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History is a vast early warning system. -Norman Cousins, editor and author (24 Jun 1915-1990)

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Friends of ours recently lost their beloved dog. Here is a quote shared by another friend.

We who choose to surround ourselves
with lives even more temporary than our
own, live within a fragile circle;
easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps,
we would still live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only
certain immortality, never fully
understanding the necessary plan...

Irving Townsend

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I can't buy happiness, but I can buy a plane ticket and that's pretty close." - Unknown

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"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow

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"Needing approval is a cultural female disease, and often a sign of doing the wrong thing." Gloria Steinem, My Life on the Road

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"None of us get out of life alive, so be gallant, be great, be gracious, and be grateful for the opportunities you have. We don't know where we might end up, or when we might end up."
- Jake Bailey, 18-year-old student from Christchurch, New Zealand to his graduating class, after being diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma and given 3 weeks to live.

Cancer-fighting student defies doctors to deliver emotional end of year speech 

BY JACOB GILLARD 

An 18-year-old student from Christchurch, New Zealand, has defied all odds to send off his school year, delivering a speech to roaring applause at his high school after being diagnosed with cancer. 

Jake Bailey, who had been given three weeks to live by doctors if he did not get treatment, took the stage at Christchurch Boys High School's Prize Giving ceremony in a wheelchair to celebrate the end of his high school career, after being released from hospital to take part in the event. 

In late October, the teen was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, according to New Zealand Herald, an aggressive cancer which can kill if left untreated. "They said, if you don't get any treatment within the next three weeks you're going to die. Then they told me I wouldn't be here tonight to deliver this speech," Bailey said. 

Reminiscing on the final year of high school — one of the most important times in any teenager's life — Bailey focused on commemorating his year's history, achievements and thanked his friends for all their support. He remained resolute throughout the speech, telling the hall the speech "isn't about what's to come, [but] it's about what an amazing year it's been." 

"None of us get out of life alive, so be gallant, be great, be gracious, and be grateful for the opportunities you have," Bailey said. "We don't know where we might end up, or when we might end up." 

After the emotional speech finished, Bailey's cohort banded together to perform the haka for him. "I wish you the very best in your journey, and thank you for being a part of mine," Bailey said, as he finished off his address.

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The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible. - Salman Rushdie

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"So much of the media is shouting matches and ideological food fights. It's very hard to have the kind of reasoned discussion of these big ethical questions without creating opportunities to do that." -- Michael Sandel, Harvard professor and rock-star moralist

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“I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History and Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.” -John Adams, writing to his wife, Abigail, in 1780

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When you part with a friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in her may be clearer in her absence,
as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. -Kahlil Gibran

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There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. - Nelson Mandela

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Stop pretending to be normal. ~Hashaw Elkins

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I swear to the Lord,
I still can't see,
Why Democracy means,
Everybody but me.
-Langston Hughes

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My friend Kara recently lost her dog Xander. She shared this poem from Rudyard Kipling and it beautifully captures the heartbreaking absence left when we lose our faithful canine companions:

"I have done mostly what most men do and pushed it out of my mind; But I can't forget, if I wanted to, Four-Feet trotting behind. 

Day after day, the whole day through—wherever my road inclined— Four-Feet said, 'I am coming with you!' and trotted along behind. 

Now I must go by some other round—which I shall never find— Somewhere that does not carry the sound of Four-Feet trotting behind."

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"While lucky people often chalk up their good fortune to chance, what’s actually going on is that they’re good at creating and noticing opportunities." - Richard Wiseman

HOW TO BE A SUCCESS AT EVERYTHING

3.9K SHARES

4 HABITS OF LUCKY PEOPLE

IS IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK? MAKE THE MOST OF THE CHANCES YOU HAVE WITH THESE HABITS OF LUCKY PEOPLE.

BY STEPHANIE VOZZA

My Nana was one of those people who just seemed naturally lucky. In the 1960s and ‘70s, she regularly entered contests and won prizes that included cash, a television, a mink jacket and even a new car. She’d frequently hit the jackpot when she played the slot machines, and she always seemed to be in the right place at the right time when it came to growing her real estate business.

Was she charmed? Perhaps. But her lifelong winning streak was more likely the result of her habits, says Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in England. He’s been studying luck for more than two decades and says it’s not just chance; there’s a science to it.

“Luck is generally thought to be an external force--sometimes we’re lucky and sometimes we’re not--but it’s possible to make your own luck,” says Wiseman, who wrote The Luck Factor (Hyperion; 2003). “To a very large extent, lucky and unlucky people are responsible for much of the good and bad fortune they encounter.”

LUCK IS GENERALLY THOUGHT TO BE AN EXTERNAL FORCE--SOMETIMES WE’RE LUCKY AND SOMETIMES WE’RE NOT--BUT IT’S POSSIBLE TO MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK.

Through his research, Wiseman found that lucky people share four characteristics, and--lucky for us--anyone can adopt these habits and change their fortune:

1. THEY MAXIMIZE “CHANCE” OPPORTUNITIES

While lucky people often chalk up their good fortune to chance, what’s actually going on is that they’re good at creating and noticing opportunities, says Wiseman. They do this in various ways, including networking and being open to new experiences.

“Without realizing it, lucky people behave in a way that maximizes chance opportunities in life,” says Wiseman. “They talk to lots of people, attract people to them, and keep in touch with people. These actions result in a massive ‘network of luck,’ opening up a huge potential for chance opportunities.”

In contrast, unlucky people are often more introverted, preferring to spend time on their own. Unlucky people also embrace routines, sticking with the familiar and avoiding surprises.

Lucky people, however, like to keep things interesting by varying their choices. They try a new route to work, for example, or pick a different coffee shop each morning.

“Lucky people often go to considerable lengths to introduce variety into their lives,” says Wiseman.

2. THEY LISTEN TO THEIR GUT INSTINCTS

Lucky people make decisions by following their intuition. In his research, Wiseman found that 90% trusted their intuition when it came to personal relationships, and 80% believe it played a vital role in their career choices.

But they take it a step further by boosting intuitive abilities by practicing techniques such as meditation.

LUCKY PEOPLE OFTEN GO TO CONSIDERABLE LENGTHS TO INTRODUCE VARIETY INTO THEIR LIVES.

“The idea isn’t to try to develop intuitive feelings during the meditation itself,” says Wiseman. “Instead, use the time for clearing your mind of thoughts and distractions. After meditation, when your mind is quiet, your intuition will feel at its best.”

3. THEY EXPECT TO BE LUCKY

Lucky people are optimistic about the future. In Wiseman’s research, he found that people who are lucky have higher expectations from life than unlucky people. They believe that unpredictable and uncontrollable events will consistently work out for them; unlucky people believe events outside their control will always work out against them.

“Lucky people are convinced that the future is going to be fantastic, and their expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies,” says Wiseman. “These expectations exert a considerable influence over people’s thoughts and behaviors. They determine whether people try to achieve their goals and how long they persist in the face of failure.”

4. THEY FIND THE GOOD IN ANYTHING

Lucky people do experience misfortune, but they cope with it differently than unlucky people. For example, Wiseman says lucky people imagine how things could have been worse and compare their experience with a far worse scenario.

Lucky people also transform the event into something good by finding a positive aspect. They don’t dwell on the bad luck, instead they take a long-term approach to life and assuming that something better is ahead.

“Together these techniques explain their uncanny ability to cope with and often even thrive when ill fortune comes their way,” he says.

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Daring to step into oneself is the bravest, strangest, most natural, most terrifying thing a person can do, because when you cease to wrap yourself in artifice you are naked, and when you are naked you are vulnerable.

But vulnerability is the leading edge of truth. Being willing to sacrifice a false life is the only way to live a true one. - Charles Blow, in his beautiful and gut-wrenching personal essay, Up From Pain

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The real world can be hard. Dazzling and disturbed. Flashy and reckless. Messy and jaded.

 Life can be complicated, but words don’t have to be.

 The world may flash in color, but at night I dream in ink. - Sierra Vandervort -

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Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. ~Henry Ford

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I believe this is of part of the poem "Was es ist" from the Austrian Poet Erich Fried.

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One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things. ~Henry Miller