Welcome to my thoughts on Living with Joy, Purpose, and Conscious Choice.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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Here, I share my thoughts on spiritual power, relationships, simple living, managing stress, work-life balance, career decisions, money, politics, the environment, and much more.

See my self-help articles including How to Move On and How to Succeed, browse my large collection of Inspirational Quotes, and sign-up for my free Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote email and my Positive Affirmation of the Day email.

The content of all my blogs/websites consists entirely of personal opinion.
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Saturday, July 20, 2013

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Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas (August 4, 1920 – July 20, 2013) was a White House press reporter from 1961 to 2010 (when she retired at age 90) - covering every President from Kennedy to Obama.

It's time for women to make their voices heard.
Their silence on the subject of war and peace is deafening.
- Helen Thomas 

If we care about the children, the grandchildren,
the future generations, we need to make sure that they
do not become the cannon fodder of the future.
- Helen Thomas

When will our leaders learn - war is not the answer.
- Helen Thomas

You don't spread democracy through the barrel of a gun.
- Helen Thomas

We won't really know what will happen until it happens.
- Helen Thomas

I think I'll work all my life.
When you're having fun, why stop having fun?
- Helen Thomas

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

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Thankful for Life's Many Blessings

I try to be grateful for all life's blessings, and have written many times about gratitude. I am grateful for food and shelter; for love, family, and friendship; for beauty and nature; and for life itself. I am conscious that I have no "right" to life or health or happiness. I began life with a caesarian section in 1945. A very few years earlier, either I or my mother would not have survived childbirth. All my life has been filled with great blessings.

The past ten days, I have been reminded how many blessings I have of which I am completely unaware, and thus not consciously appreciative. Ten days ago I developed a horrendous bitter-metallic taste in my mouth that eliminated all pleasure of eating. While I have been conscious of the blessings of food, and have always enjoyed food, it never occurred to me to give thanks for my taste receptors. Like a million other blessings, being equipped with the sensory apparatus to enjoy food just never registered on my radar screen of gratitude. Now that I have recovered from the condition (Pine Nut Syndrome - read here, and here), I am aware of another great blessing in a very personal and up-close way.

More than ever, I am committed to give daily thanks for all life's blessing that I am not specifically aware of - as well as for the more visible blessings, and for life itself.

Friday, July 12, 2013

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Think a Kind Thought Today

There is some good in the worst of us
and some evil in the best of us.
When we discover this,
we are less prone to hate our enemies.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.


Today, think a kind thought about someone who you would otherwise hate, or believe to be evil, or to be an "enemy."

Whether in politics, international affairs, or your personal life, there is someone who you believe to be irredeemably bad. Today, think a kind thought about that person.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

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The Book of Life


Reader's question: In your quote, what do you mean by "writ small in the margin"?

Play with life, laugh with life,
dance lightly with life,
and smile at the riddles of life,
knowing that life's only true lessons
are writ small in the margin.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie


My answer:

Have you ever had the experience of borrowing a book from a library - or buying a used book - and finding that someone has written in the margins of some of the pages? Usually those notes are worthless, but occasionally the notes are more insightful than the book itself.

So in my metaphor comparing the "book of life" with a real book, I suggest that the true meaning of life is not easy to find (written in the book itself), but hidden for only the truly alert and inquisitive to find (written small in the margin).

May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie