ABC STARS Inspires

BEING YOURSELF doesn't mean being selfish. It means discovering the truths at your core, and being comfortable in your own skin. It's living according to your central truths. Not being swayed by the vagaries of the herd, but having the courage to follow your heart. --- Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) --- James Comments Like Paul Newman, as an actor you could play roles you like to accept. But, that's just make believe. Mr. Wilde is correct, in the final analysis, just be yourself. I am grateful for my life. And, I love to write....... photo credit: Jared Enos Paul Newman in Venice, 1963 via photopin (license) License: (license)

IT'S ALWAYS easier to put things off until later. But it usually compounds the problems. And it magnifies their impact when they finally arrive. Grasp the chance; take action now. It brings great satisfaction and offers many unexpected opportunities. --- The future depends on what you do today. Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869-1948) --- James Comments Forewarned is forearmed.  Do it effectively i.e. the best quality and do it efficiently i.e. in the soonest possible time....... Today is a special day. I saw light. He gave me the gift of light. I share with you the same gift. May you be inspired by the Holy Spirit and May God bless us all!  photo credit: O.S. Fisher Ambition via photopin (license) License: (license)

BE HONEST with yourself about your cop-outs. In your heart you know when they're becoming crutches. When you're tempted to say you don't have time, reschedule to make some. When you're about to place the blame on others, reflect first. Where you can influence the result... do so. --- When you blame others, you give up your power to change. Douglas Adams (1952-2001) --- James Comments With your permission, allow me to share a poem written by a fellow poet Mister John Greenleaf Whittier. Don't Quit   When things go wrong as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all up hill, 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. Life is strange with its twists and turns As every one of us sometimes learns And many a failure comes about When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don't give up

SEEKING THE perfect start can paralyze you. It's far better to make a start, to get under way. Then make adjustments, or rewrite as you proceed. Once you've started, options will present themselves. And creativity will flow from the process. --- Have no fear of perfection---you'll never reach it. Salvador Dali (1904-1989) --- James Comments I forget the quote verbatim however it states, shoot for the moon and the stars so that even if you don't reach them you are high enough and worthy of an achievement. Start now! Any project or any goal you have to start now... Then everything else will follow. Based from experience this website is an apt example, it evolved from a crude distant dream into a device friendly website. It is nowhere near perfection but it will do and it is useful, we hope. photo credit: achrntatrps Les Pléiades via photopin (license) License: (license)

HOW OFTEN do we just meander through life? Wandering without any real purpose... or worse, allowing others to set our agendas. Take some time to focus on your real priorities. Distill your goals and choose your path toward them. It's the shortest distance between desire and fulfillment. --- When you know better, you do better. Maya Angelou (1928-2014) --- I have been writing since 2013, professionally, and since I learned how to write at Kindergarten. I love to write. That is my vocation. I love it, so, it is not work anymore but my passion and my purpose. I have to agree that there is a general feeling of fulfillment when you write better because you know better. However, it is a lifelong-learning-experience. They say experience is the best teacher. In life, you will have a plethora of choices, and myriad opinions, and plenty of advice. Be wise, as a Catholic writer, I base my innermost thoughts, desires, purposes, agendas, priorities, goals, paths, in line with Cat

Gandhi YOU GET only one chance at this life. It makes no sense, then, to simply disappear into the crowd. Pay due respect to your existence. Acknowledge those who helped to form you. Isolate the things that are precious to you. Stand up for them. Live them. --- To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest. Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869-1948) --- James Comments You sow what you reap. If your existence is all about hatred you get hatred in return, however, if your existence is all about love you get love in return. It takes a a village to raise a child, be grateful. Pay it forward by being a blessing to the world. Be a light to the world. I am only happy when everybody is happy. God and humankind are precious to me. Each life matters. Every human being matters. Each and every single one of us deserves love. photo credit: jimforest Gandhi via photopin (license) License: (license)

WHATEVER THE situation, however dire it seems at first glance, there's always a bright side. And looking at the funny side releases tensions. It puts things into perspective, and opens the mind to possible solutions. --- Humor is one of the best ingredients of survival. Aung San Suu Kyi (1945- ) --- James Comments Dr. Jose Rizal wrote that the Hope of Our Nation lies in the hands of Our Youth. The innocence of the youth. Smile because after all, it is free. photo credit: Glendale Lapastora's Pictures (Official) 158 EDITED JPG FILES Photoshoots at Bluebay for Filipino Project November 26, 2018 via photopin (license) License: (license)

THERE ARE exceptions, but hard work usually bring rewards. Like sports pros, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Position yourself for your best chance at success. Should circumstances turn against you, take satisfaction in knowing you tried your best. That's way ahead of leaving things to chance. --- Amateurs practice until they get it right; professionals practice until they can't get it wrong. ANONYMOUS --- James Comments. Back in the day, I was obese, from 250 plus pounds, thru discipline and determination I exercised almost daily in a period of over two years, now I am 159 pounds. So far, I kept the unwanted pounds off. It is an achievement. It is best not to succumb to a defeatist attitude. Try and try with a changed factor until you reach your goals. Success! photo credit: Paolo Margari | paolomargari.eu il mondo occidentale via photopin (license) License: (license)

THE ONLY constant in our lives is change. You can try to fight it... but change doesn't care. It will remorselessly grind on, whether you like it or not. Make sure you're looking forward. Be adaptable: make change work for you. If you're marking time, you're going backward. --- The systems that fail are those that rely on the permanency of human nature, and not on its growth and development. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), THE SOUL OF MAN UNDER SOCIALISM --- James Comments No man ever steps in the same river twice for, it's not the same river and he's not the same man. This was penned by Heraclitus. Forewarned is forearmed. photo credit: Bonnie Moreland (free images) Calapooia River, Oregon via photopin (license) License: (license)

IT SEEMS so obvious. But how often do we take our dearest ones for granted? Remember how they have supported us at times when nobody else would. Think of how they form part of the fabric of our lives. Take time to tell them how much you love them. Treasure the time you have with them. --- Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. Paulo Coelho (1947- ), The Alchemist --- James Comments God is love. Everything started with love when he created everything it began with Light. He was born into a family, with Mother Mary and Saint Joseph, His foster father. Now, it could be the best of times or the worst of times. It is up to you. God is not an Author of confusion or chaos. If it is not happy then it is not yet the end. God loves a happy ending. God loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son to save us all. Our Lord Jesus Christ. May you be inspired by the Holy Spirit and May God Bless us all!

THE MEDIA is obsessed with labels: always searching for a one-word summary of people's lives. Resist the temptation to join in. Keep an open mind about individuals. They're almost always more interesting than their labels. Give them a chance to be a genuine individual. --- Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people. Martina Navratilova (1956- ) --- James Comments None. May you be inspired by The Holy Spirit and may God Bless us all! photo credit: anieto2k Times Square via photopin (license) License: (license)

IT'S GREAT to have big dreams. They can buoy you through dark times, and inspire you to reach for the stars. But sometimes it's worth focusing on smaller parts of your dreams. These can often be attainable in the shorter term, and can underwrite your longer expeditions. --- Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream? Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) --- James Comments Back at the University if I have a Term Paper due at the end of the semester, what I would do is this: Each week, I would be writing a part of the paper. From the outline then the introduction to the body: then chapter by chapter, then the conclusion. When the first draft is done, I would be editing it. After a final proofreading, it is finished. The term paper is ready to be submitted ahead of time even before the deadline.  photo credit: byb64 Pont sur le rio dei Frari, campo dei Frari, sestiere de San Polo, Venise, Vénétie, Italie. via photopin (license) License: (license)

IT'S TOO easy to accept life's successes as good luck. They encourage you to see the failures as bad luck. Take the time to differentiate. Enjoy the achievements you've gained from hard work. But take responsibility for your negative actions. That way you'll always sleep soundly --- Shallow men believe in luck. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) --- James Comments Hard work pays off. I do not believe in luck. Practice makes perfect. You achieved success because you prepared for it, followed up, and followed through. Mistakes are part of it. Albert Einstein using the Scientific Method emphasized that you need to change a factor to get a different favorable result. Thinkers sleep soundly from thinking too much. Success is sweet. -Bob photo credit: Nicolas Le Gruiec Clinton Moore via photopin (license) License: (license)

GOOD MENTORS are one of life's finest gifts. But one size doesn't fit all. Use your intelligence, your experience, and your common sense: choose a mentor with wisdom, compassion, and vision. Great achievers aren't necessarily great teachers. Look for someone you respect, someone who will inspire. --- I am not a teacher, but an awakener. Robert Frost (1874-1963) --- James Comments My mentor is my late Brother and Godfather. The best mentor for me.

