FINDING DIAMONDS IN LIFE

With Christmas just around the corner, most of us are probably busy doing some presents shopping to contribute to the spirit of giving. For those who are still wondering about good gift ideas, here is a fantastic recommendation; Man Made Diamonds. These are lab-grown diamonds with no visual differences from the natural ones which come from the ground. In addition, unlike natural diamonds where colored stones are considered a rarity, you can easily find cultured colored stones such as Green Color Diamonds. Last but not least, lets not forget the significant cost savings between 20 to 90 percent as compared to the price of natural ones.

Lifesigns Life Quotes

LOVE AND TIME FOR LIFE

Silver spatula - “Clouds may come, but clouds must go, and they all have a silver lining. For behind each cloud you know, the sun, or moon, is shining.”

Writer Gary Jennings said this: "Love and time, those are the only
two things in all the world and all of life, that cannot be bought,
but only spent."

I love that. And HOW I spend my love and time is what it is all
about.

My work and interests require me to spend probably an inordinate
amount of time in front of my computer. At least according to my
wife Bev.

She and I were talking one day about death and funerals and what to
do with each other's remains. I asked. "What will you do with my
body? Burial? Cremation?"

She answered, "I think I'll just have you stuffed and propped up in
your chair by the computer. That way when I walk through the room I
won't even notice that you're gone."

I got the point - too much computer time. And how I spend my time
and my love is all important.

The question I ask myself is this: "Do I generously and freely give
love and time away - and especially to those closest to me?"

Charles Francis Adams was the United States ambassador to Great
Britain during the Lincoln administration. He had the habit of
keeping a daily diary. He also taught his son Brooks the value of
journaling his activities in a diary.

One memorable day, eight-year-old Brooks recorded, "Went fishing
with my father, the most glorious day of my life." It must have been
a glorious day, for the next forty years Brooks repeatedly mentioned
it in his diary. It became a life-long memory.

His father also wrote about the fishing trip. His own diary on that
pivotal day for his son reads, "Went fishing with my son; a day
wasted."

He didn't get it. That one single day he generously and freely gave
love and time away to Brooks may have been the one of the most
important days of his son's life. Did he feel that, as a United
States ambassador, his time was too valuable to be "wasted" with his
children? History seems to show that a fishing trip with his son
paid huge dividends in Brooks' life.

I only hope I will spend love and time so well.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

A BETTER WAY TO LIVE

Green hammock - “The past should be a springboard not a hammock”

Did you know...?

That Joan of Arc was only seventeen when she was riding at the head
of the army that liberated France from the English?

That church reformer John Calvin was twenty-six when he published
his "Institutes" ?

That poet John Keats died when he was twenty-six?

That Shelley was thirty when he was drowned, but not before he left
English literature his classic "Odes"?

That Sir Isaac Newton had largely discovered the working of the law
of gravitation when he was twenty-three?

That Henry Clay, the "great compromiser, " was sent to the United
States Senate at twenty-nine and was Speaker of the House of
Representatives at thirty-four?

That Raphael painted his most important pictures between twenty-five
and thirty?

That Mozart only lived to be thirty-five years old?

Maybe I'm just a late bloomer.

When I was a young man I wanted to make things happen. After a few
years I realized I would have to content myself with watching most
things happen.

Unfortunately, these days I usually have no idea what is happening.

Of course, most of us will never paint a masterpiece, write a
classic or discover an important scientific principle. But why
should we? We're each cut from a unique pattern.

Dick Van Dyke once told the story of a woman taking her nephew to
her Catholic church. She whispered to him as they approached the
pew: "Can you genuflect?"

"No," he said, "but I can somersault!"

I wonder if he showed her.right then and there. I can almost see him
rolling down the aisle in a joyous celebration of the thing he CAN
do, with no regard for genuflecting. the thing he cannot do.

Some people waste lives obsessing on that thing they cannot do,
wishing they were more competent. And some measure the value of
their abilities against those of others, wishing they could
contribute in a bigger and better way.

You and I may never be a Mozart, a Raphael or a John Keats. But
there are things you CAN do to bring beauty or joy or happiness to
your world. Find them. Do them. Celebrate them. Rejoice in them.

I can hardly think of a better way to live.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

CAN YOU WAIT IN LIFE?

Wooden woman statue - “Every woman is a rebel, and usually in wild revolt against herself.”

Have you noticed that a lot of us not only want to have this thing or
that, but we want to have it NOW? I heard that the average American
spends one entire year of life watching television commercials, where
they are told again and again that they can have whatever they want
and they can have it now.

First we want it. Then we get it. Then we wonder why we wanted it.
Then we get it again.

The First National Bank in one Midwest American town came up with a
billboard advertising slogan: "Loans make life easier, at FIRST."
Yes, at first they do. But later....

I talked with a couple who will be married soon. They mentioned that
someone in the family gave them an early wedding gift: a course of
study in personal money management. They are learning to be patient
and to save their money for whatever they want. I told them that
someday they may look back on that gift with great appreciation.

There was a study about children, marshmallows and delayed
gratification. Researchers found that children who can delay
gratification by saving marshmallows until a later time turn out to be
happier and better adjusted later in life. We feel better when we are
in control of our desires and, particularly, our behaviors.

The temptation is to have it NOW. One man wrote to me and said:

Steve,
I have learned that everything in life is instant gratification. I
just don't know the instant it will happen. So I just do what is
in front of me to do, be patient, and wait for that instant.

Great advice! I have two questions for you:

1. What do you want to have?
2. Can you wait?

Chances are, if you can answer yes to the second question, you will be
sure to find plenty of contentment and peace.

From Lifesupport.

Lifesigns Life Quotes

THE DANGER ZONE IN LIFE

Tiger dreaming of becoming super cat - “People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.”

Anger is just one letter short of danger -- it seems to be as true in
English as well as in practice. Dr. Bedford Williams at Duke
University has determined that students who score high on a "hostility
test" are in far greater danger of dying young than their peers. In
fact, those who are prone to anger are in greater physical danger than
those who smoke, have high blood pressure or even high cholesterol.

Not that we should never be angry. It is a normal part of life. We all
get "worked up," "overheated" or just plain "hopping mad" at times.
Those closest to us know it best. (Just ask my kids!)

One little boy said about his mother: "When she starts to act real
weird, you have to look scared and serious. Don't giggle. When mommies
are mad, they get madder when you giggle."

The good news is that simply getting angry does not seem to be the
problem. Well-directed anger can be a helpful emotion. But STAYING
angry is dangerous -- to our health and to our relationships.

Here are four simple steps that can help move us out of the danger
zone when we feel as if our hostility is running the show.

1. Control it. Uncontrolled anger will take over.

2. Talk it out. Don't keep it in and let it fester.

3. Act on it. Do what needs to be done to resolve the situation.
Helplessness will only provoke more anger and, eventually, despair.

4. End it. Just as there is a starting point for anger, there must be
an ending. Make a decision not to prolong destructive hostility.

It can help to remember that for every minute we're angry, we lose
sixty seconds of happiness and sixty seconds of peace. The sooner we
get out of the danger zone, the sooner we can get back to truly
living.

From Lifesupport.

Lifesigns Life Quotes