Inspiration

Hope

4/20/2021

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers
     That perches on the soul
And sings the tune without the words
     And never stops - at all

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
     And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
     That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
     And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
     It asked a crumb of me.

by Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was born on 10 December 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States of America. Though considered one of the great poets, she was shy and reclusive. She never married, seldom left her house, and had few visitors. Only seven of her nearly 1,800 poems were published during her lifetime, all anonymously. Emily Dickinson passed on at 55 years of age on 15 May 1886 in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States of America. The first collection of her verse, titled “Poems,” was published four years later.

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Hope, Faith, and Love

4/19/2021

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Hope, Faith, and Love

There are three lessons I would write,
     Three words as with a golden pen,
In tracings of eternal light
     Upon the hearts of men.

Have Hope! Though clouds environ now,
     And Gladness hides her face in scorn,
Put thou the shadow from thy brow -
     No night but has its morn.

Have Faith! Where’er thy bark is driven -
     The calm’s disport, the tempest’s mirth -
Know this: God rules the hosts of Heaven,
     The inhabitants of Earth.

Have Love! Not love alone for one,
     But men, as man, thy brothers call,
And scatter like the circling Sun,
     Thy charities on all.

Thus grave these words upon thy soul -
     Hope, faith and love - and thou shalt find
Strength when life’s surges maddest roll,
     Light when thou else wert blind.

by Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (about 1786)

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, also known simply as Friedrich Schiller, was born on 10 November 1759 in Marbach am Neckar, Duchy of Württemberg, Holy Roman Empire. He became a poet, an essayist, a historian, a dramatist, and a playwright. He is the author of the plays “The Robbers” (1781), “Don Carlos” (1787), the trilogy “Wallenstein” (1796), “William Tell” (1804), and the poem “Ode to Joy” (1785). Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller passed on at 45 years of age on 9 May 1805 in Weimer, Duchy of Saxe-Weimer, Holy Roman Empire.

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Happy Thoughts and Their Power

4/18/2021

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Happy Thoughts and Their Power

The power of thoughts should not be underestimated. In an average day it is estimated that we have around 60,000 thoughts.

It is known that happy people think more happy thoughts than unhappy people.

Happy thoughts connect us with the clarity, confidence, and courage to act . . . to know what to do. To travel down our own path rather than the same trail everyone else follows.

Jealous, angry, or fearful thoughts take us away from our own path . . . our own purpose. They strip us of our power and ability to act effectively.

If we think happy thoughts . . . we create happy perceptions . . . which lead us to happy events. And so we create a blissful circle (where we become ever happier) as opposed to a vicious circle.

If we think fearful thoughts we become afraid and act defensively. This pushes away other people and other possibilities away from us. And so we become lonelier and more afraid.

The route to a happier life is through happy thoughts. Not just because they make you feel better immediately . . . but because happier thoughts give you a stronger and more stable foundation to your life. You are in control rather than being bounced around by life.

Think happy thoughts!

by Author Unknown

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A Creed to Live By

4/2/2021

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A Creed to Live By

Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself to others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless.

Don’t let life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live up all the days of your life.

Don’t give up when you still have something left to give. Nothing is really over till the moment you stop trying.

Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us together.

Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances, that we learn to be brave.

Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give love; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don’t dismiss your dreams. To be without dreams is to be without hope; to be without hope is to be without purpose.

Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored every step of the way.

by Nancye Sims

To find more of the author’s inspiring writings, click on Nancye Sims.

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Happiness Is a Habit

4/1/2021

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Happiness Is a Habit

1. Live a simple life. Be temperate in your habits. Avoid self-seeking and selfishness. Make simplicity the keynote of your daily plans. Simple things are best.

2. Think constructively. Train yourself to think clearly and accurately. Store your mind with useful thoughts. Stand guard at the door of your mind.

3. Cultivate a yielding disposition. Resist the common tendency to always want your own way. Try to see the other’s viewpoint.

4. Be grateful. Begin the day with gratitude for your opportunities. Be glad for the privilege of life and work.

5. Work with right motives. The highest purpose of your life should be to grow in spiritual grace and power.

6. Be interested in others. Divert your mind from self-centeredness. In the degree that you give, serve, and help, you will experience the by-product of happiness.

7. Live in a daytight compartment. That is, live one day at a time. Concentrate on your immediate task. Make the most of today. Plan for tomorrow, but live for today.

8. Have a hobby. Nature study, walking, gardening, music, golfing, carpentry, stamp collecting, sketching, voice culture, foreign language, chess, books, photography, social service, public speaking, travel, authorship. Cultivate an avocation to which you turn for diversion and relaxation.

by Author Unknown: as published in “Second Chance Newsletter” (April 1991)

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Three Simple Rules

3/29/2021

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Three Simple Rules

1. If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it.
2. If you don’t ask, the answer will always be no.
3. If you don’t step forward, you will always be in the same spot.

So go for what you want, ask questions, and take that step forward, because you never know where it might lead.

by Author Unknown

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Worth While

3/23/2021

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Worth While

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
     When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
     When everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble,
     And it always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of Earth,
     Is the smile that shines through tears.

It is easy enough to be prudent,
     When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of sin
     Is luring your soul away;
But it’s only a negative virtue
     Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honor on Earth,
     Is the one that resists desire.

By the cynic, the sad, the fallen,
     Who had no strength for the strife,
The world’s highway is cumbered to-day,
     They make up the sum of life.
But the virtue that conquers passion,
     And the sorrow that hides in a smile,
It is these that are worth the homage on Earth
     For we find them but once in a while.

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was born on 5 November 1850 in Johnstown, Wisconsin, United States of America. She became a poet and a journalist. Ella Wheeler Wilcox passed on at 68 years of age on 30 October 1919 in Short Beach, Connecticut, United States of America.

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Poem on Attitude

3/21/2021

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Poem on Attitude

When we start to count flowers,
     We cease to count weeds;
When we start to count blessings,
     We cease to count needs;
When we start to count laughter,
     We cease to count fears;
When we count happy memories,
     We cease to count years.

by Author Unknown

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A Poem About Life

3/19/2021

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A Poem About Life

If you take whatever life may hand you,
     And from it try to fashion something good,
If you know others may not understand you,
     But you keep right on doing what you should,

If you watch a friend go off without you,
     And know that you can take such things in stride,
If you are wronged and still can be forgiving,
     Believing it is better to forget,

If you think there is too much joy in living,
     To waste your time on anger and regret,
If you accept a failure and not mind it,
     But stop to learn the lesson it can teach,

If you resist temptation when you find it,
     Remembering the goal you want to reach,
If you can hold your own when you’re not winning,
     And you know you can achieve the things you plan,

If you can proudly make a new beginning,
     And never lose your faith in God and man,
You’ll find success is waiting if you’re willing,
     That happiness is there for all who try,

If you can acknowledge these truths in earnest,
     And accept all weather, seasons, mountains, valleys,
Your life will be rewarding and fulfilling,
     And nothing good will ever pass you by.

by Author Unknown

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Winning

3/17/2021

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Winning

It takes a little courage,
     And a little self-control.
And some grim determination,
     If you want to reach a goal.
It takes a deal of striving,
     And a firm and stern-set chin.
No matter what the battle,
     If you’re really out to win.

There’s no easy path to glory,
     There’s no rosy road to fame.
Life, however we may view it,
     Is no simple parlor game;
But its prizes call for fighting,
     For endurance and for grit;
For a rugged disposition
     And a ‘don’t-know-when-to-quit.’

You must take a blow or give one,
     You must risk and you must lose,
And expect that in the struggle
     You will suffer from a bruise.
But you mustn’t wince or falter,
     If a fight you once begin,
Be a man and face the battle -
     That’s the only way to win.

by Author Unknown: as published in “Telephony” (1913) trade journal, Volume 65, page 126

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Leaving the City of Regret

3/11/2021

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Leaving the City of Regret

I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it. I’m talking about my annual “Guilt Trip.”

