Living Life to its Fullest!

7%

7% Written by a 90 year old

This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!! Make sure you read to the end!!!!!!

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short, enjoy it.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry, God never blinks.

16.. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19.. It's never too late to be happy. But its all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you need

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Its estimated 93% won't forward this. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%'.

I'm in the 7%. Friends are the family that we choose.

Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

~Hans Christian Andersen

Mindful Moment

Creating Balance
Today, we spend time thinking about our environments—at home and away—and find ways to make them more nourishing and peaceful.

Consider those things that you enjoy—the scents, sights, sounds—that bring calm to your mind and spirit, and warm your heart. With just a little bit of thought and effort, we can create environments that support our success and enable us to feel positive and alive. So, as you enjoy your home and work in your professional space, we encourage you to make those small, simple changes that will allow your environment to enhance your life.

Our centering thought for today is:

My outer world reflects my inner world.

We look forward to our time together today.

---

MINDFUL MOMENT

Take some time to examine your environment and consider those things you'd like to change. Perhaps it's time to sweep away some clutter, add fresh flowers, turn on some soothing music, or light a stick of incense. Remind yourself that your outer world is a reflection of your inner world and invite those elements into your environment that truly make you feel good inside.

Be Unique!

 "We wonder, What am I to do with my life? What is my purpose here? Does God have a calling on my life? God answers these questions through our natural gifts and abilities. He leads us to our purpose through the natural skills and unique talents He bestows upon us. God-given gifts are the skills a person easily performs without formal training. We derive great pleasure from doing what we are naturally good at doing.

If you aren't sure of your purpose just do what you do well, and then watch God confirm you by blessing your endeavors. Don't spend your life trying to do what you are not gifted to do. God keeps our world in balance by giving each of us natural talent and pleasure in doing what needs to be done for the good of everyone around us.

We know we are operating in our gifts and calling when what we do ministers LIFE to others. If what we do makes us miserable and fills us with a sense of dread, it's possible we are not in God's perfect will. God gives us peace and joy to let us know we are fulfilling His perfect plan.

I encourage you to look at what you enjoy, what you're good at, what God is giving you grace to do-and then let God be God in your life. He wants to flow through you in many different ways, but it may not be the same way He flows through others. Trust His ability in and through you, and don't be afraid to be UNIQUE".

Ask Ruby!

God's Best Gifts

Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts.

Celebrating Black History Month

1. In March 2008, the United Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination condemned what it found to be racial disparities in the death penalty and in the sentencing of youth to life without parole for crimes committed when they were under 18, a practice the committee wants stopped. The committee called on authorities to take steps, including a freeze on the death penalty, to root out racial bias.
2. A 2007 Yale University of Law study revealed that African-American defendants receive death penalty at three times the rate of white defendants in cases where the victims are white. In addition, killers of white victims are treated more severely than people who kill minorities, when it comes to deciding what charges to bring.
3. Since 1977, the overwhelming majority of death row defendants have been executed for killing white victims, although African-Americans make up about half of all homicide victims. African Americans account for one in three people executed since 1977.
4. The U.S. “war on drugs” disproportionately targets urban minority neighborhoods. Two national reports released in early 2008 found that although whites commit more drug offenses, African Americans are arrested and imprisoned on drug charges at much higher rates.
5. The increase in the annual number of black arrests was greater than in the annual number of white arrests: black drug arrests were 4.8 times greater in 2007 than in 1980.
6. The Human Rights Watch discovered that across 34 states studied, most drug offenders are white, yet a black man is 11.8 times more likely than a white man to be sent to prison on drug charges, and a black woman is 4.8 times more likely than a white woman.
7. Studies of discrimination in housing markets reveal that African American or Latino/a testers experience some form of differential treatment roughly half of the time. Even the most conservative measures reveal that at least 25% of the time there will be discrimination in many important types of behavior by rental or real estate agents.

Exercise and eat good food to improve our over all health

Need Advice?

Life’s Interruptions

As we are going about our business and something new, unplanned, many times unpleasant, comes and takes us off the planned course were on, or are on – Life’s Interruptions.

What do I do when life throws me a curveball?

What do I do when things don’t go as I have planned?

--Life’s Interruptions

Ask Ruby  

Exercise and eat good food to improve our over all health. 

Dear Ruby:

Please explain to my wife and me why exercise is essential, and the benefits of eating good food as we enter midlife. I continue to tell her that we need to sustain our regular exercise routines and eat wholesome food now that we are both becoming less activity since our early retirements.    

--Ed in East Orange, NJ

Dear Ed:

Exercise is as important to a healthy body as is good food. Preventing symptoms and the associated problems of aging involves more than what we do or do not eat.  To be well prepared for midlife, we must engage in some form of physical exercise.  “Virtually all the evidence we have points in the same direction.   “Exercise makes us healthier and may impact longevity.  It is worthwhile to become more aggressive in using exercise to improve overall health.”  I must add, if we want strong bones to support our frame and firm muscles to protect our internal organs when we reach 50 (midlife) we should start our program early in life and maintain and sustain our exercise through out our life.  But, it is never too late to benefit from exercise; quite the contrary, with conditioning, we can have stronger muscles at 50 (midlife) than we did at 25. Remember, optimum results come from planned preparation, not last minute desperation. Consider the following list:

Benefits of Sustained, Regular Exercise

·        Improves circulation, reduces fatigue, creates energy, and increases our capacity for handling stress.

