Good Fresh Air

“The story is told that reporters were interviewing a man on his birthday. He had reached an advanced age. They asked him how he had done it.

“He replied, ‘When my wife and I were married we determined that if we ever got in a quarrel one of us would leave the house. I attribute my longevity to the fact that I have breathed good fresh air throughout my married life.’” [Gordon B. Hinckley, “Slow to Anger,” Ensign, November 2007]

I'm cranky today -- not sure why except that I didn't sleep well last night, woke up with a headache and it's thriving. But this story made me smile -- maybe I need some good fresh air!!

CNN's Glenn Beck's Tribute to Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

This is very touching and worth listening to. Check it out.

Exercise

This is what I need to remember when I am too busy and/or too tired to climb back onto that dang elliptical machine.

Who needs one of these?

It's no secret that I like the Life is Good line. These look like winners for your Valentine. They all make me smile. Find them here and browse both men's and women's shirts.

We Will Miss Him

We as a church and I personally will miss President Gordon B. Hinckley so much. He was so full of warmth, charm and humor. Yet he wore the mantle of the prophet so well, in a spiritual, wise and dignified manner. What a great example he was for all of us. I will always be grateful to have been alive during the time of his presidency.

I will miss him but it's hard to be too sad, knowing he's back with his sweetheart and remembering how he has missed her the past few years.

Thank you, President Hinckley. We love you, honor you, and now we will miss you.
[picture via ldsliving magazine]

Blast from the Past

Today as I was heading home after an appt. with the eye doc, I turned on a CD in my car and was immediately sucked back in time - -probably 20 years or so. It's amazing to me that music can do that to you. The song? John Denver's "Shanghai Breezes". It was one of my favorites for years. Clearly I haven't listened to that CD in a while. Check it out here.

That made me miss good old JD. I loved him, his folk-y sound, his earth-awareness and his soaring tenor. His voice was clear as a bell, and he would just sail up to those high notes every time -- even when I knew he couldn't do it. He did.

I miss him. I miss Karen Carpenter too. She was a musical hero to me. And with that, suddenly "It's Yesterday Once More." [Richard Carpenter & John Bettis].

"All my best memories come back clearly to me,

Some can even make me cry.

Just like before,

It's yesterday once more". [See and hear a YouTube karaoke version here.]

And now I have utterly dated myself. Which is OK. Music does that to you.

I Am a Brownie

The young daughter of William Howard Taft III was assigned to write a short autobiography at the start of a new grade in school. Here's what she wrote: "My great-grandfather was President of the United States [27th President, 1909-13]. My Grandfather, [Robert Alfonso Taft, 1889-1953] was Senator from Ohio. My father is Ambassador to Ireland. I am a Brownie."

I can't even say how much I love this. This was a little girl with a solid self-image. She knew where she came from and she knew who she was. That's the hope I have for all the children in my life -- that they know where they came from and who they are, and that who they are is really what counts.

Helping Others is Good for You

"When you help someone up a hill, you get that much closer to the top yourself." [Anonymous]

Helping others really does help you too. It's healthy to forget yourself and spend your energy and efforts on others. The added bonus is that you too are rewarded and blessed. I think people who help others experience pure joy - -maybe you could call it a 'helper's high'. I think that high is followed by increased feelings of self-worth and peace as well.

Look for opportunities to help without expecting anything in return -- it will come back to you in ways you will never anticipate.

[picture via flickr]

Faith

"I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown,' and he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light and safer than the known way. " (quoted by the King of England in an Empire Broadcast shortly after World War II began)

This originally came from a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957), who was an American lecturer at the London School of Economics, who wrote only as a hobby. The poem was a favorite of the royal family at that time and is actually engraved on bronze plaques on the entrance to the King George VI Memorial Chapel, Windsor, and was read at the funeral service of the Queen Mother, held at Westminster Abbey on April 9, 2002.

I have always loved the quote and was excited to find the entire poem, "The Gate of the Year".

The Gate of the Year

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,

'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'
And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the hand of God
Trod gladly into the night.

He led me towards the hills

And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know if God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things both high and low,

God hideth His intention.

If our hands are in the hand of God, we need not know exactly what He is planning, only that we will be led and cared for. Something I need to remember for sure.

Don't Swallow That Bubble Gum!

No comment necessary! [this one is still cracking me up -- good thing I'm easily amused, I guess!]