Be Courageous and True

Dance like there's nobody watching,
Love lke you'll never get hurt.
Sing like there's nobody listening,
Live like it's heaven on earth.
And speak from the heart to be heard.

- William W. Purkey

Girls Night Out

Why females should avoid a girl's night after they are married:

The other night I was invited out for a night with "the girls." I told my husband that I would be home by midnight, "I promise!"
Well, the hours passed and the margaritas went down way too easy.Around 3 a.m., a bit loaded, I headed for home. Just as I got in the door, the cuckoo clock in the hall started up and cuckooed 3 times. Quickly, realizing my husband would probably wake up, I cuckooed another 9 times. I was really proud of myself for coming up with such a quick-witted solution (even when totally smashed), in order to escape a possible conflict with him.
The next morning my husband asked me what time I got in, and I told him "Midnight". He didn't seem p*ssed off at all.
Phew! Got away with that one!
Then he said, "We need a new cuckoo clock." When I asked him why, he said, "Well, last night our clock cuckooed three times, then said, "Oh sh*t!", cuckooed 4 more times, cleared it's throat, cuckooed another 3 times, giggled, cuckooed twice more, and then tripped over the coffee table and f*rted."

Fatherlessness

“Fatherlessness is the most harmful demographic trend of this generation…It is the engine driving our most urgent social problems, from crime to adolescent pregnancy to child sexual abuse, to domestic violent against women… we seldom acknowledge the underlying phenomenon that binds together these otherwise disparate issues: the flight of males from their children’s lives…Masculinity became less domesticated, defined less by effective paternity and more by individual ambition and achievement.”

- David Blankenhorn, Fatherlessness in America, 1995
From 'The Four Pillars of a Man's Heart' by Stu Weber

I‘d like to clarify that sometimes having fathers around is as harmful as not having them there at all. To me, fatherlessness is not a word to describe the absence of being, but rather the absence of character role model. Another word for fatherlessness would be a lack of manhood, a lack of applied masculinity. True fatherhood has really very little to do with one’s biological association, but everything to do with responsible character molding and modeling. It is about looking out for the next generation rather than looking out for themselves.

Heaven and Hell - You Choose.

One day the young King visited a Wiseman residing in the domain of his kingdom. The King said: "Wiseman, I am going to ask you a question and if you can't give me an answer that will please me...off with your head".
The Wiseman nodded.
King: What exactly is "HELL" and "HEAVEN"?
Wiseman: You're son of a bitch.
King: Jump-up with great anger, sword in hand and was about to decapitate the Wiseman....
Wiseman: That, my dear king, is "HELL"
King: I am ashamed of my un-Kingly behavior.
Wiseman: That, my dear king, is "HEAVEN"

We are that young King. We are in charge of our own self-conscious domain and we can determined how "heavenly" or "hellish" we want to live our lives.

Learn to Surrender - Let Go, and Let God.

Each and every day when we wake up, we have a choice; our progress can be a struggle or not. Most people view their current circumstances (eg., difficulty with boss, children's school grades, etc..) as an obstacle, as something to be overcome, rather than the reality of their situation. This leads to a great deal of conflict and struggle, wherein the conflict is really with the Self.
We can choose to cease this fight with a change in our perspectives and attitudes. Learn to surrender.
Accept reality on its own terms, thereby conquering our inner mountain and releasing ourselves to a greater purpose.
Any circumstance that seems to be a conflict or struggle is always a matter of attitude or perspective first, and once we learn to conquer ourselves, we have learned to release ourselves to the world and change our reality. Reframe our worldviews, and stop laying unrealistic demands on our own back. What value there is if you conquer the world but lose your soul?
Surrender your day and this coming week to the Almighty's hand.

"The first and the best victory is to conquer self."
-Plato

"Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty."
- Henri Frederic Amiel

Man has set for himself the goal of conquering the world but in the processes loses his soul.
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson