Thoughts

Are you living a life that matters?

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I ran across this at AmyOops tonight…. while here visiting my 93 year old aunt.  It just seemed more meaningful to me now… as my aunt and I discussed life, death and her memories of her long life.  I always love to hear her tell old stories… some of which I’ve heard many times before, but somehow never seem to bore me.   I know someday, she’ll no longer be able to tell the stories and I’ll sure miss that.  But I’ll have plenty of good memories of the times she told me about.  Everytime I leave here to go back home I wonder if this is the last time I’ll see her.  Anyway… here’s the post:

Ready or not, some day, it will come to an end.

There will be no more surprises: no minutes hours or days.

All things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass on to some else.

Your wealth, fame, and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owed or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments , frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.

So, too, will your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to- do lists expire.

The wins and losses, that once seemed so important, will fade away.

At the end, it won’t matter where you were born or what side of the tracks you lived.

It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So, what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built…

Not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered, or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter is not how many people knew you, but how many people will feel a

lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter are not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom, and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.  It’s not a matter of circumstances but of choice.

Are you choosing a life that matters?

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Thoughts on dogs

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The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. -Anonymous

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. -Ben Williams

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. -Josh Billings

We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all.  It’s the best deal man has ever made. -M. Acklam

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult. -Rita Rudner

A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down. -Robert Benchley

Dogs need to sniff the ground; it’s how they keep abreast of current events. The ground is a giant dog newspaper,  containing all kinds of late-breaking dog news items, which, if they are especially urgent, are often continued in the next yard. -Dave Barry

Anybody who doesn’t know what soap tastes like never washed a dog. -Franklin P. Jones

If your dog is fat, you aren’t getting enough exercise. -Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That’s almost $21.00 in dog money. -Joe Weinstein

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us?  I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul — chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we’re the greatest hunters on earth! -Anne Tyler

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. -Robert A. Heinlein

Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. -Groucho Marx

Speak softly and own a big, mean Doberman.  -Dave Miliman

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. -Mark Twain

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. -Roger Caras

If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them. -Phil Pastoret

My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. -an Ole Hoss

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Wise advice

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  1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.
  2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.
  3. It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.
  4. Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.
  5. Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.
  6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
  7. If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
  8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.
  9. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
  10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
  11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
  12. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.
  13. Some days you’re the bug; some days you’re the windshield.
  14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
  15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
  16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
  17. Duct tape is like ‘The Force’. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
  18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
  19. Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving.
  20. Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
  21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
  22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night

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Things I’ve Learned…

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  • Recent Chicago Cubs acquisition Kosuke Fukudome pronounces his name as “Foo-koo-DOUGH-may” and NOT “Fuck-you-DO-me” as I had first thought. Glad we got that straightened out before any embarrassing conversational gaffes.
  • If your instinct tells you NOT to click on a link, run with your instinct. Never, ever click on a link titled “Two Guys, One Horse” assuming that it was hilariously mislabeled as some sort of joke.
  • NEVER answer the “Does this make me look fat?” question. And tread lightly when the “What are you thinking?” one is lobed at you.
  • Mistakes are the workshop of growth and learning.
  • Don’t sweat the small stuff, yet paradoxically little things mean a great deal!
  • I’m not sure if it’s age, A.D.D., or early onset of Alzheimer’s, but I find I need to make notes and lists to get things done. Now, if I could just stem the occurrences of going places at work and forgetting why I went there in the first place.
  • Tackle big problems in little steps.
  • Deadlines (much like traffic signals) are merely suggestions. However, in both cases it’s usually best to comply.
  • Better to lose the battle and to win the war.
  • You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, BUT you can’t pick your friends’ nose!
  • Half the crap on the internet credited to Andy Rooney probably wasn’t his material.

    And with that in mind, a few that may, or may not be from Dave Berry’s List:

  • There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is: age 11.
  • The badness of a movie is directly proportional to the number of helicopters in it.
  • There is a very fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness.’
  • If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be: meetings.
  • No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.

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    Pearls of wisdom…

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    By Dave Barry

    • The most valuable function performed by the federal government is entertainment.
    • A penny saved is worthless.
    • There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
    • There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.”
    • People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
    • Nobody is normal.
    • No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
    • You should not confuse your career with your life.
    • Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
    • You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight-saving time.
    • The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
    • Your friends love you anyway.

    More

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    Attitude

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    There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
    Looked in the mirror and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.

    Well,” she said, “I think I’ll braid my hair today?”
    So she did and she had a wonderful day.

    The next day she woke up,
    Looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.

    “H-M-M,” she said, “I think I’ll part my hair down the middle today?”
    So she did and she had a grand day.

    The next day she woke up,
    Looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.

    “Well,” she said, “today I’m going to wear my hair in a pony tail.”
    So she did and she had a  fun, fun day.

    The next day she woke up,
    Looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn’t a single hair on her head.

    “YEA!” she exclaimed,  “I don’t have to fix my hair today!”

    Attitude is everything.

    • Be kinder than necessary,  for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
    • Live simply,
    • Love generously,
    • Care deeply,
    • Speak kindly…….

     Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass.   It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

    Thanks Gene

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