LOOKING FOR BEAUTY IN LIFE

View in a busy shopping mall - “The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her.”

Many of us feel passed over in a world that seems to place a high
value on outward beauty. But a short poem by Anthony Ewell
reminds us that physical attractiveness can be over-rated. He
writes:

As a beauty I am not a great star,
There are others more handsome by far.
But my face, I don't mind it,
For I am behind it,
It's the people in front who get the jar!"

Maybe you are not the most beautiful person in the world. And
maybe, as the poem suggests, it doesn't matter. There is hidden
beauty in each of us that can be experienced by anybody who cares
to explore.

Several times I have visited a natural wonder that is one of
the largest and most spectacular of its kind in the world.
Carlsbad Caverns is an immense series of limestone caves
extending under much of southern New Mexico (USA). Native Americans
took refuge in the gaping hole that is the main entrance, but they did
not venture far. A hundred years ago settlers in the area were
attracted to the opening by the awesome sight of
hundreds of thousands of bats swarming from the hole every summer
evening. Though a bat guano mining operation was set up, nobody
explored much beyond the bat's dwelling places.

Eventually, a cowboy name Jim White explored deeper. He returned
with fantastic stories of gigantic subterranean chambers,
spectacular cave formations and unbelievably stupendous sights.
Even in 1915, after black and white photographs were taken of the
caverns, many did not believe. The government sent skeptic Robert
Holley to investigate in 1923. He wrote in his final report, "I
am wholly conscious of the feebleness of my efforts to convey in
words the deep conflicting emotions, the feeling of fear and awe,
and the desire for an inspired understanding of the Divine
Creator's work which presents to the human eye such a complex
aggregate of natural wonders."

A whole new world - majestic, wondrous and awe-inspiring - lay
hidden from view. Its unimagined beauty can only be experienced
by exploring beneath the surface.

And so it is with people. We each possess a unique inner beauty
that can be discovered by anyone who cares to explore beneath the
surface. You may have even successfully hidden it from yourself,
but that does not mean it is not there.

Outward looks simply don't matter. Who we really are lays beneath the
outer landscape like a magnificent subterranean palace. When you look
for beauty beneath the surface, you will see what others have missed.
And you will be rewarded beyond measure.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

THE WAY YOU SAY IT IN LIFE!

Dog statues garden ornaments for sale - “The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.”

Walking into a noisy classroom, the teacher slapped her hand on the
desk and ordered sharply, "I DEMAND pandemonium!" The class quieted
down immediately. "It isn't what you demand," she later explained,
"but the way you demand it."

It isn't always what you say, but the way you say it. Try saying, "I
love you," with a scowl!

An international tourist came upon a group of people listening to an
orator in the central square of a small European town. The speaker
shouted from a makeshift podium. At one point, his arms waved about
wildly, his stern face turned red and the veins in his neck were
bulging.

Since he could not speak the language, the now curious tourist asked a
man next to him what the speaker was ranting about. The man pointed to
a church spire in the distance and said, "See that church steeple? The
fellow who is speaking in the square is the pastor of that church.
Right now he is preaching about the love of God!"

It isn't always what you say, but the way you say it. One marriage
counselor sometimes asks couples who have difficulty communicating to
forget words and take 20 minutes and simply look into each other's
face and be silent together. They may see what they have missed:
hurting eyes, longing hearts, unfulfilled dreams, unmet needs, or a
yearning to love and be loved. They learn that deep communication is
more than words.

Who needs to hear what is in your heart? HOW you share it will be as
important as the words you use.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

PERPETUAL LEARNING FOR LIFE

Bronze statues of workers - “From the backstabbing co-worker to the meddling sister-in-law, you are in charge of how you react to the people and events in your life. You can either give negativity power over your life or you can choose happiness instead. Take control and choose to focus on what is important in your life. Those who cannot live fully often become destroyers of life.”

I recently read of a study of ninety top lead­ers in a variety of
fields. Interviewers were trying to determine just what it is that
sets leaders apart. They discovered that those who rise to the top of
their professions have the never-ending ca­pacity to develop and
improve their skills. In other words, leaders are perpetual learners.

