More Facebook Fun

Encouraging and approving of ourselves is how we help ourselves stay on track. Today, I will love and encourage myself. I will tell myself that what I'm doing is good enough, and I'll let myself enjoy that feeling. (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 25 February)

The reason we can't get clear is because we have so many things cluttering our minds and lives. We have so much mental chatter we can't hear ourselves think. (Iyanla Vanzant, Acts of Faith, 23 February)

The future is like heaven - everyone exalts it but no one wants to go there now. (James Baldwin in One More Day by Sefra Kobrin Pitzele, 24 February)

• Back in August I used the Internet to find the address and phone number of Rich, who lived across the street in Wichita, KS. I hadn't been in touch with him for many years. Yesterday I dialed the number and we talked for about an hour and a half. It was great to catch up on news about his family. He remembered lots of things I no longer remembered.
• This morning there was a big surprise when I checked Facebook. There was a message from a classmate of the Wichita, Kansas, East High School, Class of '57 informing me that a group is forming for this class. I put the name of the group in the Facebook search box and quickly found the group. With one more click I became the sixth member. It will be fun to see how this group progresses.
• We are in the final stages of planning for Melva's trip to Panama. The final step is to book the flights. Cyndi will do this task.
• I'm still having fun posting books I've read to weRead(IRead). It's fun to review the books I've read. Touching some of the books instantly gave me a feeling that I ought to read the book again. How can I find the time when I have so many unread books on my book shelves? I'm grateful to teachers, libraries and authors for instilling a lifelong interest in reading. I regret that I didn't devote more time to reading when I was younger. I'm aware that I am going to run out of time before I read all of the books I'd like to read.

Mr. Dickie

The Valley of O.P.P.

The Valley of O.P.P.

Other people's problem's, other people's priorities, other people's principles, other people's people, can get in our way, hold us back, and take us off track until we develop the strength to be honest with ourselves. (Iyanla Vanzant, Faith in the Valley)

Iyanla Vanzant is one of my favorite writers. I try to read something from one of her books each day. I've read several of her books more than once. The above quote is something I read again this morning. While the majority of her books are addressed to African American women I have found all of them very useful in my own life. I think you would too. I recommend her book Acts of Faith to get started.

Mr. Dickie

Something to Think About

• Every day is a blessing to behold. (Iyanla Vanzant, Acts of Faith, 17 May)
• [We need] Time away from noise and demands and interruptions, from the tyranny of things undone. (Mary H. Frakes, MindWalks, p. 202)
• Our greatest problems in life come not so much from the situations we confront as from our doubts about our ability to handle them. (Susan Tyalor in Acts of Faith, 7 Apr)

Mr. Dickie

Frustration Level

Photo: Corel

• Character is developed by the daily discipline of duties done. (Alan L. Roeck, Look to This Day, 21 May)
• Life has to be lived, that's all there is to it. (Eleanor Roosevelt, in Acts of Faith by Iyanla Vanzant, 18 Apr)

I've been having computer and Internet issues for a couple of days. My level of frustration keeps rising. I've had trouble almost every time I've tried to upload photos. The uploads never finish. I was able to include a "small" version of a Corel photo with this entry. I think it worked because I told the blogger to post a small sized photograph.

I'm reading a book about Google that I recommend. It's titled: Google Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks. I like the book because each subject is covered in two pages using colored screen shots and numbered colored bullets to help the reader find the place that's being explained. I checked the book out at the library.

Did you notice that I have stopped complaining about having trouble getting a blank line to appear between paragraphs? I don't know how it works. Things just worked better after I put a "bullet" quote at the beginning of the message. I like including a quote at the beginning of the blog entry, so it's working out to my satisfaction.

Mr. Dickie

What Are You Waiting For?

What are you waiting for? With all you say you want, there is:

A dream for you to follow;

A goal for you to set;

A plan for you to make;

A project for you to begin;

An idea for you to act on;

A possibility for you to explore;

An opportunity for you to grab;

A choice for you to make.

If not, you shouldn't have anything to talk about.

(Source: Iyanla Vanzant, Acts of Faith, 25 April)