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“We try so hard to instruct our children in all the right things―teaching good from bad, explaining choices and consequences―when in reality most lessons are learned through observation and experience. Perhaps we'd be better off training our youth to be highly observant.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Temptations don't appear nearly as harmful as the roads they lead you down.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“You made a choice—a single choice.
How neat to think you may have opened the door to a wondrous future without knowing.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Seemingly insignificant choices are like seemingly trivial seeds. Once planted, they root and grow and spread into something tremendous. Imagine the prickly weeds some choices amount to over time and be careful not to plant them.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“God invites while the devil pressures and shoves and bullies. Realize who holds the actual power before you react. You are greater than Satan; God is greater than all.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“What a mother wants is to hold her babies when they’re small and to be held by them once they’ve grown tall. It’s empty arms a mother dreads.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“From the beginning, man could look up at a vast universe dotted by innumerable stars to find every evidence that he was nothing. This evidence only grows stronger as science and technology record an expanse of galaxies filled with planetary solar systems beyond any visible end. Man is but a grain of sand lost on an endless seashore, and yet he believes with conviction in his own greatness. He is either a divine soul intuitively aware of his inherent, limitless potential—or he is a blind fool.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Never believe you're so great or important, so right or proud, that you cannot kneel at the feet of someone you hurt and offer a humble, sincere apology.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Do we ignore the needy
to spite the greedy?
Or share and defend
despite those who pretend?”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“You'll be hard-pressed to reach your goals if you don't map out where you're going. Take time to navigate your life.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The effects of loss are acute, and unique to each individual. Not everyone mourns in the same way, but everyone mourns.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Itches and Burs
There once was a mother-and-daughterly pair
Who both had an itch just beneath their long hair.
Each had a bur with the prickles attached
Under a belt at the mid of her back.
“Oh, daughter, please scratch at my itch, will you not?
And pluck out the bur—I would thank you a lot!”
“I can’t,” said the daughter, “My own bur does sting.
And try as I may I can’t reach the darn thing!”
“Oh pain!” groaned the daughter. The mom cried, “Oh drat!”
As each strained to reach her own bur at her back.
“It prickles like needles! It tickles like feathers!”
But easing the scratch was a fruitless endeavor.
The daughter about gave a sigh of despair
When all of a sudden her prick was not there.
The itch too was gone with some scritches and scrapes
Applied by old fingers in arthritic shape.
The daughter, so grateful to feel such relief,
Turned ’round to her mother and plucked out her grief.
She scratched her mom’s itch just as she had done hers.
Now neither has itches and neither has burs.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Mothers were meant to love us unconditionally, to understand our moments of stupidity, to reprimand us for lame excuses while yet acknowledging our point of view, to weep over our pain and failures as well as cry at our joy and successes, and to cheer us on despite countless start-overs. Heaven knows no one else will.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Moms are life's number one cheerleaders without uniforms.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“'I'm sorry' won't fix what's been broken. It can't reverse time or undo the damage or change anything that happened. But a sincere, humble apology can serve to soften the sting and sometimes do a pretty good patch up job.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Life is a harsh, twisted paradox.
On one hand, you wish for no pain or suffering or misery on anyone. Yet you hope to see your children grow into individuals of compassionate and kind character. And it seems that pain, suffering, and misery adequately humble an individual, cultivating empathy and understanding for others in similar plights. While a life of ease and comfort and pleasure often fosters extravagant and selfish habits, spurring pride and blinded vision. Still, you pray for no pain or suffering on your children.
Life is a harsh, twisted paradox.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“It seems a peculiar thing when I go to fill my own cup; it remains empty as if the liquid evaporates as soon as it touches the glass. Yet when I reach to top off the cups of others, my own spills over. This is the crazy magic of charity.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Just like salt makes sweet taste sweeter, trials make happy feel happier.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“I love when the sun plays hide-n-seek for a few days because its invisibility often goes unnoticed. The world seems content that its presence behind the clouds is enough. But as soon as that brilliant sun jumps into the open sky once again―shining in full splendor―our closed eyes automatically turn toward it, and we bask beneath a warm and tender touch, grateful all the more that our glorious sun exists.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“There would be no cloud-nine days without rock-bottom moments left below.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Thousands of hopeful days came to naught before this one. This was a golden day. Never give up.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“This day is the most recent set of events to define you.
Every day changes your life. Every last one.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Minutes turn into hours
that add up to days
amounting to weeks
that become months
melting into years
accumulating for decades
to pile up for centuries
and ultimately form minutes again―
just on a grander, divine scale.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Giddy is a grin and giggles and that glint of goofiness in your gaze.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Laughter and love are their own forms of exercise meant to keep a body healthy.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Let the giggles fill your mouth because nothing tastes as sweet as laughter.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Like yeast, it’s impressive how considerably an ounce of determination can make one’s efforts grow and expand.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The least effort is the feat most likely to be accomplished.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Sometimes the difference between success and failure is simply the degree to which you crave one over the other.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“It is a greater triumph for the fearful soul who tries and fails than for the fearless who succeed.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Trying again is okay. Trying again and again and again is okay. It's sort of an infinite thing because the alternative is failure, and that's not okay.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Because," said a boy.
