Fear

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive and to express what we really are. We have learned to live our lives trying to satisfy other people's demands. We have learned to live by other people's points of view because of our fear of not being accepted.
(Don Miguel Ruiz, author, in Words That Matter by the Editors of The Oprah Magazine, p. 128)
5 February 2016

I Am In Tune

There are many things in my life I can't control, but I do have choices about my attitudes and behaviors.
(Hope For Today, 31 May)

I love and accept myself just the way I am. I honor and respect my limits. I am in tune to the rhythm of my life.
(Perry Tilleraas, The Color Of Light, 29 May)
31 January 2015

Acceptance

Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate my 75th birthday by posting messages on Facebook, sending cards, posting Email and taking the time to call me.

Acceptance is the ability to deal with reality, in both heart and mind. When we accept the way things are, we stop fighting for what cannot be and become content with what is.
(Cloud & Townsend, God Will Make A Way, p. 176)
8 May 2014

Acceptance

Melva's Quilt - photo by Mr. Dickie

Sometimes, we must accept life on its terms, not our own. Life has a way of unfolding, not as we will, but as it will. And sometimes, there is precious little we can do to change things.

When events transpire that are beyond our control, we have a choice: we can either learn the art of acceptance, or we can make ourselves miserable as we struggle to change the unchangeable.
(100 Days Of Prayer For Women, p., 282)
6 April 2014

Strong Marriages

Rain Barrel Presentation - Mr. Dickie

Spouses in strong marriages do not have a tendency to try to be someone they are not. There is no pretense. Each spouse knows the faults and failings of the other, and offers the other acceptance and forgiveness. Love and the marriage can grow when each spouse has made friends with the reality of who the other truly is.
(Cloud & Townsend, God Will Make A Way, p. 129)
24 March 2014

All Right

Today, I will accept myself just the way I am.

(Perry Tilleraas, The Color Of Light, 15 October)

27 November 2013

Present Possibilities

Photo: Melva at the Community College Quilt Show

... life has a bitter side, and you have to be prepared to deal with it. (Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 75)

... how do the people who are often undervalued by society find the hope, direction and encouragement they need to fulfill their God-given destinies? (John C. Maxwell, Leadership, 26 January)

The perfectionist, clinging stubbornly to ideas of what life ought to be, often has difficulty grasping the concepts of acceptance and detachment. (after One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 23 December)

I will examine my own attitudes and activities and face the fact that much of what I do or leave undone - contributes to my distress. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 4 February)

Many people procrastinate making life changes because of fears of disapproval from others. (Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, p. 77)

Look for fears and limiting beliefs as you'd seek weeds in a garden. Observe them, and then yank them out by the roots! (Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, p. 80-1)

... honor people and their process even when it looks dysfunctional by your standards. ... Rather than allowing indifference to close your heart and mind to situations and people, learn how to be detached. In this way you will be available to offer what you can, when you can. (Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today! 16 December)

... focus on present possibilities, and be content with today. ( A Gentle Spirit, 19 December)

******

This morning I inadvertently altered the appearance of my Chrome browser's bookmark bar. At first I was upset. After thinking about what happened for a few minutes I came up with a "fix" that will probably prove better. I created a folder that I labeled, Access which will thus be the left-most (first) folder to appear on the Bookmarks bar. In the Access folder I stored the links to the pages I frequently access like:

• Arrow Prayers
• Mr. Dickie's Blog
• HenthornFamily Wiki
• Facebook
• Gmail
• Wonderpage
• Delicious
• Google Reader

Mr. Dickie

17 February 2013

Wrapping Up The Year

This is the day on which another year closes. It is a good time for a quiet, honest look at our personal progress. Has it been a good year, better than those which went before? Has the day-by-day guidance of your personal program brought you to a greater realization and acceptance of yourself, the unique individual that you are? (after One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 31 December)

As we look back over the year just gone, it has been a good year to the extent that we have put good thoughts, good words, and good deeds into it. None of what we have thought, said, or done need be wasted. Both the good and the bad experiences can be used to our profit. In a sense, the past is not entirely gone. The result of it, for good or evil, is with us at the present moment. We can only learn by experience and none of our experience is completely wasted.  We can humbly thank God for the good things of the year. (after Twenty-Four Hours A Day, 31 December)

If you have regrets for errors or omissions, dismiss them.  The new year which lies before us will allow no time for futile regrets. Live just one day at a time, making each one better than the last, as you grow in confidence and faith. (after One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 31 December)

Greetings to everyone who visited Mr. Dickie's Blog or saw it on my Facebook wall during 2012. It is my hope that something I posted made you think, or smile and that nothing I posted offended.

