"Who looks outside, dreams.
        Who looks inside, awakens."
                                        Carl Jung
        "Dream big dreams,
          then put on your overalls."
                                         Trigger Bill

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                   Upon Awakening 
               My First Thought Was ...
                        GO FOR IT!

Then I read:
"You miss 100% of the shots you never take."
                                                                                         – Wayne Gretsky

     I have the feeling this will be a fantastic Friday!

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                                         FISHING

"Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish."
                                                                              – Ovid
                                                               The Roman Poet  

   Years ago I was fly casting for trout in a high mountain lake. I had waded out from the shore to get a better chance to catch something. As I made my backcast in preparation to fling the fly way out there, I felt my line pull up tight.
   Thinking I was snagged on a weed or limb, I pulled hard but to no avail. Then the snag began to move! A good sized trout had been cruising the shoreline and had grabbed the fly.
   I try to remember that experience, especially when I think I know what I'm doing in life.

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         My Philosophy About Writing
           (If someone earlier created this thought,
                        then I stole it with ESP)

         "Ideas for sale. Words are free."


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                         Interesting Moral Question

   You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:

1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.

2. An old friend who once saved your life.

3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
 
   Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car? Think before you continue reading.
   This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application. You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first. Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However, you may never be able to find your
perfect mate again. What do you do?
   The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. He simply answered:
    'I would give the car keys to my old friend and ask him take the old lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams.'

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                   Gobbledygook
                       From The
                   Business World

"Information wants to be free, but it also wants to be expensive."
                                   -- Stewart Brand

     "Often wrong. Never in doubt."
                                    -- Marc Andreessen


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                 I CAN BE GREAT
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great.
                                                                                        -- Mark Twain


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I feel good today and I know that

   "I AM A MIRACLE OF LIFE!" 


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The Six-Word Story

My Opinion:

  The greatest six-word story ever written --

      "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
                                                                           Ernest Hemingway

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Political Question

If con is the opposite of pro,

is Congress the opposite of

progress?


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DO IT NOW

                        1440

The number of minutes in this day is
one thousand four hundred and forty.
At first that seems like a lot of time. I
certainly could not hold my breath or
jog that long.
Then I realize that 670 minutes have
already passed in this day and it's
only eleven-ten in the morning. Most
discomforting, I can't get the 670 back.
They are gone forever.
One way I can get the most out of this
day is to follow the slogan:
                   DO IT NOW
Whether it's write a new story, go for a
walk, take a nap, read a book, or reconcile
my checking account, if it is to be done,
                    DO IT NOW
This is one of the suggestions in Success
Through Positive Mental Attitude by Hill
and Stone.
I want my life to improve and I believe that
I'll be happier if I consider new ideas.
So here goes DO IT NOW. Gone is the old
thought - Round Tuit.
Let's see what happens next.
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Belief v. Snoops

June 23, 2009

                         Belief v. Snoops

During the last ten or so months, a modern day artisan named Victor has been helping (for free) the rebuilding of flood-damaged homes in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The local newspaper wrote this story about him:

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090620/NEWS/706209936/-1/FLOOD

Some who witnessed and benefited from his work have been deeply moved by the experience. They believe that he is a man totally surrendered to God, whose prayers are answered ... a man who himself may be an answer to many prayers.

As of today there have been twitters of doubt and skepticism about Victor. Much of the material world cannot let reports of such a spiritual experience stand. It must be discredited, sooner or later, right?

What comes to mind is the legend of the circular stairway in the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After about one hundred years, the skeptics had enough of all the miracle talk. Research was done and books were written debunking the entire matter.

Of course the nuns and other witnesses to the stairway's construction had been long dead. The skeptics had no one to challenge their intellect. Their persuasiveness even led the Internet investigator of rumors (Snoops) to label the mystery of the stairway as false.

Such has been the case even with the mystery of Jesus and the Bible's record of his life. Skeptics have long debunked the stories and laughed at the believers. The kindest critics gave Jesus no status greater than merely a good man or a teacher. His divinity, though the foundation of organized religion for two thousand years, could not be accepted.

In the year 2109 will there be convincing proof that Victor was a charlatan and a fraud? That he secretly pocketed millions while pretending to work for free? Is it far-fetched to anticipate that in one hundred years, the 2008 Cedar Rapids flood will be considered just an exaggerated report? Will Victor be replaced in history by Barrack Obama, the president of the United States?

Will the world continue to see a conflict between belief and Snoops?

I pray that the witnesses to Victor's activities in Cedar Rapids get off the merry-go-round of life long enough to write books about this event. Their writings may not carry the weight of the Bible or stop the skeptics. However, the books will make their late-day efforts much more difficult in 2109.

They might even inspire future generations to live a useful and totally surrendered life.