"Because why?" asked a young girl.
"Because I love you.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“It is a difficult thing―if not impossible―to forgive oneself for foolish errors, not for trampling a life or goring another with sharp horns, but for being the fool who opened the gate and let the bull out, blind to potential consequences.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Don't give up.
I know you've made a thousand attempts to reach your goal, but look at it this way: after repeatedly banging your head against the wall, you ought to be numb enough break through this time.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“It's been a harsh fight.
You've been pummeled and knocked down. Your body aches, flesh torn and bruised. Your eyes can hardly see through a stream of blood. But you are cognizant and alive; therefore, you rise from the fight.
This is life. It will test your will, your strength, and endurance. It will challenge your faith and convictions. It will scar your hopes and try your beliefs. In the end, life validates those who refuse to stay down.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Learn to look up now and then, just in case a piano is falling from overhead.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Imagine fantasy and pretend as neither fantastical nor pretended.....and then believe it.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Autumn is a cunning muse who steals by degrees my warmth and light. So distracted by her glorious painting of colors, I scarcely realize my losses until the last fiery leaf has fallen to the ground and the final pumpkin shrinks. Autumn departs with a cold kiss, leaving me to suffer the frigid grasp of winter in prolonged nightfall.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The first real day of spring is like the first time a boy holds your hand. A flood of skin-tingling warmth consumes you, and everything shines with a fresh, colorful glow, making you forget that anything as cold and harsh as winter ever existed.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Corned beef and cabbage and leprechaun men.
Colorful rainbows hide gold at their end.
Shamrocks and clovers with three leaves plus one.
Dress up in green—add a top hat for fun.
Steal a quick kiss from the lasses in red.
A tin whistle tune off the top of my head.
Friends, raise a goblet and offer this toast—
'The luck of the Irish and health to our host!'”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Imagine if we were all magical leprechauns, and every wish ever made on a four-leaf clover obliged us to help others obtain their wishes. Now imagine if people simply lived like this were true.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Today You Soar
"Like the grand eagle, you spread your wings
And put forth the effort to do great things.
Looking skyward you dared to challenge the wind,
Harnessing power to help you ascend.
With an eye on the goal, fixed in flight,
You climbed to an impressive height.
Undaunted by gusts and unkind gails,
You never gave up and would not fail.
So now you’ve reached where few even try
As the eagle high in a glorious sky.
Not superior, but grand.
Not proud, but sure.
Not a cub, wolf, or bear but an eagle pure.
Today you soar.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Anyone who looks good with a bald head is seriously sexy.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Be someone’s security blanket when theirs is in the wash.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Beauty isn’t visible; I don’t know why people think it is. Perhaps because at times there are physical manifestations suggesting beauty exists in a person, but don’t be fooled. Beauty isn’t the packaging, it’s the treasure wrapped up inside.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“Reality and fantasy are not two separate spheres but one whole. They are like a world's atmosphere―reality behaving as a low front, fantasy a high front. Each remains somewhat distinguishable and yet they swirl and join, affecting and manipulating the other. One cannot perceive where reality ends and fantasy begins, but life would grow stagnant and die without the influence of both.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“A thought can prompt. Words can stir. But it takes action to attain a dream.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“I walk at night under a moonless sky. Only the terrain guides my steps, yet my footfall is as sure as if a dozen suns lit the way. I go to meet you under a leafless tree that never seems to grow or alter its shape. I am uncertain if it still lives or has learned to disguise its death. The same thought crosses my mind when I feel your cold fingers take my hand. It is not the tree I reflect upon.
‘Do you still love me?’ The words tumble clumsily out of the dark.
Hesitation is its own answer, but I reply ‘I’m here’ anyway as if my words were whispered comfort and not a weathered blade. They are taken wrong.
‘I love you too.’
Your arms wrap me up and clamp tightly around my waist. An old, familiar kiss hardens my lips. I wonder why it is I return to this place every year where only memories remain fond. Perhaps it is because I keep hoping this leafless tree will either change or die.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The sun shines every day without being told that it is brilliant. The mountains stand tall and majestic though no one informs them of their grandeur. The winds twirl and dance with clouds, minus cheers or compliments to inspire their moves. Flowers bloom, showing off colors, long before passing smiles acknowledge any beauty. The ocean claps at its own underwater chorus without topside ears listening. What is the world trying to tell you?
Be wonderful because you are.
Quit waiting to be told so first.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year
“The earth provides us a brand new beginning every twenty-four hours. It is a repeated invitation to breathe in the cool morning air and start afresh; to mimic the sunrise and brighten up while reaching once more for the sky; to carry a glad song in our heart like the early birds; and, as faithfully as the morning dew, to wash off the dust from yesterday.”
Source: Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year