But shouldn't we always walk that path of learning? When do we feel as
if we now know enough? When should personal growth end?

I once visited a friend who had just cele­brated her 80th birthday.
Jessie talked with much enthusiasm about a quilt she had recently
finished making for her great-grandson. She wanted the center square
to be special and asked him what picture he would like for that
square. The little boy replied, "I want a turtle."

Jessie had never made a turtle. "How about a dog?" she suggested. "Or
a house? I can't make a turtle."

"Well, Gramma," he said. "I think you're old enough to learn."

And she did! The finished quilt had a turtle right in the middle!

Jessie was especially proud of that quilt be­cause she learned to do
something new. And she discovered that he was right – she was old
enough to learn!

Are you a perpetual learner? It's part of building a whole and happy
life.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

A ROADMAP FOR LIFE'S JOURNEY

Pruning shears for sale - “Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study”

Gloria Pitzer quips, "In parts of the world, people still pray in the
streets. In this country they're called pedestrians."

The late theologian and educator Henri J. Nouwen said about prayer,
"As we are involved in unceasing thinking, so we are called to
unceasing prayer."

For some people, prayer is like a spare tire. They keep it in the
trunk of their automobile and don't think about it most of the time.
But it's there if they need it. When they have a flat tire they open
the trunk and rely on the spare to get them through the emergency.
Like the soldier in a foxhole: bombs were bursting all around and he
prayed, "Lord, I haven't bothered you in twenty years. Get me out of
this alive and I promise not to bother you for another twenty!"
Prayer is far from unceasing for him; it is more like a spare tire.

For other people, prayer is a road map. Not discreetly tucked away in
small compartment and rarely used. Instead, it is spread out on the
car seat next to the driver and consulted regularly. They understand
that the road map is essential if they are to head the right direction
and stay on the correct path. It is there to guide their lives and
must be used at all times.

People of many faiths practice prayer or meditation along life's
journey. Let it become a frequently used road map rather than a spare
tire and you'll find you end up where you need to be.

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes

PASSIONATE LIVING FOR LIFE

00 Raiser Super Deformed Gundam Model Kit - “For me, insanity is super sanity. The normal is psychotic. Normal means lack of imagination, lack of creativity.”

One man quipped: "It's not that I'm afraid of dying. It's just that
I've been alive for as long as I can remember, and I'm kind of set in
my ways."

Some people ARE afraid of dying. Others are not concerned about their
death ... but they worry about how they're going to get there. Will
illness linger? Or will it be sudden?

I can't even guess how or when I might die, but knowing my life will
end has actually helped me to live more passionately. I think others
have discovered the same phenomenon.

Journalists Bill and Judith Moyers documented death and dying in the
U.S. They discovered that many terminal patients they interviewed
actually began to live with joy and passion only after they learned
they were dying. Like one man said, "If you are told you will never
see spring again, and you live to see spring, spring takes on a whole
new life." ("Modern Maturity," Sept. /Oct. 2000)

Psychologist Abraham Maslow had a similar experience. After his first
heart attack he realized that his remaining days on earth were short.
He wrote about it to a friend: "My river never seemed so beautiful
(Maslow lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the Charles River). The
confrontation with death -- and reprieve from it -- makes everything
look so precious, so sacred, so beautiful and I feel more strongly
than ever the impulse to love it, to embrace it, and to let myself be
overwhelmed by it...."

Can you imagine feeling that way? He ends with this remarkable
statement: "Death and its ever present possibility makes love,
passionate love, more possible. I wonder if we could love
passionately, if ecstasy would be possible at all, if we knew we'd
never die."

Why wait until we are told by a doctor that we may not have much time
to live. Aren't we all terminal? We became so at birth. And that is a
wonderful thing to know. For strange as it may seem, knowing life is
all too short can help us to live ... beautifully, meaningfully,
passionately.

It is a matter of embracing every day as if it were your last. Saying
what needs to be said today. Making plans to do today what you've been
putting off. And taking some time maybe just to do nothing but
appreciate life.

Like Emily says in Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town": "Do any human
beings ever realize life while they live it -- every, every minute?" I
hope that I can say, "Yes, at least a few times, I think I really
did."

From Lifesupport

Lifesigns Life Quotes