Ponderables from the Pond Eh

It has been a while since I done these , but the Christmas Spirit came calling back  after it had somehow disappeared recently after several events. Magically it reappeared, and lead to the following, voila! :)

Ponderables from the Pond eh!

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.  In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.  ~Larry Wilde

There has been only one Christmas - the rest are anniversaries.  ~W.J. Cameron

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day.  Don't clean it up too quickly.  ~Andy Rooney

Christmas is a necessity.  There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.  ~Eric Sevareid

This is the message of Christmas:  We are never alone.  ~Taylor Caldwell

The message of Christmas is that the visible material world is bound to the invisible spiritual world.  

Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind.  To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.  ~Calvin Coolidge, 1927

Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special!  How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food, and beer.... Who'd have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment, and spirituality would mix so harmoniously?  ~Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas full of Joy, Peace and Love!!

Very good advice:
 The following 50 valuable life lessons were written by Regina Brett, from Cleveland , Ohio.

 These gems of knowledge have been learnt over the past 50 years, why would you not want to get your knowledge up and read on for a little ‘Life 101′.

 50 Life Lessons

 1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

 4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

 5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

 6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

 7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

 8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

 9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

 10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

 11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

 12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

 13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

 14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

 15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.

 16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

 17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

 18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

 19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

 20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

 21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion.   Today is special.

 22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

 23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

 24. The most important sex organ is the brain
.
 25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

 26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”

 27. Always choose life.

 28. Forgive everyone everything.

 29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

 30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

 31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

 32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

 33. Believe in miracles.

 34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

 35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

 36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.

 37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

 38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

 39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

 40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

 41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

 42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

 43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

 44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

 45. The best is yet to come.

 46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

 47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

 48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

 49. Yield.

 50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.



 Source: Written By Regina Brett | The Plain Dealer

A to Z of Genuine Happiness

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Nothing Else Matters at Orion Festival June 24, 2012

Just an amazing perfomance of this classic hit over the weekend!!

David Beckham's Goal Olympic Stadium May 2012

This is the reason 60,000 folks filled up Olympic Stadium on sunny day here in Montreal. Beautiful goal Mr Spice Girl, I mean Beckam!!

10 Secrets to Being a Millionaire and Enjoying It - Yahoo! Finance

10 Secrets to Being a Millionaire and Enjoying It - Yahoo! Finance

Just getting by.

My father used to tell this fascinating story about pursuing wealth
to anyone who would listen. It stuck with me, and I found a
well-articulated version on our amazing Internet...

A businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village
when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small
boat were several large tuna. The businessman complimented the
Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to
catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.

The businessman then asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch
more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's
immediate needs. The businessman then asked, but what do you do
with the rest of your time? The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep
late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my
wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine
and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor."

The businessman scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you.
You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a
bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy
several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.
Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell
directly to the processor and eventually open your own cannery. You
would control the product, processing and distribution. You would
need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico
City, then LA and eventually New York City where you would run your
expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But señor, how long will this all
take?" To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years." "But what
then, señor?" The businessman laughed and said, "That's the best
part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell
your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would
make millions."

"Millions, señor? Then what?" The businessman said, "Then you would
retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would
sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with
your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could
sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "Isn't that what
I'm doing right now."

Fifty is the new thirty.

Fifty is the new thirty

Baby boomers continue to redefine our culture, because there's just so many of us, we're used to being the center of attention.

Add into that the fact that we're living much longer and careers are becoming more flexible and it's pretty clear that in just about every cultural respect, fifty year olds are living, acting and looking more like thirty year olds every day.

This changes more than personal financial planning. It changes the marketing of every service and product aimed at consumers--and yet most traditional advertisers are stuck in the mindset that thirty is the end of your chance to find a new customer or build a new brand

Source: http://sethgodin.typepad.com


Speaking of fifty, this dude just turned the big 5-0 a couple of weeks ago!:

KONY 2012

Kony is a monster beyond any imagination, and being one for the past 26 years without being noticed by the world!

Time

"Time waits for no man" is a pretty famous quote. Time waits for no woman or child,
either. The one thing we all have, yet none of us claim to have, is time.

