Become HAPPIER and "WHOLE"ier

"You are MORE remarkable than you can EVER imagine.
You will only EVER be as remarkable as you CAN imagine."

I sent this, or something like it, as a text to someone last night going through a tough time and feeling down on themselves. I'm not really sure I should be using "quotes" though. If it's wrong to misquote someone else, I can only imagine what it means to misquote yourself.

"When I was born I wish my first words would have been 'quote', so when I died I could have said 'unquote'".

- said by Steven Wright, or something like this was said by Steven Wright. I'm probably misquoting him........

But hold on, my story gets better ("quoting" Eddie Izzard). The interesting thing about this wonderful message of belief and confidence in another is WHO I sent this to.

It was to my EX-wife.............I am SUCH a kool kat!

I have come to believe if you want to really live, you have to really forgive. This doesn't mean tolerating behavior that's inappropriate for you and your life. It means letting go of the pain from the past and moving on with your life.

I am very happy with myself that I can still believe in everything she can be, without feeling I'm letting her or the painful memories back in my life. Part of the reason I exist is to make the world a better place, to whomever I can, no matter if they make mine better or not.

If they make it miserable, then they go on the outside of the healthy boundaries I've established for myself (what I will and will not tolerate). And I don't make their lives miserable in return. Instead I live inside my own boundaries and laugh and play with those in it.

I've realized I can live in this world with my arms and heart wide open without becoming a punching bag.

God I wish I would have known this years ago.

But that's what pain is for, to make us smarter and stronger, happier and "whole"ier.

And as I silently observed myself hitting the "send" button on my fone, I realized I was on my way to becoming whole again, like I was when the Universe sent me here, completely perfect as I already was.

(And so was Audrey, my big sister. Love ya, Darlin'!)


"There's Zen in Fire."

And you can quote me on that. - Adam Stuart

Balance Your Mind ~ Fill it With Laughter

The balance. We all seek it, either consciously or unconsciously. And no one needs it more than those of us who work so hard to make our biggest dreams come true. As the bald and beautiful big-bellied Buddha said:

All that we are
arises from our thoughts.
With our thoughts
We create our world.
- Buddha ("The Awakened One")

So if the size of our world is truly the size of our mind, why not fill it with a wonderful balance of both dreams and laughter? Everyone has a genius, and comedians are certainly included. My favorites from the silent-film era are, in order:

Harold Lloyd







Buster Keaton (the only black & white star my children will watch, the others I put on when I want them to go to sleep :)







and Charlie Chaplin










My two favorite present-day comics are Eddie Izzard (who did the voice of the Koala bear in "The Wild") and Steven Wright. The hilarity of Eddie Izzard is absolutely impossible to convey in words. His timing and facial expressions transform the words he speaks into bursts of laughter from your mouth.







Steven Wright, however, is dry, monotone, and seems like he's either stoned or has some serious mental problems. His humor just kind of builds up; making you go from saying "what?", to chuckling, to laughing out loud. Here are a few of his thoughts.

When I was a little kid I wished the first words I ever said were "quote" so when I died I could say "unquote".

Lots of my friends have babies but I don't have any babies but I have lots of friends. Babies don't have any friends.

They all have those baby monitors so they can hear the baby in the other room which I consider a form of wiretapping.

Sometimes I talk to myself fluently in languages I'm unfamiliar with, just to mess with my subconscious.

It's a good thing lots of people speak foreign languages otherwise they'd have no one to talk to.

When I was in First Grade the teacher told us the President was married to the First Lady and all I could wonder is if she ever saw any dinosaurs.

She told us of Michaelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. That night I was lying on top of my bunk bed looking at my ceiling and I thought "why not".

I had my brother push the bed around while I painted Jesus and Santa Claus on a see-saw.

I had Jesus on the low end even though he weighed less, because he's "Jesus".

Jesus upset a lot of people in his time: "Jesus will you stop turning the water into wine? I'm trying to take a shower over here."

What did Jesus ever do for Santa Claus on his birthday?

Don't think about it. It doesn't mean anything.

*After I finished this my thoughts took me to my college site. Before I knew it these ideas were swirling together and connecting with higher-education to create "The Importance of Genius". Click the link to see where the journey took me. The University of Central Florida

It may take them a few days to post it.