What Matters

It is not what happens to you, but what you make of it that matters. (Selwyn Hughes, Every Day Light, Day 184)

... even at the moment of our greatest personal joy, we cannot let ourselves forget the many people who have less reason to rejoice than we do. (Harold Kushner, To Life!, p. 228)

31 July 2011

Road Sign to the Future

Facebook

Harmony

Wild mood swings and chronic crankiness are symptoms of deeper disorders that need attention. (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 5 July)

Only exposed problems can be resolved. (Selwyn Hughes, Every Day Light)

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 440)

Things will hum along, once you restore harmony in your life. (Richard E. Henthorn, 19 May 2011) 30 July 2011

Lessons Learned

Today, ask yourself, "What lessons can be learned from the experience of this day?" (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 15 July)

We can't prepare for what we won't acknowledge. (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 15 July)

To consider persons and events and situations only in light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell. (Thomas Merton in Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary by Warren W. Wiersbe, p. 442)

To expect life to be tailored to our specifications is to invite frustration. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 9 July)

Self-pity comes from concentrating on the negative aspects of life. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 9 July) 29 July 2011

Have Times Changed?

The Roman leaders were cruel and greedy, collecting outrageous sums in taxes to finance their empire and putting to death anyone suspected of being a potential troublemaker. (Harold Kushner, To Life!)

Your Best

You had better live your best and act your best and think your best today; for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow. (Harriet Martineau in The Promise of a New Day by Casey and Vanceburg, 17 July) 26 Jul 2011

Grievance

Extremely thin-skinned people are good at using the most trifling incidents to create a grievance. (Larsen & Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 17 July) 23 July 2011

Henry David Thoreau

The night veils without doubt a part of this glorious creation; but day comes to reveal to us this great work, which extends from earth even into the plains of the ether. (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 374)

The perch swallows the grubworm, the pickerel swallows the perch, and the fisherman swallows the perch; and so all the chinks in the scale of being are filled. (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 376) 22 July 2011

Progress

Mr. Dickie at Busboys and Poets grand opening on 18 July 2011.

If you've made any progress in the right direction, something significant has happened and credit is due. (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 2 June) 21 July 2011

Lies

[A lie] ... has a life of its own and gives birth to all kinds of trouble. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 488)

20 Jul 2011

Talking Or Fixing?

Talking about a problem is not the same as fixing it.

(after Eric V. Copage, Black Pearls, 9 July)

Mr. Dickie's Comment:

There is no evidence that the members of Congress have any appreciation of this statement.

19 Jul 2011

Foundation of Life

Self-mastery, self-discipline, self-control are not among the more glamorous and romantic of virtues, but they are the very stuff of the foundation of life. (William Barclay, The Letter to Titus, p. 289) 18 July 2011.

New Thoughts and New Ways

It is ... possible for a man to become so settled in his ways that he comes to a stage when unconsciously he resents all new thoughts and all new ways. (William Barclay, The Letter to Titus, p. 283) 16 July 2011

The Future

We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there. (Charles F. Kettering in Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, Warren W. Wiersbe, p. 493)

Judges

When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, He blindfolds its judges. (Job 9:24, Selwyn Hughes, Every Day Light, Day 192) 14 July 2011

Hatred

Hatred stems from self-hatred and insecurity within the bigot. That is why it tends to increase in times of economic stress. To the extent that society learns to make fewer people feel left out, to the extent that it offers more economic opportunity and fewer magazine ads featuring lifestyles of the affluent, leaving the rest of us feeling like failures, fewer Americans will hate their neighbors. (Harold Kushner, To Life!, p. 270) 13 July 2011

Diminished Ego

[Beware that aging may bring a] ... diminished ego [that] then spends the rest of its days whining or complaining, trapped in fear or anger, self-pity, guilt, blame or other negative mental-emotional states or avoidance strategies such as attachment to memories and thinking and talking about the past. (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 287) 12 July 2011

Taking Stock

No great improvements are possible in the lot of mankind until a change takes place in ... modes of thought. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 9 July)

It's good to take stock periodically; it helps us to see what progress we've made and to scale our expectations to the real pace of our growth. (Casey and Vanceburg, The Promise Of A New Day, 19 May) 11 Jul 2011

Experience

No one can buy experience; that is something for which only the years can pay.