Mr. Dickie

31 December 2012

Inventory

Depending on how you look at it, it's either time for an end of the month inventory or a beginning of the month inventory.

An occasional review of our progress is an encouraging exercise, for it shows us that we are gradually learning how to live in poise and serenity.

At any rate it is a good time to look back over the month just passed to see what progress we've made and what changes have taken place in our lives as a result of practicing our programs.

• Have we given sufficient attention to our program?
• Have we done at least a little reading each day?
• Are our family relationships more serene and happy than they were a month ago?
• Have we renewed a strained friendship; or made good for an injury to someone?
• Did we make an effort to avoid gossip?
• Did we try to learn something new?

Make this a day of review and preparation for the coming month in which you will renew your efforts to progress in your personal development.

If you don't see any improvement in the month which just ended, do not be discouraged.  There are still many things to learn, one of which is, to accept yourself as you are.  Everything good we can bring about must begin with that.

(after One Day At At A Time In Al-Anon, 31 July) 1 August 2012

It Doesn't Concern Me

Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. (Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, p. 57)

We are also very much in control of how we feel about the circumstances of our lives, whether we think we have it good or bad has a great deal to do with the details of each day. (Karen Casey, Keepers Of The Wisdom, 26 January)

Simply realizing that another person cares about our burdens can release us to see beyond them. (Johann Christoph Arnold, Escape Routes, p. 18)

Do not be drawn into other people's affairs nor entangle yourself with the concerns of people in high places. (Thomas 'A Kempis, The Imitation Of Christ, Book 1, Chapter 21, p. 52)

******

Yesterday I stopped at libraries in both counties.  In the afternoon I attended the computer club meeting at the Bowie Senior Center.  The topic for discussion was eReaders.  Several members brought their devices.  Mr. Evans went to the front with his Kindle.  There was a lively and informative exchange about the various models.

In the evening, by accident, I noticed a message on the computer screen with a button to click that turned on the Chrome browser feature that allows me to click on a website hyperlink to generate an Email.  I still don't understand how to find that button again if I need it.  I tested with the genealogy society homepage and it worked.

Mr. Dickie

2 March 2012

Acceptance

Photo: Mr. Dickie - Blackwater Falls, WV

For everyone at some time there comes something for which there seems to be no reason and which defies explanation.  It is then that a man is faced with life's hardest battle - to accept when he cannot understand.  (William Barclay, The Letter To The Hebrews, p. 152)

******

I maintained my interest in blogging throughout 2011.  I plan to continue posting to my four Google blogs in 2012 as time and interest dictates.  Here's a short recap of my blogging efforts.

• Mr. Dickie's Blog - 347 posts
• Arrow Prayers - 346 posts
• Henthorn Website Obits - 21 posts
• Henthorn Website News - 62 posts
• Total - 776 posts

Mr. Dickie

2 January 2012

Reality

I can resist reality and suffer pain or peacefully accept what I cannot change.  (In God's Care, 11 October)

******

Quite a few of the music files I have on my computer are in the WMA format of Microsoft.  Too late I realized that this format doesn't work with: Spotify, Google Music or Box.net.  Yesterday I downloaded and installed a free program called Switch that will convert WMA files to MP3 files.  I used the program to modify the songs in three albums.

Melva and I decided to have two of her three sewing machines fixed.  Both are Singers.  One needed a routine tune up.  The other had two broken gears.  I bought this machine for Melva around the time we got married.  We had the broken gears replaced with gears whose designed has been modified.  The technician stated that the new design seems to have eliminated the frequent problems with the original design.  Now she has so many sewing machines she won't know which one to use.

Mr. Dickie

25 October 2011

Acceptance and Detachment

The perfectionist, clinging stubbornly to his own ideas of what life ought to be often has difficulty grasping the concepts of "acceptance" and "detachment." (after One Day At A Time in Al-Anon, 23 December)

Let me observe, with new interest, even the commonplace things that happen in each new day. (One Day At A Time in Al-Anon, 10 December)
31/Jan/2011 9:10