DANCE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING

We convince ourselves that life
will be better after we get married,
have a baby, then another.
Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough
and we'll be more content when they are.

After that we're frustrated that we
have teenagers to deal with,
we will certainly be happy
when they are out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete
when our spouse gets his or her act together,
when we get a nicer car,
are able to go on a nice vacation,
when we retire.
The truth is there's no better time
to be happy than right now.
If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges.
It's best to admit this to yourself
and decide to be happy anyway.

Stop waiting until you finish school,
until you go back to school,
until you lose ten pounds,
until you gain ten pounds,
until you have kids,
until your kids leave the house,
until you start work,
until you retire,
until you get married,
until you get divorced,
until Friday night,
until Sunday morning,
until you get a new car or home,
until your car or home is paid off,
until spring, until summer,
until fall, until winter,
until you are off welfare,
until the first or fifteenth,
until your song comes on,
until you've had a drink,
until you've sobered up,
until you die, until you are born again
to decide that there is no better time
than right now to be happy …
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So … Work like you love what you're doing,
Love like you've never been hurt,
Listen like you've just come into the world, and
Learn like your mind is bursting with curiousity
That's right ... dance like no one is watching.


DOMINION

Replenish the earth, and subdue it:
and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air,
and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed ... and every tree.
Gen. i. 28, 29

So we were told what we have.
And we ask, what do we do with what we have.
That's the eternal question.
That's what ...
Torah ... is all about.


DIFFERENT DRUMS AND DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

If I do not want what you want,
please try not to tell me that my want is wrong.
Or if I believe other than you,
at least pause before you correct my view.

Or if my emotion is less than yours,
or more, given the same circumstances,
try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly.
Or yet if I act, or fail to act,
in the manner of your design for action, let me be.

I do not, for the moment at least,
ask you to understand me.
That will come only when you are willing
to give up changing me into a copy of you.

I may be your spouse, your parent, your offspring,
your friend, or your colleague.
If you allow me any of my own wants,
or beliefs, or actions, then you open your-self,
so that someday these wants of mine
might not seem so wrong,
and might finally appear to you as right - for me.

To put up with me is the first step in understanding me.
Not that you embrace my ways as right for you,
but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed
with me for my seeming waywardness.

And in understanding me you might come to prize
my differences from you, and far from seeking to change me,
preserve and even nurture those differences."


DON'T LOOK BACK

As you travel through life
there are always those times
when decisions just have to be made
when the choices are hard,
and solutions seem scarce
and the rain seems
to soak your parade.

There are some situations
where all you can do
is to simply let go and move on
gather courage together
and choose a direction that carries you toward a new dawn.

So pack up your troubles
and take a step forward
the process of change can be tough
but think about all the excitement ahead
if you can be stalwart enough.

There could be adventures
you never imagined
just waiting around the next bend
and wishes and dreams
just about to come true
in ways you can't yet comprehend.

Perhaps you'll find friendships
that spring from new interests
as you challenge your status quo
and learn there are so many
options in life,
and so many ways you can grow.

Perhaps you'll go places
you never expected
and see things that you've never seen
or travel to fabulous,
faraway worlds
and wonderful spots in between.

Perhaps you'll find warmth
and affection and caring,
a "somebody special" who's there
to help you stay centered
and listen with interest
to stories and feelings you share.

Perhaps you'll find comfort
in knowing your friends are
supportive of all that you do
and believe that whatever
decisions you make,
they'll be the right choices for you.

So keep putting one foot
in front of the other
and taking your life
day by day.

There's a brighter tomorrow
that's just down the road.
Don't look back;
you're not going that way.


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