"INSPIRATION"
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"I think about that every night, what I want and how to get it.
But my point is, chasing a seemingly unattainable dream
Is better than chasing no dream at all.
So, you should never be afraid to dream."
Jason Hines --- Submitted by Meaghan A. --- Massachusetts
"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given to you, because you will not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."
Rainer Maria Rilke --- Submitted by Lindsay Jones --- Ontario, Canada
"Start off your day with God,
He is so much better than coffee!!"
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Andrew R. --- Georgia
There is a miracle called friendship
That dwells within the heart
You don't know how it happens
Or when it gets it's start
But the happiness it brings you
Always gives you a special life
And you realize that friendship
Is God's most precious gift
Author Unknown --- Submitted by T.P.L. --- California
"An Angel is the whisper in a gentle breeze that makes you smile. They urge you to Love, when all you feel is the fear of being hurt. Their voice can be heard in a waterfall, urging you to forgive and go on. When the world gets you down, they hold the light at the end of the tunnel to guide you. They form the inspirations in your life, the cautions, and the courage. By the way, the breeze is what you feel when they wrap their wings around you."
Copyright © 2001 Greg Olson
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year."
Ralph Waldo Emerson --- Submitted by Martha Varzaly --- Pennsylvania
What Is A Dream?
A magical thing, a rainbow of joy in your heart
Your own secret corner where no one can go
Where the path to fulfillment can start
A dream lures you on, always one step ahead
Until you have caught it and then...
There's always another to capture your soul
And lead your heart onward again.
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Maria Troutman --- Hawaii
"We are often so caught up in our destination
That we forget to appreciate the journey;
Especially the goodness of the people we meet along the way.
Appreciation is a wonderful feeling, don't overlook it."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Sheila V. --- Alberta, Canada
Excellence
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is safe.
Excellence is giving more than you know you have.
Excellence is risking more than others think is safe.
Excellence is you, Ms. Delores Smith,
My big sister and the mother I never had.
Sondra Rogers --- Maryland
"Lord help me be the man my Grandson thinks I am."
Copyright © 2001 Bob Hepfinger
"Some day in years to come, you will be wrestling with the great temptation, or trembling under the great sorrow of your life. But the real struggle is here, now.....Now it is being decided whether in the day of your supreme sorrow or temptation, you shall miserably fail or gloriously conquer. Character cannot be made except by a steady, long continued process."
Phillip Brooks --- Submitted by D.S. --- United Kingdom
"To believe is to perceive the dance of intimacy upon the soul; To wish upon a shooting star is where the thought of existence is upon the heart; To have a dream or a vision of a desire is to see beyond your circumstance of life."
Copyright © 2001 Debra Bruce
"What God intended for you
Goes far beyond anything that you can imagine."
Oprah Winfrey --- Submitted by Jennifer Yontz --- Florida
"Follow your heart; it knows the way."
Copyright © 2001 Mary Costigan
"Time is relentless by nature.
Regrets are the still-born of time.
Forgive then forget,
And the game of time
Will put your soul at ease."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by B.H. --- New York
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6 --- Submitted by Brenda Pritchard --- Virginia
"Change your thoughts and you change your world."
Norman Vincent Peale --- Submitted by Amber Patil --- India
"God is the great architect of life and He has a great plan for us. But we are still the carpenters and we should construct our life according to His plan."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Feliciano Japitana --- Japan
"Life is in the eye of the beholder. What you cherish and find precious in your life may not be the same for someone else, but it's your vision. Define it and hold on to it, for it's the only thing that's uniquely yours. Remember that the real beauty of life is finding someone that shares your vision."
Copyright © 2001 Greg Olson
"How can God blame you for being human
When He made you that way?"
Roma Downey --- Submitted by Melissa B. --- Wisconsin
"God doesn't always answer when we thing He should
But, He always answers in time."
Copyright © 1999 Joyce C. Lock
"Hope is a miracle waiting to happen. Do what ever needs to be done, and never abandon hope, simplybecause a miracle has always been, and always will be - hope fulfilled."
Copyright © 2001 Greg Olson
"Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it."
Anne De Lenclos --- Submitted by Jennifer Yontz --- Florida
"Love, the word that creates life.
Love, the word that strengthen relations.
It motivates, it cultivates,
It makes the world go round and round.
Love - the only path of salvation."
D.B. --- Connecticut
Life's Cobblestones
Memories are as precious as stone.
Nice is as innocent as a fish.
Thinking is as golden as gold.
Relaxing is as soft as a flowing stream.
Stillness is the wind whispering words of secrets.
Feelings help build a bridge of trust.
Love is always as close as a place in your own heart.
Copyright © 1996 Faith Gaspare
"Positive thinking creates the doorway
Through which a Guardian Angel may step."