Though we would ideally like to have enough for everything and everyone, that
usually isn't the case in an adult life. This is when we prioritize, whether consciously or not. Prioritizing according to where we feel most needed or obligated, instead of where we're most loved and appreciated, can result in spending too much time working or helping, and not enough time enjoying life.

Some people realize that years are going by quickly and they are not really living as they would like. This may cause them to make small changes, or if left too long, may cause them to have an entire overhaul of their life, or, as it's often called, a "midlife crisis."

If you don't make time for the ones who love you, eventually, you will grow apart. Too often, we make time for the ones who claim to need us: bosses, friends who are down on their luck, family members who are having some kind of drama... We tend to then put off those people who we love to spend time with but don't ever seem to "need" us, and they always understand when we cancel for something "urgent."

Eventually, "some other time," will not exist.

If you think of how you've spent the past year, look at where you have invested the most time. Think of good friends that you have not seen or even spoken to in awhile. While there is no true "making up for lost time," if, when looking back, you see that you've been neglecting any one person or people, be sure to make time for them from this day on.

When we're young, we usually have so much free time that we do not have to plan. As we get older, our lives and our friends lives get more complex, and planning and scheduling becomes more important.

Many successful couples have one night per week that they block off for only each other as a "date night," even when they have been together for many years. It may not seem like much, but it is a guaranteed 52 dates per year.

Connections between people to be kept strong must be attended to regularly, like a houseplant. It doesn't need constant attention, but it does need regular attention. If not, it will wither after awhile but can be revived. If neglected too long, then no matter how much water you put on it, it's just not coming back.


Source: happinessinyourlife.com


The girl who just wanted to have fun singinG about time:

Power~explained

Often when we think of power, it comes with a negative association
of someone misusing power over someone else. Many world leaders
throughout history have abused power, resulting in worldwide destruction.

But power really only means concentrated energy.

Other people in history have had great power, and used it to better the world. They did this in one lifetime, due to
belief in people and belief that they could. Gandhi and Mother Theresa had great power and changed the lives of millions of people.

Everyone has power over themselves and others. Your words have the power to change even a stranger's mood. Your every interaction sets off other reactions with every person you interact with, and everyone they interact with. If you are in a great mood and compliment someone, they will more than likely appreciate the compliment, and continue that positive energy in a return to you or to someone else.

If you get the notion to right a wrong, or to improve a condition, taking that notion to more thought, then action, will affect others. You may wish to improve the condition of your neighborhood. Although everyone else in the neighborhood also sees the trash, patchy grass, and graffiti, they have accepted it as what is, as depressing as that may be. But if you use your energy to appeal to others to gather to clean up the neighborhood, the combined energy will increase. After your neighborhood has been cleaned, you may inspire others to do the same, or the group that participated in your neighborhood may have felt the job so rewarding that they wish to continue to improve things.

Often times, when we see a large problem, we can feel overwhelmed or angrily question why the government doesn't take care of it, or wish that a movie star would come and donate millions of dollars to fix it. That energy of feeling overwhelmed is power in an unusable form. Transforming it into action will not only relieve the anger, but it will also put that energy to good use.

Your thoughts have the power to initiate, your words, to form, and your body, to act. Real and lasting change does not occur in one enormous revelation, but in small, dedicated actions over time. Combined with one or two people, then more, then many, enormous changes can occur in much less time than one would think. Look around you in your surroundings. What is one thing that you would really love to see made better? Start with an action to improve it, no matter how tiny and insignificant it may seem. It may just be the seed to a giant oak.

Source: happinessinyourlife.com


A little old school here with Snap! :)

Gary Carter HOF Induction

Thoughts and Words

I have always believed that thoughts are powerful. I do not remember the exact moment I realized it, but stuff happened without explanation unless I went back and analyzed it:


In the old days, people used to think that their thoughts were "just thoughts," and that
sticks and stones would break their bones, but words would never hurt them. Little did
they realize the true power of their thoughts and words.

We all can see motion of an object, say, a swing, rocking back and forth. We also can
appreciate radio waves with the use of a radio, or television programs with the use of a TV set.
When we use our microwaves, we can see that heat can also be produced by a higher frequency
of wave directed in a small area. While microwaves are for the most part contained within the
microwave, we know that radio waves are at all times all around us. We don't think it's magic
when someone puts on a radio, tunes it to a certain frequency, and sound comes through. If you were to pluck a person out of the year 1700 and show them these devices, they would not believe their eyes. They would think you were a witch or some kind of magician. Because we know these things to be true, we don't flip out every time we turn on the TV and pictures and sounds show up on the screen....we only flip out when this doesn't happen!

