#170 Laughter as liberation

Laugh at yourself and at life. Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity, but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain, cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective that seemingly terrible defeat and worry with laughter at your predicaments, thus freeing your mind to think clearly toward the solution that is certain to come. ~Og Mandino

Additional Quote

The best definition of humour I know is: humour may be defined as the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life, and the artistic expression thereof. I think this is the best I know because I wrote it myself. ~ Stephen Leacock

Theme Series: The Fruit of our Labours

Work: is it a blessing or curse? For some it can be liberating, for others tedious. How does one fill the void without it? For those in retirement, the absence without a career presents its challenges. For those seeking employment, however, what a dream come true to find a productive vocation.

Here are some select quotes about our labours:

- We can redeem anyone who strives unceasingly. ~ Goethe

- Work banishes those three great evils, boredom, vice, and poverty. ~ Voltaire

- Work is the inevitable condition of human life, the true source of human welfare. ~ Leo Tolstoy

- How do I work? I grope. ~ Albert Einstein

- No fine work can be done without concentration and self-sacrifice and toil and doubt. ~ Max Beerbohm

- By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be a boss and work 12 hours a day. ~ Robert Frost

Selected by quoteflections.

- All work is seed sown. It grows and spreads, and sows itself anew. ~ Thomas Carlyle

- We work to become, not to acquire. ~ Elbert Hubbard

- It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure why take the chance? ~ Ronald Reagan

- When I can no longer create anything, I'll be done for. ~ Coco Chanel

- To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness. ~ John Dewey

(Tags: select top quotes, quotations, theme series, self help, life, inspiring, enriching, uplifting, motivational, educational, philosophical, ethics.)

#169 Rising above circumstances

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them." -- George Bernard Shaw, "Mrs. Warren's Profession," 1893

Maxim of the Day

They are able who think they are able. ~ Virgil

#168 The Final Wisdom

The final wisdom of life requires not the annulment of incongruity but the achievement of serenity within and above it. ~Reinhold Niebuhr

Definition of incongruous: out of place, inappropriate, unbecoming, not harmonious in character, inconsistent

Maxim of the Day

Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity. ~ William Hazlitt

#167 The Big Picture

I do not believe in a simplistic and inflammatory view of good and evil. I believe this is a big world full of men, women, and children who struggle to eat, to love, to work, to protect their families, their beliefs, and their dreams. ~ Sean Penn

Additional Quote

Everyone has a right to peaceful coexistence, the basic personal freedoms, the alleviation of suffering, and the opportunity to lead a productive life. ~ Jimmy Carter

Maya Angelou: Present in All Things

Maya Angelou (1928-) is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer." She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. This critically acclaimed author has been awarded over 30 honorary degrees.

Here is a select list of quotations which offer an introduction to her perspectives:

-Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

-I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

-There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

-If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.

-The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them.

-I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

-Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.

-Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

-My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.

Selected by quoteflections.

-You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.

-Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.

-Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud.

-We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

-When you learn, teach; when you get, give.

-We need much less than we think we need.

-The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.

-Be present in all things and thankful for all things.

Selected by quoteflections.

-I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'.

One of her most famous poems is entitled "On the Pulse of Morning" which was read at President Bill Clinton's inauguration.

...The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out and upon me, the
Rock, the River, the Tree, your country....

Labels: best top quotes, quotations, reflections, instructional, inspirational, life lessons, insights, self help, great author series

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#166 Nature heals

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. ~ John Muir

Maxim of the Day

Modern technology
Owes ecology
An apology.
~Alan M. Eddison

#165 Global Human Rights

We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal right of men and women and of nations large and small....And for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors...have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims. ~Preamble, Charter of the United Nations, 1945

Additional Quote

From this vision of the role of the United Nations in the next century flow three key priorities for the future: eradicating poverty, preventing conflict and promoting democracy. ~ Kofi Annan

Theme Series: Kindness and Compassion

I am excited to launch a theme series of pivotal quotes revolving around perennial human issues. Consider the following select quotations which celebrate the virtue of showing kindness, compassion, and generosity in our daily lives:

-The golden rule is of no use whatsoever unless you realize that it is your move. ~ Dr. Frank Crane

-Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others. ~Plato

-One love, one heart, one destiny. ~ Bob Marley

-No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. ~Aesop

-A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. ~ Nelson Mandela

-What comes from the heart, goes to the heart. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

- The more you care, the stronger you can be. ~ Jim Rohn

-If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. ~Mother Teresa

- Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness. ~ Seneca

-Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace. ~Albert Schweitzer

Selected by quoteflections.

