The difficulty in life is the choice.
--George Moore

How we choose to spend our time says much about what is important to us. If we have no goals, we may try to kill time. If we have too many goals, there may not be enough time in the day to do all we set out to do. We must make some choices based on our values. We may need to take more time for some things, and let go of others. For example, this year will we try to learn to play the guitar? Perhaps we have finally decided to drop out of that club which seems to have little purpose. Will we give more time to work, or less time? With each of these choices, we shape our lives. We can do it with the touch of an artist if we pay attention to the choices we are making.

What is truly important to me today?

Usually the most important things to us, are those that we choose to ignore.....unfortunaly.

A SORRY man,,,I can't tell you whats important to you..
I have never met ya??





HAVING FUN...THATS my happy,and important to me to CAUSE a smile in a stranger!!! oh,,and FRIENDS!!! lol

mental health is more important than money.......Im starting to understand this.........


and the damn dishes can wait!!!

Maintaining my sanity, and being true to who I am. Nothing else matters

The old law of "an eye for an eye" leaves everybody blind.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.


An essential aid to following the path of the inner voice is practicing forgiveness. Resentment comes from the Latin word resentir - to feel over and over again. By repeatedly re-experiencing the old resentments, we are less apt to hear our intuition, which exists only in the present.

When Jean married, she had not completed her unfinished business with her father. Consequently, she projected her old resentments onto her husband. Her desire to love him was distorted by the hurt and anger from the past. This is why it is said that until we complete our source relationships, we are never truly in another relationship.

Forgiving can also help you take back your power. As long as you believe that someone else's actions are the cause of your present difficulties, you are powerless to change. Letting go of blame allows you to take responsibility for your life.

All this adds up to a single point. Forgiveness is an act of self-kindness. It liberates your life force. It completes the past. Choose now to heal your old unfinished business. It is time to let go of the pain. Place your hurt on an altar and surrender it to God. Set your self and others free.

. . . love grows by service.
--Charlotte Perkins Gilman

When we shower someone special with much needed attention, or maybe flowers, or run an errand for a friend, or volunteer to do a favor for an unnamed person, we benefit in many ways. We're appreciated; we feel good about our own behavior, and we've tightened the connection to another person that fosters personal human development.

Most of us long for more signs of love from one another. Yet we fail to understand that our own expression of love to that special someone will release the love we long to feel.

Love multiplies with frequency of expression, whether stranger-to-stranger, friend-to-friend, lover-to-lover, parent-to-child; and everyone is the beneficiary.

Love's expression spontaneously generates more of itself, thus promising each of us what we long for.

Beautiful thread!!!

Gypsy, you are so on point!

I am currently in a resting phase, it feels really odd. I retired after twenty one years in a highly stressful career. I enjoyed it because of the service to the community.

It feels so odd, to not have to be anywhere in particular. I am giving myself about a year, before I undertake my next challenge. I look forward to it! It takes everything I have within me, to not go for more money. I raised two daughters on my own, pretty much. My current challenge is to be committed/devoted to my grand daughter during this time.

I think thats a great thing to be committed to- I too have to think about things other than the money- congrats on the recent retirement... rest now and enjoy it.
Thank you for posting- I was wondering if anyone was getting anything out of this-

Thank you screamnchic!

Great thread once again!

I'm being true to who I am. And Sanity has NOTHING to do with it!!!!!

hey there-
sorry, I was on vacation and did not post for a week so I will add a few more-


Grief may be a pathway to our deepest connections.

People often say, "I don't want to burden you with my troubles, you have enough to worry about." Yet sharing our troubles with our partner or close friends lightens our burden and restores our balance. Telling someone our experiences and how we feel about them helps us find and create the meaning that lurks behind them, even though they at first seem only crazy and random. Sharing with others pulls us out of isolation and brings our friends and mate into the circle of our lives.

We may be surprised to feel the knots in our stomachs loosen when we tell our stories and recount our worries or grief. Grief may make us feel more alone than anything. But it may also be a pathway for our deepest connection with each other. When we reach out and talk with our friends or mate, we break down the wall of isolation and build bridges that connect us.

Tell your partner about any grief you carry today.

There is no reality except the one contained within us.
--Herman Hesse

Claude Gellee painted lovely pictures of the English countryside. Europeans loved his landscapes, with their blue hues and mild distortions. But when the people went for the carriage rides in the country, they were disappointed because it didn't look the way Gellee had painted it. Then someone discovered that if you held blue glass up to your eyes and looked through it, the trees and hills and sky looked just like a Gellee painting! Soon everyone was looking through "Claude glasses" when they travelled.

We often let others do our seeing for us. We get lazy and rely on the images of television and movies, instead of really seeing with our own eyes. Our world becomes distorted and we lose sight of the natural beauty that surrounds us.

Each of us carries reality inside ourselves, and as we grow stronger within, we discover that we can see clearest when we trust our own eyes. There is a glorious world, full and rich, just waiting for us to

Will I see the world through my own eyes today?

Once again, I really enjoyed your posts

This one really helped me today....


Detachment means "freedom from emotion."

Letting someone else's behavior determine how we feel at every turn is irresponsible . Our emotions should be determined by us, not by someone else. But no doubt we have spent years confusing the boundaries that separate us from other people. Whether at work or at home, we have too often let someone else's "insanity" affect how we behave and how we feel.

At first, it may seem insensitive not to react to others' problems or negative behavior. We may fear they'll think we simply don't care about them. Learning that it is far more caring to let other people handle their own lives takes time and patience. But with practice, it will begin to feel comfortable. In fact, in time it will feel freeing and wonderful.

I will work on detachment today, knowing that in time the rewards will come.

That's a stressfull relationship if I ever saw one! I can see where we would need to be conscious of a drama queen or king and keep your distantance. I know people like that, you just have to take them with a grain of salt and a set of earplugs!

yes and I know several people that stress me out and the drama they bring on- I recently gave up several friends and I won't look back- life is better as I have set my boundaries and continue to live better.....

The most important thing to me today is enjoying time to myself.

Oh yeah, that makes your quality of life a lot better! Keep them at arms length. What makes it so bad is they still don't get it!

I try to read the word first thing every day. Psalm 23 was a part of it this morn. Very motivating and encouraging.

My priorities are worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and mission. Gives me a purpose and an aim in life.

Check out that book, the Purpose Filled Life. It helps to fit things together kind of neatly and make some order out of chaos.

And I think that any time you can spend working with other people, loving them and showing them you care is time well spent, whether it's helping to take care of someone's problems at work, or helping someone (family, friend, etc) outside of work. Taking care of the grands, like 1956 Cleo is doing, is a good thing, a great thing. You never can say "I wish I'd spent more time at work," when you're gone, you'll say, "Wish I'd spent more time with the loved ones."

Your greatest gift can often be your time.