(William Barclay, The Letter to Titus, p. 288)

Sound Advice

When you end up in trouble because you did not listen to sound advice, the last thing you want to hear is somebody saying, "I told you so!" (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 482) 8 Jul 2011

That's Right

What's so important about being right? Why do we complicate our lives and aggravate our difficulties by insisting that our views be accepted? (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 7 July)

8 Jul 2011

Who We Are

All people like us are "we," and everyone else is 'they."

(Rudyard Kipling in Believing in Myself, by Larsen and Hegarty, 18 May)

******

Yesterday I managed to access both websites that I help maintain. I'm installing FireFTP to work with Firefox. There's more to getting set up than I thought. I discovered that I didn't have the password information written on a 3x5 card. I had to ask a friend for help with one password. Next step is to point FireFTP to the folders I plan to use to store the webpages on my computer. I'm looking forward to the time when I will be able to do all of the website maintenance from the new computer and the the two monitors. I'm trying to remember to just take one day at a time.

Mr. Dickie

7 July 2011

Less and Less

The years have a way of taking our ideals away of making us satisfied with less and less, of lowering our standards, of accustoming us to defeat. (William Barclay, The Letters To Timothy, p. 245)

******

I hard another tooth break last night. Today, I'm trying to make an appointment with my dentist. This has happened several times in the past. I can't concentrate of anything else until I get the problem fixed.

Yesterday I noticed that I have posted 700 times to my genealogy blog. There's lots of information available on the blog. When I noticed the count of postings I was prompted to take a look at the other three blogs as well.

• Genealogy blog - 700
• Obituaries blog - 280
• Arrow Prayers blog - 1912
• Mr. Dickie's blog - 1114
• Total posts - 4006

Mr. Dickie

6 July 2011

How to Save Yourself from Toxic People - wikiHow

How to Save Yourself from Toxic People - wikiHow

This topic is one that I wish I'd learned more about as a younger person. It's so important I'm going to post a link on: Facebook, Mr. Dickie's Blog, and Delicious. Maybe you'll find something useful if you take the time to read the article.

Mr. Dickie

5 Jul 2011

There You Are

Wherever you go, there you are.

(Earnie Larsen in Believing In Myself by Larsen and Hegarty, 1 June)

5 Jul 2011

4th of July 2011

Let the stars and stripes forever remain a symbol of a free and mighty nation built on faith and truth and love. (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 4 July)

4 Jul 2011

The Gift Of Experience

Sometimes it would seem that the only gift which experience gives to some people is the gift of pouring cold water on the schemes and plans and dreams of others; and that all they have learned from experience is the vast number of things which are impossible. It is a Christian duty ever to use experience to guide and to encourage, and not to daunton and to discourage. (William Barclay, The Letter To Titus, p. 285)

3 July 2011

Google Chrome

[Today I will] ... look at something in my behavior or attitude that might be stopping me from reaching one of my goals. (Eric V. Copage, Black Pearls, 15 June)

******

I've been using the Google Chrome browser for the first time. I like the simple design. Yesterday I added a "TAG" button. This will allow me to quickly post new bookmarks to my Delicious bookmark account. Did you know you can access my bookmarks from your computer. There are bookmarks for sites to see in Washington, DC and for many pages of genealogy information.

I also have a BlogThis button that allows me to quickly post a link to any of my four Google blogs.

At the bottom of my Facebook "Info" page there is a place where I can list links to websites I want to share with Facebook friends. Yesterday I discovered that even though it appears that the number of lines is open-ended, it really isn't. Only five URLs display after I save the page. I added a link to Delicious in case someone on Facebook wants to easily find my bookmarks.

Happiness

(Photo - Windows 7)

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for. (Joseph Addison in The Promise Of A New Day by Casey and Vanceburg, 24 June) 1 Jul 2011