Could Have Been Me... But it wasn't!

I want to share something with you today that a friend had forwarded to me.    I do not know the author or precisely where this was taken from... but it could have been me at any time in the last year.  I chuckled as I read it and thought .. oh yeah.... could have been me.  Hope you enjoy and share in the wisdom of the words.
"Lord, Thou knowest me better than I know myself, that I am growing older and will someday be old.  Keep me from getting talkative, and particularly from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.  Release me from craving to try to straighten out everybody's affairs.  Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details, and give me wings to get to the point.  I ask for grace enough to listen to the tales of others, help me to endure them with patience, but seal my lips on my own aches and pains.  They are increasing and my love of rehearsing them is increasing as the years go by.  Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally it is possible that I may  be mistaken."

Remedy Drive is a Christian rock group from Lincoln, Nebraska.  The following is a quote from David Zach, one of the members of the group.  I thought the quote was worth sharing with my followers:
"I see two tendencies in my own life:  I either get burned out by the weight of a situation and lose hope...., or I tend to put my hope in something that is not going to sustain the weight of my human heart.  But, there is always hope in the most desperate of times and the darkness must precede the dawn.  No matter what you are going through, hold on..... becasuse daylight is coming."

Share a Story or Two!

As a grief counselor, I am a big fan of stories.    Stories are often how we introduce ourselves to others, find our common ground, build relationships and learn from others.  Vera Nazarian said  "The world is shaped by two things... stories told and the memories they leave behind".   I often refer to my grandfather who was always telling us silly stories, slapping his knee and laughing. I can't remember a single story, but I will always remember his character. Telling stories can make sense of the insensible, and leave great memories in their wake. He is a great memory.  What are some of your great memories?  Want to share?

Gifts

Happy New Year to all my readers and followers.  I would like to start this year with a quote from  Neale Donald Walsch.

"Be a gift to everyone who enters your life.... you can always be a gift because you always are the gift... yet sometimes you don't let yourself know that.  When someone enters your life unexpectedly, look for the gift."

I look back over 2012 and think of all the people who entered my life during the year and the gifts they left in their wake.  Gifts come in all forms... a thought, a prayer, a word, a deed, an item, an emotion, a most unusual friendship, support or a smile.  How grateful I am for all those who took the time to be a gift to me.   May 2013 bring many small and meaningful gifts to you.