Copyright © 2001 Roger L Henshaw
"The greater blessings go to the participants."
Copyright © 1999 Joyce C. Lock
"Don't count the days;
Make the days count."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Jehanzeb Irshad --- Sindh, Pakistan
"A single moment of true joy is worth more than a lifetime of sorrow."
Author Unknown ---Submitted by Scott Millsap --- Texas/California
"God made this world both dangerous and beautiful,
So that His children would grow up strong."
Author Unknown ---Submitted by J.W. --- Maryland
"For every moment, a memory is created.
Make every moment a good one."
Jonathan Rubin --- Submitted by Sharon R. --- Florida
"When you kiss a tear, you embrace an emotion."
Copyright © 2001 Michael Hurley
"Striving for perfection will bring nothing but disappointment,
For perfection cannot be attained by us, only by God himself."
Copyright © 2001 Laura Meiring
"Loneliness is the time we are given for reflection
On our actions in the past."
Copyright © 2001 Daurn Wilson
"Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe --- Submitted by Nessy L. --- North Carolina
"Love makes us patient, understanding, and kind.
And we judge with our heart not with our mind.
For as soon as love enters heart's open door,
The faults we once saw are not there anymore."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Rich Boggess --- West Virginia
"Our real blessings appear to us in the shapes of pain, losses, and disappointments; but let us have patienceand we shall soon see them in their proper form."
Carmelia Elliot --- Submitted by Katie B. --- New Jersey
"I may be small, but I'm big in heart!"
Anonymous --- Submitted by J.M. --- Arizona
"Love Persistently and Persistently Love!
We can only strive to do this as humans,
For only Jesus was capable of accomplishing it."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Derek Gearhart --- Pennsylvania
"Break my heart again and again; it cannot keep me from loving. Break my heart open and love will spill out from every direction. Break my heart open so it can grow larger, leaving it's former self behind."
Copyright ©2001 Jennifer Gokmen
"Cherish is the pedestal that the emotion and feeling of love sits on. It surrounds love, engulfs it, magnifies it and keeps it bright, shinny and new, as long as it exists. Without cherishing someone, the beautiful feeling of love is reduced to lust; passionate, tender lovemaking becomes sex; and the worst thing, romance gives way to indifference. Cherish is one of the most important, powerful and heartfelt words that should be used by every loving couple without hesitation. So, if you hear this word being spoken, close your eyes and open your heart 'cause something wonderful is about to happen."
Copyright © 2001 Greg Olson
"God's peace is joy resting. His joy is peace dancing."
F. F. Bruce --- Submitted by Rich Boggess --- West Virginia
"Do not think of a painful experience as a dark time in your life. You emerge out of everything learning something or you become a better person. You realize who your real friends are and how much your loved ones mean to you."
Copyright © 2001 Colleen Ho
On the street I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope of a decent meal. I became angry and said to God: "Why did you permit this? Why don't you do something about it?" For a while God said nothing. That night he replied quite suddenly: "I certainly did something about it. I made you."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by A.P. --- Ontario, Canada
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power,
There will be peace on earth."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by J. Divvi --- NT, Australia
"Friends will be there for the good or the bad, they will always lend a shoulder to cry on or a listening ear....andno matter what you say, they will not think anything different because they are your friend."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Mike D. --- Massachusetts
"To look upon the soul of a mere moment
Is to capture the thought of the heart.
To listen to the intense passions of the soul
Is to follow the dreams of the heart."
Copyright © 2000 Debra Bruce
"We all have a reason to exist,
It's just that some of us discover what it is before others."
Jeff Janus --- Submitted by J.J. --- QLD, Australia
"I was walking last night and saw a shooting star,
I made a wish that today I'd get to see a angel
And you just made it come true."
Matt D. --- Ohio
"When I'm with you we stay up all night.
When you're not here I can't sleep.
Praise God for these two insomnias
And the difference between them!"
Rumi --- Submitted by Michele Cristinzio --- Florida
"A true Christian is a sign of contradiction--a living symbol of the cross. He or she is a person who believes the unbelievable, does the undoable, forgives the unforgivable, loves the unlovable, is perfectly happy not to be perfect, is willing to give up one's will, becomes weak to be strong, sees some good in every bad and finds love by giving it away. A Christian transcends the natural with the immense power of love and becomes a supernatural person."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Kim Santora --- Connecticut
"Confidence bleeds success
And that blood starts flowing from the veins of Jesus."
Copyright © 2001 Peter B. Gidula
"It's funny how silence speaks sometimes when you're alone,
And remembers that you feel."
Scott Stapp --- Submitted by B. Prescott --- Victoria, Australia
"Whatever the challenge,
Whatever the need,
I've got what it takes;
I will succeed."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Joanna Vinton --- QLD, Australia
"Some things you know with your mind, others with your soul."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Heather B. --- Washington
"Within every obstacle man endures there is always a positive,
But sometimes it is hidden behind the pain.
Don't let the pain control your life."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Bethany Holton --- Michigan
"Don't pray to escape trouble.
Don't pray to be comfortable in your emotions.
Pray to do the will of God in every situation.
Nothing else is worth praying for."
Samuel M. Shoemaker --- Submitted by Vicki Hill --- Georgia
WHEN ONE IS FALSE
Hope is the engine that drives one's life,
Faith is the force that sustains one's hope.
The hopeless are devoid of life-
The ones without faith have absolutely no hope.
For, if the lessons of life we learn are true-
When one is false, the other can't be true.
In the journey of hope, happiness is a station,
And faith delivers contentment, its companion.
For, without contentment, happiness is broke,
In the absence of happiness, contentment is a joke.
For the contented one is happy, 'tis true-
'Cause when one is false, the other can't be true.
The hope of the past, is the happiness of future;
A past filled with faith begets a contented future.
The past looks into future, bosom filled with hope;
Future looks back and says - faith was my only hope.
To have faith in my hope, content with my happiness,
To myself be true-
For I know for a fact,
When one is false, the other can't be true.
Copyright © 1999 Satyam Bhargava
"He knows the way that I take;
When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold."
Job 23:10 --- Submitted by T. Penney --- Texas
"Think little and you will get little result.
So think big, pray big, act big, love big, live big!"
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Leong Y.M. --- Perak, Malaysia
"Be mine, be mine, be mine,"
Our Lord does beckon me.
"I will, I will, I will,"
My heart belongs to Thee.
Copyright © 2001 Mary Ann Herman
"Occasionally, our Lord releases a great thinker to this world. He carries the light for all that wish to bathe in it. He sings the unpopular truth and plants the seeds of the holy garden. His time is short for the wicked move fast but never the less, if even one seed flourishes, he has succeeded."
Copyright © 2000 Steve Maraboli
"One thing that I have learned is that no matter what you do, your true friends will be behind you, to supportyou, whether they agree or not."
Copyright © 2001 Mitch Cater-Cyker
A Bell is no Bell till you ring it
A Song is no Song till you sing it
And Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay
Love isn't Love till you give it away
Author Unknown ---Submitted by Kristina Lopez --- Texas
"The Lord did not create this world to torture us but to test us. The purpose of this test is to see if, in carrying on our material duties, we can still keep our minds centered on him. If we can learn to be IN the world but not OF it, not absorbed or lost in its materiality then you will feel real happiness and nothing will depress you."
Yogananda --- Submitted by Rameet S. --- Canada
Beautiful Savior,
My friend and my guide,
There's peace in my heart
Because You're by my side.
Good Shepherd who cares for me,
Light of my soul,
Wise teacher and healer,
Your love makes me whole.
You taught me to pray--
Ask in faith, and receive,
You taught me to trust--
Not to fear, but believe.
Please help me to remember
In all that I do--
My courage, my hope,
And my strength are in You.
Emily Matthews --- Submitted by Anthea C. --- Ontario, Canada
"The greatest joy in life is seeing yourself for the first time,
As you really are, and liking it."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Jenny --- Alabama
"Perception is merely reality filtered through the prism of your soul."
Copyright © 1996 Christopher A. Ray
"Never lose hope; it's all we really have to live for."
Copyright © 2001 Matt Maziarz
"When you hug so tight you can barely breath,
It's merely your hearts trying to touch."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by R.R. --- Arizona
TO MY SON
At first you needed my strong arms,
And they were ailing too;
God's Fatherhood I came to see
When you were cuddled close to me.
And then you needed just my hand-
A toddler at my side;
How proud you were to stand up straight
And try to match your father's gait.
At last you only sought my voice-
A word of consul kind;
You had a body tall and fine
With strength that far exceeded mine.
And now you have just my prayer-
Daily to God I say,
"May this son be son of thine,
And hold thy hand as he held mine".
Passed on to me in memory of my father, Ralph Dickinson
--- Submitted by Brian Dickinson --- New York
"Dare to kneel before God and you will stand up high before men."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Kenneth E.A Aidelojie --- Dublin, Ireland
Find the Light in Me
As the seasons change, and the heart becomes larger, and the mind wiser;
You are the Light of the World.
As life foes on, and each day goes by, and all still goes on;
You are still the Light of the World.
As the day ends, and the lights are going out, just remember all I told you,
And it will never be totally dark;
Because I am always with you, and We are the light of the world.
