Seeds sown.

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant. - Robert Louis Stevenson

The fact that we are given a chance to renew our efforts, in whatever direction, each and every morning is possibly one of the greatest blessings of being human. For some, this will mean starting over all the time, but is it really starting over? The intentions that you have, with each little effort, grow and grow. How lovely your garden will be with the right amount of time.

Great things are not accomplished overnight. Rather, they require the ability to keep moving in a certain direction, or sometimes are the result of trial and error. Either way, as long as you plant your seeds every single day, you will find in time that you are moving closer and closer to the rewards of your deeds.

As we edge ever closer to a new year, with new promises and goals, remember that this as much a way of making a new start as any, as well as a time to reflect on the year 2008, it's mistakes and rewards alike. How blessed we are for these new starts. And how blessed we are to be able to plant new seeds of which the abundant harvest will be reaped.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

By Francis P. Church, first published in The New York Sun in 1897. [See The People’s Almanac, pp. 1358–9.]

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor—
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas!

I think you'll agree that my thoughts on this most celebrated of Christian holidays would be inadequate compared to the masters of the pen.

So, with that I wish you a blessed and safe Christmas and leave you with the words of others, their wit more joyful and song more illuminated than anything I could conjure.

The poulterers' shops were still half open, and the fruiterers' were radiant in their glory. There were great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. There were ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish Onions, shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish Friars, and winking from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe. There were pears and apples, clustered high in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grapes, made, in the shopkeepers' benevolence to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that people's mouths might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle deep through withered leaves; there were Norfolk Biffins, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner. - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space. - Dave Berry

Great little One! whose all-embracing birth Lifts Earth to Heaven, stoops Heaven to Earth. - Richard Crashaw

To the American People: Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world. - Calvin Coolidge in his Presidential Message (December 25, 1927)

Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive. - Robert Lynd

Smile!

If you're not using your smile, you're like a man with a millions dollars in the bank and no checkbook. -Les Giblin

Want to make someone's day? Smile.

I know that can sound pathetically simple, but when someone is terribly low, and feels all alone in the world, it can be the difference between despair and hope. Having been on both sides of that scenario, I can tell you that receiving a smile from someone may be enough to know that you're not in your boat alone. And that is a powerful message to give in a simple facial expression.

And, apparently, smiling is pretty good for the smiler too.

I found this great article by business coach Paul Sutherland that gives 5 Powerful Reasons to Smile. Of these reasons, one of them is the positive health effects of smiling. People who smile and attempt having a positive attitude "are less likely to suffer major life-threatening diseases". That's reason enough for me!

Have you smiled today?

Changing the world, one daydream at a time.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there will ever be to know and understand. - Albert Einstein

Has it ever occurred to you that without imagination, humans might still be living in caves (if that)? Every social and technological advancement ever achieved throughout human history was only possible because someone envisioned it. Wow, that's quite a thought!

What's more, everything that will come to be, even in our lifetimes, is the result of someone's daydream now. Someone's daydream is shaping our futures.

We shouldn't discount knowledge; certainly everything we know now has become integral to everyday life. But if you think about it, knowledge is the result of another's curiosity. Someone thought, "I wonder why?" or "How is this possible?" and went to all possible lengths to discover the truth. This adventure towards such knowledge starts with imagination.

With this in mind, I have realized that this imaginative, creative spirit that lies in the minds of us all enables opportunities to not only shape the life that we desire, but also to change the world.

Save an extra 10% + free shipping on all orders with coupon code DVDGIFT10

The dork in all of us.

You must embrace your dorky-ness. To deny it is to deny a part of yourself. - Samantha Betts

I know what you're thinking. Today, I quoted myself. Yes, it appears to be shameless self-promoting, but I do have a point.

If you haven't had the chance to see Sydney White, check it out on HBO or rent it. While not one of the more remarkable films this generation has presented (let's face it, the acting, directing, writing, and everything else is lacking a certain refinement that classics tend to possess - it's no Gone With the Wind), it has an endearing quality that may give you that fuzzy warm feeling. And it also provides a lesson that everyone, even adults, need to be reminded of every once in a while.

None of us can claim perfection. In all honesty, few people would want to be around perfection; it gets old fast. Life is made up of conflict, debate, wittiness, awkwardness, and all other manner of personality traits. In short, life is not perfect. That's good. It keeps it interesting.

Furthermore, the short tale of Sydney White reminds us that which we all possess some level of, that quality that made you and I the butt of many a joke in high school (and possibly beyond). We are weird, harbor strange fascinations, hide bizarre habits. And yet, we manage to conveniently forget them when it comes to judging another's "dorky-ness". Not quite fair, is it?

So, my thought is this: embrace that awkward, funny, embarrassing, dorky thing that you can be. It's just as much a part of who you are as being skilled, creative, or confident. And it doesn't matter who you are; you can be a soccer mom or a CEO. No matter, you have it. Don't deny it. And don't forget it when you see someone walking down the street with her skirt tucked into her pantyhose or you inevitably receive an invitation to a Dungeons and Dragons get-together from your co-worker. They are just like you.

Congratulations Kit By Mama Mio

The life you love starts with your passions.

Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things. - Denis Diderot

Follow your bliss. - Joseph Campbell

When you turn on the TV, or the radio, or go to a locally owned shop, or listen at open mic night, or walk into someone's workshop, you are observing someone following what they are passionate about. Anyone who has ever done anything great in their lives, anyone who has achieved the status of "successful", is someone who has acknowledged the one thing they are truly passionate for, and followed it where it led them.

It can be assumed that the creative spirit lies in all of us, whether it be inventing the technology that keeps us connected, or educating children, it presents itself in a variety of ways in all walks of life. But that creativity is limited by your own self-belief. Meaning: do you think that by following that spirit you can do great things, is it worthwhile, or is it just a waste of time because it will come to nothing?

My mother, in all her infinite wisdom, has said that you have your dreams for a reason, that those aspirations are there for you to follow, instinctively. And when the passion that you have for those dreams builds in you with every step you take, it only works in your favor, creating more opportunities and pushing you in the direction that you want to go.

Look at successful people all around you, even people you don't know. Are they going to a job they dread everyday, or are they doing what they love?