Useful is as Useful Does

Always desire to learn something useful.

Sophocles

Useful....

It is such a useful term

As long as we realize that useful and practical do not have to be the same thing

Balloons are very useful

They make my grandkids smile

Dandelions are useful

They give you wishes to blow in to the wind

Francis Bacon said:

 Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.

Probably true, Francis, but so will balloons and dandelions

and that's poetiquejustis

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:12

Pull Up a Chair

Let me live in my house by the side of the road

and be a friend to man

Sam Walter Foss

Thoreau kept two chairs in his home at Walden Pond

One for himself and one for a guest

It is not the lack of furnishings that catches the mind

It is his thought to make room in his day for another 

To leave the door ajar to the footsteps of passersbys

Today-

"live by the side of the road" in your mind

and make a little room for others 

That is worth more to most people than you will ever know

And that is poetiquejustis

                                 The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.
                                                                     Proverbs 27:9

From Start to Finish

The way of the sage is to act

but not to compete

Lao-Tzu

I won my first spelling bee

 in First Grade

I won my first poetry competition

in 6th grade

In other words...

I got competition in to my blood pretty early

But then I grew up

And realized that competing in life

Meant running someone else's race

For a prize of their choosing

 Just to make sure

that other people lose

Now, where's the fun in that?

I bet I can get where I want to go

without worrying if you get their first!

and that's poetiquejustis

Let everyone be sure that he is doing his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work well done and won’t need to compare himself with someone else. 

Galatians 6:4

A Wonderful Form of Denial

I don't believe in regret

Ricky Williams

Today

I will speak kindly and I will think clearly

I will attend to my dreams

I will attend to my soul

Today

I will attend all the moments of my life

 

So tomorrow I can say I am not sorry

for  yesterday

and that's poetiquejustis

 

 

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

 But one thing I do:

 forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14

You Saved this Date

There are 7 days in the week

and 'someday' isn't one of them

Shaquille O'Neal

Each day has a challenge waiting for you

Each moment an opportunity waiting for you

Don't waste those times

on having to do the things

that should have already been done

Alternative:

 and that's poetiquejustis

Don’t brag about tomorrow,
    since you don’t know what the day will bring.

Proverbs 27:1

Yes No Maybe

A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory.

Arthur Golden

I know a catering chef  who tells his helpers as they carry trays to the truck;

"Carry one

Or drop two

The same goes for trying to carry around doubt and belief at the same time

One of those guys-

the doubt or the belief-

 has to go.

Carry one or drop two.

and that's poetiquejustis

 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, 

because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

 James 1:6

And now for a little music

The inmost in time
becomes the outmost
R W Emerson

Your actions are the books

people read about your life

Your words are the melody

                                                         that gets stuck in their heads

Today

When you are the  author of the good

and the troubadour of peace

You do not have to be concerned about the reviews

Because you are a best seller

 and a major hit

in all the ways that matter

and that's poetiquejustis

May the words of my mouth
and the meditations of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
my Lord and my Redeemer
Psalm 19:14

Hey there, Old Friend

Old friends....sat on the park bench like bookends....

Simon and Garfunkel

I love the fact that I have friends who have been with me throughout my life

I would not call them old....because I want to live to see tomorrow....

But they are old friends

Old friends- no matter what your age

Someone to lean on

What a blessing

People who knew you when you were....

Who have walked the path you walked and have seen you fall and get up again

Who know the victories and losses, the dreams realized, and the dreams shattered

 Or the ones just willing to dream with you

Having old friends means you have to get older

In fact- they are the bonus of aging!

My friends certainly are

and that's poetiquejustis

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
 but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24

You Lucky Duck

Just tell yourself, Duckie, 

you're really quite lucky!

Dr Seuss

So, sometimes you just feel different and you don't know why

and there are days when no matter what you do

you get stuck in the tall grass and cannot get going!

and there are those days when it feels as though no one is listening

but other days

 you know someone cares

 Someone is there to show you the way home

 and you just know you belong!

so all, in all, Duckie,

you really ARE quite lucky

and that's poetiquejustis

                                  For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
                                                                  Philippians 4:11