You can lower your blood pressure just by petting your pup. Anything smelly your dog rolls in only smells gross to you—to them it’s DIVINE. Dogs don’t ONLY see in black and white — they can also see blue and yellow. Source: BuzzFeed

If you are an organic gardener, you know that a flower is made of several elements that may be called non-flower elements: the sunshine, the cloud, the minerals and the seed. And among the non-flower elements, there is the element compost… garbage. The garden always produces garbage.

If you are an organic gardener, you know how to handle the garbage. You know the techniques of transforming the garbage back into compost and into flowers. You don’t have to throw away anything at all. So, the energy of fear, of anger should be considered to be the garbage. Let it be produced, because it can become the art of mindful living.

So, now we should learn how to handle the garbage in us, namely, craving, anger, fear and despair. We should not be afraid of the garbage in us if we know how to transform it back into joy, into peace. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

April 16, 2015

Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviors. Keep your behaviors positive because your behaviors become your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny. ~Gandhi

When a storm is coming, all other birds seek shelter.
The eagle alone, avoids the storm by flying above it.
So, in the storms of life. May your heart soar like an Eagle.

~Ritu Ghatourey 

Your little group of kindles is a miracle in progress. At birth, kittens are entirely reliant on their mothers for food and warmth. Their tiny bodies can’t regulate temperature very well and they often crawl over each other in a pile of kitty warmth. Kittens’ eyes and ear canals are closed during their first few days of life, rendering them unable to see or hear one another. Newborn kittens spend their first weeks eating, sleeping and cuddling in order to survive.

Between the ages of 10 and 21 days, your little fuzzballs will be able to see and hear the world around them. Their tiny eyes open, and while their sight remains clouded for another couple of weeks, they can finally see their siblings. Cats can see colors, although not as vibrantly as humans do. A kitten’s sense of smell also develops during this time, and she will begin to sniff her way around the room. Kittens are the perfect source of conserved energy, sleeping as many as 18 hours a day.

Source: Louise Lawson, Demand Media 

Love makes our friend a little dearer. Joy makes our heart a little lighter. Faith makes our path a little clearer. Hope makes our lives a little brighter. Peace brings us all a little nearer. ~Unknown

You’ll be surprised to learn that despite your dog’s eagerness to eat just about anything in sight, his sense of taste is not as excellent as you might believe. Yes, Scruffy may drool buckets of saliva at the sight of baloney, but his overall taste is relatively poor. While he’s capable of detecting bitter, sweet, salty and sour tastes, you’ll be surprised to learn that he has only one-sixth the number of taste buds a human has. Source: Adrienne Farricelli, Demand Media

Don’t ever let anyone break your soul. You have to stand on your own two feet and fight. There are those who would do anything to see you fall. Never give them the satisfaction. Hold your head up high. Put a smile on you face, and stand your ground. ~Unknown

Devils Thumb – Lake Louise Alberta. Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt