Joy and happiness is ‘catching’ and I am eager to share the sweet infectious enthusiasm from these images. Enjoy!
[Randomly sourced images off Google]
Posts Tagged With: laughter
Spreading JOY!
Categories: Growth and Learning
Tags: inspiration, joy, laughter, light, love, smile, sunshine
16 Comments
What A Child Lives With
If a child lives with encouragement, she learns to be confident.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with praise, she learns to be appreciative.
If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love.
If a child lives with approval, she learns to like herself.
If a child lives with recognition, he learns that it is good to have a goal.
If a child lives with sharing, she learns about generosity.
If a child lives with honesty and fairness, he learns what truth and justice are.
If a child lives with security, she learns to have faith in herself and in those around her.
If a child lives with friendliness, he learns that the world is a nice place in which to live.
If you live with serenity your child will live with peace of mind. With what is your child living?
[from Dorothy Law Nolte’s 1976 poem ‘Children Learn What They Live’ ~ Random images]
Categories: Family and Friends, Growth and Learning, Poetry and Quotes
Tags: children, honesty, inspiration, joy, kindness, laughter, love, parenting, peace, ripples
13 Comments
Precious Resource
When I became a mother I was completely in the dark about being a parent. I was the first person I knew to go through the process of a pregnancy, giving birth and becoming a new parent so I had no role models. I had no idea of what to expect. Therefore I did what I’ve done all my life in such situations: I researched. Whenever I feel unsure of something I look more into it and read all I can about it. I want to see it being done, I want to be around others who are doing it and watch how they do it right. Research has always offered me reassurance.
Luckily there are many role models who adore children and know they’re our precious gift and hope for the future. These wise teachers share their knowledge in books, websites, workshops and courses. There is a wealth of information available to help anyone learn how to understand the importance of parenting and how do give our very best to this life-changing endeavour.
If we want to become a better chef, we make an effort to learn from others. Same with gardening, playing a musical instrument, or any other endeavour. We have to make an effort to learn the best way to do it. So let’s make an effort to learn how to excel at child care rather than just doing what we think works, or the way our parents raised us. Let’s see what new information resonates and works for our lives and our children. Even a few tips we acquire that can help calm quarrels and rivalries, build loving relationships, regain household order and foster mutual respect is worth every effort it takes to obtain the information and the time it takes to do some reading.
No one is born with the knowledge of how to be an excellent parent, and becoming a parent does not automatically make one a good parent. Like stand up comics have sarcastically observed, we have to get a license to drive a motorcycle or car, or to even have a dog, but any fool can have a kid!
Let’s not be foolish with this precious role we’ve been granted as parents (or anyone who spends quality time with youngsters such as teachers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, nannies and babysitters) and get wise by picking up a book filled with the generous assistance of those who want to help. Libraries are filled with books on the subject of raising children into well adjusted and happy adults who will lead our world into the peaceful future we know we all deserve. Let’s make the effort to learn how to raise happy kids because it’s priceless!
[Randomly sourced images]
Categories: Family and Friends, Growth and Learning
Tags: children, education, family, hope, inspiration, joy, kindness, laughter, learning, love, parenting, ripples, World Peace
23 Comments
Kahlil Gibran “On Children”
Lebanese artist, writer and poet Kahlil Gibran‘s novel from 1923 “The Prophet” has been translated to over forty languages, has sold over 100 million copies, and has never been out of print. Click here to view it on Amazon. According to Wikipedia, Kahlil Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, only behind William Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.
While the entire novel is a beloved masterpiece, a favorite section will forever remain ‘On Children‘. Please visit my post from last Mother’s Day that was inspired by these wise words. Also inspired were the group Sweet Honey In The Rock (see post) who’ve recorded a lovely rendition in celebration of this incredible writing by Gibran. I’ve included the words to Gibran’s original work here as well as the slightly altered lyrics by the performers. May we be inspired to sing along to the uplifting beat and raise the upcoming generation remembering these truths.
Let us also remember the wise words from Mahatma Gandhi, “If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”
Sweet Honey In The Rock performing Kahlil Gibran’s “On Children”
Your children are not your children
They are the sons and the daughters of Life’s longing for itself
They come through you but they are not from you
And though they are with you, they belong not to you
You can give them your love but not your thoughts
They have their own thoughts
They have their own thoughts
You can house their bodies but not their souls
For their souls dwell in the place of tomorrow
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams
You can strive to be like them
But you cannot make them just like you
Strive to be like them
But you cannot make them just like you
Your children are not your children
They are the sons and the daughters of Life’s longing for itself
They come through you but they are not from you
And though they are with you, they belong not to you
You can give them your love but not your thoughts
They have their own thoughts
They have their own thoughts
You can house their bodies but not their souls
For their souls dwell in the place of tomorrow
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams
You can strive to be like them
But you cannot make them just like you
Strive to be like them
But you cannot make them just like you.
.
Categories: Faith and Spirituality, Family and Friends, Growth and Learning
Tags: B4Peace, children, community, compassion, family, friendship, healing, hope, joy, kindness, laughter, learning, love, parenting, respect, World Peace
19 Comments
Year of the Snake
~ Happy Chinese New Year ~ Gong Xi Fa Cai ~
I was born into a family that, while not of Asian ancestry, celebrated the Chinese New Year. My nearest and dearest are such Signs as Rabbit, Monkey, Ox, Dog, Horse, Dragon, and Snake! My mother prepared homemade Chinese food that was so good I still dream about it. I keep her memory alive by doing my best to replicate (and add to) her dishes.
Now my own family eagerly anticipates my feast of Chinese delicacies such as fried dumplings with rice vinegar and fresh ginger for dipping, a bountiful vegetable stirfry with oyster sauce, beef satay skewers with spicy peanut sauce, steamed noodles and sticky jasmine rice. That’s on my menu for this year anyways (it evolves).
Our house and front door have festive decorations that have been up for days. Tomorrow for our special supper we will wear something new and bright (preferably red!) and after dinner we’ll enjoy hot green tea with our fortune cookies as we laugh and ponder what they say. Then we joyfully enter a new year with a new Sign, embracing a positive expectancy of the very best.
May you and yours enjoy good fortune, vibrant health, abundant prosperity, and genuinely nourishing and loving relationships, this year and always.
.
The most common Chinese ways of saying Happy New Year are Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin) and Gong Hey Fat Choy (Cantonese).
Even though the pronunciations are slightly different, both are written the same way: 恭禧發財
Welcome to Year of the Water Snake!
While last year’s Dragon was Yang energy, this year of the Snake is the balancing Yin.
We’ll probably see substantial developments in the area of science and technology this year.
This is a Water year as well, the element most closely associated with education and research,
which helps make 2013 an excellent year for scientists, educators, and academics.
Snake is a positive sign with lots of good energy that can help us face the challenges ahead.
Let’s take advantage of this vibrant influence to help improve our lives ~ and our whole world!
Categories: Family and Friends, Observations of Life
Tags: celebrations, community, family, friendship, happiness, hope, joy, laughter, peace
20 Comments
Click Badge to Join