I got tickets to fly there on “WISHIHAD” airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I got my baggage, which I could not check. I chose to carry it myself all the way. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been. No one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the Regret City International Airport. I say international because people from all over the world come to this dismal town.

As I checked into the Last Resort Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year’s most important event, the Annual Pity Party. I wasn’t going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the towns leading citizens would be there.

First, there would be the Done family, you know, Should Have, Would Have and Could Have. Then came the I Had family. You probably know ol’ Wish and his clan. Of course, the Opportunities would be present, Missed, and Lost. The biggest family would be the Yesterday’s. There are far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share.

Then Shattered Dreams would surely make an appearance. And It’s Their Fault would regale us with stories (excuses) about how things had failed in his life, and each story would be loudly applauded by Don’t Blame Me and I Couldn’t Help It.

Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing that there would be no real benefit in doing so. And, as usual, I became very depressed. But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occurred to me that all of this trip and subsequent “pity party” could be cancelled by ME! I started to truly realize that I did not have to be there. I didn’t have to be depressed.

One thing kept going through my mind, I CAN’T CHANGE YESTERDAY, BUT I DO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE TODAY A WONDERFUL DAY. I can be happy, joyous, fulfilled, encouraged, as well as encouraging.

Knowing this, I left the City of Regret immediately and left no forwarding address. Am I sorry for mistakes I’ve made in the past? YES! But there is no physical way to undo them.

So, if you’re planning a trip back to the City of Regret, please cancel all your reservations now. Instead, take a trip to a place called, Starting Again. I liked it so much that I have now taken up permanent residence there. My neighbors, the I Forgive Myselfs and the New Starts are so very helpful. By the way, you don’t have to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival.

God bless you in finding this great town. If you can find it - it’s in your own heart - please look me up. I live on ICANDOIT street.

by Larry Harp

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Lend a Hand

3/7/2021

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Lend a Hand

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

attributed to Edward Everett Hale: as quoted in James Dalton Morrison: "Masterpieces of Religious Verse" (1948), page 416

Edward Everett Hale was born on 3 April 1822 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. He became Christian Unitarian clergyman and a writer. Edward Everett Hale passed on at 87 years of age on 10 June 1909 in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.

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Present Tense

3/4/2021

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Present Tense

It was Spring,
     But it was Summer I wanted,
The warm days,
     And the great outdoors.

It was Summer,
     But it was Fall I wanted,
The colorful leaves,
     And the cool, dry air.

It was Fall,
     But it was Winter I wanted,
The beautiful snow,
     And the joy of the holiday season.

It was Winter,
     But it was Spring I wanted,
The warmth,
     And the blossoming of nature.

I was a child,
     But it was adulthood I wanted,
The freedom,
     And respect.

I was twenty,
     But it was thirty I wanted,
To be mature,
     And sophisticated.

I was middle-aged,
     But it was twenty I wanted,
The youth,
     And the free spirit.

I was retired,
     But it was middle-age I wanted,
The presence of mind,
     Without limitations.

My life was over.
     But I never got what I wanted.

by Jason Lehman

Jason Lehman was 14 years of age when he wrote the above poem. It was sent to Abigail Van Buren, who after verifying that the poem’s author was indeed ‘a teenager wise beyond his years,’ published it in her newspaper column “Dear Abby” (14 February 1989).

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A Daily Inventory

3/1/2021

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A Daily Inventory

Did I stop to smell the flowers,
     And appreciate the small things along the way
Did I look for the good in people,
     That I met along the way?

Did I see the beauty in God’s creation,
     As in the thing created by man,
Did I count each day the blessings,
     In my life since it began?

Did I listen with caring and compassion,
     And walk in another’s shoes,
Did I offer a shoulder to lean on,
     Did I practice the Golden Rule?

Did I kill my anger in its early stages
     Before it had time to sprout,
And grow to its full maturity,
     Where love is crowded out?

Did I blindfold my eyes from Life’s sunshine,
     To avoid the pain that comes from Life’s nights,
To only live in the ugliness of darkness,
     Never to see the beauty of morning’s light?

Did I let my heart seek vision and purpose,
     When I was lonely and filled with fear,
Did I stop and ask God for directions,
     Did I give hurt time-out for tears?

Did I practice the words, “I’m Sorry,”
     And try to correct wrongs to make them right,
Did I forgive the ones who’ve hurt me,
     Before I fall asleep at night?

by Mildred Bettag

Image shown: Myosotis sylvatica, commonly known as the ‘wood forget-me-not’ or ‘woodland forget-me-not’ or simply ‘forget-me-nots.’

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Creating a Day Worth Living

1/21/2021

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Creating a Day Worth Living

1. Get up early.
2. Express gratitude for what you have.
3. Do something productive.
4. Do something fun.
5. Do something for someone else.
6. Get some sunlight.
7. Exercise - it doesn’t matter what - just do some exercise.
8. Put a smile on someone’s face.
9. Compliment someone.
10. Learn or do something new.

by Author Unknown

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Keep Calm and Carry On

1/13/2021

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Keep Calm and Carry On

The Ministry of Information (MOI) was formed by the British Government as the department responsible for publicity and propaganda during the Second World War. In late 1939, after the outbreak of war, the MOI was appointed by the British Government to design a number of morale boosting posters that would be displayed across the British Isles during the testing times that lay ahead.

With a bold colored background, the posters were required to be similar in style and feature to the symbolic crown of King George VI, along with a simple yet effective font. The first two posters, ‘Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory’ and ‘Freedom Is in Peril’ were produced by His Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO).

These two were posted on public transport, in shop windows, and upon notice boards across Great Britain. The third and final poster of the set was again very straightforward and to the point, simply reading, ‘Keep Calm and Carry On.’ The plan in place for this poster was to issue it only upon the invasion of Britain by Germany. As this never happened, the poster was only displayed on a very few office walls and was never officially seen by the public.

It is believed that most of the Keep Calm posters were reduced to pulp and destroyed at the end of the war in 1945. However, nearly 60 years later, a bookseller from Barter Books stumbled across a copy hidden amongst a pile of dusty old books bought from an auction. A small number also remain in the National Archives and the Imperial War Museum in London.

Sadly, no record remains of the unknown civil servant who originally came up with the simple and quintessential Britishness of the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ message. However, it is wonderful to think that all these years later, people still find the message so appealing and reassuring in our modern times.

by Author Unknown

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One Step

1/12/2021

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One Step

One step and then another,
     And the longest walk is ended;
One stitch and then another,
     And the largest tear is mended.
One brick upon another,
     And the highest wall is made;
One flake upon another,
     And the deepest snow is laid.

Then do not look disheartened
     On the work you have to do,
And say that such a mighty task
     You can never get through;
But just endeavor day by day
     Another point to gain,
And soon the mountain which you feared
     Will prove to be a plain.

by Author Unknown

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Courage

1/9/2021

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Courage

Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace,
     The soul that knows it not
          Knows no release from little things:

Knows not the livid loneliness of fear,
     Nor mountain heights where bitter joy can hear
          The sound of wings.

How can Life grant us boon of living, compensate
     For dull gray ugliness and pregnant hate
          Unless we dare.

The soul’s dominion? Each time we make a choice, we pay
     With courage to behold the resistless day,
          And count it fair.

by Amelia Earhart (1927)

Amelia Mary Earhart was born on 24 July 1897 in Atchinson, Kansas, United States of America. She became an aviator, a writer, and a poet. One of the most courageous people of her generation, she made history in 1932 as the first woman to complete a solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean, traveling from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland to Ireland in about fifteen hours. Amelia Mary Earhart went missing in July 1937 while attempting an around-the-world flight following the equator, which began with a take-off from the island of New Guinea.