 

Thoughts For Father's Day 2009

   When I turned 21 I had just graduated from college. I went to my father and asked him what I needed to do to be successful in life. I expected his answer to be like how to make money or how to marry the right woman, etc.
   However Dad told me, "All you have to do is to trust God." That seemed pretty lame. I knew that there had to be more to it than that.
   Twenty-nine years later I walked into a spiritual group to try to improve my life. THEY TOLD ME THE SAME THING!
   I had gone through hell with my hat off all those years and I had known the answer all the time! Fortunately Dad lived long enough for me to tell him "thanks."
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A Reminder For Me To Pray

   Ever so often I need to be reminded to pray. This usually occurs when I've been thinking too much.
   Last week someone popped this one-liner on me and I can't get it out of my mind.
          God's the answer,
       what's your question?
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CONGRATULATIONS TO SOME REAL PATRIOTS

       CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to my writer friend "Scarlatti" and to the citizens of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She and all of them are real Heroes - Real Patriots. 

One year ago this week (June 12 - June 19) a huge flood hit their city. TEN SQUARE MILES were inundated. Thousands lost their homes and businesses.

Scarlatti was washed out of her historic family home; watched its walls collapse inward under the water pressure. 

One day she was living an active, productive life. Two days later she was removing her precious belongings by canoe.

She saved small animals and pets and united with her neighbors in life-saving, sanity-saving measures. She began living in her car, in an empty office, in someone's spare bedroom, and finally in a tin-can of a trailer with vermin and bad water.

Immediately after the initial shock wore off, the rebuilding began.The total task was huge, but the federal government was nearly invisible. It was busy bailing out greedy people living in safe and dry parts of our country.

Local church members and other citizen volunteers contributed free rehabilitation of the homes, including Scarlatti's. Not only did they rebuild her family home for free, they helped inspire her and the others to become overcomers of this natural catastrophe.

One year to the date of the flood, Scarlatti moved back into her refurbished home.

But what about the economic impact? Was there a bailout in Cedar Rapids? Maybe so, but the real recovery was self-directed.

Scarlatti never quit her parttime job as a realtor (Deborah Lebeda.) She and others approached their work with a purpose of helping the flooded homeless. Their income was down, of course, but they remained gainfully employed. They were useful, helpful.

Scarlatti and the citizens of Cedar Rapids, Iowa are real heroes and definitely are patriots.

They probably do not want to be recognized as such. Certainly the mainstream news media doesn't care about them. However, for every one of them, ten of us have been touched and inspired. Our entire country, not just Cedar Rapids, is a better place because of them

With Respect & Gratitude,
                Tom
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HOW I'VE BEEN CHANGED

"To change one's life:
              1. Start immediately. 
              2. Do it flamboyantly.
              3. No exceptions."
                              – William James

 

American psychologist and philosopher William James, brother to author Henry James, wrote voluminously during his life, exploring a range of issues from a theory of emotion to a philosophy of history. He was born in New York in 1842 and wanted to be an artist, but his father disapproved. He obtained a medical degree, but felt unsatisfied  He then began his more fulfilling second career. His thoughts helped inspire and support several American movements including Alcoholics Anonymous. He died in 1910.

With Respect & Gratitude,
                Tom
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June 8, 2009 NOTICE

NOTICE -- This Blog will be shut down temporarily for re-evaluation of the legal status of the messages that have been posted. Website lawyer has advised that violations have occured in the nature of the entries without express reference to or permission from the original author.
   Since T.S. Eliot is dead there will be a delay in complying with the legal advice.
_______________________________________________________

June 8, 2009

 

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
                                                                                                     – T.S. Eliot

With Respect & Gratitude,
                Tom
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SOMEBODY SPECIAL

Somebody Special As A Role Model For Me:

 

                         Linus Pauling

American chemist Linus Pauling is the only person ever awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes. He was born in Portland in 1901. He won a Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his breakthrough work on hemoglobins and proteins. He also originated the theory that DNA was formed in a double helix. He became a peace activist after studying fallout from nuclear bombs. His influence and work in concert with other scientists led to a test ban treaty and his second Nobel Prize, for Peace, in 1963. He died in 1994.

What I Can Change

   I have accepted the notion that I can change myself regardless of my genetic analysis or environmental history. When I Let Go and Let God in these matters, I have no limits on my potential. With God, all things are possible.
   On the other hand I must never over-estimate my ability to change others. That too is a Let Go and Let God matter.
   However, as I change me and my awareness, others seem to change also. I wonder whether they always were different from what I thought they were. Probably so.


With Respect & Gratitude,
                Tom
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IS IT LEGAL OR ILLEGAL?

   History proves absolutely that everything Hitler did was entirely legal.
   History also shows that everything George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and all the early Americans -- everything that those guys did was illegal.
   What a cop-out the legal issue is for not following our own intuition and our own standards.
   By the way, this is not my great intellectual prowess bursting forth. No way. A guy named Martin Luther King wrote this while in jail.
   Go figure.

With Respect & Gratitude,
                Tom
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