:)

It Couldn’t Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.

- Edgar Albert Guest - 1881-1959

Caged Bird

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind   

and floats downstream   

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and   

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams   

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream   

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied   

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

 

--Maya Angelou

Showing Up

Sometimes it seems next to impossible to be able to do all that needs to be done. It's sometimes hard to stay positive and keep moving. In a time like this when I have little energy yet time demands that I give my best -- I am going to try one of my old philosophies -- something that has helped me get out of the deepest of ruts....

SHOWING UP

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and do the right thing, the dawn will come".

- Anne Lamott.

I've found that luck is quite predictable,if you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.

- Brian Tracy.

WITH A SONG OF FAITH IN MY HEART :) TKS

Another Poet's Thoughts :)

Lose This Day Loitering
Lose this day loitering
'twill be the same storyTo-morrow -
and the next more dilatory;
Each indecision brings its own delays,And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days,
Are you in earnest? seize this very minute
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated
Begin it, and then the work will be completed!

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Awesomeness

The earth has music for those who listen - William Shakespeare

The inspiration for this is really something that I saw while driving from Louisville to Chicago 2 weeks ago. It was pitch dark and very close to midnight when I (half dead and half asleep) saw this huge windmill field just over an hour from Chicago. Suddenly out of the blue (or well black of the night!)these red lights were flashing in tandem left, right and as far down as I could see. Everytime a windmill made a turn , there it was the bright red flash . It really has to be seen to understand what I mean > when for almost 6 miles this majestic sight lasted. Really made me wonder about all the awesomeness that man creates.
Talking about awesomeness, it is really everywhere if one chooses to see. The beautiful creek in my apartment complex, the pat on the back from an old patient, the excited wag of my dog's tail, getting an experiment right in the lab, my mom in law's text reminders that she loves me and not to forget my husband's most amazing paneer dishes....the list really goes on.
Thank you God for all the awesomeness. I pray I can see this all the time :)

Perseverance

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. ~Jacob A. Riis

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use. ~Earl Nightingale

The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence but by oft falling. ~Lucretius

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. ~Buddhist Saying

Sometimes moving on seems harder and all walls appear to cave in. Probably the keyword is appear......facts and dreams are always mightier than fears .

-Guess it's time to just keep on keeping on :)

-------------------------------------TKS-------------------------------------------

:)

“Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.”

Winston Churchill