Image shown: Amelia Earhart with her first plane, a Kinner Airster open-cockpit biplane (photographed in about 1921).

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As I Go on My Way

1/9/2021

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As I Go On My Way

My life shall touch a dozen lives before this day is done
     Leave countless marks for good or ill ere¹ sets this evening sun.
Shall fair or foul its imprint prove, on those my life shall hail?
     Shall blessing my impress be, or shall a blight prevail?

When to the last great reckoning the lives I meet must go,
     Shall this ever, fleeting touch of mine have added joy or woe?
Shall He who looks their records o’er² - of name and time and place
     Say ‘Here a blessed influence came’ or ‘Here is evil’s trace’?

From out each point of contact of my life with other lives
     Flows ever that which helps the one who for the summit strives,
The troubled souls encountered - does it sweeten with its touch,
     Or does it more embitter those embittered overmuch?

Does love in every handclasp flow in sympathy’s caress?
     Do those that I have greeted know a newborn hopefulness?
Are tolerance and charity the keynote of my song
     As I go plodding onward with earth’s eager, anxious throng?

My life shall touch a million lives in some way ere¹ I go
     From this dear world of struggle to the land I do not know.
So this the wish I always wish, the prayer I ever pray:
     Let my life help the other lives it touches by the way.

by Strickland Gillilan

¹ere: before.
²o’er: over.

A shorter version of the poem also exists, as follows.

My Influence

My life shall touch a dozen lives
     Before this day is done,
Leave countless marks of good or ill,
     E’er sets the evening sun.

This, the wish I always wish,
     The prayer I always pray;
Lord, may my life help others lives,
     It touches by the way.

by Author Unknown

Strickland Gillilan was born on 21 September 1869 in Scioto Township, Jackson County, Ohio, United States of America. He became a writer, a poet, a lecturer, and a humorist. Mr. Strickland started out as a journalist and worked for newspapers including the “Baltimore American” (1902 - 1905). While on the staff of the Richmond “Daily Palladium,” he wrote a humorous poem about an Irish railroad worker that was published in “Life Magazine” and this led to his national recognition. He is credited with writing the world’s shortest poem, “Lines on the Antiquity of Microbes” (subtitled “Fleas”): “Adam/Had ’em,” which also became one of the world’s most anthologized poems. He traveled the country for years, entertaining enthralled audiences with his witty novels, satirical essays, rollicking songs, and heartwarming poetry. He produced a large body of work during his lifetime. Strickland Gillilan passed on at 84 years of age in April 1954.

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What Have We Done Today?

1/6/2021

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What Have We Done Today?

We shall do so much in the years to come,
     But what have we done today?
We shall give our gold in a princely sum,
     But what did we give today?

We shall lift the heart and dry the tear,
     We shall plant a hope in the place of fear,
We shall speak the words of love and cheer,
     But what did we speak today?

We shall be so kind in the afterwhile,
     But what have we been today?
We shall bring each lonely life a smile,
     But what have we brought today?

We shall give to truth a grander birth,
     And to steadfast faith a deeper worth,
We shall feed the hungering souls of earth,
     But whom have we fed today?

We shall reap such joys in the by and by,
     But what have we sown today?
We shall build us mansions in the sky,
     But what have we built today?

’Tis sweet in idle dreams to bask,
     But here and now do we do our task?
Yes, this is the thing our souls must ask,
      “What have we done Today?”

by Author Unknown

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Grind or Shine

1/4/2021

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Grind or Shine

Adversity is the grindstone of life. Intended to polish you up, adversity also has the ability to grind you down. The impact and ultimate result depend on what you do with the difficulties that come your way. Consider the phenomenal achievements of people experiencing adversity.

Beethoven composed his greatest works after becoming deaf.

