Happy Quote

It is said that when a butterfly flaps its wings, that energy flows thousands of miles away. And a silent blessing or thought of love toward others contains a vibration that will be felt throughout the cosmos.

--Wayne Dyer

The Art of Saying Yes!

After typing the title of this entry, the Jim Carey movie where he has to say yes to everything comes to mind. If you saw it, you will recall that he was quite the practiced curmudgeon and made himself -- and everyone around him -- pretty miserable. After he changes modes cool things start happening. He gets the girl, starts doing things he loves, and has a pretty wild ride... until it all goes horribly wrong.

I think that potential -- the part where the wheels come off -- is the reason so many of us are so practiced at turning down wonderful opportunities. We are intrigued, but then we start our litany of what-ifs and what-would-they-thinks and it's-too-good-to-be-trues.

We've learned -- often the hard way -- that it's a better bet to stick with the plan. Even if it makes us miserable.

You may have heard the term "calculated risk" bandied about. Finance people love it. Well, I am proposing a different approach. How about a calculated leap? A delicious risk?

The best thing about saying yes is that you get what you want on the other side of it! Expanding our options, offering gratitude, and leaping for those proverbial rings all allow new life into our days.

As the saying goes, "If you aim for the moon and miss, you are still among the stars."

So, next time someone offers you a chance of a lifetime, jump...

for joy!

Happy Lady

My Aunt Glenda was one of the happiest people I've ever known.

Now, this is particularly remarkable because, from all appearances, she had little or nothing to be happy about. She had cancer for about a decade and bounced from hospital to hospital enduring every possible torture in the form of treatment. Add to this picture a hard life in the Virginia mountains, raising two boys on one salary, isolated from the "stuff" that most of our family takes for granted.

But she had everything that mattered. She and my uncle seemed to adore one another. She laughed a lot -- often at herself -- and possessed a fearsome faith in a God that watched out for her and those she loved. She didn't claim to understand why she had cancer, but would point out that without it, she wouldn't have taken her witness beyond the road where she was born, lived, and died.

Every time I conjure up an image of Aunt Glenda she is smiling and laughing -- mane of red hair matching the blush that was often inspired by her realization that we were paying her any mind.

I left a pomegranate on her gleaming white casket. It seemed fitting... plump, red, and filled with little seeds. That happy lady certainly spread her share of little seeds... faith, laughter, humility, and hope.

Such a lovely, lovely legacy.