WHEN HAPPINESS COMES CALLING

LIFE IS TOO SHORT to be anything but happy, considering we have been given endless possibilities for a happy life.  

Happiness is a creation of ones perception, it can be very small or enormous in size, depending on our thoughts. It can be found in the darkest of times, when all seems hopeless, or in a small ray of light coming through the window pain.  The journey to happiness begins with a single thought, for one will never be happier than they expect to be. If you are unhappy, change your expectations.  

True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, rather through fidelity to a worthy cause. 

Anyone can create happiness by learning to enjoy the simple things in life: laugh out loud, compliment others, cherish memories, follow your heart, sing in the rain, embrace opportunities, create kindness, believe in miracles, smile, hum a melody, smell the fresh air, share, listen to the birds, walk in the park, help others, wave to a neighbor, hold open a door...the possibilities are endless, but remember, happiness is a choice in life and not a chance or accident.  It's practiced, it's planned and it's entirely intentional! 

Happiness allows one to profit from their highest thoughts, wisdom, emotions, common sense and intelligence. It is the soul purpose and aim of human life, and it come readily when we appreciate what we presently have and not when we are in want.  Happiness increases when its given to others and consequently, it doesn’t come from materialism, it comes from doing and sharing. 

The greatest part of happiness isn't in the circumstances, its in the attitude, because happiness is not a yearning destination, but the way we perceive the journey.  It is created when we think through our heart and not through our mind and it begins to develop when we plan for the best possible outcome.  "Happiness is the simple harmony between what we are and what we are to become." ( I dedicate this to my daughter, Christa, who exemplifies the word happiness in all that she does.) Written by Linda Sumner Urza for: onefineday11.blogspot.com

DOWN IN THE TRENCHES

Yesterday, I attended a conference with the women of my church.  The previous week had been an extremely difficult one for me and I was looking forward to replenishing my spiritual reservoir.  I sat down next to a lady I had never seen before and proceeded to listen intently to the speakers.  I don't know if anyone else ever feels the way I do, but it amazes me how spiritual talks always seem as though they were meant just for me.  Almost as if the Heavens know exactly what I need in my life and delivers it first class.

Toward the end of the program there was a beautiful musical number by a young lady.  I was caught up in the rapture of her amazing voice, until the lyrics hit a tender nerve.  I felt the life begin to slowly seep out of the cracks and crevasses of my heart and I fought to hold back the tears.  Then thoughts of despair overcame me.  Would I ever be good enough, I thought to myself?  My mind shifted back to all the burdens I had to bear for decades and suddenly life seemed cruel and unfair, especially for someone who had been so devoted to serving the Lord.

My faith was replaced with doubt and I could feel the ego mind twisting my thoughts into a contorted piece of metal.  I lamented on the thousands of hours of service I had spent to be right with the Lord and wondered if I would ever quite measure up.  Had I done something wrong in the preexistence to deserve this many trials, I wondered?  And, I had certainly had my share of them.

My dad passed away when I was much too young to be without a father figure in my life. His death was proceeded by that of my sister's, followed by the death of my mother. Somehow, through the all the difficulties, I managed to hold onto the iron rod and my faith continued to increase. 

I married when I was 22 and began a little family.  This brought more joy into my life than I had room to receive, but it was short lived.  In 1982, my daughter passed away in my arms and I felt an emptiness that was beyond description.  Three days later, I found myself in the Alpine cemetery standing beside her grave.  I wondered how life could require so much, yet render so little.  Later that day, I went home and hid away in the shower where no one could see or hear me cry out.  In the loneliness of my empty arms there was no comfort to be had.  I tried to wash away the unbearable pain, but it was impossible to conceal.   The next day I pretended everything was going to get better, until finally one day it did.

A few years later my daughter married a young man that turned our lives upside down with his drug use, alcohol abuse, lies and deceit.  We spent the next seven years begging her to leave him, until that day came when she gained enough courage to move forward.  Not long after that,  I found out my sons was suffering from a mental illness.  He had worked as an executive for Charles Schwab and suddenly he snapped from all the pressures in his life.  The doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia, accompanied by sever manic depression.  He refused to take medication and a few months later he just walked away from his life, his job, and our family.

My family spent the next eleven years trying to get him the assistance he needed, but he had resorted to living in the streets.  I couldn't take it anymore and I demanded the civil courts get involved.  I quit my job managing at dental office and spent the next three years working with doctors to restore his health.  Today, he is living a happy and fulfilling life.

There is an old saying that tragedies have a tendency to come in threes and that's exactly what happen a few years later.  Three untimely deaths of loved ones left me wrenching with heartache in 2011.  My sister died of heart complications followed by the tragic death of my grandson, and then that of my best friend of nearly 40 years.

As I sat in the chapel that day thinking back over the years, it was more than I could comprehend.  I listened as the lady finished her musical number, but then my head dropped in exhaustion from my relentless thoughts.  At that very moment I heard the voice of a higher source calling me by name, it was as if it were brail of the heart and although it was not audible to others, it was perfectly clear to me.

"Linda, you have been down in the trenches serving the Lord; not once were you a spectator sitting on the grassy hillside.  You were always willing, without hesitation, to assisting those whom others would readily abandon, and never afraid to march into battle."

As I heard this message my entire spirit was filled with gratitude.  Gratitude for the assignments that I'd been given, gratitude for the challenges I had learned to overcome, and gratitude that the Lord found me willing and ready to serve.

At that moment, I realized that the trenches in life had sealed my testimony to the Lord.  Just as Jesus had given His life for me, I too was given the opportunity to show my commitment to Him.  I testify that the trials that are given is the road back to a loving Heavenly Father, a Father who loves you and knows you by name.  Written by Linda Sumner Urza for:  onefindday11.blogspot.com

ROBERT HALL, GOTTA LOVE HIM!

Robert Hall, a former Massachusetts State senator and U.S. Marine Corps veteran wrote this entry.  I have read this several times and he nails it on the head!  I respect people who speak their mind and exceptionally impressed when they have something of value to say.  This is a masterpiece.

"I'm 63 and I'm tired!"

I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked hard since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought Mc Mansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble use their own money to help them.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America provided to them. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have:

1. the economy of Zimbabwe,

2. the freedom of the press of China

3. the crime and violence of Mexico,

4. the tolerance for Christian people of Iran

5. the freedom of speech of Venezuela ...

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Sharia’s law tells them to. 

I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois. 

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly in an all-knowing government. 

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must not complain when Saudi Arabia uses the money we pay for their oil to fund mosques and madras Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance. 

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough. 

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think gay people choose to be gay, but I #@*# sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from "cool" people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana. 

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially those who aren't working, but living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track citizenship for any Hispanic who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the kind of citizens we need. 

I'm tired of the trashing of our military by latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here's a deal for those folks. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, while the critics of our military can be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia because the girls were Christian -- then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear. 

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has looted the public treasury for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet. 

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about "innocent" mistakes, "stupid" mistakes or "youthful" mistakes, when all of us know they think their only mistake was getting caught. 

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement who have air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing. 

I'm real tired of people, rich or poor, who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems. 

Yes, I'm tired, but I'm also glad to be 63, mostly because I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter. 

Thank you, Robert A. Hall.  Your words exemplify how Americans feel about the political beast that is devouring this country.