Personal Bill of Rights

A Personal Bill of Rights

1. I have numerous choices in my life beyond mere survival.
2. I have the right to discover and know my Child Within.
3. I have the right to grieve over what I didn't get that I needed or what I got that I didn't need or want.
4. I have the right to follow my own values and standards.
5. I have the right to recognize and accept my own value system as appropriate.
6. I have the right to say no to anything when I feel I am not ready, it is unsafe or it violates my values.
7. I have the right to dignity and respect.
8. I have the right to make decisions.
9. I have the right to determine and honor my own priorities.
10. I have the right to have my needs and wants respected by others.
11. I have the right to terminate conversations with people who make me feel put down and humiliated.
12. I have the right not to be responsible for others behavior, actions, feelings or problems.
13. I have the right to make mistakes and not have to be perfect.
14. I have the right to expect honesty from others.
15. I have the right to all of my feelings.
16. I have the right to be angry at someone I love.
17. I have the right to be uniquely me, without feeling that I'm not good enough.
18. I have the right to feel scared and to say, "I'm afraid."
19. I have the right to experience and then let go of fear, guilt and shame.
20. I have the right to make decisions based on my feelings, my judgement or any reason that I choose.
21. I have the right to change my mind at any time.
22. I have the right to be happy.
23. I have the right to stability, i.e., "roots" and stable healthy relationships of my choice.
24. I have the right to my own personal space and time needs.
25. I have the right to be relaxed, playful and frivolous.
26. I have the right to be flexible and be comfortable with doing so.
27. I have the right to change and grow.
28. I have the right to be open to improve my communication skills so that I may be understood.
29. I have the right to make friends and be comfortable around people.
30. I have the right to be in a nonabusive environment.
31. I have the right to be healthier than those around me.
32. I have the right to take care of myself, no matter what.
33. I have the right to grieve over actual or threatened losses.
34. I have the right to trust others who earn my trust.
35. I have the right to forgive others and to forgive myself.
36. I have the right to give and to receive unconditional love.

http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/simons-place/Bill_Of_Rights.html
By: Charles Whitfield

Promise Yourself

Promise Yourself

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can
disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to
every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel like there is
something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your
optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best,
and expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on the
greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give
every living person you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, and too
strong for fear, and to happy to permit the
presence of trouble.

Christian D Larson
(The Optimist Creed
From The Optimist International)

Be.

Be.

Be understanding to your enemies.
Be loyal to your friends.
Be strong enough to face the world each day.
...Be weak enough to know you cannot do everything alone.
Be generous to those who need your help.

Be frugal with what you need yourself.
Be wise enough to know that you do not know everything.
Be foolish enough to believe in miracles.
Be willing to share your joys.
Be willing to share the sorrows of others.

Be a leader when you see a path others have missed.
Be a follower when you are shrouded by the mists of uncertainty.
Be the first to congratulate an opponent who succeeds.
Be the last to criticize a colleague who fails.
Be sure where your next step will fall, so that you will not tumble.

Be sure of your final destination, in case you are going the wrong way.
Be loving to those who love you.
Be loving to those who do not love you, and they may change.
Above all, be yourself.

~Author Unknown

The Oak Tree

The Oak Tree - by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr.

A mighty wind blew night and day.
...It stole the Oak Tree's leaves away.
Then snapped its boughs
and pulled its bark
until the Oak was tired and stark.

But still the Oak Tree held its ground
while other trees fell all around.
The weary wind gave up and spoke,
"How can you still be standing Oak?"

The Oak Tree said, I know that you
can break each branch of mine in two,
carry every leaf away,
shake my limbs and make me sway.

But I have roots stretched in the earth,
growing stronger since my birth.
You'll never touch them, for you see
they are the deepest part of me.

Until today, I wasn't sure
of just how much I could endure.
But now I've found with thanks to you,
I'm stronger than I ever knew.

The Holy Alphabet...This is Beautiful!

The Holy Alphabet...This is Beautiful!





Whoever came up with this one must have had some Divine guidance!



Although things are not perfect



Because of trial or pain



Continue in thanksgiving



Do not begin to blame



Even when the times are hard



Fierce winds are bound to blow



God is forever able



Hold on to what you know



Imagine life without His love



Joy would cease to be



Keep thanking Him for all the things



Love imparts to thee



Move out of "Camp Complaining"



No weapon that is known



On earth can yield the power



Praise can do alone



Quit looking at the future



Redeem the time at hand



Start every day with worship



To "thank" is a command



Until we see Him coming



Victorious in the sky



We'll run the race with gratitude



Xalting God most high



Y es, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...



Zion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!

If You're Ever Going To Love Me

I remember reading this poem in an Ann Landers column when I was in my teens. Just as true now as it was then and it is how I try to approach showing others they matter to me. I've found no copyright, so author is still unknown.

If You're Ever Going To Love Me

If you're ever going to love me

love me now, while I can know

All the sweet and tender feeling

which from real affection flow.

Love me now, while I am living;

do not wait till I am gone

And then chisel it in marble--

warm love words on ice-cold stone.

If you've dear, sweet thought of me,

why not whisper them to me?

Don't you know 'twould make me happy

and as glad as glad could be?

If you wait till I am sleeping,

ne'er to waken here again,

There'll be walls of earth between us

and I couldn't hear you then.

If you knew someone was thirsting

for a drop of water sweet

Would you be slow to bring it?

Would you step with laggard feet?

There are tender hearts all round us

who are thirsting for our love;

Why withhold from them what nature

makes them crave all else above?

I won't need your kind caresses

when the grass grows o'er my face;

I won't crave your love or kisses

in my last low resting place.

So, then, if you love me any,

if it's but a little bit,

Let me know it now while living;

I can own and treasure it.

(Author Unknown, though many have claimed authorship)

Maybe We Need A Lullabye

I sat down to work on some algebra but my thoughts kept turning to the violence the past week has brought:

A school shooting here in my community of Omaha, NE that left 2 dead and one injured .

A shooting in a shopping mall in Tucson, Arizona that left 8 dead.

The shooting of a Congresswoman who mere days before took the oath of office and that took the lives of a child, a judge, and many others.

Suspicious packages detonated in Maryland.

What a way to begin a new year that a mere 9 days ago held hope for peace, freshness, love and kindness.

In the face of events such as these, perhaps it is only human nature to ask why, to look for reasons, to lay blame on society's ill (of which there are many) and to spin like a web answers to those questions that may never have answers.

Large scale violence shakes us to our souls and invites introspection. We question upbringing, influences, availability of guns, emotional scars and many times we wonder what we as a society or an individual have done to contribute to these occurences. Have we extended love and understanding to another? Have we turned a blind eye to the outsider and the inconvenient reminders of poverty, homelessness, age or neglect? We vow to change, to be kinder and to pay more attention. Sometimes we pray more, we hug our children more, say "I love you more" and even cry more. Pain is palpable, even if those affected were not a part of our own families. We vacillate between anger, disappointment, fear, love for those who lives were lost or forever changed in an instant. We wish for comfort.

Perhaps we need a lullabye. Oh, how I can hear the pooh-pooing of that suggestion already. "Psshhhhhh only children need lullabies". I say we all need lullabyes. After all, what is a lullabye? We sing lullabies to small children as we rock them to sleep, to calm them when they fall and get scraped up and when they're scared. Yet as adults, we fall and get scraped up, we hurt emotionally, we get upset and we keep going and going. We try all manner of things to quell the pain - tears, writing, alcohol, tobacco, exercise - the list goes on and on. Yet maybe what we need most is a gentle touch and a lullabye. A "there, there. It will be OK". Because perhaps it really is that simple.

Perhaps all the broken hearted people need a calming song, a change in the frenetic soundtrack that is our lives and a chance to hum a new tune. A song, a melody or a harmony to reset the metronome differently. Think about it.

My adult lullabies are Dire Straits' "Why Worry"
Elvis "Walk A Mile in My Shoes"
Blind Boys of Alabama "Give A Man A Home"
K D Lang "Hallelujah"
Susan Boyle "Don't Dream It's Over"
Bee Gees (yes, I'll admit to liking them) "Gotta Get A Message to You"
Ben Harper "There Will Be A Light"
Timothy Schmit "Secular Praise"
Elvis "You'll Never Walk Alone"
Anne Murray "A Little Good News"

And with each tune, we are reminded of something different - hope, vulnerability, kindness, love, faith, compassion and so much more. We gather the strong to go on, for that is really what the lullaby does. Maybe that's all we need.