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The South Bank Beacon

Inspirations via The Net & ... 

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This poem was written by Mother Teresa

and is engraved on the wall of her home for children in Calcutta.

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
          Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
 Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
     Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
     Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will forget tomorrow,
   Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
   Give the world the best you've got ... anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God,

It never was between you and them anyway.

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"People who have what they want are very fond of
telling people who haven't what they want that they
don't want it." -Samuel Clemens

We can't take any credit for our talents. It's how we use them that counts.

-  Madeleine L'Engle

Be yourself. No one can ever tell you you're doing it wrong.

-  James Leo Herlihy

A little perspective......... GEORGE CARLIN POST  (His wife recently died...)
Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - gross and mouthy comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent ... and so very appropriate post 9-11. A wonderful Message by George Carlin:

"The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.  

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.  Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind."

The Four Agreements
Written by Don Miguel Ruiz

1) Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity.  Say only what you mean.  Avoid using the word
to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.  Use the power
of your work in the direction of truth and love.

2) Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you.  What others say and do is a
projection of their own reality, their own dream.  When you are
immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim
of needless suffering.

3) Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really
want.  Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid
misunderstandings, sadness and drama.  With just this one agreement,
you can completely transform your life.

4) Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be
different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.  Under any
circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment,
self-abuse, and regret.

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good."
--Vaclav Havel

"Outside show is a poor substitute

for inner worth." 

--Aesop

Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.

-  Janis Joplin
 
He who believes in nobody knows that
he himself is not to be trusted.
--Auerbach
 
"What I Know for Sure"
 
"Think back for a moment on your history -  not just where you were born but the circumstances that contributed to your being here.  Consider what you believed about yourself based on what others told you directly and indirectly, since 93 percent of communication is through nuance and action, not words.  How were you treated?  That is what defined how you experienced the world - both the moments when you felt valued and wanted and the moments when you felt wounded and sure you'd never be fulfilled.  Though you've probably had times when you didn't want to press on, you have survived your path.  You are still here, still standing - and what an amazing journey your life has been.
 
No matter who we are or where we live, we all have our own journey.  Mine began the moment I was conceived out of wedlock to Vernon Winfrey and Vernita Lee, who happened by an oak tree one April afternoon in 1953 in rural Mississippi.  Their onetime union, not at all a romance, brought about the unwanted pregnancy that was me.  Relatives tell me that my mother concealed her pregnancy until the day I was born - so no one was prepared for my arrival.  There were no baby showers, none of the anticipation of delight that I see in the faces of my expectant friends who rub their swollen stomachs with reverence.  My birth was (had consequently come to be) surrounded with regret, shame, and hiding. 
 
I marvel at what it must feel like to be born into a world where people lovingly greet you and celebrate your arrival.  As far back as I can recall, I felt the need to show that I belonged here - the need to prove my worth.  I worked hard.  I got A's.   I became an orator, won speaking contests, earned scholarships.  The words I heard Jesse Jackson say at an assembly when I was 16 became my mantra: "Excellence is the best deterrent to racism.  Excellence is the best deterrent to sexism.  Be excellent."  I was in my mid-thirties before I realized that just being born makes you worthy enough to be here.  I had nothing to prove.
 
Even if you lived through a childhood more challenging than my own, there is one irrefutable law of the universe: We are each responsible for our own life - no other person is or even can be.  Like me, you might have experienced things that caused you to judge yourself unworthy.  It's important to know why and how you were programmed to feel the way you do so you can do the work of changing the program.  That is one of the most important challenges of your life - to heal the wounds of your past so you don't continue to bleed.  Until you do, you are literally dragging the weight of your past into your present.  And that makes it nearly impossible to move forward.
 
What I know for sure is that your life is a multipart series of all your experiences - and each experience is created by your thoughts, intentions, and actions, to teach you what you most need to know.  Your life is a journey of learning to love yourself first and then extending that love to others in every encounter.  How can you travel on that road without fear?  Whenever I'm faced with a difficult decision, I ask myself: What would I do if I weren't afraid of making a mistake, feeling rejected, looking foolish, or being alone?  Remove the fear, and the answer comes into focus.
 
If you're holding anyone else accountable for your happiness, you're wasting time.  You must be fearless enough to give yourself the love you didn't receive.  Begin noticing how every day brings a new opportunity for your growth.  How buried disagreements with your mother show up in arguments with your spouse.  How unconscious feelings of unworthiness appear in everything you do and don't do.  All these experiences are your life's way of making itself whole - sometimes whispering, often screaming.  Pat attention.  Every choice gives you a chance to pave your own road.  Keep moving.  Full speed ahead."
 Oprah in the July 2001 issue of "O"  
 
It took me a few more years, but I finally came "HOME" to that realization myself.  I've been told that mine has been an interesting journey that merits being chronicled for those who may need a guide into the Millennium...
So, as Oprah once sang in her theme song; "I Believe I'll Run On..."!!!
 
Best Regards,
Michael 

DISCIPLINE
"The only competition you will ever have is the competition between your
disciplined and undisciplined mind." -– James A. Ray

"When the morning's freshness has been replaced by the weariness of midday,
when the leg muscles give under the strain, the climb seems endless, and
suddenly nothing will go quite as you wish-it is then that you must not
hesitate." -- Dag Hammarskjold

"All disciplines affect each other.  Mistakenly the man says, 'This is the
only area where I let down.'  Not true.  Every let down affects the rest.
Not to think so is naive." -- Jim Rohn

"The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The
hard part is doing it." -- General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

DO IT NOW!
"There are those of us who are always about to live. We are waiting until
things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we
get a promotion, until we settle down -- until, until, until. It always
seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we
begin living." -- George Sheehan

"For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have
been'." -- John Greenleaf Whittier

"Now is the only time there is.  Make your now wow, your minutes miracles,
and your days pay.  Your life will have been magnificently lived and
invested, and when you die you will have made a difference." -– Mark Victor
Hansen

"Words without actions are the assassins of idealism." -- Herbert Clark
Hoover

DREAM BIG DREAMS
"I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my
nightmares because of my dreams." -- Dr. Jonas Salk

"There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who
face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other." --
Douglaus Everett

"I might have been born in a hovel but I determined to travel with the wind
and the stars." -- Jacqueline Cochran

"Never let your memories be greater than your dreams." -- Doug Ivester

EMOTIONS
"Never apologize for showing feeling.  When you do so, you apologize for the
truth." -- Benjamin Disraeli

"Calmness is the cradle of power." -- Josiah Gilbert Holland

"Civilization is the intelligent management of human emotions." -- Jim Rohn

"The tears that you spill, the sorrowful, are sweeter than the laughter of
snobs and the guffaws of scoffers." -— Khalil Gibran

EXCELLENCE
"No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required
of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the
required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction." -– Charles
Kendall Adams

"The foundation of lasting self-confidence and self-esteem is excellence,
mastery of your work." -– Brian Tracy

"The only thing that separates any one of us from excellence is fear, and
the opposite of fear is faith.  I am careful not to confuse excellence with
perfection.  Excellence I can reach for, perfection is God's business." --
Michael J. Fox

"Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention,
sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents
the wise choice of many alternatives." -– Willa A. Foster

Peace be with you,

Miguel-Angel
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Your attitude creates an atmosphere around you.
Your attitude is the result of the way you think and feel.
You communicate your attitude. Create a positive attitude,
filled with good feelings, and even just your presence
will do wonders in situations. ---Author Unknown
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what
you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in;
forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day;
you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to
be encumbered with your old nonsense."
-  Ralph Waldo Emerson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
© Copyright 2002
Miguel-Angel Carmen de Santiago-León
(all rights and privileges reserved)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Should you find yourself among the majority,

it is time to pause and reflect.

--Mark Twain

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience--
well, that comes from poor judgment.
--Anonymous

Patience is also a form of action.

-  Auguste Rodin
All change is not growth;
all movement is not forward.
--Ellen Glasgow
 
Of all our human resources, the most precious is the desire to improve. 
--Unknown

Thank you for being you.....and for being part of my life.
I believe-
that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe-
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance.  Same goes for true love.
I believe-
that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe-
that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
I believe-
that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe-
that you can keep going long after you think you can't.
I believe-
that either you control your attitude or it controls you.
I believe-
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.
I believe-
that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I believe-
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I believe-
that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
I believe-
that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.
I believe-
that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry,
but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
I believe-
that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
I believe-
that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
I believe-
that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others.  Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
I believe-
that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.
I believe-
that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
I believe-
that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.
I believe-
that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
I believe-
that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I believe-
that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.
I believe-
that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you you will find the strength to help.
I believe-
that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
I believe-
that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

Send this to the people YOU BELIEVE In...
I just did.

"They that can give up essential liberty for a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety,"

- Benjamin Franklin

"Are you standing on a Whale, fishing for minnows?"

-  Polynesian saying quoted by Joseph Campbell (submitted by huzone)
If all difficulties were known
 at the outset of a long journey,
most of us would never start out at all.
--William F. Buckley, Jr.
On with dance; let joy be unconfined, whether there’s any dance to dance, or any joy to unconfine.

-  Mark Twain
Love your children enough
 to let them hate you for a while
--Carol Burnett

TOP STORY

[ www.advocate.com ]

* "I don't think America knows what a gay parent looks like--I am the gay parent," Rosie O'Donnell tells Diane Sawyer in her first in-depth interview about her sexuality.

