Many of you met Jonathan Livingston Seagull many years ago, in a little book with a very big message. Well it is time for rediscovery. Here is a trailer for the movie, with a song by Neil Diamond. Please enjoy this edition of Beautiful Summer Morning Sunday Inspirational Video
Enjoy this Sunday with your family and friends around you.
Nick
Inspirational+Video, Jonathan+Livingston+Seagull, Neil+Diamond
© Baloncici - Fotolia.com
Mother’s Day is very special, and even more so this year with the passing of my Mum. That’s why I have included the story below.
A Mother’s Rose
A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.
He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars.”
The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.”
He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers.
As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home.
She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.”
She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.
The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.
Author Unknown
Please enjoy this special time with your Mother whether she is still here on this beautiful earth, or if she has past beyond to the joy of creation.
My Mother taught me to walk in quiet places, and to stop and enjoy the flowers. With Love Always,
Nick
Mother’s+Day, Stories, Inspirational+Articles
Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
Here is the Excerpt:
The inspiring account of one man’s campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia
In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time—Greg Mortenson’s one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.
Award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin has collaborated on this spellbinding account of Mortenson’s incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are often feared and hated. In pursuit of his goal, Mortenson has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself. At last count, his Central Asia Institute had built fifty-five schools. Three Cups of Tea is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world—one school at a time.
Here is a link to Wikipedia for Three Cups of Tea
Here is a link to Digital Doorway and another author’s review of the book; Digital Doorway
This Weeks Top Five Books as Selected by Beautiful Summer Morning from Amazon’s top 100 Best Sellers List
Week Ending May 10th 2008
1. The Last Lecture
2. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
3.Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
4. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
5.Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Important Note: If you are interested in any of the books above, please click on the links to Amazon.com as I receive a small commission for every book you purchase from my links. The money earned goes to help pay the bills for running this site. Thank You.
The Oprah Book Club Podcasts
The link below takes you to the Video on Demand page where you can click and watch all ten lessons in “A New Earth”
series of webcasts.
I strongly recommend these lessons as some of the best inspirational material available in any media. Save the link to your favorites, and go back each week to view the next lesson. The best way to do this is to read the book first, then
go back and reread the chapter the lesson is about before you view it. You will be so rewarded if you do this.
I watched lesson ten the other night. To see these two power houses together talking about spirituality is the most awesome sight. These I will go back to many, many times.
Get Inspired. Read a Book.
Nick
Randy+Paush, Eckhart+Tolle, Greg+Mortenson, Elizabeth+Gilbert, Top+Five+Inspirational+Books, Book+Reviews, inspirational+books, Oprah,
© Matthew Bowden - Fotolia.com
Editor’s Note: Susan sent me this note after she learned of my Mother’s Death. I appreciated the article and the inspiration found within , and asked her permission to publish her words here. I thank her for sharing and I hope you will find something comforting or uplifting in these words.
Nick
Losing Loved Ones by Susan Brearley
Losing loved ones affects us all in different ways. For me it seemed to create a huge hole in the world that could not be filled. I felt like an orphan and an elder all at the same time. Living without them in our lives was too painful for words, but it was some time before I actually processed all that you do when someone passes.
From that time to this the thing that really struck me was that the little things that used to irritate me no longer did, (there were more important things to be concerned about). When someone extended a thoughtful gesture it meant a whole lot more than ever before and the unhealthy dramas that people created in life began to seem like such a waste of time.
In a few days I will have lived for 50 years and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that my self worth has returned and I am ready for the world. I could say that I’m a little wiser but have found that the more I learn the less I know. I have reached the stage of the elder, self worth intact and heart open. I carry with me the love and generosity bestowed upon me as I was growing and know that it needs to be shared. I am a lucky one; there is no gift greater than being loved from the time you were born. I know that there will be more challenges and life will not always be easy but I am ok with that. What magic is this that I should come to this place now?
If you have lost someone in your life through death or even separation I hope you will know that it’s ok to lose yourself for a while but that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and bigger rewards than you could dream of right now. Most important of all, love is never really lost it is held in our hearts; inherited from those who loved us; waiting to be shared .
Inspirational+Article, Loss, wisdom, healing
Photo Courtesy of Janet Trickett Merryman Janet’s Website is: www.zazzle.com/oceana,
The greatest gift that you could ever give another is the gift of your expectation of their success.
There are as many different worlds as there are perceivers, Beings, or individuals. You are not here to create one world where everyone is the same, wanting and getting the same. You are here to be that which you want to be, while you allow all others to be that which they want to be.
Source: The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks
This is a strong argument for tolerance. This is an appeal for us to embrace our differences as a source of wonder and celebration. Think about how the world would look if we could get to the ideal of the quote.
I want to share with you something that happened to me early this morning.
The Story of the Robin
I watched a Robin this morning.. He landed on my neighbor’s tin roof. I noticed him because he seemed to be struggling, unable to get much lift. He stood on the tin roof with his back to me. His body expanding and contracting as he fought to catch his breath. I felt concerned for him until I noticed a twig, more than twice as long as his body and fairly weighty for a bird of his size. He meant to get the twig to his nest.
As I watched he recovered and began to look around. After careful consideration he took off for the next landing spot on his journey to the nest. Clearly the twig effected his flying ability.
I flashed on his spark of life as he flew off. I marveled at his determination to create the best nest for the new life about to manifest in this physical reality.
I realized that the size of that spark of life made no difference. We both carried within us a part of the full manifestation of life spread across the vast sea of eternity.I felt humbled and small and magnificently enormous all at once.
I felt his joy and my joy blend into one moment of splendor for us both.
A message from the universe?
Walk always in a place of stillness.
Nick
Esther+and+Jerry+Hicks, Teaching+of+Abraham, quote, famous+quotes, Law+of+Attraction, tolerance, gifts, robins, life
Photo Courtesy of Pauline DeForest Garden at the Cottage
“Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as reality. To me, defeat in anything is merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to greater effort to achieve my goal. Defeat simply tells me that something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading to success and truth.”
Source: Bruce Lee 1940-1973, Martial Artist, Actor and Author
As I waited for my car to get its oil change, I went to a nearby restaurant to have breakfast where I perused the newspaper. The story I came across reminded me of this quote.
The story was one in a series of stories that profiled recipients of “The Courage to Come Back Awards” sponsored by the Coast Mental Health Foundation.
The profile looks at the life of a now, 18 year old man, who at the age of seven meet with tragedy. Playing in his back yard with a friend he tugged on a clothesline which released a large wooden post holding up the line which fell and hit this man in the back of the head.
The doctors told him and his mother that he would never be able to walk, talk or eat again.
But because he did not accept defeat as reality he can talk and eat and too a limited degree, using a walker he can walk. He is still mainly confined to a wheel chair. Yet he is a living miracle of the power of staying positive.
In the profile he is quoted as saying; “I look at myself now and think. wow, what an accomplishment. The doctors said I’d never be able to walk, talk, eat. I made it through the pain and the struggles to this day.”
The young man is an extreme example of the quote. Just think what you could do with a no quit, no defeat attitude.
This Tuesday, write in your journal about a time you felt defeated and how you reacted to that. How would you approach the situation now?
Have a defeatless Tuesday.
Nick
Today’s Links
Here is the link for more info about “Courage to Come Back Awards”
As a fitting example of our quote today here is a video “Never Give Up”
Bruce+Lee, Quotes, Famous+Quote, Matial+Arts, Actor, Author, Defeat,
Courtesy of Terry Gorley: Helmcken Falls: Terry’s Website: Merv’s Miracle Mall
In order to effect true positive change in your experience, you must disregard how things are — as well as how others are seeing you — and give more of your attention to the way you prefer things to be.
Source: The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks
We often complain about the way things are or wail about how difficult things are unaware that we are keeping these things in place by focusing on them. We do the same when we worry about how some else sees, You then start living you life to fit someone else’s view of you and you become completely lost.
When you focus on what you would like to see, and who you might be then you begin to evolve toward that realty.
Enjoy this Monday as you would want to enjoy it.
Nick
Esther+and+Jerry+Hicks, Teaching+of+Abraham, quote, famous+quotes, Law+of+Attraction
I stumbled upon this recording quite by “accident” last week while I was searching for last weeks Inspirational Video. I wanted to hear the original version of the song sung by Jeff Buckley and written by Leonard Cohen. After I listened to Jeff Buckley, I didn’t think anyone else could do as good a job. I went on to hear about four other versions done by various male artists and decided Hallelujah adapted well to most voices though I still liked Jeff Buckley’s the best. Then I thought, “Why not try a female vocalist?” I listen to a two recordings that I liked, then I listen to K. D. Lang and the rest as they say is history. This is one amazing performance. Just listen to the audience all the way through this song.
This is stirring inspirational stuff; just the performance alone is worth the few minutes of your time, but the song stirs emotions and you will be swept away.
What more could you ask for in a Song? For you to enjoy.
Have a wonderful Sunday with family and friends. And remember to take a walk in a quiet place today.
Nick
K+D.+Lang, Hallelujah, Sunday+Inspirational+Video, Inspirational+Video, Video, Music, Song
I first posted The Last Lecture here under the Inspirational Video Category on February 24 (here is the link for the video http://beautifulsummermorning.com/2008/02/24/randy-pausch-sunday-video/ ). The video has now been viewed by over six million people, and now Randy Pausch’s book remains high on the Amazon best sellers list. This can be an uncomfortable video to watch and it is the longest video I’ve posted. However I highly recommend you view this amazing video.
Other Links to Randy Pausch:
http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/
Top Five Inspirational Books for Weekending May 3 2008
1. The Last Lecture
2. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
3. 21 Distinctions of Wealth: Attract the Abundance You Deserve
4. HARMONIC WEALTH: THE SECRET OF ATTRACTING THE LIFE YOU WANT
5. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
There you have it for this week. We have two new best sellers both focused on the Law of Attraction. As always, if you are interested in any of these books please follow my link to Amazon where I get a small commission if you purchase. Amazon has the best prices around, and ship quickly.
Book Review
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson
Death is an uncomfortable subject in our society. “Tuesdays with Morrie”, deals with a young man’s struggle to come to terms with the death of his beloved professor, while the professor explores the country of his own death from Lou Gehrig’s disease.
The book opens with these beautiful simple lines:
The last class of my Old Professor’s life took place once a week in house, by a window in the study where he could watch a small hibiscus plant shed its pink leaves. The class met on Tuesdays. It began after breakfast. The subject was The Meaning of Life. It was taught from experience.
Over the course of fourteen Tuesdays Mitch Albom and Morrie discuss a wide range of topics; the World, Feeling Sorry for Yourself, Regrets, Death, Family, Emotions, Fear of Aging, Money, Love, Marriage, Our Culture, Forgiveness, The Perfect Day, Saying Good Bye.
While Morrie’s death becomes more immanent with each passing Tuesday, their relationship becomes more and more intimate, pushing the author to examine his own attitudes toward death.
Morrie faces his death with determination to “live” his death as fully as he can. He decided in the early stages of his illness that he would not “wither and die”. He would not be ashamed of dying. He decided to make death his final project, his final piece of research. As Mitch Albom puts it so beautifully, “Morrie would walk the final bridge between life and death, and narrate the trip.
Some of Morrie’s wisdom:
“Love is the only rational act.”
“Learn how to die and your learn how to live.”
“Death ends a life not a relationship.”
This book is not a about dressing up death to make it accessible , but rather a gritty, frank look at the realities of dying and the lessons it teaches us about ourselves and about life.
In the end Morrie, through his courage and bravery, rises above the ravishes of Lou Gehrig’s disease, to inspire us to view death, and our own certain death, in a more open and loving way.
The professor’s class teaches us all valuable lessons about life of which death is an important part.
Highly Recommended
Nick Grimshawe
Randy+Pausch, Mitch+Albom, Book+Review, Inspirational+books, Eckhart+Tolle, Peggy+McColl, James+Arthur+Ray
All Photos courtesy of Noy
TWO ANGELS ON A PERFECT DAY
By Noy
Editor’s Note: Noy is a frequent guest writer for these pages. All her other articles can be found in the side bar under The Beautiful Summer Morning Diary of Noy.
