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
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