WHEN YOU know in your heart that you're right. When abandoning your view is the easy way out. Double-check your position. If satisfied, gather your courage and stand firm. It's not stubborn to maintain your beliefs: it's a show of your character. --- Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) --- James Comments My belief is just one Word. God. May you be inspired by the Holy Spirit and God Bless! -bob License: (license) photo credit: SDWelch1031 Rocky - Philadelphia Museum of Art via photopin (license)

BE A connector. But be a discerning connector. Add meaning to your connections. The more you help others, the more you will benefit yourself. Avoid the hyperconnectivity  of mindless social networking. Instead, prefer intelligent, selective, mutually beneficial links. --- Listen to many, speak to a few. William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet  --- James Comments... As a Journalist, it comes with the work that I have to talk to people from all walks of life. All levels of our society. Gathering useful information from all peoples: regardless of any circumstance or  anything. Being bookish or always doing a task by the book will not be enough. It is akin to social immersion. No man is an island. As of the present, the Corona Virus is a threat globally. Research is best in my field of work. It will not only benefit me but the readers as well. May you be inspired by the Holy Spirit and God Bless! photo credit: Carl Campbell Mexico City 31 March 2019 (84

TREAT YOUR mistakes as lessons, not sentences. Don't allow them to define who you are. Consider why you made them. Learn from them. Emerge sronger. Resolve not to repeat them. Move ahead. --- Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) --- James Comments What does not kill you only makes you stronger. Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. Focus on your achievement. Give yourself a pat on the back. You are here now keep moving forward. With confidence. With God. May you be inspired by the Holy Spirit and God Bless! -Bob

DON'T BE distracted by the problems, the negatives. Don't give them more weight than they deserve. Break down the task into manageable elements. Deal first with what you can resolve. You'll gain the confidence, perspective, and strength to tackle more difficult obstacles. --- The Possible's slow fuse is lit By the Imagination! Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) --- James Comments If we review The Avengers, we see that they all have different personalities which is expected. Regardless, they work together as a team. Each hero has his/her own superpower that can contribute to the success of the mission of the team. They have a pact, an agreement, and a common goal which is for the good of the humanity. With all their strengths combined they can do anything. The possibilities are endless and we leave them all to the imagination. -Bob photo credit: AntMan3001 The Avengers Review! via photopin (license) License: (license)

REGRET CAN be a heavy burden: a mournful millstone that weighs you down. It will blur your focus and turn your mind back... like endlessly replaying a ghostly movie. Look to the future, free from the gloom. Seek the light and walk toward it. --- Never look back unless you are planning to go that way. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) --- James Comments What could have been? Or regrets. I have none because in the decisions of my life I follow the Serenity prayer. Lord, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change. The courage to change the things that I can. And, the wisdom to know the difference. Amen. -Bob photo credit: Juha Riissanen End of a season, almost.. Helsinki, Finland, December 2017 via photopin (license) License: (license)

BUT ONLY when you have something worthwhile to say. Until then, listen and evaluate. Resist the urge to respond just to show your knowledge. Wait until you can add to the situation. But when you have a view and you believe in it, speak up. Speak out... and mean it. --- The less you talk the more you're listened to. Abigail Van Buren Pauline Esther Philips (1918-2013) --- James Comments There are many injustices that happen in this world because people are afraid to speak up. However, some things are better left unsaid. There is a God. He is in charge, and there is Divine Justice which is more poetic and fair. -Bob photo credit: garrettc All Your Base briefing via photopin (license) License: (license)