Feliz Simpson --- Submitted by Victoria M. --- Texas
"You can make use of your mistakes, failures, losses, and sufferings. It is not what happens to you so much as what use you make of it. Take your sufferings, difficulties, and hardships and make use of them to help some unfortunate soul who is faced with the same troubles. Then something good will come out of your suffering and the world will be a better place because of it. The good you do each day will live on, after the trouble and distress have gone, after the difficulty and the pain have passed away."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Lori D.
"God may grant us gifts, but the merit of being able to take and hold them must be our own."
Rabindranath Tagore --- Submitted by Manohar Chittar --- Mumbai, India
"Life is as fragile as a tiny branch upon a huge tree. It is a part of a whole and is at the mercy of Mother Nature. Just like that tiny branch, when you touch a life, the effects can be felt for its existence."
Copyright © 2001 Chris Gonzales
"God passes by the self-sufficient.... try asking and you will receive."
Copyright © 2001 V. Shayne
"May every hour of this day bring something special; a thought that makes you smile, a smile that warms the heart, and a heart that holds much happiness inside."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by M.N. --- Manila, Philippines
"Sometimes we must get hurt in order to grow; we must fail in order to know. Sometimes our vision clears onlyafter our eyes are washed away with tears."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Janice Ian Reyes --- Manila, Philippines
"Serenity is not freedom from the storm
But peace within the storm."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Linda Fripp --- Michigan
"Trying times does not mean stop trying."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by M. Mele --- Pennsylvania
"If someone has done something to you
And you are considering getting even,
Think about this.
The only way you can get even is to go backward.
You are already ahead, forgive them and stay that way!"
Gary B. --- Texas
Here and now
You are a pearl in the necklace
In this timeless shift of being alive
You can become a deep ocean
Or a shiny Cadillac full of dreams.
You were taught to learn to forget
All that they chose to ignore
They still keep the records of what you've been
But failed to tell you who you are ... an earthbound star.
Karel Kueera --- Submitted by Lucie Kacirkova --- Czech Republic, Djibouti
"There is nothing in this Universe which belongs to us; no Moon, no Earth, no planets and NO wealth. The onlything which belongs to us is what we create within us with our own creativity and passion."
Pramod Sahoo --- Submitted by Shukhram Lal --- AP, India
"I cannot control what others think and what others do;
I can only control what I think and what I do."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by A.N. --- Illinois
"Be an inspiration to yourself!
Do something extraordinary."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by M.D. --- Massachusetts
"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Rani Blakeney --- NSW, Australia
"I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul."
Henley --- Submitted by S.E. --- Georgia
"We need to have people who mean something to us,
People to whom we can turn,
Knowing that being with them,
Is coming home."
B. Cook --- Submitted by Mary Beth Steven --- Wisconsin
"Life is a treasure;
Each experience a jewel;
Each failure a stone unpolished;
Each success joy unbounded.
Live on; hit each moment with the all the strength you have
And God will be with you, sheltering you and encouraging you."
Copyright © 2001 Bharat Iyer
"Let God take your natural
To perform his supernatural."
Copyright © 2001 Sheila R. Peacock
"Never give up.
This may be your moment for a miracle."
Greg Anderson --- Submitted by Nora Magnus --- Singapore
"When something happens to upset you and you are discouraged, try to feel that life's difficulties and troubles are not intended to arrest your progress in the spiritual life, but to test your strength and to increase your determination to keep going. Whatever it is that must be met, you are to either overcome it or use it. Nothing should daunt you for long, nor should any difficulty entirely overcome or conquer you. God's strength will always be there, waiting for you to use it. Nothing can be too great to be overcome, or if not overcome, then used."
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Lori D. --- Florida
"It is those who have a deep and real inner life
Who are best able to deal with the irritations of the outer life."
Evelyn Underhill --- Submitted by Kirk Scherz --- Washington
"We cannot understand:
Faith, without doubt;
Peace, without war;
Happiness, without sorrow;
Hope, without despair;
Trust, without betrayal;
Light, without darkness;
Love, without hate;
Pleasure, without pain;
Good, without bad.
To understand, we must first realize that without the clouds,
We would never appreciate a sunny day."
Copyright © 2001 T.Sharkey
"When you are down to nothing,
God is up to something.
He works through your darkness always to remind you
He is up there for you."
Copyright © 2000 Kenneth Aldelojie
"Lord, Grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish."
Michelangelo --- Submitted by E.M. --- Oklahoma
"All the strength I will ever need in life, is inside me at this moment."
Copyright © 1999 Jason A. Davis
"Always remember that the possibility EXISTS that possibilities EXIST!"
Copyright © 1999 Brian G. Jett
"I am defeated all the time; yet to victory I am born."
Ralph Waldo Emerson --- Submitted by S.S. --- Connecticut