Gets tough

A leader, once convinced that a particular course of action is the right one, must....be undaunted when the going gets tough.

Ronald Reagan

Home Range

The bees learn where they live by landmarks. If they're moved within their home range, they get confused.  

Gene Robinson

To ride

It is not enough for a man to know how to ride; he must know how to fall. 

~Mexican Proverb

De Vivre



God loved the birds and invented trees.

Man loved the birds and invented cages.

Don't Quit

Don't Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high;
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;And you can never tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems afar.
So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things go wrong that you mustn't quit.

The Will

The Will To Win

If you want a thing bad enough
To go out and fight for it,
Work day and night for it,
Give up your time and your peace and
your sleep for it

If only desire of it
Makes you quite mad enough
Never to tire of it,
Makes you hold all other things tawdry
and cheap for it

If life seems all empty and useless without it
And all that you scheme and you dream is about it,

If gladly you'll sweat for it,
Fret for it, Plan for it,
Lose all your terror of God or man for it,

If you'll simply go after that thing that you want.
With all your capacity,
Strength and sagacity,
Faith, hope and confidence, stern pertinacity,

If neither cold poverty, famished and gaunt,
Nor sickness nor pain
Of body or brain
Can turn you away from the thing that you want,

If dogged and grim you besiege and beset it,
You'll get it!

-- Berton Braley

but Friction

It is not work that kills men, it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more on a man than he can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade. It is not movement that destroys the machinery, but friction.

Henry Ward Beecher

Abode Before

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.

Albert Einstein

Do not...

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.

Benjamin Franklin

More than

Years teach us more than books.

Berthold Auerbach

The first...

The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others.

Solomon Ibn Gabriol

What happened?

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

You Design

47.4 km from Sohar

Happiness is not something you postpone for the future;

 it is something you design for the present.

Jim Rohn

Make choices

“A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes”.
Gandhi

If we have the power to shape our thoughts then we can do and become whatever we decide to think about. The amazing part is that we do have this incredible ability to make choices. Deciding to choose who we are is exciting. Once we can do this we are able to break through the clutter.

241 km

The great pleasure  in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

W. Bagehot

Each Day

 Each Day

D Anthony

With each day I find myself changing
This life has become less simple now
The world around moves at a frantic pace

 

For me each day seems to slow down

I believed the answers were in my grasp
In those younger, innocent years gone by

I knew exactly what I wanted out of life
Conviction and dreams were in great supply

But something derailed me along the way

 

Something unexpected, far from sublime
My life is changing right before my eyes
I have begun to realize the passing of time

What was important has now lost significance
Like lofty ambitions that guided each day
My Christmas list grows shorter every year

 

My inner circle of friends seem further away

I care, but how much I'm not always certain
Indecision used to be terrain I did not know

 

Now that's where I frequently find myself
Often now, faith determines my life's flow

As bleak as the picture seems sometimes

 

I must see the good things along the way
I remember happy is mostly perspective
The sun sets, I smile, soon comes a new day

_____

 

(Attitude is everything - Remember.. This too shall pass.)

Omani Costume

The national dress for Omani men is a simple, ankle-length, collarless gown with long sleeves called the dishdasha. The colour most frequently worn is white, although a variety of other colours such as black, blue, brown and lilac can also be seen. Its main adornment is a tassel (furakha) sewn into the neckline, which can be impregnated with perfume. Underneath the dishdasha, a plain piece of cloth covering the body is worn from the waist down. Omani men may wear a variety of head dresses. The muzzar is a square of finely woven woollen or cotton fabric, wrapped and folded into a turban. Underneath this, the kummar, an intricately embroidered cap.

http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/men_dress.asp?cat=cult

25,550 Days

sunrise

 daytime

sunset

If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day till eternity passes away, just to spend them with you.

 

Jim Croce

Beautiful dreamer

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away!

Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng.

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,
Mermaids are chaunting the wild lorelie;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.

Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Stephen Foster

Smooth Path

Life is not a level, smooth path, but rather a series of hills and valleys.

Time is

Time is the very essence of life.

Ya Oki

"Nana korobi ya oki"

Simple Things

Make up your mind to be happy. 

Learn to find pleasure in simple things.  

Cheers.

Is Change

"Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely."

Karen Kaiser Clark

Bull Fighting

Bull fighting arena where the bloodless bull fight still takes place is not be missed during a trip to Oman where Brahmin bulls of a similar size are pitted against each other in a boisterous battle. The fight is fairly short, but enthusiastically received by the audience, and the bulls suffer little or no injury.

Bulls were traditionally brought into the Middle East for heavy labour, such as for pulling ploughs and turning waterwheels. With tractors and machine-driven water pumps, the traditional role of the bull has diminished, while the popularity of the bull-fighting sport has increased amongst expatriates and locals alike.

It is difficult to pin point when bullfights will occur as they can be quite spontaneous affairs. On the whole, they are held on holidays and celebration days, either early in the morning, or late afternoon, when it is cooler.  http://www.omanet.om/english/tourism/sports/camel.asp

The Passage

Birds of Passage

Black shadows fall
From the lindens tall,
That lift aloft their massive wall
Against the southern sky;

And from the realms
Of the shadowy elms
A tide-like darkness overwhelms
The fields that round us lie.

But the night is fair,
And everywhere
A warm, soft vapor fills the air,
And distant sounds seem near;

And above, in the light
Of the star-lit night,
Swift birds of passage wing their flight
Through the dewy atmosphere.

I hear the beat
Of their pinions fleet,
As from the land of snow and sleet
They seek a southern lea.

I hear the cry
Of their voices high
Falling dreamily through the sky,
But their forms I cannot see.

Oh, say not so!
Those sounds that flow
In murmurs of delight and woe
Come not from wings of birds.

They are the throngs
Of the poet's songs,
Murmurs of pleasures, and pains, and wrongs,
The sound of winged words.

This is the cry
Of souls, that high
On toiling, beating pinions, fly,
Seeking a warmer clime.

From their distant flight
Through realms of light
It falls into our world of night,
With the murmuring sound of rhyme.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A moment

"Our job is to hear the music in the noise"

Unknown

Reaching Out

Aristotle

Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.

Accepting Substitute

 

Children Learn What They Live

If children live with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If children live with fear,
They learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If children live with acceptance,
They learn to find love in the world.

Look Well

Look well to this day,
For it and it alone is life.
In its brief course
Lie all the essence of your existence:

The Glory of Growth
The Satisfaction of Achievement
The Splendor of Beauty

For yesterday is but a dream,And tomorrow is but a vision.
But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.