The Cat's Meow

Welcome! THE CAT'S MEOW is an opt-in weekly newsletter. If you've received it, you've subscribed or been given a subscription, or had it forwarded to you. Should you desire to subscribe or unsubscribe,you can do so at our website, or email: JC@online-thecatsmeow.com .

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Disclaimer: All articles and images in this newsletter are believed to of be public domain and, therefore, reprintable. Where a source is available, it has been stated. If you believe a mistake has been made or know the source of an unattributed article or image, please write to:
JC@online-thecatsmeow.com ! A correction will be made!!!

Our 'renovations' at THE CAT'S MEOW are going quite well...if a bit slowly. We'll have a new website for you in late Spring or early Summer; we hope you'll find it easier to use!!! Updates will be posted in these pages as we progress....

THE CAT'S MEOW has received word that the 'Shakespeare quote' in last week's issue is a hoax. Due to this, we will no longer be using the newsletter it came from as a source. Many thanks to the well-informed subscriber that found the error! However, please realize that, due to the volume of emails we read and evaluate each week for possible inclusion in these pages, we cannot verify the real author of each and every quotation or article that we have chosen to reprint! (That's why we have a 'disclaimer'....) Again, we appreciate your help in finding the correct sources for misattributed or unattributed media; please continue in your diligence to help us all become 'the cat's meow'!!!

And, now, we offer you today's 'Internet potpourri'....Should any of these gleanings inspire you to further investigation, be sure to visit our website for further information and helpful resources!

It must have been almost twenty years ago that I experienced my first Southern California backyard laundry room. Many homes like mine include this standard luxurious feature. It is meant to also be a garage to house cars!

My cars take second fiddle to the washer, dryer, bicycles, garden tools, various assorted balls and bats and gloves and the oddball holiday decorations that I file away there until it is their appointed time of year.

My friends Ellen and Joel lived in a beautiful home in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. In exchange for babysitting their children, I was awarded with free use of their extravagant laundry room!

"How annoying", I used to think as I schlepped my baskets in and out of my house.

This morning I was once again out in my luxurious laundry suite. As a mother with three children at home, I am there regularly. Gratefully, I have also changed my opinion of it lately. Now I choose to see it as a favored experience.

In fact, lately I have been playing the game of infusing all of my formerly "unlovely" necessary duties with a component of grace.

This morning I created a joy circuit around my backyard. Included in the circuit were picking ripe grapefruit, admiring plum blossoms, stirring the compost pile and adding to it, cooing to Sandy, my dog, and noticing the cycle of life taking shape all around me.

It made the trip in and out and back and forth not a chore at all. It had become a blessing.

Halfway through the day my gardener came and added today's bounty of grass cuttings to my compost pile. The sight of fresh green among the pile literally made me smile ear-to-ear as I visited and stirred the compost en route to the laundry room.

An overflowing heart experienced while doing chores is a heart overflowing with passion.

Passion Activator: Choose to infuse one of your day-to-day chores with grace. Observe over the next week what differences you see in yourself as you approach that necessary duty from a different perspective.

Julie Jordan Scott is a Personal Success and Creativity Coach, Radio Host and Speaker who inspires you to Dare to Discover Your Passion, Decide to Live Your Destiny! Subscribe now to the ezine that will show you how. Send a blank email here: or visit http://www.5passions.com now or call Julie directly at 661.325.4116 or email julie@5passions.com To request your complimentary coaching session, complete this simple form: http://www.5passions.com/coachingreqform.html

It's fireproof.
He's probably just hibernating.
What does this button do?
It's probably just a rash.
Are you sure the power is off?
The odds of that happening have to be a million to one!
Pull the pin and count to what?
Which wire was I supposed to cut?
I wonder where the mother bear is.
I've seen this done on TV.
These are the good kind of mushrooms.
I'll hold it and you light the fuse.
Let it down slowly.
It's strong enough for both of us.
This doesn't taste right.
I can make this light before it changes.
Nice doggie.
I can do that with my eyes closed.
I've done this before.
What duck?
Well, we've made it this far.
That's odd.
Don't be so superstitious.
Now watch this.
Everyone knows they're a bunch of nuts, no one will listen to them.

If you want someone who will bring you the paper without first tearing it apart to remove the sports section .. buy a dog.
If you want someone willing to make a fool of himself simply over the joy of seeing you ... buy a dog.
If you want someone who will eat whatever you put in front of him and never says its not quite as good as his mother made it ... buy a dog.
If you want someone always willing to go out, at any hour, for as long and wherever you want ... buy a dog.
If you want someone to scare away burglars, without a lethal weapon which terrifies you and endangers the lives of your family and all the neighbors ... buy a dog.
If you want someone who will never touch the remote, doesn't care about football, and can sit next to you and watch a romantic movie ... buy a dog.
If you want someone who is content to get up on your bed just to warm your feet and whom you can push off if he snores ... buy a dog.
If you want someone who never criticizes what you do, doesn't care if you are pretty or ugly, fat or thin, young or old, who acts as if every word you say is especially worthy of listening to, and loves you unconditionally, perpetually ... buy a dog.
But on the other hand, If you want someone who will never come when you call, ignores you totally when you come home, leaves hair all over the place, walks all over you, runs around all night, only comes home to eat and sleep, and acts as if your entire existence is solely to ensure his happiness, Then, my friend . . .
Buy a cat.

Sarah, the church gossip and self-appointed arbiter of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business. Several residents were unappreciative of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.

She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon.

She commented to George and others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing. George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny - he said nothing.

Instead, later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Sarah's house... and left it there all night.

Work for yourself but not by yourself!!
No Selling/inventory/home parties
Join an ethical family-focused company that values financial security, social consciousness and complete health:
http://www.moms-connection.com/momsforlife.htm

Inspiration Line is a FREE weekly e-mail magazine for people seeking encouragement and fresh perspectives. Our intent is to inspire through motivational articles, poems and uplifting quotes, while balancing the equation with lighthearted humor, historic wonders, interesting news and helpful tips on relationship skills, pet care, health issues, world travel and more. www.InspirationLine.com

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. If you'd like to contact our troops overseas via e-mail here is the link to support them. They could sure use everyone's support.

"Recipe for Miracles"

1 part of knowing who you are
1 part of knowing who you aren't
1 part of knowing what you want
1 part of knowing who you wish to be
1 part of knowing what you already have
1 part of choosing wisely from what you have
1 part of loving and thanking for ALL you have

Combine ingredients together gently and carefully, using faith and vision. Mix together with strong belief of the outcome until finely blended. Use thoughts, words and actions for best results. Bake until blessed. Give thanks again. Yield: unlimited servings.

"The weakest among us has a gift, however seemingly trivial, which is peculiar to him, and which worthily used, will be a gift to his race forever."
~John Ruskin~

Memo from Director General to Manager:

Today at 11 o'clock there will be a total eclipse of the sun. This is when the sun disappears behind the moon for two minutes. As this is something that cannot be seen every day, time will be allowed for employees to view the eclipse in the car park. Staff should meet in the car park at ten to eleven, when I will deliver a short speech introducing the eclipse, and giving some background information. Safety goggles will be made available at a small cost.

Memo from Manager to Department Head:

Today at ten to eleven, all staff should meet in the car park. This will be followed by a total eclipse of the sun, which will disappear for two minutes. For a moderate cost, this will be made safe with goggles. The Director General will deliver a short speech beforehand to give us all some background information. This is not something that can be seen every day.

Memo from Department Head to Floor Manager:

The Director General will today deliver a short speech to make the sun disappear for two minutes in the eclipse. This is something that can not be seen every day, so staff will meet in the car park at ten or eleven. This will be safe, if you pay a moderate cost.

Memo From Floor Manager to Supervisor:

Ten or eleven staff are to go to the car park, where the Director General will eclipse the sun for two minutes. This doesn't happen every day. It will be safe, but it will cost you.

Memo from Supervisor to staff:

Some staff will go to the car park today to see the Director General disappear. It is a pity this doesn't happen every day.

I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it.
Voltaire

"Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it."
~Thomas Jefferson

Many Americans have passionate feelings of support or opposition to military action against Iraq. Just remember that total agreement is not necessary for our country to remain, "One nation under God..." Regardless of your opinion on the issue of war in Iraq, we encourage everyone to pray for our President, our military personnel, and any innocent civilians caught in the middle of this conflict.
~From LifeAdventures

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
~ George Santayana

"No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities – always see them, for they're always there."