I had an alfresco breakfast in the back verandah while watching the two adorable Darlings (my dog and her girlfriend) happily run around, occasionally inspecting their precious commodities (bones) to see if they are still sitting intact where they hid them. The grass was just freshly cut and all the overgrown bushes had been nicely pruned, a meter off the fence height. The whole backyard seem to really be rejoicing its new-found civility, once again.
All my dwarf shrubs and perennials welcomed the idea, boastfully showing off their multi-colored blooms. And this time, they were in their dominance, while the green bushes are awaiting their next stage of being in power again. I saw some galas (gray and pink) hovering from the neighboring trees to ours. There must have been 30-35 other bird species perched from the roof of my grevilleas. They are the regular residents in our property. There seemed to be endless feed all around, this could have been due to the clearing done by the gardener. It was feast time!
I very much enjoyed the blissful atmosphere, decided to pour another cup of coffee and saturated the rest of the morning - just pondering on how perfect the day had been. No laptop, no newspaper, no telephone, no music. Just purely coffee, the dogs and the peacefulness of the backyard.
Solitude does give me a serene feeling of oneness with myself and nature… often incorporating the two together, no boundaries between. I closed my eyes often to reflect on life - the joy, the sadness, the realization that life
itself is, indeed, a circle. The emotion that goes with it passes a certain height and goes back to how it had been. Weighing the lot, I figured out - it was not bad, after all.
The sun just peeked through the remaining pompous eucalyptus trees, its rays broken into smaller scales and gave me an overwhelming instant joy as it radiated and sprinkled its subtle brilliance onto my face. Loved it! It is mid-spring and the skies are but perfect. A promise that all things are turning out well. In perfect order. It’s a clear day and it’s like seeing nice and bright things … forever.
The freshly-cut grass seemed to be at its green most. Also happy to have been given a nice shave, saturating itself with the last drops of the morning dew. It gives me a good calming effect, to sniff the morning breeze - calm and pleasant, almost as still as the native trees which occasionally have its leaves ruffled by dozens of birds fluttering in and out with their endearing rhapsodies. It’s a real music to the ear. Pure bliss! A real perfect day; blue skies, green grass, mild-scented dainty blooms, tropical plants of lush greens and majestic canopies of the mighty native trees. Two kindred spirits tirelessly running up and about. Just divine! Definitely Priceless.
My mornings this past week had been the best since. I’m still dog-sitting and these two sweet creatures seemed like my guiding lines each time. As soon as I do my morning rituals, they seem to be in tune. I clap, they jump. Out loud
I’d say, “I’m having a great day!” And they run around like a pair of pumped up engines. And my very own engine is so pumped as well.
When I had my friend’s dog the first day, I was not in a good frame of mind. I just had a very hectic and tiring day before … and just barely spent 2 hours asleep. Compared to my dog, this little one is a real handful. But I took it
as a challenge, an opportunity to toss out the obstacle. So, instead of getting cranky while these two “mongrels” have a “go” at each other, I redesigned the situation myself. I talked to them like civilized people, called their respective names and told them to do what has to be done. I even praised them for being “good girls” and gave them little treats after. This really did the trick. And I still chant my healing music which always (magically) pacifies both of them. Heaven!
Mornings are always spent with me in the backyard, with my sought-after soliloquy. And the later afternoons are done with little walks up and down the road. I found one very funny but interesting way of getting them bound. I
attached a 3-metre long leash to both their individual collars and let them run up to our letterbox and back. I do throw the ball, here and there, for a change … makes life for these two more interesting. They, of course, try to
outdo each other; nevertheless, they do enjoy it. The little one is always an escape artist, so this method keeps her at bay. When they get tired, they just take their time walking and march like wasted soldiers … depleted from the
war. Always a good sight. So funny, so lovely.
I know there would be more fun ahead. I better leave things at its height, marveling at it at the moment. With all positivity, I look forward to another exciting day - days of savoring each precious time with them. I’ll momentarily
exit again and come back with a more energy-filled journal - some more episodes of my dalliance with the simple beauty all around. As I always tell myself, I smell it and I live it. I love it and it loves me, in return.
Enjoy your beautiful summer morning.
Keep smiling … I am,
Noy
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