The Most Important Things in Life AREN'T Things

~Updated December 19, 2012~

As I've gotten older, I've cared less about material possessions, and more about family, people, religion, and the like. It's more important to me to be the best person I can be, and show love and care for the people around me. Not just family, but anyone I come in contact with. That includes my online friends, as well!

It's also important to laugh! Why? Because it makes you feel good. (that's medically proven, by the way) Maybe that's why they say, "Laughter is the best medicine." Go tickle someone's ribs today!

So, with these thoughts in mind, and my motto, "The most important things in life aren't things", I hope to share with you inspirational, thoughtful, and, yes, even funny ideas that may help you relate less to things, and more to people!

Have you hugged anyone today?

I am so honored to have been blessed by SquidAngel 23Squidoo! Thank you so much!

Travis Tritt

I got rice cooking in the microwave

Got a three day beard I don't plan to shave

And it's a goofy thing but I just gotta say

Hey I'm doing alright

Yeah I think I'll make me some homemade soup

Feelin pretty good and that's the truth

It's neither drink nor drug induced

No I'm just doin alright

And it's a great day to be alive

I know the sun's still shinin when I close my eyes

There's some hard times in the neighborhood

But why can't every day be just this good?

It's been fifteen years since I left home

Said good luck to every seed I'd sown

Give it my best and then I left it alone

Oh...I hope their doin alright

Now I look in the mirror and what do I see?

A lone wolf there starin back at me

Long in the tooth but harmless as can be

Lord I guess he's doin alright

And it's a great day to be alive

I know the sun's still shinin when I close my eyes

There's some hard times in the neighborhood

But why can't every day be just this good?

Sometimes it's lonely

Sometimes it's only me

And the shadows that fill this room

Sometimes I'm fallin

Desperately callin

Howlin at the moon...

Ahwoo!

Ahwoo!

Well I might go get me a new tattoo

Or take my old Harley for a three day cruise

Might even grow me a Fu Man Chu...

Oh Aww!

And it's a great day to be alive

I know the sun's still shinin when I close my eyes

There's some hard times in the neighborhood

But why can't every day be just this good?

And it's a great day to be alive

I know the sun's still shinin when I close my eyes

There's some hard times in the neighborhood

But why can't every day be just this good?

Allow Your Own Inner Light to Guide You

There comes a time when you must stand alone.

You must feel confident enough within yourself to follow your own dreams.

You must be willing to make sacrifices.

You must be capable of changing and rearranging your priorities so that your final goal can be achieved.

Sometimes, familiarity and comfort need to be challenged.

There are times when you must take a few extra chances and create your own realities.

Be strong enough to at least try to make your life better.

Be confident enough that you won't settle for a compromise just to get by.

Appreciate yourself by allowing yourself the opportunities to grow, develop, and find your true sense of purpose in this life.

Don't stand in someone else's shadow when it's your sunlight that should lead the way.

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Work hard at what you like to do and try to overcome all obstacles

Laugh at your mistakes and praise yourself for learning from them

Pick some flowers and appreciate the beauty of nature

Say hello to strangers and enjoy the people you know

Don't be afraid to show your emotions laughing and crying make you feel better

Love your friends and family with your entire being they are the most important part of your life

Feel the calmness on a quiet sunny day

Find a rainbow and live your world of dreams always remember life is better than it seems

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Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

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Appreciating Our Past

It is easy to be negative about past mistakes and unhappiness. But it is much more healing to look at ourselves and our past in the light of experience, acceptance, and growth.

Our past is a series of lessons that advance us to higher levels of living and loving. The relationships we entered, stayed in, or ended taught us necessary lessons.

Some of us have emerged from the most painful circumstances with strong insights about who we are and what we want. Our mistakes? Necessary. Our frustrations, failures, and sometimes stumbling attempts at growth and progress? Necessary too. Each step of the way, we learned. We went through exactly the experiences we need to, to become who we are today. Each step of the way, we progressed. Is our past a mistake? No. The only mistake we can make is mistaking that for the truth.

Today, God, help me let go of negative thoughts I may be harboring about my past circumstances or relationships. I can accept, with gratitude, all that has brought me to today.

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Flash Mob Sings Hallelujah Chorus in Food Court

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A Lesson in Life

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good or bad luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, if they be events, illnesses or relationships, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere.

If someone hurts you, betrays you , or breaks you heart, forgive them. For they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to who you open your heart to.

If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and opening your heart and eyes to things you would have never seen or felt without them.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again.

Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you either.

You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it.

Laughter

What is laughter? What is laughter?

It is God waking up! O it is God waking up!

It is the sun poking its sweet head out

From behind a cloud

You have been carrying too long,

Veiling your eyes and heart.

It is Light breaking ground for a great Structure

That is your Real body - called Truth.

It is happiness applauding itself and then taking flight

To embrace everyone and everything in this world.

Laughter is the polestar

Held in the sky by our Beloved,

Who eternally says,

"Yes, dear ones, come this way,

Come this way towards Me and Love!

Come with your tender mouths moving

And your beautiful tongues conducting songs

And with your movements - your magic movements

Of hands and feet and glands and cells - Dancing!

Know that to God's Eye,

All movement is a Wondrous Language,

And Music - such exquisite, wild Music!"

O what is laughter, Hafiz?

What is this precious love and laughter

Budding in our hearts?

It is the glorious sound

Of a soul waking up!

~ Hafiz ~

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Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better

To paint a picture, or write a letter,

Bake a cake, or plant a seed;

Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,

With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;

Music to hear, and books to read;

Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there

With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;

A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,

This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,

Old age will come and it's not kind.

And when you go (and go you must)

You, yourself, will make more dust.

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Homesick Hillbilly

by Ellen Bailey

*

I left my West Virginia home to find a job

I visited many cities and a number of miles I logged

I traveled until my feet were sore and my legs ached

Farther and farther I ventured from my home state

I left behind my family, my neighbors and friends

When I departed the little town I grew up in

I left behind my classmates too

And the teachers who taught me in school

I left behind the mountain scenery I loved so much

Like the changing colors of the fall leaves and such

I miss the winter snows, believe it or not

For I now live in a place that is forever hot

I found a good job and made lots of bread

But many a time I often wished instead

That I could have stayed in my mountain retreat

Where I could feel the soil beneath my feet

There are many others just like me

Who left the state out of necessity

It doesn't say much for the leaders of a state

When its inhabitants must head for the Interstate

But now that my career is coming to an end

I have a longing to return to where I began

So, if at my present address I cannot be found

Then you'll know that I am West Virginia bound

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I Am My Own Grandpa

by Moe Jaffe and Dwight Latham

*

Many, many years ago when I was twenty-three,

I got married to a widow who was a pretty as could be.

This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red.

My father fell in love with her, and soon the two were wed.

This made my dad my son-in-law and change my very life.

My daughter was my mother, for she was my father's wife.

To complicate the matters worse, although it brought me joy,

I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became a brother-in-law to dad.

And so became by uncle, though it made me very sad.

For if he was my uncle, then that also made him brother

To the widow's grown up daughter who, of course, was my step-mother

Father's wife then had a son, who kept them on the run.

And he became my grandson, for he was my daughter's son.

My wife is now my mother's mother and it makes me blue,

Because, although she is my wife, she's my grandma too.

If my wife is my grandmother, then I am her grandchild

And every time I think of it, it simply drives me wild.

For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw,

As the husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa!

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When I'm An Old Lady

by Joanne Bailey Baxter

*

When I'm an old lady, I'll live with each kid,

And bring so much happiness just as they did.

I want to pay back all the joy they've provided.

Returning each deed! Oh, they'll be so excited!

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids...)

I'll write on the walls with reds, whites, and blues,

And bounce on the furniture.....wearing my shoes.

I'll drink from the carton and then leave it out.

I'll stuff all the toilets and oh, how they'll shout!

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids...)

When they're on the phone and just out of reach,

I'll get into things like sugar and bleach.

Oh, they'll snap their fingers and then shake their head,

And when that is done, I'll hide under the bed.

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids...)

When they cook dinner and call me to eat,

I'll not eat my green beans or salad or meat.

I'll gag on my okra, spill milk on the table,

And when they get angry...I'll run....if I'm able!

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids...)

I'll sit close to the TV., through the channels I'll click

I'll cross both eyes just to see if they stick.

I'll take off my socks and throw one away,

And play in the mud 'til the end of the day!

(When I'm an old lady and live with my kids...)

And later in bed, I'll lay back and sigh,

I'll thank God in prayer and then close my eyes.

My kids will look down with a smile slowly creeping,

And say with a groan, "She's so sweet when she's sleeping!"

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I believe in angels,

The kind that heaven sends,

I am surrounded by angels,

But I call them friends.

- Aizabel Parinas -

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There is a miracle called Friendship

that dwells within the heart

and you don't know how it happens

or when it even starts.

But the happiness it brings you

always gives a special lift

and you realize that Friendship

is God's most precious gift.

- Jean Kyler McManus -

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A Friend's Greeting

I'd like to be the sort of friend that

you have been to me;

I'd like to be the help that

you've been always glad to be;

I'd like to mean as much to you

each minute of the day

As you have meant, old friend of mine,

to me along the way.

I'd like to do the big things and

the splendid things for you,

To brush the gray from out your skies

and leave them only blue;

I'd like to say the kindly things that

I so oft have heard,

And feel that I could rouse your soul

the way that mine you've stirred.

I'd like to give you back the joy

that you have given me,

Yet that were wishing you a need

I hope will never be;

I'd like to make you feel as rich as I,

who travel on

Undaunted in the darkest hours with you to

lean upon.

I'm wishing at this time that I

could but repay

A portion of the gladness that

you've strewn along my way;

And could I have one wish this year,

this only would it be:

I'd like to be the sort of friend

that you have been to me.

- Edgar A Guest -

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A short course in Human Relations:

The six most important words: "I admit I made a mistake."

The five most important words: "You did a good job."

The four most important words: "What is your opinion."

The three most important words: "If you please."

The two most important words: "Thank you."

The one most important word: "WE"

The least important word: "I"

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Simple v Real Friendship

by Chen Qin

A simple friend identifies himself when he calls.

A real friend doesn't have to.

A simple friend opens a conversation with a full news bulletin on his life.

A real friend says, "What's new with you?"

A simple friend thinks the problems you whine about are recent.

A real friend says, "You've been whining about the same thing for 14 years. Get off your duff and do something about it."

A simple friend has never seen you cry.

A real friend has shoulders soggy from your tears.

A simple friend doesn't know your parents' first names.

A real friend has their phone numbers in his address book.

A simple friend brings a bottle of wine to your party.

A real friend comes early to help you cook and stays late to help you clean.

A simple friend hates it when you call after he has gone to bed.

A real friend asks you why you took so long to call.

A simple friend seeks to talk with you about your problems.

A real friend seeks to help you with your problems.

A simple friend wonders about your romantic history.

A real friend could blackmail you with it.

A simple friend, when visiting, acts like a guest.

A real friend opens your refrigerator and helps himself.

A simple friend thinks the friendship is over when you have an argument.

A real friend knows that it's not a friendship until after you've had a fight.

A simple friend expects you to always be there for them.

A real friend expects to always be there for you!

Please leave me a note to say hi, let me know you were here, or share what you find inspiring!