Your mind is not a contained system like a microwave. It is like a radio tower. The thoughts you think are not limited to your own mind. They are signals sent out to the Universe, just like radio waves. The radio is the device that can interpret radio waves. The subconscious mind is the device that can interpret thought waves. When you think certain thoughts, you are sending out these signals, and all of the subconscious minds of people who are tuned into the same frequency will pick them up.

This is why when you think of a friend you haven't spoken to in awhile, you'll likely hear from them "out of the blue" within a couple of days. You may even know who is calling before you check your caller ID. This isn't magic or a coincidence, it's just thought waves being transmitted and received.

This is also the basis for the now infamous "Law of Attraction." It's not "attraction" so much as it's just all that the subconscious of other people can pick up. Back to the radio analogy, if "happy" were on station 105.7, and "sad" were tuned into station 101.3, and you were sending out thought waves of 101.3, you would never be able to hear or get in tune with anyone on 105.7. You may have heard the phrase "get in tune" with your feelings. Thinking happy thoughts and being positive will literally get you in tune with more happy and positive people and the circumstances surrounding them.

Source: happinessinyourlife.com


Dreams are influenced by thoughts when you think about it eh!:

Foo Fighters~ Grammys 2012

212212264 by YardieGoals

Jennifer Hudson~ I Will Always Love You

21221222396 by YardieGoals

Movies - Free Movies - YouTube

Movies - Free Movies - YouTube

Love

Love is a tiny little word that has about as many interpretations as there are stars in the sky. Most often, it's confused with lust, ego attachment, or infatuation. Love has many definite characteristics. Meaning, without those characteristics, it's not really love.

Love is secure. Love is inclusive, kind, encouraging, honest, and is based on appreciation and trust over time. It's respectful and uses power to build up, not to tear down. It is a moment to moment strength of a bond between people that cannot be fully explained, but those who have experienced it, know it for life.

Most often, the first true love people feel is between themselves and their parents. The way their parents treat them and each other is the basis for our definitions of love. As adults, we show love by taking the role of one of our parents, or by acting similarly to how we did when we were children. This may not be the healthiest plan, as often our parents were not effectively able to act out of love to us or to each other.

Love can be hindered by insecurities, low self esteem, past pain that's not yet been forgiven, and many other factors. If one cannot say that they love themselves, then it's unfortunately true that they won't be able to love another person and show words and actions of true love to them.

We all have an immense capacity to love ourselves and others. True love is the most incredible gift to ourselves and others, yet most of the masses are not engaging in it much if at all. The biggest reason for this is the fear of getting hurt. But like trust, if you choose to just not love or trust anyone your whole life, then instead of being protected the entire time, you'll actually be hurting the entire time, and hurting others in the process.

Starting with you, learn to accept yourself 100%. Focus on your positive qualities, your physical features, your wit, your problem solving skills, you willingness to help others...think of the last 10 compliments you've been paid. Believe them. People mean them....rarely do folks just throw around random compliments.


Source: happinessinyourlife.com

Madonna Super Bowl XVI halftime show

www.thelovemovie.com

www.thelovemovie.com

Appreciation

Appreciation is similar to gratitude, except that several letters are different.
Both words mean realizing the good in your life and being both aware of, and
thankful for it. Many people recognize the value of appreciation towards
themselves, but not always the value of their appreciation towards others. Many expect that others should "just know" that they appreciate them, or think they shouldn't have to tell them all the time. Truth is, everyone should be told as much as possible how much they are appreciated, and everyone should make an effort to tell others how much they appreciate them as much as possible.

Think back to when you were a baby...remember? Remember lying there in your crib, relaxing, food or love was only a couple of shrieks and a scream away. Why on earth would you ever leave this blissful state? If you needed to go anywhere, you were picked up by a warm being who smelled like flowers, and carried you everywhere you needed to go. Transporting you from crib to sofa, sofa to carriage (or stroller if you prefer), carriage to auto, where you were then chauffered around town.

