Greetings from the land of Imodium, Pepto-Bismol and a nasty stomach virus.  The last 36 hours have been no fun, but this morning I am awe-struck by the gratitude I have for feeling better.  The thought of good health returning fills me with humble appreciation for something I take for granted, no matter how much I try not to.  Illness is a reminder to appreciate what I have.

Today this blog is in majority filled with the words of others; two written pieces that are favorites that once in a while I refer to when I need to be reminded of what matters most.  Today is one of those days where sickness figuratively and literally brought me to my knees and re-centered me in thankfulness and gratitude.

Principle of Emptiness by Joseph Newton

Have you got the habit of hoarding useless objects, thinking that one day, who knows when, you may need them? 

Have you got the habit of accumulating money and not spending it because you think that in the future you may be in want of it? 

Have you got the habit of storing clothes, shoes, furniture, utensils and other home supplies that you haven’t used already for sometime? 

And inside you?

Have you got the habit to keep reproaches, resentment, sadness, fears and more?

Don’t do it!

You are going against your prosperity! 

It is necessary to make room, to leave an empty space in order to allow new things to arrive to your life. 

It is necessary that you get rid of all the useless things that are in you and in your life, in order for prosperity to arrive. 

The force of this emptiness is one that will absorb and attract all that you wish.

As long as you are, materially or emotionally, holding old and useless feelings, you won’t have room for new opportunities. 

Good must circulate… clean your drawers, the wardrobes, the workshop, the garage.

Give away what you don’t use any longer. 

The attitude of keeping a heap of useless stuff ties your life down. 

It is not the objects you keep that stagnate you life… but rather the attitude of keeping…. 

Yes, get rid of those you don’t want, don’t use, don’t need; materially and emotionally!

Mistakes by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
God sent us here to make mistakes,
To strive, to fail, to re-begin,
To taste the tempting fruit of sin,
And find what bitter food it makes,

To miss the path, to go astray,
To wander blindly in the night;
But, searching, praying for the light,
Until at last we find the way.

And looking back along the past,
We know we needed all the strain
Of fear and doubt and strife and pain
To make us value peace, at last.

Who fails, finds later triumph sweet;
Who stumbles once, walks then with care,
And knows the place to cry Beware
To other unaccustomed feet.

Through strife the slumbering soul awakes,
We learn on error’s troubled route
The truths we could not prize without
The sorrow of our sad mistakes.

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond