" This is the true joy in life - being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances compaining that the world will not devote itself to make you happy!"

~ George Bernard Shaw

Nothing happens unless first a dream ..

Some men dream of worthy accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them. --Anonymous

The fulfillment of your dreams lies within you and you alone. --Unknown


The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision. --Helen Keller

The opportunities of man are limited only by his imagination. But so few have imagination that there are ten thousand fiddlers to one composer.--Charles Kettering

There are powers inside of you which, if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you could become. --Orison Swett Marden

Gandhi quotes for changing the world ..

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.”

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”

“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.”

“Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.”

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

My first raw food cake creation ..

Trying to add more nutrient rich, raw food content to my diet, recently had me attempting a new creation - far beyond smoothies and salads. The idea of making a raw-food cake came along to excite me - so I took a leap of faith and went about creating one, completely without a recipe!

Here is the result of my labour of love. The ingredients were crushed nuts, coconut oil, blueberries, cocoa powder, agave syrup, date syrup, sesame seeds, white tahin and dessicated coconut. I have to say it was delicious!

Your own song ..

"When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and meditate until they hear the song of the child. They recognize that every soul has its own vibration that expresses its unique flavor and purpose. Then the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud.

Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone else. When the child is born, the community gathers and sings the child’s song to him or her.

Later, when the child enters education, the village gathers and chants the child’s song. When the child passes through the initiation to adulthood, the people again come together and sing. At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her song.

Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family and friends gather at the person’s bed, just as they did at their birth, and they sing the person to the next life. In the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child.

If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or anti-social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them. The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behaviour is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity.

When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.

A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it. Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.

You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not.

When you feel good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn’t. In the end, we shall all recognize our song and sing it well. You may feel a little warbly at the moment, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you’ll find your way home."

By Alan Cohen - author of the best-selling The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and the acclaimed Why Your Life Sucks and What You Can Do About It.

On judgement ..

This empowering article is from Billa at www.ringingcedars.ning.com:

"I'd like to talk a little about judgement. Here on this site we have a unique space of love, a place of non-judgement, sharing and co-creation. I see and witness judgement as one of the biggest impediments to Oneness and Kinship in the world at this time. To judge another is to measure another against something. What do we measure them against and what aspect of us is making the judgement?

Do we proclaim ourselves as Gods in that moment of judging another? Do we condemn that other kin with our thoughts which make them wrong or even right, rather than just allowing it to be exactly as it is, with a gentle curiosity as to life presenting itself in yet another diverse form or circumstance?

If we observe something as it is, and it seems out of harmony in some way, that is to say it seems imbalanced and out of order with the whole - in our fullest co-creative power we can only seek to balance the situation or the energy, by polarising it, or lending the missing aspect to bring it more into fullness. Just like restoring healthy soil really. If we are too busy judging someone, we are not fulfilling our own role as a co-creator with the fullest capacity of a God/Goddess by harmonising the elements present. And so we too become part of the problem that we may find ourselves judging, lest we be judged ourselves...

Usually when we take the time to be loving and kind, we find there is a story behind every situation or person that is indeed unique and understandable. No matter the scale or circumstance, their is substance within all things manifest under the sun. When we judge we are being superficial, robbing ourselves and others of the depth and mystery that is LIFE. Find out the story, be interested, stay alert to being kindly gentle and curious with your thoughts and seek to understand and gain insight. You will always learn something and your presence will be appreciated more than you can know. True Healers are masters at this, simply being present to what is and allowing something the space to reveal itself...

Do we trample through the garden or do we bless the garden with our presence?

Do we judge our way through life, leaving negative impressions on all that we witness with our small self view, or do we stand as co-creators seeing the big picture of life being an absolute miracle and that we are LIFE itself, we and everything else is part of that unfolding miracle?

Take a moment, next time you find yourself making a judgement on someone or something and ponder it from God's view - what an amazing miracle this is, and how can I be more Godlike in this moment? Can I appreciate the wholeness and beauty of this moment? And if it is not wholeness and beauty presenting, how could I act as co-creator and lend something of myself to make it more so...

If we all transcended judgement which is virtually futile, to become a living emobdiment and vehicle for kindness, appreciation of the mystery, rising into our true co-creative power, imagine how quickly we would heal the earth and each other? "

Blessings and bright thoughts to all, Billa

Flower art ..

A good friend of mine is traveling for a few months through Indonesia - he sent me some photo's of the kinds of flowers he is seeing on his travels .. mother nature certainly creates beautiful flower art in that part of the world: