Tag: Love

Hold on to Your Friends

“I think if I’ve learned anything about friendship, it’s to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don’t walk away, don’t be distracted, don’t be too busy or tired, don’t take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.”

― Jon Katz

        To find a true friend in this world is such a rare and beautiful thing.  We so often label acquaintances and people who come in and out of our lives for a season as “friends.”  But, those aren’t true friends.  Don’t get me wrong, acquaintances are great to have and provide joy in your life in varying capacities.  However, a true friend is someone who is there to celebrate your highs, to support you when you’re struggling and to hold you when the dam breaks.  A true friend doesn’t ask for anything in return.  A true friend is there, without any hesitation, to stand on the front lines ready to go into battle for or with you.  A true friend is simply there-no questions asked.  If you are fortunate enough to experience such a friendship in your life, you better be willing to fight for it and never take it for granted.

A Life Full of Laughter

Laughter

Poem by Bonnie Ruth Shaulis

Laughter is a pleasant sound, it spreads joy all around
Whether you’re young or old, laughter can be like
Magic to our souls, whenever we’re feeling sad
Laughter can sustain us so that things don’t seem
Quite so bad, if we give into laughter, it can be like
A cure for something that seems impossible to endure
So any time your spirits need a lift fill yourself
With laughter and you will find, a much happier
Person with a peaceful frame of mind

        Laughter is an essential part of life.  A simple laugh brings joy and warmth to your soul.  So, each day you should strive to live a life full of love and laughter.  Life will wear you down if you let it, so when things get tough choose to find things to laugh about instead of wallowing in your circumstances.  For one day you will see, the true measure of life is built from these small moments of joy.

The Joy of Life

Improvement

Poem by Edgar Albert Guest

The joy of life is living it, or so it seems to me;
In finding shackles on your wrists, then struggling till you’re free;
In seeing wrongs and righting them, in dreaming splendid dreams,
Then toiling till the vision is as real as moving streams.
The happiest mortal on the earth is he who ends his day
By leaving better than he found to bloom along the way.
Were all things perfect here there would be naught for man to do;
If what is old were good enough we’d never need the new.
The only happy time of rest is that which follows strife
And sees some contribution made unto the joy of life.
And he who has oppression felt and conquered it is he
Who really knows the happiness and peace of being free.
The miseries of earth are here and with them all must cope.
Who seeks for joy, through hedges thick of care and pain must grope.
Through disappointment man must go to value pleasure’s thrill;
To really know the joy of health a man must first be ill.
The wrongs are here for man to right, and happiness is had
By striving to supplant with good the evil and the bad.
The joy of life is living it and doing things of worth,
In making bright and fruitful all the barren spots of earth.
In facing odds and mastering them and rising from defeat,
And making true what once was false, and what was bitter, sweet.
For only he knows perfect joy whose little bit of soil
Is richer ground than what it was when he began to toil.

            What is a good life?  What is the measure of a life well lived?  These are questions that we all ask as we navigate our way through life.  And for me, I like to reframe the question to the following: “When my time is up and I pass on from this life, what do I want to be remembered for and what kind of person do I want to be remembered as?  And the answer is simple; I want to be remembered for having left this world a better place than when I came into it.  I want to leave a positive footprint.  I also want to be remembered as a person who shared love in a world full of hate.  This is my legacy in the making. . .what will yours be?

Smile

A smile

By Anonymous

Smiling is infectious,
You catch it like the flu,
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner,
And someone saw my grin,
When he smiled I realized,
I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile,
Then realized its worth,
A single smile, just like mine,
Could travel round the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin,
Don’t leave it undetected.
Let’s start an epidemic quick,
And get the world infected.

      One smile, one laugh can brighten another person’s day.  Being genuinely positive and exuding confidence is contagious.  We’ve all been around a stranger in an elevator when we’re grumpy, tired or just had a bad day and you initially think, “Really, someone else just had to get on . . .great.”  And, then that person turns to you, smiles and says “Have a great day,” and gets off.  You then find yourself echoing the same sentiment with a genuine smile on your face.  It’s amazing how such a simple and seemingly small gesture can brighten your mood.  So, instead of walking around with that frown on your face, try something crazy and smile.  If you try this, you’ll soon notice two things – (1) that eventually that forced smile soon becomes a real smile and (2) you’ll notice that others around you will start echoing your smile.  So, let your smile radiate across the room and the world will be a little brighter for it.

Heartprints

Heartprints

By Anonymous

Whatever our hands touch –
We leave fingerprints!
On walls, on furniture
On doorknobs, dishes, books.
There’s no escape.
As we touch we leave our identity.

Wherever I go today
Help me leave heartprints!
Heartprints of compassion
Of understanding and love.

Heartprints of kindness
And genuine concern.
May my heart touch a lonely neighbor
Or a runaway daughter
Or an anxious mother
Or perhaps an aged grandfather.

Send me out today
To leave heartprints.
And if someone should say,
“I felt your touch,”
May they also sense the love
that is deep within my heart.

         As I’ve said time and time again, life isn’t about what you get, rather it’s about what you give.  And, what gives true meaning to a life is to give and spread as much love in this world as you can.  Every time you encounter a new person – whether it be the person standing in front of you at Starbucks or sitting next to you on an airplane – it is an opportunity to leave a heartprint.  Strive to create within yourself, the type of person that when you leave the room, others are better off for having been around you.  When you create a life full of love, you attract blessings and positive energy.

A Mother’s Day Poem

I felt it was time to publish one of my own original works and what better occasion than Mother’s Day.  I dedicate this poem to my mom.

A Mother’s Day Poem

By LeKeisha Suggs

A mother is always there to wipe away the tears
When things get rough, she is there to tell you it will be alright
She is there to cheer you on as you face your fears
And when you feel like quitting, she will tell you to never give up the fight

A mother is always there to share in every triumph and every fail
When you stumble, she is there to lend a steady hand
She is there to support you when you are ready to set sail
And when things don’t work, she’s there to say, “Okay, what’s the plan”?

A mother is there to teach you how to first crawl and then walk
When you are unsure, she is there to point you toward the right door
She is there to guide you along life’s winding paths and be your steady rock
And when you are ready to fly, she says “Stand on my shoulders, so you can soar”

Dear Mom,

I would not be half the woman I am today if it weren’t for your unconditional love, support and strength over the years.  You are my biggest cheerleader, my toughest critic and my best friend.  You always tell it to me straight.  Your belief and confidence that I am worth something and am capable of achieving any and all of my dreams provides me fuel to keep the fires blazing when the nights are long and cold.  As I get older, my appreciation for all that you do and all that you are deepens.

I love you more than words can express.  I feel blessed and proud to call you Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!!!