Sir Walter Raleigh wrote the History of the World during a thirteen year imprisonment.

If Columbus had turned back, no one could have blamed him, considering the constant adversity he endured. Of course, no one would have remembered him either.

Abraham Lincoln achieved greatness by his display of wisdom and character during the devastation of the Civil War.

Luther translated the Bible while enduring confinement in the Castle of Wartburg.

Under a sentence of death and during twenty years in exile, Dante wrote the Divine Comedy. John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress in a Bedford jail.

Finally, consider a more recent example. Mary Groda-Lewis endured sixteen years of illiteracy because of unrecognized dyslexia, was committed to a reformatory on two different occasions, and almost died of a stroke while bearing a child.

Committed to going to college, she worked at a variety of odd jobs to save money, graduated with her high school equivalency at eighteen, was named Oregon’s outstanding Upward Bound student, and finally entered college.

Determined to become a doctor, she faced fifteen medical school rejections until Albany Medical College finally accepted her. In 1984, Dr. Mary Groda-Lewis, at thirty-five, graduated with honors to fulfill her dream.

Adversity - the grindstone of life. Will it grind you down or polish you up?

by Author Unknown

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Words of Stephen Grellet

12/11/2020

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Words of Stephen Grellet

I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

by Stephen Grellet

Stephen Grellet was born as Étienne de Grellet du Mabillier on 2 November 1773 in Dinsac, Limousin, France. He was the son of a counselor to King Henry XVI. At 17 years of age, he entered the King’s bodyguard. During the French Revolution of 1792, he was sentenced to be executed, but fled France, eventually making his way to the United States of America, where he arrived in 1795. In 1796, he joined the Religious Society of Friends, and become a Quaker minister and missionary. Stephen Grellet passed on at 82 years of age on 16 November 1855 in Burlington, New Jersey, United States of America.

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Try Smiling

11/29/2020

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Try Smiling

Frowns won’t get you anywhere;
When your face is lined with care
And your troubles you can’t bear -
     Try smiling.

When your eyes are on the ground
Do not moan with mournful sound,
Lift your eyes and look around -
     Try smiling.

When your goal seems far away
Keep smiling at the world today,
It will ease and smooth your way -
     Try smiling.

by Everett Wentworth Hill: as published in “Sunshine: A Soulful Magazine” (March 1975), Volume 52, Number 3, page 4a

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The Man Behind the Smile

11/18/2020

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The Man Behind the Smile

I don’t know how he is on creeds,
     I never heard him say;
But he’s got a smile that fits his face
     And he wears it every day.

If things go wrong he won’t complain,
     Just tries to see the joke;
He’s always finding little ways
     Of helping other folk.

He sees the good in everyone,
     Their faults he never mentions;
He has a lot of confidence
     In people’s good intentions.

You soon forget what ails you
     When you happen ’round this man,
He can cure a case of hypo -
     Quicker than the doctor can.

No matter if the day is gray,
     You get his point of view;
And the clouds begin to scatter
     And the sun comes breaking thru.

You’ll know him if you meet him
     And you’ll find it worth your while
To cultivate the friendship of
     The “Man Behind the Smile.”

by Author Unknown: as published in “The Sandburr” (25 October 1921), Volume 22, Number 3; a newspaper of York, Nebraska, United States of America

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The Sun Will Shine on You Again

10/30/2020

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The Sun Will Shine on You Again

We all know that
     no matter how many clouds
     get in the way,
     the Sun keeps on shining.

No matter how many times its rays
     are blocked from our view,
     the Sun will reappear on another day
     to shine more brilliantly than before.

It takes determination
     to outlast those dark clouds
     that sometimes enter your life,
     and patience to keep on shining
     no matter what gets in your way.
But it all pays off eventually.

One of these days
     when you least expect it,
     you’ll overcome your difficulties,
     because you and the Sun
     have a lot in common:
You’re both going to shine
     no matter what.

by Barbara J. Hall

Image shown: Sunflowers.

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