Perspective

I scowl at the dust bunnies that appear from under the couch, then I see the flood victims of Queensland cleaning out inches of mud from their houses ... perspective

I feel the pain in my fingers from my arthritis, then I read a story about a person with no hands ... perspective

I feel the pain in my back and then running down my legs, then I see a story on TV about a woman with no legs who uses a skateboard to get around ... perspective

I get fed up having to clean and tidy my house, then I see a story about a whole family living in a tent 12 months after an earthquake ... perspective

I think it is time for a new bed, then I see someone live on the streets ... perspective

Then I give thanks that I have all I have ... perspective - it is all out how you look at it!!!

Sunday Citar - Loss

Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy hosts the Sunday Citar meme - pop on over and have a look.
I am sure she would love you to join in too.


For those of us who have recently suffered loss.

When he shall die

Take him and cut him out in little stars

And he will make the face of heav'n so fine

That all the world will be in love with night

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

If every tear we shed for you became a star above;

you'd stroll in the Angel's garden, lit by everlasting love

- Author Unknown



Fly, fly little wing
Fly beyond imagining
The softest cloud, the whitest dove
Upon the wind of heaven's love

Past the planets and the stars
Leave this lonely world of ours
Escape the sorrow and the pain
And fly again

Fly, fly precious one
Your endless journey has begun
Take your gentle happiness

Far too beautiful for this

Cross over to the other shore
There is peace for evermore
But hold this memory bittersweet
Until we meet

Fly, fly do not fear
Don’t waste your breath, don’t shed a tear
Your heart is pure, your soul is free
Be on your way, don’t wait for me

Above the universe you’ll climb
On beyond the hands of time
The moon will rise, the sun will set
But I won’t forget

Fly, fly little wing
Fly where only angels sing
Fly away, the time is right
Go now, find the light

Beautiful lyrics from a song by Celine Dion written after the death of her niece from Cystic Fibrosis

Sunday Citar - Pain

Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy hosts the Sunday Citar meme - pop on over and have a look,

I am sure she would love you to join in too.

Last Sunday I hurt my back making the bed, this Sunday I am still in a lot of pain, so I was off in search of quotes to share.

Pain is deeper than all thought; laughter is higher than all pain ... Elbert Hubbard

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional ... author unknown

We cannot learn without pain ... Aristotle

So how can I relate to these 3 quotes, well:

Today I will try and laugh more, after all on Friday when I looked after my littlest grand-daughter, we had so much laughter that I almost forgot my pain.

This week I will not wallow in my pain, I will acknowledge that it is there but I will refuse to suffer.

I will learn my lesson and not made the bed anymore ... well maybe, I will be more careful when I make the bed, I know I have had a bad back for years and have got lax in looking after it.

So my friends, I wish you a lifetime free of pain, and if for some reason it occasionally still pops into your life, remember to laugh. xxx

Sunday Citar - Hope

Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy hosts the Sunday Citar meme.

Pop over and have a look, I am sure she would love you to join in as well.

Let me share 3 quotes about hope.

Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself ... 'How did I get through all of that?' ... author unknown

When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always be worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they

have to get better. ... author unknown

Hope never abandons you; you abandon it ... George Weingberg

My life philosophy is to see the glass as half full, to be optimistic. To acknowledge that no matter how hard things are in any given moment that there are always others in a worse position than yourself. Oh yes I do occasionally throw my own pity parties ... but I try to limit them for they do me no good at all.

Some people might call me naive but to lose hope, to lose joy, does that not mean you lose the will to live. We all need to grab life, to hang on, to move forward, one day at a time.

For without hope, there is nothing but despair.

Sunday Citar - The Persistence of Yellow

Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy hosts the Sunday Citar meme.
Pop over and have a look, I am sure she would love you to join in as well.

This week for my birthday, one of my work colleagues gave me a beautiful book - The Persistence of Yellow ... "a book of recipes for life" by Monique Duval.
Today I will share some of the writings with you ... and some of my yellow photos ... enjoy.

Oh and the book is of course subject to copyright.

On Tuesday she woke up and realised she had forgotten the definition of the word "Impossible". She decided it must not have been important #230 (Tuesday was my birthday this year ... and so I no longer have the work Impossible in my vocabulary!!)

Once upon a time, a girl prayed for true love. Her prayer was answered. She learned to love herself. #30

There is a quiet wind voice inside of me. It's the same voice inside of you. Delicate and persevering, it lead us towards each other. Across desert sand, traffic noise, solitary sky. I found your little house by the sea. And I never wanted to leave... #189

and from the back cover ...

And suddenly, the clouds parted and she realised what she had been following.
She saw it there in the distance like a house with wings and a candle burning in
every window: Her heart. So, of course, she had to enter.
Once you follow your heart, and then find it, you must open the door.

THANKS to my friend (and colleague) L for knowing that this was the book I need in my life right about now xxx

Sunday Citar - Belief

Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy hosts the Sunday Citar meme. Why don't you join in?

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent - Eleanor Roosevelt

It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not - Anonymous

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light
from within - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross






So this week will you allow your light to shine?

Will you achieve all you are capable of achieving?

Will you let people see the light within - the love, the joy, the happiness, the strength?

Throw off the shackles that bind, the ones that we ourselves impose and just SHINE!!!

Sunday Citar - No Regrets

Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy hosts the Sunday Citar meme. Why don't you join in?

It seems there are many translations of the lyrics of this song, made famous by the brilliant Edith Piaf, but these are the ones I like best.

No! No regrets

No! I will have no regrets

All the things

That went wrong

For at last I have learned to be strong

No! No regrets

No! I will have no regrets

For the grief doesn't last

It is gone

I've forgotten the past

And the memories I had

I no longer desire

Both the good and the bad

I have flung in the fire

And I feel in my heart

That the seed has been sown

It is something quite new

It's like nothing I've known

No! No regrets

No! I will have no regrets

All the things that went wrong

For at last I have learned to be strong

No! No regrets

No! I will have no regrets

For the seed that is new

It's the love that is growing for you.

So I think we should all live our lives to the full, trying not to hurt anyone, trying not to make mistakes, but acknowledging that we are indeed human and so the likelihood of us being perfect is small. So acknowledge and learn, but do not regret, as more often than not, the hurt or mistake was not intentioned - it was just that we were human.

Have a great week.

Sunday Citar - Rainbows

It is a wet Winter's day here in Perth, which made me think of rainbows, those beautiful things that remind you that sunshine does exist even on the wettest and grayest day.

image

The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears ... John Vance Cheney

The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you do the work ... anonymous

The true harvest of my life is intangible - a little star dust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched ... Henry David Thoreau

and finally the one that I live my life by

Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make it's colours appear.

And of course my favourite rainbow song - enjoy.

May your week have lots of rainbow coloured moments - for even in the darkest times, there is the possibility of a rainbow - you just have to look. xxx

Sunday Citar

Tabitha @ Fresh Mommy hosts the Sunday Citar meme - Lucy @ Diminishing Lucy regularly joins as well - so this week I thought I would follow the wonderful Lucy's lead and join in as well.

Dost thou love life?

Then do not squander time,

for that is the stuff life is made of.

Benjamin Franklin

Wise words Benjamin. So often we spend time on unimportant things, or imagined hurts or even real ones. This week I am going to attempt to focus only on the positive things in my life, I will work wiser and love and play harder - for this is the time in my life for me to do this.