The Latest AmFar Public Service Campaign:

90% of friction encountered in life is caused by
someone using the wrong tone of voice.
--unknown

We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.

-  William Gladstone (submitted by amberphoenix)

Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only
in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract
world can movement or change occur without that abrasive
friction of conflict.
--Saul Alinsky

Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death.

-  Earl Wilson (submitted by sherikka)

The depression era taught us that there is something
worse than being forced to work. It is being forced
not to work.
---Unknown

Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be.

-  Grandma Moses

Subject: Think it could be a "Best Seller"??????

Date: Wed, 04 Nov 1998 14:09:48 -0500

 

My Dearest Friends,

 

Well, by now quite a few chapters of my book have come across your desk. What do you think?  I don't think I need a therapist/counselor, the rest of my family does!!! There are two other important chapters that I am attaching to this message.  Then there is the only other chapter I've written that I don't have on the computer.  It is a letter that I wrote to my family in May, 1990 to try to explain how I was feeling and why.  It was addressed to my family and delivered via one of my sister's mailbox along with a copy of the book I refer to in the letter.  My Mom & Dad never saw it, cause it was kept from them.

 

Kevin and anyone else who may have already seen "The Requiem", may have received a copy of that 1990 letter when you received that.  If you didn't then let me know and I'll make sure you each get a copy of it.

 

I have not felt as free, excited, unburdened,  and optimistic about my

future as I do right now!!  I have decided that I am not going to stop

taking my medications.  Now that I know that I have a close circle of

friends that love and support me unconditionally as well as being

understanding of all the stuff I've talked about and I can count on when I need some help, I believe  I'll continue to run on.......without wasting time looking over my shoulders to see/hear what my family thinks.  It is time for me to take care of me first, and not worry about my family's hang-ups and trying to fix/change them!!!

 

Please write soon and let me know what you think of all that I've shared with you!!!

 

Love You Guys

Michael xoxoxoxoxoxoxo  

 

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. 

--Satchel Paige

There is a transcendent power in example. We reform others unconsciously when we walk uprightly.

-  Anne Sophie Swetchine
LORD, make me an instrument of thy PEACE;
     where there is hatred let me sow LOVE
   where there is injury PARDON
   where there is doubt FAITH
   where there is despair HOPE
   where there is darkness LIGHT
   and where there is sadness JOY!
              Prayer of St. Francis/Patron of P.A.W.S.
 

Footprints on the sands of time are never made by sitting down.
--Anonymous

"FIRST THINGS FIRST - EVERY DAY"

"BECAUSE WHERE YOU'RE HEADED is MORE IMPORTANT,

  THAN how FAST YOU'RE GOING."

DAILY REFLECTIONS by Stephen Covey..

Dear Abby: "Don't reserve love, flowers for the funeral

"Dear Abby: I live in a large apartment building.  Most of the tenants are upper middle class.

The gentleman who lived across the hall from me was a widower whose wife had passed away about eight or nine years ago.  He had many nieces, nephews and grandchildren, most of whom lived in this city, but he heard from them only when they sent postcards from their luxurious vacations.

This gentleman passed away two weeks ago.  I attended his funeral and was surprised to see so many people.  The number of elaborate floral arrangements  was unbelievable.

Abby, I felt like screaming at these people, "Where were you when this dear man sat alone in his apartment?"

Abby, if each of those relatives had taken him to their home for one weekend, his life would have been brightened considerably, and his gratitude would have been boundless.  CARING NEIGHBOR"

And Abby's reply to Caring Neighbor: "...a poem that might have brightened your neighbor's final years had someone in his family taken it to heart:

  "BRING ME ALL YOUR FLOWERS NOW"

I would rather have a single rose
From the garden of a friend,
Than have the choicest flowers
When my stay on earth must end.

I would rather have the kindest words
Which may now be said to me,
Than flattered when my heart is still
And this life has ceased to be.

I would rather have a loving smile
From the friends I know are true,
Than tears shed 'round my casket
When this world I've bade adieu!

Bring me all your flowers,
Whether pink, or white, or red.
I'd rather have one blossom now
Than a truckload when I'm dead!
 
Either write something worth reading
or do something worth writing.
--Ben Franklin
The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.

-  James Openheim

Laughter is an instant vacation.

--Milton Berle

Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today.

-  Mark Twain
Welcome to My "HOME"
The South Bank Beat
 

"Coming OUT of Hiding:

A Retrospective Journey Through AIDS..."

A Memoir * Michael Wallace Connett

"COPYRIGHT(c)2002":  "The Michael Wallace Connett-LIVING Trust"

"I used to be afraid of dying, but I'm not anymore.
I'm more afraid of what happens to the people who live..."
from "And The Band Played On"
Page last Revised/Up-dated: Monday, April 12, 2010 12:13 PM
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