Half full

Today while listening to my collection of tunes I came across a song with a beautiful quote in it. (If you haven't noticed by previous posts that I love quotes, I may as well tell you now that I do.) Anyway the quote was:
"I believe that the power of positive thinking, is going to keep this world from ever sinking."
I really like this quote, because I consider myself an optimist, however I am quite aware that there are pessimists among us, and I hope to convert a few with this post.
Upon further research I found that positive thinking does alot for your body and mind. The physical effects of positive thinking should be enough to convert anyone to optimism. Positive thinking helps reduce stress because when thinking on the bright side, we are often more comfortable confronting our problems head on, and more successful in our efforts. I learned that "self talk" is a constant stream of thoughts going through your head. (No idea they had a word for that, I thought that was just called talking to yourself) Turns out these thoughts are either positive or negative. The key is to make sure they are positive by transforming your view of life as a series of opportunities instead of obsticles.
And guess what, thinking positively can increase your life span, lower depression, resist the common cold, reduce the risk of cardiac disease, and helps you better get through hard periods of time, that even optimists are going to have. The reason scientists think that positive thinking helps these people and their health, is that positive thinkers are better at coping with stressful situations.
You only have this moment, don't waste, live it.

You should definately try to be like the yellow smily face throughout your life. He knows where it's at.

I've learned that...

Today I recieved a book from my Aunt entitled "Live and Learn Pass it on". In this book people age 5 to 95 share what they've discovered about live, love and other good stuff. I quite enjoy these cute kind of books, that inspire me how to live my life, and even though they are not the type of books you actually read page for page, and more just skim through, it is still extremely enjoyable, and I am going to quote some of my favorite "life lessons" from this book. Enjoy.
"I've learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it."
-age 39
"I've learned that the great challenge of life is to decide what's important and to disregard everything else."
-age 51
"I've learned that almost no quality products sell for a cheap price."
-age 52
"I've learned that it doesn't cost anything to be nice."
-age 66
"I've learned that it's hard to argue with someone when they're right."
-age 58
"I've learned that enthusiasm is caught no taught."
-age 51
"I've learned that the tooth fairy doesn't always come. Sometimes he's broke."
-age 8
"I've learned that you should never jump out of a second story window using a sheet for a parachute."
-age 10
"I've learned that how you do your work is a portrait of yourself."
-age 64
"I've learned that to love and be loved is the greatest joy in the world."
-age 78
"I've learned that there are no unimportant acts of kindness."
-age 51
"I've learned that if your life is free of failures, you're probably not taking enought risks."
-age 42
"I've learned that if you allow someone to make you angry, you have let him conquer you."
-age 54
"I've learned that good health is true wealth."
-age 77
"I've learned that optimists live longer than pessimists. That's why I'm an optimist."
-age 84
"I've learned that my best friends are usually the ones who get me in trouble."
- age 11
"I've learned that you can keep going long after you think you can't."
-age 69
"I've learned that love will break your heart, but it's worth it."
- age 26
"I've learned that big problems always start out small."
-age 20
"I've learned that you can't please some people, no matter what you do."
-age 35
"I've learned that learning to forgive takes practice."
-age 15
"I've learned that my worst decisions were made when I was angry."
-age 62
"I've learned that you often take out your frustrations on the people you love the most."
-age 29
"I've learned that there are still some things I haven't made my mind up about yet."
-age 91
"I've learned that you can never have to many smart people in your life."
-age 48
"I've learned that regrets over yesterday and fears of tomorrow are twin thieves that rob us of the moment."
-age 29
Well I know thats alot, but this book is full of beautiful, and witty thoughts about life. It was written and compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. The author had the idea on his 51th birthday when he wrote a list of what he learned himself in his life. It's a fascinating book, with plenty of ideas on how to live life to the fullest.

Life can be a walk in the park

Today my friend and I had some spare time on our hands and took a journey to a local metropark. For the first time this year it felt like fall. My favorite season is Winter (mostly because of Christmas) however Fall has many charming advantages. I simply love the colors, and the weather, and since I start preparing for Christmas in October, Christmas is half in Fall. Anyway, a walk through a park on a lovely Fall day like today, is a perfect seasonal activity. Here are some of the snapshots I took that made me feel like it is autumn.

"Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities.

Seize common occasions

and make them great."

Orison Swett Marden

Take it all in, from a giant tree to a tiny leaf, realize the beauty that has been given to you. Enjoy all the wonderful things on this earth, especially with this brand new season staring right at us, open your eyes and look back at it.

Title of blog

Hello there. Okay so let me start out by saying I am a new blogger (seeing as how this is my first post I would assume that to be obvious, but I will say it anyway.) Well I figure I should start with explaining the title of the blog. I do this because whenever I find a nifty blog, I always wonder the story behind the mysterious name. Also, I have thought too long and hard about a title to not share it. So here it goes. I have been thinking of a title since Summer. While I was pondering my all time favorite quote popped into my head.
"This is no ordinary world,
We need extraordinary glory."
Sang by my personal favorite artist, Jason Mraz. Usually when I have a good idea, it occurs like this, it just comes to me. So I thought the word extraordinary is the "climax" you could say, of the quote, however the entire quote is beautiful. The first line reminds me that we are all special, no one is just ordinary, because we are all different, so what can we base "normal" on. The second line reminds me that I need God in everything I do. The entire quote speaks quite loudly to me, that we need to live each day to the fullest, because life is a gift and we shouldn't waste it. Each moment is a special opportunity that we should take. However the other thing I like about this quote is I am still thinking about its entire meaning. So this blog is going to be dedicated to living happily, and taking in every moment, and never forgetting that life is extraordinary.