Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Body

Your body is simply a living expression
 of your point of view about the world.
 – Carl Frederick
 

Monday, 28 November 2016

Air

He lives most life who breathes most air.
 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning  
 

Friday, 25 November 2016

Path

Life's path is not narrow and straight, 
there are twists and turns that you'll have to endure 
in order to get to your destination.
 - David Mezzapelle
 

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Custom

 Often the less there is to justify a traditional custom,
 the harder it is to get rid of it. 
 - Mark Twain

Monday, 21 November 2016

Start

You are going to mess up.  So what? You start over.  
- Author Unknown 

Friday, 18 November 2016

November 18, 2016 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings


    Last week was Remembrance Day, and at some point, those gathered uttered the words, “We will remember…”

   It is important, very important, to remember the individuals who participated in past conflicts, and those who are currently participating.  Some came home, some did not.  Most who did return were irrevocably changed by the experience.

   We should also remember those on the home-front as their participation was just as important - if not more so - for keeping the morale of the soldiers up, reminding them of why they were doing what they were doing, and giving them a reason to keep going and not give up.  And it was those left behind who ended up picking up the various broken pieces of life.

   It is important to remember, but what exactly are we remembering?

   World War I was “the war to end all wars,” and everyone said, “never again.”  Then what happened?

   A mere 21 years later World War II broke out, and was worse than the “Great War.”  That was followed by the Korean War, and later, the Vietnam War, and more currently, Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.  And those are by no means the only wars that have ever been fought.

   Lest we forget...but we HAVE forgotten.  

   Every war, or conflict, in the entire history of humankind, while it may have been justified as being fought for outstanding reasons, and led to a resolution of sorts, merely highlighted the unbearable losses (which ALWAYS outnumber any gains), and ultimately, the sheer futility of the conflict.  Our war “to end all wars” failed to prevent another one.

   Because of our “remembering,” we think peace comes by bullying someone to agree with us, or do it our way.  It doesn’t.

  We think that peace results when we are all the same; thinking, believing, and doing the same things.  It doesn’t.

   We think peace will appear when we steal the land, resources, or dignity of others.  It won’t.

   We think peace will come if people suffer long enough.  It won’t.

   We think the way to peace is armed conflict against another.  It isn’t.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua21/home/November%2018%2C%202016%20Chautauqua3.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday, 16 November 2016

Content

If we can't feel content here, today, now, on our journeys, 
amidst the mess and the striving that we all inhabit, 
the open loops, the half-finished to-do lists,
 the could-do-better-next-times, then we might never feel it. 
 - Ben Saunders 

Monday, 14 November 2016

Decisions

It's not conditions but decisions that determines our lives.
 - Tony Robbins
 

Friday, 11 November 2016

Racing

 The day you stop racing is the day you win the race.
 - Bob Marley

Wednesday, 9 November 2016

Plan

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.
 - Eleanor Roosevelt
 

Monday, 7 November 2016

Before

Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. 
 Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate.
 Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. 
 Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save.
 Before you die, give.
 - William A. Ward
 

Friday, 4 November 2016

November 4, 2016 Chautauqua

      

Beth's Ponderings  

    In the Monday, October 24, 2016 edition of the Red Deer Advocate, I read an article entitled “When Honourees Don’t Want Their Prize” referencing various celebrities who have refused to accept awards, most recently Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. Basically, the article looks down on the award recipients for not accepting the awards/honours.  

  Personally, I think the author, and personalities quoted, are missing the point.  

   First, an award or honour is given to someone based on something exceptional - in the eyes of the award committee or fans - that the recipient has done in their career or lives. An award is not conferred only on condition of acceptance.  

   Second, the award or honour is not actively sought by the recipient. “Someone else” has decided that the recipient is worthy and deserving. Thus, again, there is no condition of acceptance.  

   We all could probably name a handful of people we know, or seen, who are only doing whatever they are doing for the accolades. It is obvious when that is someone’s major motivation for doing something, and as such, their efforts lack heart and connection, coming across as empty and false. 

   I recently read of someone who desperately wanted to win a Grammy - that was their main career goal - but they didn’t even like singing! Now, why set a goal in an area where you have no interest, or sometimes aptitude? That person was making themselves miserable chasing a goal in an area that they couldn’t stand.  

   All of us, have a part of us that longs for fame, but it isn’t “fame” so much as validation that what we do, and who we are, matters.  If you are doing something that is important to you, and that makes your heart sing, then the act of doing the activity will be validation enough.  

   And should someone be so moved to acknowledge your efforts and give you an award, that will be the optional chocolate sprinkles on top of the icing on top of the cake. 

 Beth

 Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua21/home/November%204%2C%202016%20Chautauqua2.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

 Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Direction

It's not rejection – it's just direction. 
 - Lauren E. Miller
 
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