Ah, two simple words that sometimes get stuck somewhere between the heart and throat. Here are a few words of wisdom from past and present. If you owe someone apology, why not make today the day you free those words.

When you realize you’ve made a mistake, make amends immediately.  It’s easier to eat crow while it’s still warm.  ~Dan Heist

Keep your words soft and tender because tomorrow you may have to eat them.  ~Author Unknown

Never ruin an apology with an excuse.  ~Kimberly Johnson

In some families, please is described as the magic word.  In our house, however, it was sorry.  ~Margaret Laurence

True remorse is never just a regret over consequence; it is a regret over motive.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960

There’s one sad truth in life I’ve found
While journeying east and west -
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and for deeds left undone.  ~Harriet Beecher Stowe, Little Foxes, 1865

Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge.  ~Isaac Friedmann

An apology is a good way to have the last word.  ~Author Unknown<!–Dell Crossword Puzzles–>

An apology is the superglue of life.  It can repair just about anything.  ~Lynn Johnston

The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology.  ~Red Auerbach

Apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift.  ~Margaret Lee Runbeck

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.  ~Paul Boese

Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.  That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.  ~Emily Kimbrough

It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.  ~Grace Hopper

If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say?  And why are you waiting?  ~Stephen Levine

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.  ~Author Unknown

Not the fastest horse can catch a word spoken in anger.  ~Chinese Proverb

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.  ~William Blake

True friends stab you in the front.  ~Oscar Wilde

With summer in full gear (in certain parts of the world, obviously!), protecting your skin becomes imperative. But so many mixed reports abound - some sunscreens only block out UV rays and don’t offer that full spectrum protection. The ones that claim they do, don’t always. What can a sun worshipper do to stay protected in this day and age?

Well, this recent study in Telegraph UK shows how broccoli comes to the rescue:

Broccoli juice is better than conventional sunscreens when it comes to protecting against the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, research has shown.

Tests on six volunteers exposed to pulses of UV radiation showed the extract reduced sunburn symptoms by up to 78 per cent.

Conventional sunscreens used in the same experiments were essentially ineffective.

The ointment was made from extracts of three-day-old broccoli sprouts rich in protective compounds called sulphoraphanes. Unlike a normal sunscreen, it does not absorb UV light to prevent it entering the skin. Instead, it works inside the body by boosting the production of enzymes that protect cells against UV damage and the risk of skin cancer.

Protection is said to last for several days.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, first tested the ointment on genetically engineered hairless mice before carrying out tests on six human volunteers, three men and three women aged between 28 and 53.

The results were reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The report’s lead author, Prof Paul Talalay, said the treatment could decrease the “long-term risk of developing cancer”.

Michael J. Fox continues to be an inspiration to all of us, with his unbeatable attitude and tireless efforts put forth toward his cause and his disease, Parkinson’s Disease.

Michael J. Fox recently granted the wish of Gideon Strohaver, a 16-year-old from Michigan suffering from cystic fibrosis, by spending some quality time with him at the Central Park Zoo in NYC where they bonded over being “Incurable Optimists.”

Gideon caught Michael’s “The Incurable Optimist” special on television in his hospital and his teacher referred him to the Kids Wish Network in hopes Gideon could meet his hero Michael.

His wish came true and his family went on a special trip to NYC.  Gideon and Michael spent a day together at the zoo and Michael and his family were given tickets to the premiere screening of Shrek Forever After at the Tribeca Film Festival!

“He [Michael J. Fox] was so nice,” Gideon’s mother Kim said. “They just talked and talked as the zoo people kept bringing in animals for them to meet and pet. The one I think Michael and Gideon enjoyed most was the hissing cockroach. They both really enjoyed petting it and listening to it hiss.”

“He [Michael J. Fox] was just so sincere and so sweet. He even told us to call him Mike. He was just Gideon’s new friend, Mike,” she added. “It was a lot more than we ever expected. My daughter Olivia put it best when she said it was an ‘over the rainbow wish.’”

Source: OK!

I was walking through the woods with a little friend of mine (my niece.) She picked up a long stick and wrapped some vine around it. Then she put a big blob of moss on top and tied it with more vine. She looked at me and said, “I’m magical now.” I asked her why and she said, “Because I have magic wand, of course.”

Soon after, I homemade a wand and we waved them throughout the day, at anything we wanted to change or simply touch with a little extra cosmic love.

So today, you will receive lessons on creating your own magic wand. And before you poo-poo the idea, think about it: why wouldn’t a magic wand work? Why shouldn’t it? If there’s even an iota of belief, then it’s a totally legitimate wand, ready for action and change and transformation and magic. Wave it over yourself first, instructing you to believe in its power.

Take a walk in a natural place. Keep your eyes open for a stick or branch that has been laying on the ground and that is no shorter than 13 inches. Let it jump out at you, and follow your intuition. This stick should be appealing to you, as it could be a tool that you use for many years. If you feel drawn to a particular tree, connect with its energy and bless and thank the tree for what you’re about to take from it, before removing any small branches.

Scrape off the bark with a sharp blade or a wood burner.

Carve down to your desired shape and style.

Use charring to change the appearance or to amplify carvings.

Personalize your wand with things yourself. It’s YOUR wand pick exactly what you want. You can use feathers, crystals,runes and stones for the internal. Also adding any cords, metal wire, or symbol that is meaningful to decorate the external of the wand. Go with anything that comes to mind. Make it whatever you see it to be.

What is your life’s purpose? Does anyone have an easy answer? Perhaps some do. Perhaps your purpose changes as you evolve. Perhaps the search for a purpose is a purpose in and of itself!

This week’s quotes - on purpose:

(Check out this first one for its obvious relevance.)


Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure.
Abraham Lincoln

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.
Dalai Lama

When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous.
Wayne Dyer

Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.
Napoleon Hill

We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.
George Washington

The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly. The soul must languish when we give all our thought to the body.
Mohandas Gandhi

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.
John F. Kennedy

Success demands singleness of purpose.
Vince Lombardi

I look forward to a great future for America - a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.
John F. Kennedy

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
William Shakespeare

Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.
W. Clement Stone

To forget one’s purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
Kahlil Gibran

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, “Where’s the self-help section?” She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin

Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.
Aristotle

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
Helen Keller

True happiness… is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
Helen Keller

All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.
Brian Tracy

Your purpose is to make your audience see what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Relevant detail, couched in concrete, colorful language, is the best way to recreate the incident as it happened and to picture it for the audience.
Dale Carnegie

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.
Pablo Picasso

Last night, I watched an episode of The Dog Whisperer, where he discussed the most aggressive dogs. The show’s staff polled thousands of people, who came up with German Shepherds, Rottweillers and of course, pitbulls. Interestingly, Cesar Milan, the show’s host, disputed each one of those claims. He determined the most aggressive being was the human who trained them! Good for you, Cesar! So true.

Here’s a wonderful story about a special German Shepherd (watch the video!):

Buddy, a German shepherd, was with his owner, Ben Heinrichs, when his family’s workshop caught fire. Once he and Buddy were safely outside, Heinrichs turned to the dog and said, “We need to get help.” He didn’t expect Buddy to actually do anything about it, of course. However, help is exactly what the shy dog brought — in the form of an Alaska State Trooper, reports the Anchorage Daily News. The dog’s heroic act was caught on the trooper’s dashboard camera.

Buddy had gone off into the woods, and Heinrich assumed the pooch was hiding. In fact, Buddy had run out to the road, where he caught the attention of Alaska State Trooper Terrence Shanigan, who had been alerted by concerned neighbors when they saw a fireball erupting in the distance. Shanigan was having difficulty finding the fire due to the winding country roads. That’s when Buddy suddenly appeared. On a hunch, Shanigan followed the dog and arrived on the scene just in time. He was able to talk the fire department through the difficult directions, and they put out the flames just before the fire spread to the family’s home.

Buddy is being presented with an award from the Alaska State Troopers today, including a silver plated, engraved dog bowl, reports “Today” via the Associated Press. We’re willing to bet he’s getting more than a few extra cuddles and dog biscuits.

Source: Paw Nation

Here at Only Positive News, we’ve talked about forgiveness a lot - and it’s for a good reason. Many people get stuck in a state of anger and pain in their lives. It’s hard to see the positive when you feel mired in the negative.

These techniques are deceptively simple but I like them for just that reason. Sometimes forgiveness is simpler than we think. Or we forget that there are actually techniques that can help us move forward today.

1. Allow yourself to experience anger, but don’t hold onto it for months or years on end. When the anger starts to consume you, you’ve held onto it for too long.
2. Express your feelings in a positive way through writing a journal or talking to a professional, close friend or family member who can help you make sense of the situation.
3. Try to step into the shoes of those who hurt you in hopes you’ll see the situation from their perspective.
4. Write a letter about your feelings to the people who hurt you. Using “I feel” or “I felt” are productive ways to start sentences.
5. Most importantly, have patience with yourself: “Remember, forgiveness doesn’t have to happen in a day.”

Like the simple but effective yogic advice to “be kind, starting with yourself,” we can always benefit from being reminded of these basic, healthy premises.

Source: YourTango.com

As we watch the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico unfold, many of us feel helpless and angry. How could this happen? What can we do? Who will pay for this? Can this ever be undone? Not positive news, this is true.

In response, today, I decided to post a baby animal born in LA Zoo; a thriving, beautiful creature that symbolizes hope and grace.

On April 5, 2009, a male Masai giraffe was born here at the L.A. Zoo! He’s currently in the giraffe habitat with his parents, Neema and Artimus. Able to stand shortly after birth, calves can grow four feet during their first year. When full grown, giraffes can reach a height of 18 feet, making them tallest land mammal.

Native to Kenya and Tanzania, giraffes can reach a speed of 35 miles per hour. Their kicks are so powerful that they’re capable of decapitating a lion.

Giraffes communicate with one another through posturing, movement, the way they carry their tails, retreat and sometimes vocalization, which can include moos, bellows and whistles.

Source: PetLvrBlog

Ah, that elusive idea…finding yourself. As if you’ve lost yourself in some cosmic game of hid and seek and you are both the seeker and the hider…or something like that!

These quotes will remind you that finding yourself is at once easy yet seemingly impossible at times.

People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself.  But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.  ~Thomas Szasz, “Personal Conduct,” The Second Sin, 1973

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition.  What you’ll discover will be wonderful.  What you’ll discover is yourself.  ~Alan Alda

Never mind searching for who you are.  Search for the person you aspire to be.  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.  ~Dr. Alexis Carrel

The greatest explorer on this earth never takes voyages as long as those of the man who descends to the depth of his heart.  ~Julien Green

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.  ~Anaïs Nin

The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.  ~Richard Grant

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue.  Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them.  And the point is, to live everything.  Live the questions now.  Perhaps you will find them gradually, without noticing it, and live along some distant day into the answer.  ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

All men should strive
to learn before they die
what they are running from, and to, and why.
~James Thurber

I know well what I am fleeing from but not what I am in search of.  ~Michel de Montaigne

If you don’t get lost, there’s a chance you may never be found.  ~Author Unknown

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.  ~Henry David Thoreau, 1854

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.  ~George Moore

It is good to feel lost… because it proves you have a navigational sense of where “Home” is.  You know that a place that feels like being found exists.  And maybe your current location isn’t that place but, Hallelujah, that unsettled, uneasy feeling of lost-ness just brought you closer to it.  ~Erika Harris, lifeblazing.com

Most of us know the basics when it comes to lifting our spirits: exercise, socialize, express, eat well, meditate. But there are a lot of boosts out there you may not know about. Here are a few “out of the box” aids when you’re feeling down:

•Kriya Yoga. This is a form of Yoga that uses a type of rhythmic hyperventilation, and its daily practice has been shown in studies to alleviate several or all of depressive symptoms in whole ranges of depressive symptoms.

•Bright Light Therapy. Originally a test and treatment for depressed pregnant woman, the Bright Light Therapy has also been used to treat SAD (seasonal affective disorder), where the sufferer has a depression due to the season’s lack of sunlight.

•St. John’s Wort (hypericum perforatum). This is a long-studied, and well tolerated natural herbal cure for depression.

St John’s Wort contains a variety of natural antidepressant substances including, hypericin, pseudohypericin and hyperforin. These work at the root of mild depression, boosting neurotransmitter function and returning your mood to normal.

It may not work as fast as the pharmaceutical alternatives, but there are NO side-effects, and in time (perhaps 6 weeks) are just or more effective.

•EPA. This is one of the Omega-3 fatty acids, derived from fish oil. Recent studies show high does of this natural substance are curing acute depression, even suicidal tendencies.

•Saffron. New studies have indicated that saffron (long known for its anti-depressive qualities) is as effective as imipramine and Prozac.

•DL-Phenylalanine (DLPA), is now considered by many doctors an effective antidepressant. This herbal remedy for depression works by raising phenylethylamine (PEA) levels in the brain increasing the production of Norepinephrine. This natural antidepressant also protects and increases the lifetime of Endorphins (chemicals involved in mood and pain regulation). DL-Phenylalanine converts to L-tyrosine in the body.

•L-Threonine is an essential amino acid. In several studies, L-Threonine supplementation gave people with acute depressive symptoms a greater control over their moods.

•5-HTP. This is an herbal remedy for depression that is also the immediate precursor to Melatonin and Serotonin. Serotonin gives a neurochemical balance during times of stress, and is essential to regulating mood and other important bodily functions.

* Skullcap (scutellaria laterifolia). ) Skullcap is rich in the minerals that are essential for the nervous system. This herbal remedy for depression is also used for agitation, neurasthenia, anxiety, fatigue, hysteria, and headaches, Skullcap as an herbal remedy for depression is useful to relieve withdrawal symptoms when going off of pharmaceutical antidepressants and tranquillizers.

Source: Light Therapy Boxes