Monday, October 30, 2017

Dreams and Challenges

Positive Affirmation: Today, I shall remind myself that in one hand I hold the seeds to my future; and in the other, I have what life gives me. (Unknown Author)

Thoughts moved with definiteness of purpose, persistence
and a burning desire are powerful things. (Napolean Hill)

Growth: Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered,
you will never grow. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Life will only change when you become more committed to your dreams
than you are to your comfort zone. (Anon)

Plants Still Think It's Summer” writes Kathy Renwald... “the burning bush, rosebud tree, oak leaf hydrangea, the perennial geraniums, beautyberry, Virginia creepers. October has been delicious, but there's a reason why I move the portable jungle inside. It's called November!”

Misplaced Monarchs: Clusters of Butterflies Stuck Up North!” (by The Associated Press Oct.26, 2017). Monarch Butterflies, those delicate symbols of spring and summer, should mostly be in Texas by now ~ winging their way to Mexico for the winter. But Darlene Burgess keeps seeing colourful clusters of them ~ and she lives in Canada. 'As this is nice to see, I really wish I wouldn't see it because they're running out of time.' She does evening 'monarch counts' at Point Pelee National Park in Canada (south-western Ontario). “It's not really good news for them.”

It's not just Canada: swarms have been seen elsewhere, including Cape May, New Jersey, at levels more abnormal for late September and early October. Scientists say tens of thousands of the butterflies are likely to be stranded far north of where they'd usually be this time of year...due to unusually warm weather and strong winds that have kept them from migrating south.
(Such is the dilemma for Nature's creations!)

Once in a while, it's good to challenge yourself
in a way that's really daunting. (Alan Cumming)

Size Doesn't Always Matter
(Excerpts from The Spectator View by John Roe: October 15, 2017)
Imagine little David kicking big Goliath's butt. Imagine a roaring mouse making a lion run away! Imagine an angry minnow fighting off a great white shark! Now, imagine the tiny nation of Iceland ~ population 330,000 and half of Hamilton's ~ battling its way to a place in the planet' s second biggest sporting event: The World Cup Soccer!!!
Who doesn't love seeing the underdog have its day?
But in Iceland's case, no stretch of imagination is necessary!
A few days ago, a determined team from North Atlantic's isolated, storm-swept volcanic island earned itself one of the 32 spots at next summer's World Cup in Russia.
This achievement is as extraordinary as, just a few years ago, it would have been impossible to predict. It's also an example to everyone ~ on both a human and sporting level.
Iceland is the least populous country to ever win a berth at the World Cup
and the only one with fewer than one million people.
It has no professional soccer league. The team's coach is a part-time dentist. Only 5 years ago,this soccer team was ranked 131st in the world out of 121 countries. But the country had desire, a plan and was willing to invest money in soccer. Over the years, Iceland trained hundreds of highly qualified, licenced coaches ~ more per capita than soccer giants such as France or Germany ~ to teach children how to play. It built 30 full-size all-weather soccer ptiches, seven of which are outdoors, and another 150 smaller, artificial arenas. Kids can play year-round, whether it's sunny, rainy or snowing. The core of Iceland's squad has been together more than a decade. Iceland made it to the 2016 Euro-Europe's soccer championship, beating the World Cup semi-finalist Netherlands on the way.
Last week, Iceland trounced Turkey, a nation of 80.7 million people:
U.S.A. with a population of 325 million failed to qualify.
But as Iceland just demonstrated, Size Doesn't Matter! Here's to the Davids, the mice, the minnows and Iceland! 'Our reach should exceed our grasp because there is a 'heaven'... that awaits!

Ask yourself, if what you are doing today,
is getting you closer to what you want to be tomorrow.”
(Anonymous)

Despite the Rain, the Olympic Flame Shines Again!
Nicholas Paphitis from The Canadian Press reports:
ANCIENT OLYMPIA, GREECE! The flame for the 2018 Pyeongchang Games was lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics on Tuesday, despite a brief cloudburst that disrupted the sun-reliant ceremony. It launched a long torch relay culminating with the February 9th Opening Winter Games.
Using backup fire,
kept from Monday's last rehearsal,
an actress playing an ancient pagan priestess ignited the torch in front of
the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera in the southern Greek Peloponnese region
She then passed the flame to the first relay-runner, Greek skier Apostolos Angeles who ran with it a short distance before handing over to former Manchester United soccer player Park Ji-sung, a South Korean...who commented, “As a sports person, I have been watching the Olympics throughout my life ...and I really wanted to participate...to be involved in the Olympics. We will show to the world, how we can organize a sports event.”

From the verdant, rain-soaked valley of Ancient Olympia, where the Games of antiquity were held for more than a thousand years, the flame will course through Greece for eight days and reach South Korea on November 1. The Ancient Games were held at Olympia from 775 B.C. to 393 A.D. 
Ancient traditions point to an earlier date for sports at Olympia, 
where the first traces of human settlement
go back to the third millennium B.C.

In order to succeed, your desire to success
should be greater than your fear of failure.”
(Unknown Author)

From Psalm 27:6
Then I will hold my head high above the enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary, I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the Lord with music.”

Written by Merle Baird-Kerr...October 28, 2017
Comments appreciated: mbairdkerr@cogeco.ca or inezkate@gmail.com

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