Saturday QOD [question of the day]

At the moment I like to misquote Mr Obama: "yes, I can!!"

Well Sera since today is Valentine's Day, life is like a box of chocolates.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

I picked Biblical scripture.  While some of the other choices do help, my faith is what helps me get through each day without giving up or becoming bitter.

 

Hugs - Austen

I love that, Patti!!! lol

Oh, and I forgot! The serenity prayer really helps me, too:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I have to remind myself of this every day...

I don't read much anymore and something's sorta scrambled with my "audio channel" sometimes ... so I like to look at pictures.  I get a lot of   from picutres and they can be inspiring in some ways.  Yep ... we were at a local second hand bookstore/ curiosity shop this week and I was looking thru the books with the best/most pictures. 

I do like the Mark Twain quote in my sig.  How many monsters have I created for myself?  For some reason, I also get comfort from the thought ".. not all who wander all lost ..." (Tolkein, one  of the Lord of the Rings  books). 

But this topic has really made me search the memory banks.  Took a while, but I have always liked Rudyard Kipling's "If".  It did me a lot of good to re-read it just now:

[IF]

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you But make allowance for their doubting too, If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream--and not make dreams your master, If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!" If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much, If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son! --Rudyard Kipling

They edited it out one word and I won't repost what it is, but it's a word that can mean odd, but also is slang for gay. Hopefully you can figure it out for yourself, LOL.

WoW! Song lyrics [at this point] score the highest, followed equally Biblical scripture and philosophical sayings. I am just like many of you, there are plenty of motivational materials in my life. You see from my signature that I believe in healing and growing beyond challenges. I believe that at the point of self-discovery, we are not weak, but our strength is vulnerable. This is why we need each other in this forum, and why our collective strength helps us sustain ourselves and each other in challenging times.

For the poll, I chose poetry because I have always been drawn to beautiful poetic writing. I am not a poet; I do write pretty bad short stories, which are so tough to pitch to publishers :) My father is an accomplished author and his short stories were published before his novels were, but he is a natural. So my favorite poets are Edna Millay, Stanley Kunitz,and Shakespeare Sonnets [especially numbers 27, 29, and 57]. 57 is perfect for today, because it is about L-U-V! hehee! Give it a read- this is a classic.

SONNET 57
Being your slave, what should I do but tend
Upon the hours and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend,
Nor services to do, till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour
When you have bid your servant once adieu;
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of nought
Save, where you are how happy you make those.
So true a fool is love that in your will,
Though you do any thing, he thinks no ill.

Karen,
I'd never heard about that before. I read it and it was really amazing. I don't rely on anything really, I am not a very religious or spiritual person. It's all myself. I just take things one day at a time and set neumerous goals.