The Native American View on Life & Death

You live on earth only for a few short years
which you call an incarnation,
and then you leave your body as an outworn dress
and go for refreshment to your true home in the spirit.
~ White Eagle 

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view,  and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death,
so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
~ Chief Tecumseh (Crouching Tiger) Shawnee Nation 1768-1813

Buddha’s View on Life & Death

The secret of health for both mind and body
is not to mourn for the past,
not to worry about the future,
or not to anticipate troubles,
but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
~ Buddha

You are today where your thoughts have brought you?
You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.
—James Allen

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.
—Patricia Neal

Act as if what you do makes a difference.
It does.
—William James, 1842-1910, Psychologist, Professor and Author

Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a year’s time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody. No, let us devote our life to worthwhile actions and feelings, to great thoughts, real affections and enduring undertakings.  
—Andre Maurois, 1885-1967, Writer

No matter how small and unimportant what we are doing may seem, if we do it well, it may soon become the step that will lead us to better things.
—Channing Pollock, Actor, Writer and Composer

In the final analysis, the questions of why bad things happen to good people transmutes itself into some very different questions, no longer asking why something happened, but asking how we will respond, what we intend to do now that it happened.
—Harold S. Kushner, Rabbi, Author of When Bad Things Happen To Good People

Be the change you want to see in the world.
—Mahatma Gandhi
 
Life is our greatest possession and love its greatest affirmation.
—Leo Buscaglia

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. Give your dreams all you’ve got and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.
—William James, 1842-1910, Psychologist, Professor and Author

There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.
—Clare Boothe Luce, 1902-1987, American Diplomat and Writer

Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are.
—Norman Vincent Peale

No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change.
—Barbara DeAngelis, Author

One of the very first things I figured out about life…is that it’s better to be a hopeful person than a cynical, grumpy one, because you have to live in the same world either way, and if you’re hopeful, you have more fun.
—Barbara Kingsolver

One of the secrets of getting more done is to make a TO DO List every day, keep it visible, and use it as a guide to action as you go through the day.
- Alan Lakein, Time Management Expert and Author

A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.
- Anonymous

Most of us miss out on life’s big prizes.  The Pulitzer.  The Nobel.  Oscars.  Tonys.  Emmys.  But we’re all eligible for life’s small pleasures. A pat on the back.  A kiss behind the ear.  A four-pound bass.  A full moon.  An empty parking space.  A crackling fire.  A great meal. A glorious sunset.  Hot soup.  Cold beer.
- Anonymous

Continuous effort—not strength or intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential.
- Sir Winston Churchill

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 (1872-1933), United States President
Presidential message (December 25, 1927)

Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first.
~George Matthew Adams

Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it "white."
~Bing Crosby

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?
~Bob Hope, American film actor and comedian

My Christmas wish is that we will continue to be thoughtful throughout the year.
~Patti LaBelle

At this time of year, when the sun is most hidden, the holiday of Hanukkah celebrates the rays of hope and light… At such times, we yearn for the sun, and the light and warmth that it provides. Often, it is through simple and unrecognized miracles that we are able to feel the warmth of hope and light.
~Rabbi Rafael Goldstein

Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.
~Marianne Williamson, Author of A Return To Love

The lights of the Hanukkah menorah that we kindle in our homes are a reminder both of the Menorah in the Temple in Jerusalem and the light that shines brightly within each one of us.
~Libi Astair

When a person is "being with" or "present in the moment" their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual "being-nesses" are in the same place at the same time.
~Brian Klemmer

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.
~Roy L. Smith

Giving really starts to be better than receiving. I guess that’s a sign of growing up.
~Jewel

Home is familiar and filled with tradition. It’s aunts, uncles, cousins and lifelong friends.
~Brian Naylor

Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.
~Johnny Carson
 
I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six.
Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.
~Shirley Temple

Once again, we come to the holiday season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.
~Dave Barry

There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
~Erma Bombeck

It is the personal thoughtfulness, the warm human awareness, the reaching out of the self to one’s fellow man that makes giving worthy of the Christmas spirit.
~Isabel Currier

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."   
~Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993)
Pastor, Speaker and Author

For Yuletide quotations, stories, poems, traditions and treasures, see the book Heart of the Holidays, by Sheryl Roush

Heart of the Holidays book is available only here with a BONUS MUSIC CD of Christmas and Hanukkah selections, by talented pianist Laurie Z., and beloved actor Jack Palance.

My basic principle is that you don’t make decisions because they are easy;
you don’t make them because they are cheap;
you don’t make them because they’re popular;
you make them because they’re right.
—Theodore Hesburgh

Find what you love to do.
Find your  passion.
Know what makes you want to get up in the morning, that’s all you need.
—Condoleeza Rice

Every decision you make – every decision – is not a decision about what to do. It’s a decision about Who You Are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do.
—Neale Donald Walsch
Author of Conversations With God

Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself. You may be surprised at how easily this happens. Your doubts are not as powerful as your desires, unless you make them so.  
—Marcia Wieder

There are two ways of meeting difficulties; you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them.
—Phyllis Bottome

Life isn’t about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.
—George Bernard Shaw

When the vision on the inside becomes more compelling and powerful than what is observed on the outside, then the universe is at your command.
—James Arthur Ray

A man’s fortune must first be changed from within.
—Chinese Proverb

Success comes from taking the initiative and following up… persisting… eloquently expressing the depth of your love. What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?
—Anthony Robbins

In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
—Eric Hoffer

When we can begin to take our failures seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves.
—Katherine Mansfield

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
—Winston Churchill

Your self image is your pattern!
Every thought has an activity visualized.
Every activity belongs to a pattern.
You identify with your pattern or thought.
Your patterns leads your life.
—J G Gallimore

Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you;
Be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.
—W. Clement Stone

If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it, even if I did not have the ability in the beginning.
—Mahatma Gandhi

It’s the little things you do that can make a big difference. What are you attempting to accomplish? What little thing can you do today that will make you more effective? You are probably only one step away from greatness.
—Bob Proctor, The Secret

Listen to that voice inside you that says you can accomplish anything. Trust that feeling that tells you, you can achieve all that you hope for. Believe that everything you want is waiting for you. Hold on to the knowledge that nothing is impossible. Remember that each person who has ever achieved a goal started out with only a dream.
—Jason Blume 

Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
—Art Linkletter

Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities.
Seize common occasions and make them great.
—Orison Swett Marden

Make each day useful and cheerful and prove that you know the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be happy, old age without regret and life a beautiful success.
—Louisa May Alcott

Most successful people begin with two beliefs:
the future can be better than the present,
and I have the power to make it so.
—David Brooks

Don’t ask what the world needs.
Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
—Howard Thurman

If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.
—John D. Rockefeller

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
—Sir Winston Churchill

Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can — there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.
—Sarah Caldwell

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
—Lewis L. Dunnington

When we are willing to surrender who we think we "should" be, true freedom is revealed and acceptance of "what is" becomes paramount.

~Rhonda Britten
Fearless Year E-Book
www.FearlessLiving.org

For dear Old Glory, you are indeed a joyful gift for us to behold,
As you picturesquely narrate a story that is remarkably told.
For you are priceless treasure and I love and admire you,
With emotions, words and sentiments that are loving true.

A woman is a full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform.
—Diane Mariechild

A woman’s heart can always stretch to hold a little more.
—Rosalie Ferrer Kramer

You were born a woman and Earth is your kingdom.
What are you waiting for?
—Maruja Basalo

I am a sensible and sentimental woman.
I receive great love and celestial peace
from our loving Almighty God
that beautifies me inside.
—Consuleo Sanchez

If things are not going well with you, begin your effort at correcting the situation by carefully examining the service you are rendering, and especially the spirit in which you are rendering it. 
—Roger Babson, 1875-1967, Statistician and Columnist

I was worthless, until I decided to be worth more.
—Kim Jeffery, Career Woman

Character is the root of the tree;
conduct is the fruit it bears.

- E.M. Bounds