The reason, the only reason, you ever learned to crawl and then walk (a virtual evolution over the course of just a few months), a miracle of nature, was because of appreciation. If you'd began to crawl and they said nothing, you may not have bothered again for a couple of years. If when you'd taken your first steps, they'd thumbed their noses, you'd hardly have made it across the room. We are hardwired to value appreciation so much that it is the basis for all of our learning. Sitting up, crawling, walking, speaking, eating certain foods (like peas), going to the potty...everything you don't remember learning but are vital to your success as an adult were done so on the mere basis of appreciation.

Now, do you see why it matters so much?

Think of someone you appreciate. Now, text, or email them a message in two lines or less, thanking them for something specific, or just for being a great friend, sister, brother, mom, dad, accountant...whatever the case may be.

Unless they think you're up to something, you are guaranteed two things: First, you'll receive an equally appreciative reply. They may even tell you that they needed to hear this today. Second, you will have made them feel great, even if only for a little while, based on a tiny effort on your part. Actually, one more thing...you will feel better, too. This is a great habit to start doing on a more regular basis, yes?

Source: www.happinessinyourlife.com

Trust

Trust~explained

There are only two times in your life when you need to let a person go from
your experience: when you no longer have the ability to appreciate each other,
or when you no longer trust each other. Trust is the foundation of every single
positive relationship in the world. Without it, the relationship will not be able to
be positive. If there's no trust on day one, don't count on there being any on day 1000.

A person may trust no one in their life, or they may trust only certain people. They may not even be aware of why all of their relationships seem so difficult, not ever realizing it's because of no trust.

When you do not trust, you never take people's statements at face value. Your mind immediately takes their statements and rearranges them into what it thinks they actually mean. This leads to accusations, drama, pain, and bad relationships.

So why would someone consciously or subconsciously decide not to trust?

They believe that by not trusting, they are somehow protecting themselves. They may have been fooled once by a person breaking their trust, and the pain was terrible. Instead of realizing that it was just that person, they allowed that experience to put up a wall, and affect the way they view the world.

If you are mistrusting, you will repel people who are trustworthy. No one likes to be accused of things they did not think or do, and no one likes to have to defend themselves when they did nothing wrong.

Trust does involve being vulnerable. Yes, if you again misplace your trust, someone could take advantage of it, and you could get hurt again. But if you choose to not trust anyone, though you'll never get fooled, you'll also live in a constant state of anxiety, paranoia, and cause pain to people because you were unable to move past a bad experience with trust. The pain from a lifelong experience like that far outweighs the pain of getting fooled a couple more times.

When we are young, we are all naive. Naive people get hurt by trusting. From there, they can choose to either become experienced, or bitter. No one can make that choice for them, but it's a choice that will impact all of their relationships for the rest of their lives. It's a stronger choice to trust again, and you will be fulfilled much more than you will be fooled by choosing it.

Source: happinessinyourlife.com


This is absolutely my favorite song n for good reasons!:

Forgiveness~ explained

One of the surest ways to have a dark cloud looming over your head is
to hold a grudge against someone. Whether it be your parents, a former
(or current) boss, friends, or strangers. Holding on to past hurts is like
holding on to a giant boulder. The boulder holder feels more pain and
burden than the other will ever know.

However justified you may be, or however enormous the hurt, it is always possible to forgive.

Forgiving doesn't mean saying that the offending act or words were OK. It also doesn't mean keeping that person or people in your life, afterward. If you can't be sure the act won't be repeated, keeping that person around would be like keeping a wolf around your pet chickens. Even if you tell the wolf "No!" sternly, he's probably going to scarf a chicken as soon as you turn your back. You can forgive him, then gently escort him out of the henhouse.

If you have forgiven someone, you no longer feel the extreme pain, anger, or sadness when the topic of what they did is brought up. You've already made peace with it inside of yourself. You can still inform someone of it, but your tale will be devoid of those emotions, almost as if it happened to someone else.

Forgiving often requires compassion. If we can understand why someone acted a certain way, we can usually let our own anger dissolve. Not why we assume they acted that way, but why they actually did. Sometimes, it's not possible to know why someone acted a certain way. In those instances, the easiest way to let it dissolve is to know that "they just didn't know any better."

