Let there be Peace

It's been a very difficult week here in Connecticut. Last week less than 30 miles away from my home was the site of the second worse school shooting in our nation's history.  20 small children between the ages of 6 and 7 were gunned down in their classroom. 6 female educators were gunned down trying to protect the school children.  It's a tragedy that knocks you off balance and shakes you to your very core.

It's in times like these that I look to things that are comforting. Readings which provide some sort of guidance, faith or hope.  With Christmas around the corner these quickly came to mind.

"When you give something, just for the joy of creating, it always comes back on a much larger scale." —Ji Lee

"Tonight I want to tell you the story of an empty stocking.

Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child's cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven't forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with gifts.

But especially with gifts. You give me a book, I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry can do with a new pipe. For we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. Its his birthday we're celebrating. Don't let us ever forget that.

Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shinning gifts that make peace on earth. "
-- The Christmas Sermon in the movie, The Bishop's Wife

Bill Murray plays Francis Xavier Cross in the classic Christmas movie, Scroogred, by far one of my absolute favorites.  It's a wonderful 1988 parody on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  The speech at the end of the movie is fantastically written and makes the point very clear.

[Frank X Cross]: "I'm not crazy. It's Christmas Eve. It's the one night when we all act a little nicer.  We...we smile a little easier. We...we...share a little more. For a couple of hours we are the people we always hoped we would be. It's really a miracle because it happens every Christmas Eve. And if you waste that miracle, you're gonna burn for it. I know. You have to do something. You have to take a chance and get involved. There are people that don't have enough to eat and who are cold. You can go and greet these people. Take an old blanket out to them or make a sandwich and say, "Here." "l get it now." And if you give, then it can happen, the miracle can happen to you. Not just the poor and hungry, Everybody's gotta have this miracle! It can happen tonight for you all! If you believe in this pure thing, the miracle will happen and you'll want it again tomorrow! You won't say, "Christmas is once a year and it's a fraud." It's not! It can happen every day! You've just got to want that feeling! You'll want it every day! It can happen to you! I believe in it now. I believe it's gonna happen to me, now. I'm ready for it! And it's great. It's a good feeling. It's better than I've felt in a long time. I'm ready. Have a Merry Christmas. Everybody... Did I forget something, big man?

[Calvin] "God bless us, every one."

Circumstances Beyond Our Control

Recently my son, 18 yrs old was injured again while playing lacrosse. This is the fourth injury in four years! The first was the last week of the season he received a concussion which took him out of school for a few days. The second was the first game of his sophomore year when he received a concussion so sever he was out of school for 24 days and took months to fully recover.  The third was during preseason when he tore his ACL. He is a senior now and decided to take the field one more season with his friends and teammates. Traditionally he had always been a long pole defense man but in order to protect his knee he hopped into the goal. He was having a fantastic season and with just two weeks left in the season he was knocked from behind upon coming out of goal and has now injured his "good" knee. We won't know until the MRI results are back whether he will require surgery or not; my hope is obviously no surgery and just plenty of physical therapy. Keeping my fingers crossed.  The fortune cookie quoted below ironically was his last night which is why I dedicated this to him.

When you learn to be flexible, amazing opportunities reveal themselves! ~Fortune Cookie

The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances. ~ Martha Washington

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.  ~ Horace 

Stop blaming outside circumstances for your inside chaos. ~ Steve Maraboli  

Expect the best, prepare for the worst. ~ Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.  ~ Arthur Golden 

We should be inspired by people... who show that human beings can be kind, brave, generous, beautiful, strong-even in the most difficult circumstances.  ~ Rachel Corrie 

To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.  ~ Confucius 

Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.  ~ William Arthur Ward 

Confidence is preparation. Everything else is beyond your control. ~ Richard Kline 

The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man... It is more powerful than external circumstances.  ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca 

There is no education like adversity.  ~ Benjamin Disraeli 

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. ~ Maya Angelou

Making an awesome save!

Update on May 19, 2012 - He tore the ACL and does need surgery on the 23rd.

What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger? ~ Friedrich Neitzche 

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Live and Learn

Riding on the Beach

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. ~ Michael Jordan

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. ~ Aristotle

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. ~Goethe

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ~ Gandhi

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

One's mind, once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

It's a New Day

Tree of Light

With a new day comes new strength and new thoughts. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

A man travels the world in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it. ~ George Moore

Life takes you to unexpected places. Love brings you home. ~ Anonymous

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. ~ Richard Bach

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. ~ Thomas Paine

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. ~ Henry David Thoreau

The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. ~ Anonymous

Where they're is passion and desire, there will always be new horizons. ~ Anonymous

There is no such thing as limits to growth, because there are no limits to the human capacity for intelligence, imagination, and wonder. ~ Ronald Reagan

A bend in the road is not the end of the road...unless you fail to make the turn. ~ Anonymous

One's mind, once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes