one hundred eight

I don't want just a hug. I want one of your hugs. The kind that lift me up high above the mess of my life and take me to the top of a mountain. The cool, fresh air blows in my face and I grin at you because we are together high above life's cares. We hold hands. I feel like I can do anything, because you are supporting me with your embrace. I can shoot for the moon and make it every time, because you believe in me.

one hundred seven

Calling all Writers...Calling all Lovers:

The website is up and running: http://jabsloveletters.com/

The first weekly post is scheduled for this Thursday...

and we will be posting new content every Thursday thereafter. 

If you take a look at the calendar...next Thursday is the US Thanksgiving holiday.

We'd love to have tons of Love Letters in the "I thank you" category to post.

 What are the requirements, you ask?

1. Have someone you love in mind

2. Write them a heartfelt thank you letter

3. Submit it to the site

It's THAT easy!

If you have a Love Letter that you would like to share,
we'd LOVE to be your platform ♥ in honor of Thanksgiving
or to celebrate any day moving forward.

one hundred six

visit : brotips.com

Even the toughest guy can show love to his friend...

Let's choose affirmation in our friendships. 

It does a world of good when people know that they are love and appreciated.

one hundred five

A demonstrator embraces a riot police officer during a student protest against government plans to reform higher education in Bogota, Colombia.    --   (Photo: William Fernando Martinez)

I found this image on Google+ with the caption:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” -- Mahatma Gandhi

We toss that quote around like a spoonful of sugar. But I don't think many of use truly embrace the real-world meaning of it; or what it may require us to do. We've all got medicine to swallow, difficult-to-live-through moments on our journey, in order to truly inspire change.

I wonder how many of us are guilty of taking the sugar-spoon and dumping the medicine; of taking the easy road, instead of the narrow path. We decide in those moments that change, real change, isn't that important. There's no reason to actually suffer or deny one's self for change, is there?

And, it is a fact - real, lasting change often requires a denial of a selfish will.

Let me be clear, I am not among the innocent.
I've experienced the sugar high and skipped along the wide, easy path.

But I see moments like this, and it encourages to me review my actions. To see where indeed I could be the change I want to see in my world.


To start: I'd like to choose to love in impossible-to-love moments.

one hundred four

*happy dance*

Our website is live and we are looking forward to taking Love Letter submissions. 

Visit: jabsloveletters.com

one hundred three

“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.” 

— Woodrow Wilson: November 11, 1919 


I am thankful every day for the men and woman who serve to protect my country. I have a good handful of friends and family who have served or are serving; and being within their sphere of influence keeps me abreast of the day to day issues facing military families.

I am thankful for their sacrifice.
The sacrifices they make in their lives, in their families, protect my family. And I am sincerely grateful for the way they put themselves on the line to improve my life.

The man portrayed in this picture is particularly dear to my heart. I knew him as a college boy. We had the opportunity to meet after he met and fell in love with my college roommate Freshman year. Although we’ve not maintained our connection as much as we’ve wanted to, I’ve been close enough to them to see him grow from a boy into a man.

I respect him more than I can say for protecting his country, loving his wife and kids and developing into a responsible, thoughtful individual. He adds value to his world; and to my world. This picture is an unforgettable moment of love.

one hundred two

“I can be alone without Yoko, but I just have no wish to be. There’s no reason on earth why I should be alone without Yoko. There’s nothing more important than our relationship, nothing. And we dig being together all the time. Both of us could survive apart but what for? I’m not going to sacrifice love, real love for any whore or any friend or any business, because in the end you’re alone at night and neither of us want to be. And you can’t fill a bed with groupies. It doesn’t work. I don’t want to be a swinger. I’ve been through it all and nothing works better than to have someone you love hold you.”

― John Lennon

one hundred one

“Heinelet” by Gamaliel Bradford

He asked if she ever could love him.
She answered him, no, on the spot.
He asked if she ever could love him.
She assured him again she could not.

He asked if she ever could love him.
She laughed till his blushes he hid.
He asked if she ever could love him.
By God, she admitted she did.

——-

What sheer perseverance can accomplish, even in matters of the heart, is revealed in this little poem written in Heine’s mood of mingled seriousness and gayety.

one hundred

I felt my heart was trying to find the place for you to stay
A place where I feel safe
 

Anything we have known, anything we’ve forgotten
In the rain, in the dark we’ll lay
In your arms, in your arms I’ll stay

What I love so much about this video is the fact that shooting it was its own kind of love story.
Thirty (30) people worked together to make this happen. Talk about teamwork: completely different people working together for a common goal...to bring beauty to this project.

Check out the behind the scenes video: http://youtu.be/cIH4MJAC2Tg

ninety-nine

Did I live fully? Did I love well?… Jack Kornfield

At the end of our lives it is not our material wealth that will measure our success as people here on Earth but the fullness of our being and the quality of the love we give one another….

