Spiritual & Inspirational Sunday September 6, 2009

Welcome to my spiritual & inspirational Sunday post. Having collected quotes and scripture for over 25 years, my hope is that by sharing these quotes it will cause you to pause and reflect. Perhaps you will share a quote with someone who is in need of reading that very quote or inspirational message. I am on the Cumberland Plateau in middle Tennessee. I volunteered to dog sit my friend’s three dogs. I spent many many hours yesterday scanning magazine and book pictures to use in my posts. I think each picture takes approximately two minutes to scan, crop, and transfer to a file on my computer which eventually will be uploaded to my post. It is a bit tedious but I will be grateful to have these when I write my next post.

As I create this post, it is 6:00 am- a cool overcast morning with a sprinkle of rain falling. As I drink some green tea, my view off the back porch is a glorious one for a Sunday morning. My friend’s home sits on ridge where their grass lawn ends about 10 yards from the house and the woods begin. I can see a farm off in the distance below. Along the horizon I see rolling hills blanketed with the morning mist. The wonderful sound of birds chirping is the only noise I hear. Last night it was the sound of crickets! 

Below is a photo of my friend’s home which was designed by Bobby McAlpine. At some point I will feature their home on my blog.

I plan to use their long winding rock driveway to do my interval runs this morning paying close attention to where I step as copperheads live in the area. Fortunately, I have avoided any encounters with sssnnnnaakkkees-it is hard for me to even pronounce that word without emotional repercussions! Later today I will head to the vegetable garden and pick tomatoes so I can make homemade pasta sauce. Trust me, I will be on heighten alert!

Today’s spiritual & inspirational post comes from an email forward I received from my friend Nigel. It is the empowering quote of the week from Dr. Ola Madsen. I believe that the most important conversation we have is between our two ears. Are your conversations with yourself optimistic or pessimistic?

Optimism

"The optimist proclaims we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true." - James Cabell, American novelist and journalist (1879-1958)

What is optimism?
It is a belief that things in our past were good for us and taught us lessons even if they were hard. It is also the belief that things will be better in the future.

Contrasts between optimism and pessimism:
Optimism breathes life into you each day.

Pessimism drains you.
Optimism helps you to take needed risks.

Pessimism plays it safe and never accomplishes much.
Optimism empowers those around you.

Pessimism drags them down.
Optimism inspires people to greater heights.

Pessimism deflates people to new lows.
The only way that optimism and pessimism are the same is that they are both self-fulfilled.
We choose to look at the world the way we want.

Have you ever met a successful pessimist?
Become an optimist and see your world change before your eyes.  Blessings!  …susan