce your risk enough, your doctor may prescribe medications to help. Making even modest changes now can help to prevent significant medical issues later. Do all you can to reduce your risk for the serious effects of heart attack and stroke.
Behaviors that can negatively affect your cholesterol levels include:
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- Unhealthy diet
- Lack of physical activity
- Smoking or exposure to tobacco smoke
- Being overweight or obese
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💡 Something to Think About
Each of us have an incredible reservoir of strengths. It takes work to discover them and even more work to develop them. When we discover our hidden strengths and develop them we can use them to bring benefits to others. Don’t hold back, dive in, discover your hidden strengths. They are unique to you. We need you and all of your strengths.
