Toadfish Thought of the Day

[Aggie]

"Live. And Live Well. BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun. If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time. If you bike, pedal HARD... and if you crash then crash well. Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done - a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn't catch it all... because soon he'll be wiping his own. If you've recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well. At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift."

*rumble*

Except for the crashing on your bike bit.  If you crash, try to land on your feet.  Not your face.  I've tried it both ways. Landing on your  feet is considered "crashing well" in my books, although there's less of an endorphin rush (or loss of consciousness, for that matter).

[Sibling Lambicus the Toluous]

This leads nicely into another quote (though to do with airplanes, not bikes):

"Any landing you can walk away from is a good one." - Chuck Yeager (IIRC)

[Bluenose]

There is an old Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm song from the late 1940s and early 1950s called "The A25 Song" which contains the opening lines:

    They say in the Airforce a landing's OK
    If the pilot gets out and can still walk away
    But in the Fleet Air Arm the prospect is grim
    If the landing's piss-poor and the pilot can't swim!

Sibling Bluenose

[Kiyoodle the Gambrinous]

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things"

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

[Opsa]

I like that.

I think that I pray for similar reasons.

You can't grumble to God about the boil on your arse when you know God's simultaneously hearing from people who have starving babies.

[Sibling Qwertyuiopasd]

and there's likely worse things than starving babies about that he has to deal with....

random quote that popped into my head during lunch, completely original as far as I know;

"Everything is worth something, but nothing is worth Everything"

kinda simultanious "appreciate the little things in life" and "don't give everything up for one thing"

~Qwerty

[Kiyoodle the Gambrinous]

Another nice thought (don't have a source though):

"One thing you can't recycle is wasted time."

[Sibling Qwertyuiopasd]

more of a feel good one...

"Smile like you've got nothing to prove"

[Kiyoodle the Gambrinous]

Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.
- Haile Selassie I (at the opening of a special session of the General Assembly in Addis Ababa, thus becoming the first ruler to address both the League of Nations and the UN, 4 Oct 63)

[Aggie]

Some more email sentiments I'd like to pass on to my dear Siblings...

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water, at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to  smell the flowers on your side of the path!

[Opsa]

You certainly make me crack a smile!



Thank you.

[Sibling Qwertyuiopasd]

ack! the puns! it burns.

but um... yeah, great story-slash-thought.

~Qwerty

[Aggie]

I posted this in the Land of NOMIS, but thought it appropriate to repeat here:

[Opsa]

Ha! Too true. but at least if you know this beforehand, you're less likely to be disappointed.

[Kiyoodle the Gambrinous]

In winter when the fields are white,
I sing this song for your delight -

In spring, when woods are getting green,
I'll try and tell you what I mean.

In summer, when the days are long,
Perhaps you'll understand the song;

In autumn, when the leaves are brown,
Take pen and ink and write it down.

I sent a letter to the fish,
I told them, "This is what I wish."

The little fishes of the sea,
They sent an answer back to me.

The little fishes' answer was
"We cannot do it, sir, because ..."

I sent a letter back to say
It would be better to obey.

But someone came to me and said
"The little fishes are in bed."

I said to him, and I said it plain
"Then you must wake them up again."

I said it very loud and clear,
I went and shouted in his ear.

But he was very stiff and proud,
He said "You needn't shout so loud."

And he was very proud and stiff,
He said "I'll go and wake them if ..."

I took a kettle from the shelf,
I went to wake them up myself.

But when I found the door was locked
I pulled and pushed and kicked and knocked,

And when I found the door was shut,
I tried to turn the handle, But ...

Lewis Carroll