·        Exercise is a practical way to treat every day stress. It can reduce depression and give us a feeling of well-being.

·        Regular exercise can prolong life.

·        For each hour of physical activity, we can expect to live that hour over, and live one or more to boot.

·        Physical activity stimulates digestion and increases the absorption of nutrients.

·        Exercise helps you sleep soundly.

·        This one is for your wife: Studies show that active women have appreciably more vitamin C and iron in their bloodstreams than   sedentary women.

·        Another one for your wife:  For women, exercise can bring the hormones to a normal level, greatly reducing hot flashes.

·        The last one for your wife:  Exercise helps the adrenal glands to balance female hormones, such as, estrogen, during and  after menopause, allowing for a smoother transition.

·        Exercise is vital to weight control:  it diminishes the appetite, burns calories, build muscle, and speeds up body metabolism.

Your wife and you should make sure that what you choose is something you want to pursue and can easily incorporate into your lives.

Note: we can not eat the same amount of calories as we get older and maintain our same weight.  In other to keep the same weight we must ingest fewer calories, become more physically active, or both to derive permanent benefits, also we must continue a regular exercise program for the rest of your lives.

Dr.  Ruby Mae Chapman, Napolean & Ada Moton Chapman Institute, Life Coach     

The Wisdom of Sharing

As I sat in Morocco, among the Berber People and listened!
One day long ago a Sufi Master was near death, and wanted to make sure his three disciples would come under the guidance of another Sufi Master after he passed away.  He had accumulated 17 camels during his life, so he laid down the following instructions for his disciples:

“On my death, the three of you shall divide my 17 camels in the following proportions: the eldest disciple shall have half of them, the middle in age disciple shall have one-third, and the youngest shall have one-ninth.” 

He died soon after writing this bequest, leaving the disciples in a dilemma, so they sought out advice from learned men for how to interpret these instructions.  Someone told them just to make the nearest possible division, while another told them to own the camels communally until they reproduced.  A clever trader said they should just sell the camels and divide the proceeds among themselves, and a wizened old judge advised them that the bequest was null and void because it couldn’t be executed.

The three disciples weren’t happy with any of these suggestions, sensing that their master must have had some deeper and more helpful lesson in mind for them.  But what exactly was that lesson?

Lesson 1: Remain Open-Minded

One obvious lesson the disciples learned from their master’s instructions was that seeking advice and wisdom from others will always broaden their perspectives.  No one ever has a monopoly on the truth, no matter how quick or smart they are.  Genuine wisdom requires humility in the face of life’s many complexities, so a wise person not only knows how to tolerate and learn from different points of view but actually seeks them out.

This is as true in life.  Very few decisions ever involve Absolute Truth.  A decision almost always boils down to a matter of opinion.  Not only that, but the actual outcome of any decision will have just as much to do with the random and unforeseen events that surround it as with the intellectual prowess of the decision-maker, so always be prepared for the unexpected. 

Something else the disciples learned was patience.  Their dilemma was significant, and they certainly wanted to resolve it, but there was no urgency to the issue.  And for today, learning how to be patient is perhaps more important than ever before, given the fast pace of life and the proliferation of information and techology.  Every time your mind is refreshed it produces a new batch of issues commanding your immediate attention.  Figuring out not just how to prioritize, but how to “let go” of the unimportant issues while showing patience for the truly important ones is a skill that will always comes in handy for most bottom-line obsessed, goal-oriented, time-stressed up-and-comers today.

The Dilemma Resolved

In the end, our three disciples did find the answer to their Master’s challenge.  After much searching, a wise old man solved the riddle for them:

“Although I only have one camel myself, I will lend it to you so you now have 18.  The eldest disciple should then be given one-half of these, which is 9. The middle disciple should get one-third, or 6, and the youngest disciple should get one-ninth, or 2.  That will leave just one camel, which is mine, and you can return it to me.”

This was how the three disciples found their new Sufi Master.  It also taught them one final lesson.

Lesson 3: Share

Sharing with others is a natural human urge, and it is becoming an increasingly vital idea as the cost of interacting continues to plummet. The urge to share comes largely from the human instinct for empathy, and  empathy and trust are becoming ever more important to people as we become more and more technologically connected.  It is the human instinct for sharing that drives our willingness to create  So think carefully about how your own  family’ and your friends’urge for you  share might be used to benefit your life in the e-social age.  How can you do a better job empathizing with your family and friends?  

Sharing comes from empathy, and for a family/friend,empathy is the ultimate form of love and insight.   

Ancient lessons can often be very useful even in modern situations.  Technology may gallop along, but wisdom is timeless.