-Norman Vincent Peale, 1898-1993,
American Christian Reformed Pastor, Speaker, Author

** ARTICLE : How Are You DEALING with Your Feelings About the WAR – by John Gray **

What this translates into is many millions of Americans who are feeling additional stress because of the world we live in. It also means that it’s somewhat natural to feel increased stress. Big questions like: “How do I talk to my kids?” “What should I do if there is an attack on our soil again?” “How should I deal with my fear that something bad will happen?” “How do you really prepare for something like this- when you don’t know what is going to happen?” Each day the staff of www.marsvenus.com receives more and more questions wondering if these feelings are “normal”.

“My wife and I have begun stock piling water, duct tape, and extra food. We talked with our family and have a plan if something really bad were to happen- including where we would meet and the route we would drive out of town. I know this may be a bit extreme but I don’t want to be caught unprepared again.”“I have not been able to stop reading the news on the internet. I listen to the radio on the ride home from work, and I watch CNN every night. I’m worried that I may miss something.”

“I just can’t watch one more TV show about ‘the war.’ I feel more depressed every time I turn on the TV- it’s like the whole world is paranoid about something that hasn’t even happened yet.”

All of the reactions are normal given the times we live in. What can become problematic for people is when the stress they’re feeling begins to impact their life. Everyday activities like grocery shopping or watching the evening news begins to make people nervous- giving them butterflies in their stomach. When taken to an extreme, people usually need to seek additional medical or mental health support. But the truth is, what most of us feel is a more mild version of real anxiety. While it is normal to feel this way, you would most likely be happier if you dealt with your feelings.

To begin dealing with this issue, ask yourself this question: “Do you feel like you are reacting to the stress more than those around you?” Really think about this. How often are you watching the news? Are you reducing certain activities out of concern that they may not be safe for you or your family? Our reactions to stress are often a reflection on how we dealt with the same issue in our past (perhaps not to the same extreme as we are witnessing now- but the same issue).

Take the following example:
One of the most common emotions discussed by our readers is the feeling of being out of control- that things are happening in the world we are unable to prevent or control.
• If you are feeling this way, can you recall another time in your life when you were unable to control something that caused you pain? Loss of relationship, job etc.
• How did you deal with this issue then?
• What are the similarities or differences compared to how you feel now?

Very often we will react the same way or do the exact opposite. These natural defenses against our feelings of being “out of control” are normal. Our emotions can be more extreme now if we were not able to get our needs met in the past.
• When you experienced this stress in your past, how did people react to you?
• Were they supportive, or were you alone?
• If you were a child- where were your parents?
• Did they help you or did they abandon you?
• How are you now trying to be a better parent to yourself and your own children?

This reaction to stress is called the 90/10 principal. Generally speaking 90% of the stress you are feeling is a reaction to a previous hurt. Only 10% of your feelings are truly about the current events in your life. To gain a better perspective on the stress you are now feeling you need to go back and examine the original hurt. To heal from the pain you need to process the four healing emotions discussed in the book Mars and Venus Starting Over. Whenever a person has a painful experience- in this case feeling out of control- to heal from this they need to process their feelings of anger, sadness, fear, and sorrow.

Your feelings act like the contents of a bottle of champagne. When any one of the healing emotions has not been processed, they act like the cork bottling up the other feelings. If you are angry about feeling out of control, you have most likely not processed the other three healing emotions. This is called being stuck in anger. The same is true for feelings of sadness, fear, and sorrow- or regret.

To heal this you need to first determine where you are stuck. A good gauge is to ask yourself which of these four emotions best represents how you are feeling about the impending war. Are you angry, sad, afraid, or regretful? If you’re stuck feeling angry, then you would benefit by beginning there.

You can begin processing your feelings in one of two ways. The first is by talking and expressing your feelings to a trusted friend, spouse, therapist, or coach. It is important that you find someone to talk with that you feel with not judge you. Sharing personal feelings can be difficult- you need the person you are sharing with to be compassionate and willing to listen.

The second way to process is by writing your feelings out. If you would like to learn more about this technique, visit http://www.marsvenus.com/feeling.php

If you are talking about your feelings, you can talk about the “war” situation and in context discuss your four healing emotions. If you are writing about your feelings you can address a letter to the person you are upset with, or to a supportive person you want to really hear your message. This can be anyone, even God, if you feel like this will help you feel heard. If you want to change the order of your feelings, that is fine. Start with the feelings that you feel most strongly. Take a few minutes to explore each emotion. To really work on healing your feelings, imagine that the person you are talking to is really listening to you. Talk or write as if you were able to say the things you most need to get off of your heart.

About the Author.
John Gray PhD, of www.MarsVenus.com is considered one of the world’s leading authority on relationships. He is the author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, one of the best-selling non-fiction books of the 90s. Have a question for John Gray? Send it in. Due to the amount of feedback he receives, Dr. Gray may not be able to respond to all questions.

Easter lilies are lovely but your cat prefers the plastic or silk variety because the real deal is deadly. "Cats can be poisoned by ingesting one or two leaves or flowers," says Wilson Rumbeiha of Michigan State University. Symptoms can be seen in as little as 30 minutes and include depression, followed by vomiting, loss of appetite and loss in body weight. Acute renal failure starts at about 48 hours after ingestion. Vets say between 50 percent and 100 percent of cats poisoned by Easter lilies die and because the toxin is not yet identified, there is no antidote. Dogs or laboratory animals such as mice and rats reportedly are not sensitive to Easter lilies.

Make a point to do something today for someone special, someone whom you often take for granted, someone who deserves your full and complete support -- yourself!

Being good to yourself is not being selfish. It doesn't mean you must ignore others. Rather, it makes you able to offer more value to the other people in your world when you take good care of yourself. Putting yourself down is of no benefit to anyone. Helping yourself to grow and build will provide you with more to give.

Be positive with yourself. Be kind and generous with yourself. When was the last time you did something nice for yourself? You deserve some special attention. Be good to yourself and that goodness will overflow into the world and the people around you.

"Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)

"Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us on a wild-goose chase, and is never attained."

Editorial Note: Connected with this Vernon Howard said once, "Seek insight, not happiness." Happiness is a byproduct of Truth. Focus on discovering and releasing more and more Truth and happiness arrives effortlessly and incidentally. This is why the Truth about anything, even if it appears negative, releases more happiness. Truth always feels bright.

Recently, I had the great fortune to spend the day at the Vermont recording studio of a jazz musician named Chuck Eller. Chuck recorded my new Discover Your Soul Purpose meditation CD, and offered to provide some background piano music as well.

From the beginning, I knew the meditations needed some kind of scoring, but exactly what and how eluded me. There are no entries in the phone book for "Composer - Mystical, Healing, Background Stuff". Furthermore, I had no idea how I was going to 'direct' such a musician. ("More ... creative. No! More ... uh ... uh ... inspiring?") The whole thing was loose enough to be almost frightening.

Enter Chuck. From the moment he sat down to play, things rolled magically. I'd say, "OK, Chuck, in this part they have to be in a wildflower field." He'd think for a minute, and then just start playing the most quintessential wildflower music you've ever heard. Then I'd say, "Now this part is warmer -- like The Waltons." And suddenly we'd be rocking on the front porch with John-boy and Grandpa.

Chuck was able to play these musical inserts totally spontaneously (nothing was composed in advance.) And he ended at just the right spot almost every single time, without even knowing how long the music should be. He did this a remarkable 23 times!

The best part was listening to Chuck fool around on the piano between each recording we made, as he probed around for good musical ideas. We began to fade into the background as he went deeper and deeper into his creative trance. Almost sheepishly, he finally looked up and said, "You know, I could just do this all day."

Working with Chuck got me thinking about how accessible his 'creative channel' was for him -- and how many people we call geniuses share this trait, along with some other distinct qualities. Just for fun, I thought I'd catalog some of those characteristics that belong to geniuses … qualities many of us share in varying degrees.

(By the way, these hallmarks can apply to geniuses across the board in business, science, etc.. I'm simply using artistic geniuses here to illustrate my points.)

1. The Creative Channel is on all the time. They simply have to tune in, and boom -- they're off in that wonderful, rich creative place where inspiration lives.

2. They feel things deeply … and need to express it. I notice this particularly around my friends who are actors … their emotions run so freely and powerfully, that they feel everything twice as intensely. Furthermore, they let you know it.

3. They have natural empathy. Geniuses tend to know how you'd feel at any given moment, so they have a need to give away their feelings. An inteviewer once asked Broadway composer Steven Sondheim if he could write a song about anything, and he replied, no - but that he could write about anyone, as long as he knew who the character is.

4. They find beauty in unlikely places the rest of us miss. I'm thinking of the 19th century French artists Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet who found enduring beauty in common haystacks and down at the heels prostitutes. True geniuses love the bittersweet, the forgotten, the simple.

5. They're not afraid to cry. The creative genius knows that tears are the juice of life, whether they are tears of happiness, despair or simply deep relating.

6. They're different and often pay a price for it. Creative geniuses often have childhoods marked with ridicule or isolation. And those tough times can continue right on through adulthood, though modern times have made such non-conformity more acceptable. I'm thinking of people like Oscar Wilde, Frida Khalo, Orson Welles, Michael Jackson, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Andy Warhol.

7. They are brave. Many a genius is trained by social ostracism to be brave and strong in standing up for their work. They know their work is valid despite what the crowd says, and they stick by it steadfastly. And public opinions can sway, often long after the artist's death. Think of Vincent Van Gogh, who only sold two paintings in his entire lifetime.

8. They are prolific. Typically, creative geniuses are always creating. It's simply what they do. Cole Porter, for instance, wrote more than 800 songs. And he wrote them wherever he went: on luxury cruise decks, or weekend jaunts to the country. Porter, who was notoriously stoic, said he finished one of his songs while waiting for rescue, after his legs had been crushed by a horse.

9. They simply can't do a half-baked job. Bryan Yambao, the designer of this ezine and my site, is a great example of this little truth. In our two years of working together, I've not seen him deliver anything that was less than inspired. And I know it's because he has very high personal standards. It simply doesn't feel right, otherwise. In Bryan's world, why do the job at all if it isn't great?

10. They love their work deeply. For this example, I turn to my own father, John Falter, who was an artist. A friend asked once what he'd do if he could do absolutely anything in the world. He replied, "I'd go up to my studio and paint." For some artists, this love is the big one. Michelangelo, who never married, said: "I already have a wife who is to much for me; one who keeps me unceasingly struggling on. It is my art, and my works are my children."

"Reprinted with permission from Suzanne Falter-Barns' free ezine, The Joy Letter (Copyright, 2003, Suzanne Falter-Barns.) To subscribe, go to http://www.howmuchjoy.com/joyletter.html

I plead with my fellow man today, as I do every day that he will take the "high road" the positive approach which is empowered by unconditional love which is the nature of our being, and is the only true path to creating peace and joy. The negative approach, I warn, is applying resistance, judgment, antagonism and hatred - it is ruled by fear - looking the eyes of fear and only empowers that which it opposes Looking through "Eyes of Fear" one only sees the wrong in everyone... Finally resorting to judgment, criticism, name-calling, labeling, and, in the end to passing sentence on his fellow human beings. My job is not to judge, nor is it any human beings job ~ Judge not, less ye be judged. I desperately try to explain how negativism causes separation and Ego's to expand ~ the heart and soul to wane, the spirit to crawl. Negative feeds on more negativity and breeds negative seeds ~ and the children once created in the same love and likeness become more and more intolerant, more and more judgmental and condemning and less and less loving....

If we can only decide to take a positive approach to each other, our circumstances, our differences, our faults and human inadequacies, our hearts begin to expand, our souls open and welcome what's new and unique, our spirits no longer crawl but begin to soar the Heavens in Unity and Love and Peace. Looking through "Eyes of Love," as we were designed to see through, promises joy, serenity, acceptance, and finally peace on Earth ~ for everyone. Whereas anger breeds anger, love given unconditionally is most likely what is returned - if not immediately, over time unconditional love and acceptance transforms even the most judgmental and hardened souls and the love and light that beams on them slowly begins to glow within, and finally shines outwardly in a ray of light, like a beacon in the dark....

Peace Pilgrim states... "In my work I have chosen the positive approach. I never think of myself as protesting against something, but rather as witnessing for harmonious living. Those who witness for, present solutions. Those who witness against, usually do not - they dwell on what is wrong, resorting to judgment and criticism and sometimes even name-calling. Naturally, the negative approach has a detrimental effect on the person who uses it, while the positive approach has a good effect. "When an evil is attacked, the evil mobilizes, although it may have been weak and unorganized before, and therefore the attack gives it validity and strength. When there is no attack, but instead good influences are brought to bear upon the situation, not only does the evil tend to fade away, but the evildoer tends to be transformed. The positive approach inspires; the negative approach makes angry. "When you make people angry, they act in accordance with their baser instincts, often violently and irrationally. When you inspire people, they act in accordance with their higher instincts, sensibly and rationally. Also, anger is transient, whereas inspiration sometimes has a life-long effect."

"If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house, There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world."
--Chinese Proverb

"Evil (ignorance) is like a shadow - it has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light. You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it."
--Shakti Gawain

Please let's remember that the soldier is obeying the command and defending our country, our freedoms, and our liberties... He is as powerless to change the "winds of war" as we are. He's not the enemy - he's the hero. Let's all grant the men and women watching our backs the respect they deserve....

I pray we can all unite in a common cause and shine our light on this troubled little planet, Earth..... It begins with just one person - one voice. You...

You can go back a billion years into the past or go a billion years into the future, but there has never been nor will be anyone just like you. You are a singularly unique person in an infinity of time and people. You're that special.

Did you comprehend that? Stop and think about that for a moment. You are so special, there has never been and never will be another person just like you. That makes you so very special indeed.

However, each and every person is equally as special as you are, for they are also singularly unique among all people past, present, and future. When we start to realize that about ourselves and about others, it's easier to truly care about ourselves in a healthy way, and to treat others with the respect they deserve...as our equals.

Too often we try to separate and distinguish ourselves from others, rather than being the best part of the whole that we all are. And while we do divide ourselves, we are indeed all just one part of the greater whole of humanity. To the degree that we elevate ourselves individually, the greater becomes humanity. The opposite is also true, the less we do to become all we can be, the lower humanity remains in the evolutionary process. We ascend and descend both individually and collectively as a species.

Unfortunately, we divide ourselves into religions and see others that believe differently as somehow inferior or wrong or ignorant. We divide ourselves as men and women and play "war games" in the battle of the sexes. We divide ourselves into races and define our existence as whites, blacks, latinos, and all other ethnicities, rather than just being human beings sharing life together on earth.

How can we ever be for each other when we keep making these unnecessary divisions among ourselves? I ask you, would the world be better if each person were pitted against everyone else, or if we learned to realize and appreciate the value of everyone? I tell you, we are still a very primitive race in moral and spiritual sense. Our technology has far outpaced our maturity.

As special as we each are, and as primitive as we remain, we are also a work in progress, free to evolve as we choose. You have the free will to set your own goals, to grow into the kind of person you want to become, or you can simply be as you are. That's free will in action...that's freedom. But what are we doing with that freedom?

While many choose to intentionally grow in directions they choose, others simply change as time and chance change them. They feel a certain security in remaining the same, but do they remain the same? Of course not, time changes everyone by choice and by chance. A failure to choose how you change is also a choice, but the results may not be as comfortable as you want to believe.

I ask you, isn't it better to pro-actively choose your direction of change and growth rather than to let the sands of time erode away that which is not beneficial in order to bring out the best in you? That's what maturing is, a process of letting that which is not beneficial in life to fall away, and developing that which is worthy of being a part of us to grow and bear fruit. Since you are the only one that will ever be you, don't you owe it to yourself to become the best you that you can be? I say yes, you are well worthy. You are cheating yourself and others if you don't place importance on your own evolution.

Of course, that's not to say you're not already a fine person, I'm sure you are. Among all living creatures, we alone have the unique talent of being able to improve life individually and collectively for ourselves and others. We also have the ability to degrade life. As the only sentient beings that we know of in the Universe, I believe we owe it to ourselves, and to life itself, to strive for our potential.

Remember how special you are. Remember how special each person is. Let us live so that when we die, we will be remembered with the same respect and appreciation we gave to others while we lived. Do that by deciding how the Garden of You grows. Root out the weeds of life's experiences that grow and nurture the seeds of greatness you were born with.

Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.
- Erich Fromm

As human beings, we are endowed with freedom of choice, and we cannot shuffle off our responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is our responsibility.
- Arnold J. Toynbee

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.
- Henry Ward Beecher

The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become.
- Harold Taylor

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
- Mark Twain

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