-Compassion is the basis of morality. ~Arthur Schopenhauer

-Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves. ~Horace Mann

-Compassion is a verb. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

-Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness. ~Seneca

-Always be a little kinder than necessary. ~James M. Barrie

-There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life - reciprocity. ~Confucius

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~ Dalai Lama

-Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~Leo Buscaglia

-A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles. ~Washington Irving

-The greatest pleasure I have known is to do a good action by stealth and to have it found out by accident. ~Charles Lamb

Selected by quoteflections.

(Tags: select top quotes, quotations, theme, self help, life, inspiring, enriching, uplifting, motivational, educational, philosophical, ethics.)

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#164 Pack up your Troubles

What's the use of worrying?
It never was worth while,
So, pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile. ~ George Asaf

Additional maxim:

In trouble to be troubled
Is to have your trouble doubled. ~ Daniel Defoe

My Manifesto, Mission Statement, Guide

The Quoteflections 16 Point Manifesto has been tweaked and desk top published into a document image. As I stated earlier, I found writing this declaration a helpful exercise to distill my underlying perspectives here. Like a mission statement, it serves as a guide and motivation.

I wish to thank Bonnie Zieman of Pixel Dust Photo Art who generously provided this image in a manuscript format.

A vital life is a quest to:

-nurture strengths and manage weaknesses
-widen horizons with life long educational pursuits
-find vitality in work and life and share the energy
-pursue passion and commitment
-cultivate people bonds
-help children grow
-show a sensitivity to nature, our most precious resource
-seek peace and fulfillment on one's spiritual path
-explore exciting personal challenges
-practice tolerance and confront abuses
-seek justice and opportunity for all
-nurture enriching experiences over things
-celebrate one's uniqueness and individuality
-extend the circle of kindness and compassion
-slow down and find joys in each new day
-'Live, let live, and help live.' ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quoteflections 16 Point Manifesto

I hope that this manifesto may resonate for all. One of my goals is to be inclusive rather than exclusive in my perspectives.

(Sharing, forwarding, or recommending this manifesto is appreciated. Feel free to share the image too.)

#163 The Beautiful Path Awaits

The beautiful path is patient,
always waiting for you to come back,
that path that is so familiar to you,
and so faithful.
It knows you will come back one day,
And it will welcome you back.
The path will be as fresh and as
beautiful as the first time.
Love never says that this is the last time.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Maxim of the Day

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. ~Alexander Pope

#162 Living with good questions

I’d rather live with a good question than a bad answer.

—Aryeh Frimer

- For what are you most grateful?
- What sustains you?
- What steps can you take to live an optimal life?

Additional Maxim

What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think to ask. ~Sam Keen

#161 Both Sides Now

Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, i've looked at cloud that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things i would have done but clouds got in my way.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions i recall.
I really don't know clouds at all.

Moons and junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real; i've looked at love that way.
But now it's just another show. you leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away.

I've looked at love from both sides now,
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions i recall.
I really don't know love at all.

Tears and fears and feeling proud to say "i love you" right out loud,
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, i've looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they say
I've changed.
Something's lost but something's gained in living every day.

I've looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose, and still somehow
It's life's illusions i recall.
I really don't know life at all.

~ Joni Mitchell, song "Both Sides Now"

Maxim of the Day

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist but you have ceased to live. ~ Mark Twain

#160 My Own Unique Door

The world is a living and self-creating mystery of which I am myself a part, to which I am myself, my own unique door. ~ Thomas Merton

Reflective questions:

- What do you find mysterious about the world?
- How do you see yourself within it?
- What potential lies within you to shape the world in a unique way?

Find more meditation nuggets at 365 Quote Quest.

George Bernard Shaw: Great Author Series

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Irish playwright and co-founder of the London School of Economics. His over 60 mainly satirical plays dealt with prevailing social problems including education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege. As an ardent socialist, Shaw was most angered by what he perceived as the exploitation of the working class. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925 and an Oscar for his screen adaptation of Pygmalion in 1938.

Select Quotes

-Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

-A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

-You see things; you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?

-If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.