Very few people make it their life's mission to hurt other people, especially those who they care about. Most are either thinking of themselves, or not thinking at all, but not thinking of deliberately hurting another. When they do hurt someone deliberately, they've likely justified it in their mind as revenge or a defensive action. Two babies playing in a sandbox, one baby takes the other's shovel. The other slaps the thief baby, the thief baby hits the other with the shovel. Both start to cry. Fast forward 30, 40, 50 years and old babies all over the world continue this set of circumstances which ends up in a whole lot of sad old babies walking about.

The babies truly don't know any better. But as adults, we develop a rational, logical mind, which can separate perceived action from real action and side effects of that action. It's just up to us if we choose to use it.

Source: Source: http://www.happinessinyourlife.com


Check out this video by Evanescence ~Forgive Me:

Intuitiion~ explained

Intuition is your sixth sense. Unlike your other senses, you probably didn't get much training in intuition, unless one or both of your parents had as well. If you'd been trained in it at the same time you learned about your sense of hearing, taste, smell, and sight, you'd be much more comfortable with trusting it today.

If a plate of food were set in front of you that looked and smelled like manure, you'd likely not take a taste. You trust that if it smells bad, it will taste bad. However, if you get a "gut feeling" that something is a bad deal but with no other clues, you may not trust that feeling. You may then try to ignore your sense of intuition and go forward anyway, only to later realize that your gut feeling was right. Not trusting your sense of intuition is like eating the manure, yet many of us do it every single day...er...not trust our intuition, that is.

When a group of people sit in the woods, if there is a sound of a cricket, frog, then coyote, and one person exclaims, "cricket, frog, coyote," the rest of the group does not look shocked, clap, and cheer. This is because everyone heard the same sounds and drew the same conclusions (except for the guy who was wearing headphones, listening to rock music). Yet when a psychic, one highly trained in intuition, picks up information and relays it to someone, they are in awe...sometimes moved to tears, sometimes shelling out lots of money to hear more.

We ALL have intuition. Some of us have better hearing than others, some can see better, some can smell a hotdog a mile away. Some people have a naturally very strong sense of intuition, and some do not. But even the ones who do not but who train themselves to improve their sense of intuition will be better off than the natural ones who do no training at all. It's just like someone who has great vision. If he or she does not use that to read, but the lady with the glasses reads daily, she will know a lot more than he about whatever it was she was reading.

Source: http://www.happinessinyourlife.com


Check out this video by OneRepublic:

Karma~ explained

Karma is a word that most everyone has heard of, but few people
know the true meaning. It's often mistakenly thought of as a punishment
and reward system, and is used as a curse on those who do bad things.
"You'd better watch out for Karma!" as if it's a voodoo police force of the universe.

Karma is most importantly, understanding. It is neither good nor bad, just whole.

If a person does good deeds, helps others, and lives an honest life, they can still get whacked with "bad karma." If that person does all those things, but then judges others who they say are evil, then they will soon find themselves on the opposite side of that fence. By judging someone negatively, one is actually asking the Universe for the understanding that made that person behave that way. Common examples are in traits that are misunderstood. If a person says another is too controlling, then pretty soon, they will be accused of the same. They may not even notice, because to them, they were only being helpful, or looking out for someone, but most certainly not being controlling! Only after the karmic shoe is on the other foot do they gain the insight as to why the person they judged seemed to be acting in a controlling way.

If a person condemns another for anything, Karma is sure to be around the corner.

What should be the reaction then, when someone does something that appears to be devoid of any good whatsoever?

The reaction should be positive, and if positive is not possible, then neutral. For example, if a person hears about someone who has run out on their family, they may immediately judge him or her to be a terrible person. If you say, "How could anyone be so terrible?" then you are literally asking the universe to show you how. Things may take a turn in your life to where you are overwhelmed and feel like running off, too. Why wish that on yourself by condeming another person? A better reaction would be to believe that the person must have been truly overwhelmed, and made a weak choice by abandoning the family. Hope that the person finds their conscience, comes to their senses, returns, and owns up to their responsibilities.

In the second reaction, you are wishing for a better life for that person, which in turn would lead to a better life for anyone that person comes in contact with as long as they live...and by default, you are wishing the same for yourself.

Source: http://www.happinessinyourlife.com


Oh n speaking of Karma....check out the vid below by whats-his-face eh!! ;-D: