A helping hand

What is one of the greatest gifts that one person can give another? Well, there was a song by the Beatles that had a line that went something like this: “I get by with a little help from my friends.” There are two phrases that come to mind also: “circle of friends” and “circle of life.” [which is also the title to a song by Elton John and Tim Rice]

Humans are, for the most part, very social. We live in groups, communities, cities, nations. We depend upon the work of others to survive. Imagine what your life would be like if you had to grow and process all of your food, generate all of your own energy, pump your own water, build your own shelter, manipulate fibers to create your own clothing, and do everything else you needed to survive on a daily basis. Do you think you could do it? I suspect that very, very few of us could.

It is a great shame that we – the human race that is – are unable to cooperate together to work towards the good of humanity. I wonder sometimes what we might have been able to achieve if we had not wasted so much time, energy, money, and lives on hate, violence and war. It makes me so very sad. My hopes and dreams of youth have been demolished by stupidity, corporate greed, and governmental waste.

Alas, all I can do is take care of my own little circle. That is what truly gives me satisfaction in my life. Until very recently friends were the only family that I had. I have been very fortunate to have some incredible people in my life (including the members of my new found family!). For this I am eternally grateful. I truly do not know where I would be without them.

Something I love

I love the beach.

I love the ocean, the sound of the waves as they crash on the shore.

I love swimming in the water, the fun of riding the waves.

It is sad though to see so much trash and debris on the beach and floating in the water. I wish we took better care of our home.

Last year, on my annual beach vacation with friends we were unable to swim in the ocean because there was just too much seaweed. I know the source of that, runoff from peoples yards. I can only hope that is not too bad there this year. We'll go back because we all love the beach and ocean, but I know that each year things will only deteriorate.

What do you love?

Peace on Earth

My last Blog included a list of some of the events and holidays taking place this month. Tomorrow is a very big holiday for millions of Christians – Christmas. If you are interested in some history on this holiday, the folks at How Stuff Works have an article on How Christmas Works .

Personally I’m a secular humanist. Never heard of one of us? I’m not surprised, there aren’t a lot of us around – at least compared to those who follow the major religions. Interested in what a secular humanist is? Wikipedia has a pretty good description of who we are, what we believe, and links to more info here .

Regardless of what religion you do or do not follow I want to wish each and every one of you a happy holidays. There is a line from a song that many sing this time of year: “Peace on Earth, good will towards everyone” [I changed that last word!]. My wish is that ‘peace on Earth’ could truly happen. Imagine how much we (I’m talking of humanity here) could do without wasting so much energy, time, money, lives, etc. on War? Do you think we can every ‘grow up’, open our eyes and realize that we all live on the same small, blue planet? Carl Sagan called our home a “pale, blue dot”. In case you missed my earlier post, go here to read an article about just how small our home is .

I wish you all life, love, happiness, friendship, and hope. This life is what we make of it. I hope we can all try a little harder to make this a better world.

Peace

Inspiration

What inspires you: people, places, things? For myself, among other things, it’s quotations that other people have said over the centuries that inspire me. So, lacking inspiration for a topic this week, I’ve decided to list some of my favorite ones here. They are in no particular order, mostly just as I find them from where they are stashed – my bulletin board, stuck to the side of the fridge, taped to the filing cabinet, or filed in my PalmPilot.

This one might seem wrong at first, but you need to think about it:
"Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right." - Isaac Asimov

Now here is one that you might have seen, it certainly fits the United States now [unfortunately]:
"Those who would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin

Here’s a couple I wish the entire planet would follow:
"Treat the Earth well: is was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children" - Indian proverb
"Fear less, hope more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours." - Swedish proverb

The source of this one may surprise you:
"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest-- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Albert Einstein

Here are some very timely ones:
"Unfortunately, prejudice comes from education and family life and all the things that are praised by religious orthodoxy." - Sir Peter Ustinov
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B Anthony
"The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself." - Richard Francis Burton
"The biggest cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid people are so sure about things and the intelligent folks are so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Here’s one that I try hard to follow:
"I have made peace with myself somewhere between my ambitions and my limitations." - from the movie, Tea House of the August Moon

I’d like to think that this one is a good description of me:
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." - Theodore Roosevelt

Lastly, since I just quit my job, I guess this one is really me:
"I'd rather be a failure at something I enjoy than a success at something I hate." - George Burns

Do you have any favorite quotations or sayings?