-You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.

-The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.

-People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them.

-Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.

Selected by quoteflections.

-If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.

-This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

-When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth.

-Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.

-My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say, and then to say it with the utmost levity.

-A drama critic is a man who leaves no turn unstoned.

- As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.

-Consistency is the enemy of enterprise, just as symmetry is the enemy of art.

Tags: best top quotes, quotations, reflections, educational, inspirational, life lessons, insights, self help, great author series

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#159 Wonders amidst Survival

Live on, survive, for the earth gives forth wonders. It may swallow your heart, but the wonders keep on coming. You stand before them bareheaded, shriven. What is expected of you is attention. ~ Salman Rushdie

A meditation nugget of this quote is at 365 Quote Quest. Here I provide some opportunity for a little more reflection through several questions:

- Rushdie makes it clear that life has its challenges. What are some of yours?
- How have these challenges affected you?
- Despite the obstacles, there are wonders to which we need to be attentive. What little wonders have you enjoyed lately?

#158 Optimism Motivates

Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so. ~ Noam Chomsky

Maxim of the Day

The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Quoteflections: 16 Point Manifesto

Perhaps you have noticed that I added a new link bar along the top masthead. Included is a manifesto or 'written statement declaring publicly the intention, motives, or views of the issuer.' I found writing this declaration a helpful exercise to distill my underlying perspectives here. Like a mission statement, it serves as a guide and motivation.

A vital life is a quest to:

-nurture strengths and manage weaknesses
-widen horizons with life long educational pursuits
-find vitality in work and life and share the energy
-pursue passion and commitment
-cultivate people bonds
-help children grow
-show a sensitivity to nature, our most precious resource
-seek peace and fulfillment on one's spiritual path
-explore exciting personal challenges
-practice toleration and confront abuses
-seek justice and opportunity for all
-nurture enriching experiences over things
-celebrate one's uniqueness and individuality
-extend the circle of kindness and compassion
-slow down and find joys in each new day
-'Live, let live, and help live.' ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quoteflections 16 Point Manifesto

#157 Seek to Blossom

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. ~ Anais Nin

Counterpoint

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

#156 Sensitive to Complexities

I loathe the expression “What makes him tick.” It is the American mind, looking for simple and singular solutions, that uses the foolish expression. A person not only ticks, he also chimes and strikes the hour, falls and breaks and has to be put together again, and sometimes stops like an electric clock in a thunderstorm. ~ James Thurber

Maxim of the Day

Simplicities are enormously complex. Consider the sentence "I love you". ~ Richard O. Moore

#155 Life is...So Beautiful

I'm gonna make a chicken gumbo
Toss some sausage in the pot
I'm gonna flavor it with okra
Cheyenne pepper to make it hot.

You know life is what we make of it
So beautiful or so what
I'm gonna tell my kids a bedtime story
A play without a plot

Will it have a happy ending?
Maybe yeah, maybe not
I tell them life is what you make of it
So beautiful or so what
So beautiful or so what...

From Paul's Simon's song in his newest album 'So Beautiful or So What.'

Maxim of the Day

The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

#154 Follow your Heart and Intuition

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. ~ Steve Jobs

Maxim of the Day

The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself. ~ Alan Alda

Lao Tzu: Path to Contentment

Lao Tzu or Laozi was a philosopher of ancient China in the 6th century BC best known as the author of Tao Te Ching, and the founder of philosophical Taoism.

Pertinent Quotes

-A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.

-The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

-Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

-Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

-When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you.

-At the center of your being
you have the answer;
you know who you are
and you know what you want.

-Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

-When the best leader's work is done the people say,
We did it ourselves!

Selected by quoteflections.

-Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?

-To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.

-Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.

-The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.

-Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.

- The mark of a moderate man
is freedom from his own ideas:

Tolerant like the sky,
all-pervading like sunlight,
firm like a mountain,
supple like a tree in the wind,
he has no destination in view
and makes use of anything
life happens to bring his way.

Tags: best top quotes, quotations, reflections, educational, inspirational, life lessons, insights, self help, great author series

#153 Strange Phenomena Engaged my Thought

I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains along with the imprints of coral and plants and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than which causes it and why immediately on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engaged my thought throughout my life. ~ Leonardo Da Vinci

'Da Vinci grew interested in human air travel in his 30s and devoted many hours to developing his designs for flying machines. Using nature as a starting point, he studied how birds, bats and insects fly as one way of understanding aerodynamics. The sketch here is of the wings of a glider, which appears to be based on da Vinci's study of bat wings.'

Maxim of the Day

The great difficulty in education is to get experience out of ideas. ~ George Santayana

#152 Nothing Behind but a Memory

It is human life. We are blown upon the world; we float buoyantly upon the summer air a little while, complacently showing off our grace of form and our dainty iridescent colors; then we vanish with a little puff, leaving nothing behind but a memory--and sometimes not even that. I suppose that at those solemn times when we wake in the deeps of the night and reflect, there is not one of us who is not willing to confess that he is really only a soap-bubble, and as little worth the making.
- Mark Twain's Own Autobiography (North American Review, 3 May 1907)

"He blew bubbles for the children."
From ST. NICHOLAS MAGAZINE, July 1916

Maxim of the Day

Pray to God that your attachment to such transitory things as wealth, name, and creature comforts may become less and less every day. ~ Ramakrishna

#151 A Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore-
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
~ Langston Hughes (1902-1967) Hughes was an African-American best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance.

Maxim of the Day

Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you. ~Marsha Norman

#150 The Beautiful People

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen. ~Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Maxim of the Day

Why are there men and women that while they are nigh me the sunlight expands my blood? Why when they leave me do my pennants of joy sink flat and lank? ~Walt Whitman

#149 Living Well

Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to take great pleasure from small offerings and assurance that the world owes you nothing and that every gift is exactly that, a gift. ~ Maya Angelou

Maxim of the Day

Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it. ~ Julia Child

#148 Miracles every Hour

these are days you'll remember

never before and never since, I promise
will the whole world be warm as this
and as you feel it, you'll know it's true
that you are blessed and lucky
it's true, that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you

these are days you'll remember

when May is rushing over you with desire
to be part of the miracles you see in every hour
you'll know it's true, that you are blessed and lucky
it's true, that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you

these are the days
that you might fill with laughter
until you break

these days you might feel a shaft of light
make its way across your face
and when you do
you'll know how it was meant to be
see the signs and know their meaning

you'll know how it was meant to be
hear the signs and
know they're speaking to you
to you.

~ Natalie Merchant, song 'These are Days'

Additional Maxim of the Day

Maxims have been called "condensed good sense", often illuminating human experience with charming wit.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. ~ M. Kathleen Casey

#147 How is the best way to respond?

If you want to change the way people respond to you, change the way you respond to people."~ Timothy Leary

Additional Maxim of the Day:

Maxims have been called "condensed good sense", often illuminating human experience with charming wit.

-The meaning of life is to give life meaning. ~Ken Hudgins

David Suzuki: Sage for our Fragile Earth

Dr. David Suzuki (1936- ) is a science broadcaster and environmental activist who taught genetics at the University of British Columbia for almost forty years. Since the mid 1970's, Suzuki has become known for his TV and radio series and books about nature and the environment. He is best known as host of the popular and long-running CBC TV science magazine, The Nature of Things, seen in syndication in over 40 nations.

-Ecology and economy have the same root word – "eco", and it means ‘home’. But what we have done is elevate the economy above ecology.

-With an estimated population of nine billion by 2050, we cannot continue to consume resources at the same rate and maintain our quality of life.

-Our personal consumer choices have ecological, social, and spiritual consequences. It is time to re-examine some of our deeply held notions that underlie our lifestyles.

-We live in a finite world with finite resources. Although it may sometimes seem quite big, earth is really very small – a tiny blue and green oasis of life in a cold universe.

Selected by quoteflections.

-The human brain now holds the key to our future. We have to recall the image of the planet from outer space.. a single entity in which air, water, and continents are interconnected. That is our home.

-Aboriginal people are key because they have a different sense of where we belong and how we interact with nature.

-We are consuming too much and using our environment as a toxic dump. We are the environment.

Labels: best quotes, quotations, reflections, educational, inspirational, life lessons, insights, self help, great author series

#146 Potent Qualities

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. ~ John Quincy Adams

(A talisman is an object such as an inscribed ring or stone which is thought to have magical powers and to bring good luck.)

#145 Showing Resolve for 2012

He (she) is the most powerful who has power over self. ~ Seneca

Made any resolutions for the new year?

(I wish all of my readers a happy and fulfilling 2012.)