Timeless Truths for the New Year

 

ONE: Believe in true love; all love that is real is true.

TWO: Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

THREE: Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

FOUR: When you say, “I love you,” mean it.

FIVE: When you say, “I'm sorry,” look the person in the eye.

SIX: Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

SEVEN: Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

EIGHT: Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.

NINE: Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

TEN.: In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN: When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

TWELVE: When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

THIRTEEN: Don't judge people by their relatives.

FOURTEEN: Talk slowly, but think quickly.

FIFTEEN: Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

SIXTEEN: When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

SEVENTEEN: Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

EIGHTEEN: Be yourself; everyone else is already taken!

NINETEEN: Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

TWENTY: Marry someone you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

TWENTY- ONE: Smiles and hugs are free and are always available to encourage someone else.

TWENTY-TWO: A sense of humour is a bright ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

TWENTY-THREE: Words, once spoken, are like the stone after it is thrown, and cannot be recovered.

TWENTY-FOUR: Say 'bless you’’ when you hear someone sneeze.

TWENTY-FIVE: Spend some time alone.

May your New Year be happy and full of promise!

~Starr

The Mystery of the Season

If I receive no other gift this year, I shall say I've gotten the best gift of all—another Christmas spent with my Mom. This time of year brings a bittersweet longing to my soul for those whom I have loved, family members and friends, who now celebrate Christmas Eternally. I am so thankful that I haven't had to add my Mom to that growing list of people who are now mere memories.

Christmas Memories of times long past

When faces we no longer see were near.

The sound of laughter and happiness;

Scenes forgotten thru the years.

Christmas will never be the same for me when that happens. There is a Mysterious Event that happens in my heart this time of year like no other and I dread the day when the "Reason" for that is no longer here...the longing to be home again.  No matter how old I am or how far away I've journeyed, "HOME" is always where Mama is, and I treasure each and every day God gives to me to spend with her.  I love my Mom.  We've lived through so much heartbreak together and no matter what we go through or how much we argue, in the end, she is always there; has always been there.  Moms are the only ones who never leave us, our whole lives through.  They are there at our birth and for all the days of our lives, until their time on earth is through.  We only get one Mom, and when she's gone, there will never be another to take her place.  Life will never be the same for me without my Mama.

I don't understand it, 

But it happens every year. 

It hits me in December 

I get that longing to be here.

It's like I'm one of the Wise Men 

And this house, it's like the star. 
Something inside me says 
"Make that journey!" 
I can feel it in my heart.

It sends me down the highway 
To feed a hunger in my soul. 
I drove all day to get here, 
As if I had control.

And the cars out in the driveway, 

Tell me I am not alone. 

It's the Mystery of the Season, 

One by one, coming home.

Some cross the street to get here, 
And some come from distant shores. 
Some arrive in their latest successes; 
Some arrive in rusty Fords.

 
And one may come in anger, 
And one may choose to stay away. 
But if they do, I think I know 
How they'll spend their holiday.

And I believe the saddest day 
I'll ever spend is yet to come. 
When it's time to make this journey, 
But all the reasons to are gone.

Still it sends me down the highway 

To feed a hunger in my soul. 

I drove all day to get here, 

As if I had control.

And the cars out in the driveway, 
Tell me I am not alone. 
It's the Mystery of the Season, 
One by one, coming home.

The Mystery of the Season 
by 
Steve and Annie Chapman

May each of you have a blessed Christmas with your dearest family and friends. 

REMEMBER: Life is all about making a memory, for it is memories that we create that ward off the cold emptiness and trivial pursuits that affect so many during the holidays...the ability to remember how exciting it was to sit on Daddy's lap and wait for Santa Claus; how delicious Granny's kitchen always smelled on Christmas Day; and my older brother's resounding laugh that echoed off the rafters.  I have the most amazing memories of Christmas at my Granny and PawPaw Tinker's house.  The memories I have of my own childhood home on Christmas are not nearly as happy.  Those memories are closeted away and pulled out rarely....only for melancholy days or when my mama begins talking about my dad....then, I remember.  Maybe one day I will forget.

Most importantly, there has only ever been ONE Christmas Morning; the rest are merely anniversaries of the Birth of a child on that often Forgotten Christmas morning.

May the Mystery of the Season touch your life this year!

~Laterz,

Starr

New Year's Quotes that I particulary favor

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

New Year's Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. ~Mark Twain

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.

Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account. ~Oscar Wilde

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; he who makes one is a fool. ~F.M. Knowles

For last year's words belong to last year's language;

And next year's words await another voice.

And to make an end is to make a beginning.

~T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"

'Twas The Month Before Christmas

‘Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.

The PC Police had taken away
the reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers did say
December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from U2, an X BOX, an I-pod!
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word ‘Christmas’ was no where to be found.
At Wal-Mart and Staples, at Penny's and Sears,
You won't hear the word Christmas;

It won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, Sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Obama, Now Biden, Now Pelosi, and Jackson,
On Boxer, on Rather, on Reid, and Al Sharpton!
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
to eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith;
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.
The true Gift of Christmas Was exchanged and discarded
The Reason For the Season, stopped before it started.

So as you celebrate 'Winter Break’ under your 'Holiday Tree’

Sipping your Starbucks, please listen to me.

If you take Christ out of Christmas, it’s just another day!

Choose your words carefully; choose what you say
Shout "MERRY CHRISTMAS!” not "Happy Holidays!"

Christ is S-T-I-L-L The Reason for the Christmas Season!

Blessings to You & Yours,

Starla

All That Is Possible

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All that is Possible
I try to eat the healthy food I need, and do the things I should. But life's so short, my friend! I hate missing out on something good.

This year I realized how old I was. I haven't been this old before. I’ll never be this age again. So, before I die, I've got to try those things that for years I’ve ignored or taken for granted:

~I haven't smelled all the flowers yet.

~There are too many books I haven't read.

~And kites to be flown overhead.

~I haven't cried at all the movies yet.

~Or walked in the morning rain.

~I want to fall in love again.

~There are vistas not yet seen; places I’ve never been.

~I need to feel wind in my hair.

~There are more hot fudge cakes to wolf down.

~I want un-timed long distance calls to the people I love the most.

~There are many malls I haven't shopped.

~I've not laughed at all the jokes.

~Or helped my friends too much.

~I haven’t hugged my loved ones enough.

~I want to wade again in water and feel ocean spray on my face.

~I've missed a lot of Broadway hits.

~I want to sit in a country church once and thank God for His blessings and His grace.

So....if I choose to have dessert, instead of having dinner, then should I die before night fall, I shall say I died a winner! I filled my heart's desire. I had that final chocolate hot fudge cake before my life expired.

Live well, Love much, Laugh often, Be happy!
 

Be mindful that happiness isn't based on possessions, power, or prestige...but on relationships with people we love and respect, and who love and respect us in return.

Remember that while money talks…CHOCOLATE SINGS!

Later Dayz,

~Starla