If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted.     Francis Bacon Today's quote reminds me a lot of the definition of insanity.  Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  Duh.  When we see it in black and white we realize that isn't possible.  If we don't like the results we are getting then we need to change how we are doing things.  But so many times we don't see that in the heat of the moment.  We keep thinking that the method will suddenly be successful.  News flash: it won't!  Change your method and get a different result.  If that doesn't work change it yet again.  Eventually you will find what works and is successful! 

Everybody here wants a revolution, but nobody here wants to do the dishes.    Shane Claiborne If you want something big to happen you'd better be willing to put your hands in and get them dirty.  The biggest things (movements, revolutions, etc) start with the smallest of acts and the humblest of leaders.  People won't join you in your  efforts  for change if you aren't willing to get down in the trenches yourself.  Don't be above what you are asking others to believe in and do.  Lead the way and do so while "washing dishes."  

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.   Lou Holtz, Charles Swindoll The older I get the more I experience the truth of today's featured quote.  Life.  It happens and we have a choice in our response to it.  We can either moan our way through circumstances or make lemonade from them.  What happens to us is  minuscule  compared to what happens after.  

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.   John Burrough Amen and amen again to today's quote!  I feel like this often.  What's the "solution"?  Live fully in each day with as few regrets as possible.  Be intentional with your relationships, your health, what you choose to dwell on.  And for heaven's sake read a book!  :)  

If you don't want anyone to find out, don't do it.   Chinese Proverb If you have to second guess something you are about to do then you probably don't want to do it.  Anything we want to hide will always, eventually, get exposed and when that time comes the fallout will be a lot more messy.   So don't  "just do it".

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both of their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.   Bono As a believer in God I want to have a heart for the things and people that he has a heart for.  God has much to say in the Bible about the poverty stricken, about those less fortunate than us.  He has several commands that outline how we can be the extension of God to those who fall into the "least of these"  category .  Today's quote by Bono was so impactful the first time I read it that it circles in my mind and heart often.  When we make a choice to interact with "the least of these" and to help them make a real difference in their living situations, etc then we are being the very hands and feet and heart of God.  It is a sacred

If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.    Jim Rohn Risk is  loosely  defined as the chance of loss.  Settle is  loosely  defined as "to come to" and "to become quiet and orderly".   You  have decide what kind of life you want to lead.  One that will be filled with chance but few regrets or one that will be played safe, quiet and orderly and also filled with longings unfilled because the "what if" of loss seemed to overwhelming.   I'm not a risk taker by nature.  It's scary and I don't like scary.  But at some point in my 30's I decided I had better start taking some risks on things that seemed scary to me (but clearly weren't to others!).  For my own personal beliefs I knew that the "what if" of the thing I felt God asking me to risk was not near as scary as the idea of disobeying the One who I call LORD.  I was, I still am, much more "frightened" * of disobeying my

Man may choose the path of least resistance but God chooses the path of least likelihood.   A nn Voskamp This quote hits me right between the eyes.  The truth of it pierces.  We want it easy, comfortable, unhindered and that is usually not the way God picks.  If you are a Christian and someone told you when you decided to accept the gift Jesus offers that life would be "great" and "wonderful" and perhaps even "easy" from that moment on you were lied to.  Seriously!  We learn nothing, we gain nothing by being on the path of least resistance.  It is wading through unlikely circumstances that we grow in our character, faith, and values.  Where I am most aware of this statement is when I speak to other people.  I have found myself being more careful about saying things like, "God would never ask that of you" or "God doesn't want you to struggle" etc because the reality is that what seems impossible (i.e. least likely) is probably exac

Comparison is the thief of joy. Theodore Roosevelt Well if this isn't the truth then I'm not sure what is.  Getting caught in the comparison trap will steal the gratitude and joy from your life quicker than you can blink.  If you find yourself complaining and lacking gratitude do a self-check.  Are you comparing your life (finances, possessions, job, friends, family, etc) to someone else's ?  If so then you have your answer as to why the joy has been stolen from your life and heart.  When we fall into the  comparison  trap we are communicating we aren't grateful for our lives.  Joy is directly linked to being grateful and nothing steals joy like comparing ourselves to others and allowing envy to characterize our life.   Suggested Reading: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp This book will guide you toward living a life of daily gratitude and being joyful.  

Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.   Ambrose Bierce To start off the 365 I thought it would be perfect to start with a quote...about quotes!  This one made me laugh.  (Erroneously, btw, means 'containing or characterized by error')   How many times have you quoted something and prefaced it or disclaimed it with "or something like that".  That's what this quote from Bierce is referring to me thinks.  It actually reminds me of another quote that makes "everyone" do a double take upon first reading... Haha!  Did you catch that?  Totally fits in with today's actual real quote!  Have a great day!

And I'm still asking the same question, can I really do this ?  And now you might be asking a question in response - WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!? What can I say?  I'm a sucker for punishment.  Lest you think doing one thing every single day for a year is easy let me assure you it is not.  But it gives me some structure, something to be productive about (as if my life doesn't already produce enough activity!), and it gives me an outlet for writing something, anything every single day.  After my last experiement ended a bestie who knows me well (since 2nd grade so when I say she knows me well I actually mean it) asks me, "So whatcha doing for the next 365?"  :)  She knew I'd have to do another one at some point.  So this one is dedicated to her, my RoJo.  :)   My last one , the 365 Song Experiment, was thanks to another bestie who was doing her own, very ambitious, 365 Movie Experiment.  Once the said RoJo asked me what I would do she and I went back and fo