Never accept the life you have, if it's not the life you want.

...It is time for me to step out of the usual and take a risk on life!

I stand on the edge of a cliff listening,.. listening,...listening for that familiar sound as the waves crash to shore.

---Standing over Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park (Bar Harbor, Maine)

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enough said!?

We had a beautiful sunset last night! Pinks, purples, blues, oranges, reds...

Everytime I see a beautiful sunrise or sunset I think of my father. As he was dying, he told me that he would always be with me; I just had to look for him in the sunrises and sunsets.

I am a "daddy's girl". I have been since the day I was born and will be when I see Papa again in eternity.

I have many reasons why I never got married (fear of commitment, a need to prove that I can take care of myself, a fiercely independent nature, and on, and on, and on...), but I think the real reason is that I have never found an available man that could live up to my view of my father; intelligent, loving, faithful, committed.

Maybe it's time to move beyond the reasons...

Embrace every moment!

For most of my life I have been guilty of running from one event to another without stopping to enjoy the experience.

I won't accept quantity over quality any more--there is no enjoyment there. I will savor every facet, every moment, every emotion...

...it's time to stop and "smell the roses".

Savor those moments when you can be alone.

I mean really alone...no TV, no radio, no Ipod...only you and maybe a good book. Listen to the sounds of your house, creaks, pops, cracks; listen to the sounds of nature, birds, cicadas, breeze rustling through the trees; listen to the sounds of your body, the steady in and out rhythm of your breath, the thump-thump pulse of your heart. This music of your life is more interesting than anything you will find on TV, radio or your Ipod.

I will make more time for these special moments.

Have you ever looked at a stone...I mean really looked at a stone?

Rinse the stone with water then, while it is still wet, look at it closely. The colors, the lines, the shapes...then try to imagine the life of the stone. Was it once a part of the Rocky Mountains? Or the Smokies? Or the Alps? Or is it possible that it is from several mountains, each contributing a little piece of itself to this little stone. How did this particular stone get here? Was it washed here at the end of an ice age? How old is it? A million or a billion years old. Did a dinosaur every touch this piece of rock? Or, maybe a woolly mammoth?

So many questions, so little time...