By: Peaceweaver

 
I think it is important to ask ourselves “Did I love well?” for every situation!

ninety-eight

Please. Embrace you.

I can do it, but unless you accept you for the you-ness you bring to the world, 

you’ll never be able to fully accept my embrace of love.

Enjoy being different; enjoy and appreciate the beauty you bring to the world. 

It wouldn’t be the same without you. You bring value to the existence of those around you; 

and I love you for it!

ninety-seven

This video makes me grin. 
There’s that moment when the pressure’s on and you want it to be perfect, you want to declare your love. And, instead, you trip up a bit. 


In my opinion, there’s perfection in the imperfect moments…
don’t give up! 



——


Wasn’t really thinking, wasn’t looking, wasn’t searching for an answer…
I know that I’m feeling so much more than ever before
And so, I’m giving more to you than I thought I could do…



——

It’s amazing how the choice to love someone gives us the strength to give more and to be more selfless than we ever thought possible.

ninety-six

between romance and porn, somewhere in the real-world middle, is love

ninety-five

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."


-- Lao Tzu 


I can't even say how much I agree with this statement, especially the last part. Real life, the kind where the rubber meets the road, doesn't ask for anything in return. So, to offer love - in any amount, never mind, deeply - is stepping out there on your own two feet and proclaiming that you will be courageous...and that your heart is strong enough not to ask for anything in return.

ninety-four

 Father and Sons Campout

Thoughts from Paul Reiser:

But I do believe that between waking up in the morning and going to sleep at night, there's a good chance something will happen that'll surprise me and ultimately hurt me. 

This phenomenon seems to be new...since becoming a father. I've noticed these daily "pings" of hurt. It hurts me when my kids are hurt, when they narrowly miss being hurt, when they're saddened, disappointment, frustrated, or frightened. I'm saddened when they discover something about life that I wish weren't so. It hurts me when I see them not trusting or believing someone - yet, ironically, seeing them actually being trusting and believing breaks me heart too. It all hurts a little. And I don't know how to not feel these things. Apparently, being a father means you get pinged a hundred times a day. 

On the other hand - and this is a huge, enormous hand - you're also going to get pings of unspeakable joy. Daily. Practically hourly. From the simplest things. Like watching my boys sleep stuns me with happiness. Seeing them wake up - same thing. Getting to watch them grow day by day, I feel such profound gratitude, I....almost can't even breathe correctly.

Excerpt from Familyhood by Paul Reiser

I would have to agree with Paul's sentiments completely.

Sometimes, life gets really busy and days pass within a routine. In the systematic flow of staying on top of my mothering duties.....

Is the child alive? CHECK! 

Is the child healthy? CHECK! 

Is the child getting a good balance of healthy food? CHECK! 

Will I get cool points for letting him eat another piece of Halloween candy? CHECK!

...I sometimes lose sight of the awesome and terrible pings of life, because they're just bouncing off me as I journey forward with my list of "awesome mom" objectives.

But there are lovely moments of pause in life, when the beauty unfolds and I look at this beautiful small human who shares a part of me and parts of our family, who is becoming all his own character and personality....and "I almost can't even breath correctly." My heart stops and swells with pride, with love (and thankfulness that I've been able to keep him alive...I didn't go to mothering training, you know). 

Those moments remind me that I need to schedule more pause times in life, so that I can tap into the beauty more often.

Just think if we all allowed ourselves just a little more time to tap into the beauty that unfolds around us all the time. It would be a different world, because people would see more than their objectives. 

ninety-three

it’s true; chocolate does make missing you bearable

(if only barely)

ninety-two

but now that I've found you...

even the nights are better, since I found you

even the days are brighter, when someone you love is beside you

ninety-one

When we are free to express our feelings and we speak truth from the heart, we are able to be free and love is easily expressed and conveyed. 

Emotional blocks are caused by lies, and masks and facades. When we are free to be ourselves, then we learn. 

None of us is perfect, but we can share and love, and be supporting of one another. 

I know from personal experiences and those of friends who have confided in me that the most pains are caused from falseness, lies, guilt, wrong doings, jealousy, anger, greed, and most of all FEAR. 

FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real 

--- Annette Katona

Found this post on a Facebook community page: Peaceweaver

ninety

I wanna make it with you...

I really think that we could make it...

I want you in my life. I want you to be my life. Let's explore together. Let's journey and adventure through each day, knowing that because we are together, we can face anything!

eighty-nine

Wow - I think this is true about love as well...
because sometimes it isn't a sweeping, powerful emotion full of happiness and roses;
sometimes, it is a choice to remain and to support and because of that choice there is joy found in commitment.