Kenneth Davis

IT'S TIME FOR 
JUST JOKING MONDAYS

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     December 17, 2024: This is a time when your perspective of life and relevance will undergo an adjustment. You will be able to see the cycle of life with greater understanding and clarity. Use this time to do all that you can to fulfill your destiny in Me, says the Lord. I am your past, your present, and your future. John 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAYS WORDS - CYCLE OF LIFE

     I have accepted fear as a part of life - specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back. It's important to know what you're going to spend your life on, and the only way you're going to find that is by connecting with the force inside yourself. Always do the things you fear the most. Courage is an acquired taste, like caviar.
          You reach a point in life where you realize that you might as well do what you need to do, because your being loved or not being loved is really a function of the people you encounter and not of yourself. That is an immensely liberating insight. Friends love misery... our misery is what endears us to our friends. Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't. If we are all made of God, it is our friends who remind us. We pass the gift of God to them. They pass it back to us when we need it most. We were not human beings going through spiritual experiences; we were spiritual beings going through human experiences, in order to grow. 
     There's another part of getting older that's just wonderful. Which is you see the way the stories turn out with peoples' lives. Memory is the most transient of all possessions. And when it goes, it leaves as few traces as stars that have disappeared. We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly...spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order. The most important education you get is your own - the one you learn in solitude.
     It's horrible getting older. I mean, it's wonderful because you see the circles of life get completed. But it's horrible losing your looks. If, every day, I dare to remember that I am here on loan, that this house, this hillside, these minutes are all leased to me, not given, I will never despair. I see that the greatest thing about getting older is how your judgment changes and how you come to understand the cycles of life. And you keep having these amazing flashes of understanding. Perhaps every generation thinks of itself as a lost generation and perhaps every generation is right.

~Erica Jong~

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS
 TO 
RONALD JOHNSON

     When you're young you think that you're going to sail into a lovely lake of quietude and peace. The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in seventy or eighty years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all.
 
 ~Doris Lessing~

Joycelyn Lacy (Sommerville)

Joycelyn Lacy (Sommerville)

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAYS WORD - COMPASSION 

     Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay. You have to start from where you are today and from what can be done. I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom. Society cares about the individual only in so far as he is profitable. The young know this. Their anxiety as they enter in upon social life matches the anguish of the old as they are excluded from it. To show your true ability is always, in a sense, to surpass the limits of your ability, to go a little beyond them: to dare, to seek, to invent; it is at such a moment that new talents are revealed, discovered, and realized. 
     Society turns away from the aged worker as though he belonged to another species. That is why the whole question is buried in a conspiracy of silence. Old age exposes the failure of our entire civilization. It is old age, rather than death, that is to be contrasted with life. Old age is life's parody, whereas death transforms life into a destiny: in a way it preserves it by giving it the absolute dimension. Death does away with time. I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. I want this adventure that is the context of my life to go on without end. Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself; if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying. Today, however, we are having a hard time living because we are so bent on outwitting death. Retirement may be looked upon either as a prolonged holiday or as a rejection, a being thrown on to the scrapheap.
     Old age is life's parody. One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion. The nearer I come to the end of my days, the more I am enabled to see that strange thing, a life, and to see it whole. Each of us is responsible for everything and to every human being.  

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS
 TO 

VELMA TATE GILLESPIE 
&
DONALD MATTOX LOYD

       Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. Once you make this all-important discovery, you must embrace joy as a moral obligation. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself- and thus make yourself indispensable. Nothing prevents happiness like the memory of happiness.

~Andre Gide~

Kenneth Davis

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY

New Study: Just 46 More Minutes of Sleep

Yields a Cheerful Health Benefit
By Lauren Gray
Published on Nov. 19, 2024
https://www.thehealthy.com

     Getting a good night’s sleep is crucial to your physical health, reducing your risk of chronic illness, boosting your immune system, and improving function in your essential organs. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), getting 7 to 9 hours of high-quality shuteye per night “appears to be as important for living as food and water.” Now, a new study published in The Journal of Positive Psychology has found that there’s another way that getting more sleep could help your health. It says that increasing your sleep amount, even in small increments, can have a profound effect on your mental health and mood.
     The team behind the study consisted of a group of researchers from the department of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University in Waco, TX. They built their work on the previously established finding that “people who are grateful, resilient and flourishing in life show better health, including better sleep. This correlational finding is typically attributed to personality factors or to positive outlooks causing better sleep,” they wrote. For this study, they then investigated reverse causation to learn whether one’s volume of sleep could have an effect on feelings and expressions of gratitude, resilience, and flourishing.
     The researchers instructed 90 adult subjects to follow one of three sleep schedules: one of restriction, one of expansion, or one with no guidelines beyond following their natural urge to sleep. Tracking their data across the span of a workweek, the team found that those who extended their sleep by just 46 minutes displayed more “gratitude, flourishing and prosocial behaviors” in the short term. Meanwhile, restricted sleep had the opposite effect. “A common explanation is that short sleep undermines emotional regulation leading to worsened emotional reactivity; consistent with this view, experimental studies have found that sleep restriction worsens feelings and expressions of anger, hostility, anxiety and irritability, especially in the context of stressors,” the researchers wrote. “However, sleep restriction studies that measured both positive and negative emotional states have typically reported that sleep loss changes overall mood primarily by reducing positive emotions.”
     In other words, getting too little sleep appears to be detrimental to mood. But getting an extra few minutes of shuteye can enhance markers of positive mental health from baseline levels, giving us all a good reason to snooze a little longer.

 This is for information purpose only and should not be considered as a substitute for medical expertise. These are opinions from an external panel of individual doctors. Please seek professional help regarding any health conditions or concerns.

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAYS WORDS - RENEWED HOPE

     
     We should expect hope's reciprocity as a natural flowering of the life of hope. Helping others and nurturing hope is expressive of hopefulness itself. It is an extension of the hopeful self to reach out to others, promoting the connection of agency and the enrichment of horizons of meaning. Hope's reciprocity grows out of the very social nature of hope; we thus frequently see it live in family relations, in intimacy, in love. And so, hope spreads. This spreading should not surprise us; like love, it is freely given, fostered, and nurtured.
     The life of hope, then, is shot through with social influences at every level. We learn to formulate ideals in tandem with others. We pursue particular hopes, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing, in the company of those we love. And as we develop habits of hope and the hopefulness which helps us weather our trials, we reach out to others, inspiring them, sharing our own hopes with them, and contributing our abilities as best we can to foster the growth of agency. Hope is fragile and needs to be tended and renewed.

~Patrick Shade~

Kenneth Davis

TIME FOR ANOTHER

Kenneth Davis

T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N
TODAYS WORDS - FORGIVE AND MOVE ON

     If you don't make peace with your past, it will keep showing up in your present. Now is all we have. Everything that has ever happened to you, and anything that is ever going to happen to you, is just a thought. Most people are searching for happiness. They're looking for it. They're trying to find it in someone or something outside of themselves. That's a fundamental mistake. Happiness is something that you are, and it comes from the way you think. If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
     With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose. You create your thoughts, your thoughts create your intentions, and your intentions create your reality. Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice.
     Your past history and all of your hurts are no longer here in your physical reality. Don't allow them to be here in your mind, muddying your present moments. Your life is like a play with several acts. Some of the characters who enter have short roles to play, others, much longer. But all are necessary, otherwise they wouldn't be in the play. Embrace them all and move on to the next act.

     You can sit there forever, lamenting about how bad you've been, feeling guilty until you die, and not one tiny slice of that guilt will do anything to change a single thing in the past. Forgive yourself, then MOVE ON! Change your inner thoughts to the higher frequencies of love, harmony, kindness, peace, and joy, and you'll attract more of the same.

~Wayne Dyer~

Kenneth Davis

WELCOME TO 
SMOOTH
 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ 

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAYS WORD - BOUNDARIES 

     Conformity is dangerous. I'm not a fan of being inauthentic. Frenemies are worse than enemies. When you're dealing with an ambivalent relationship, you're constantly on guard, grappling with questions of trust. From a relationship perspective, givers build deeper and broader connections. The great thing about a culture of givers is that's not a delusion - it's reality.
Authenticity means erasing the gap between what you firmly believe inside and what you reveal to the outside world. Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon. If you want to be a generous giver, you have to watch out for selfish takers.
     I believe that the most meaningful way to succeed is to help other people succeed. Bragging about yourself violates norms of modesty and politeness - and if you were really competent, your work would speak for itself. Takers are self-serving in their interactions. It's all about what can you do for me. When takers talk about mistakes, they're usually quick to place the blame on other people. Givers are more likely to say 'Here's the mistake I made; I learned the following from it. Here are the steps I'm taking to make sure I don't let people down in the future.'
     Being a giver is not about saying yes to all of the people all of the time to all of the requests. Givers build deeper and broader relationships - people are rooting for them instead of gunning for them. Authenticity is a virtue. But just as you can have too little authenticity, you can also have too much. When you develop a reputation for being responsive and generous, an ever-expanding mountain of requests will come your way.
     Being a nice person is about courtesy: you're friendly, polite, agreeable, and accommodating. When people believe they have to be nice in order to give, they fail to set boundaries, rarely say no, and become pushovers, letting others walk all over them. When making decisions about people, stop confusing experience with evidence. Just as owning a car doesn't make you an expert on engines, having a brain doesn't mean you understand psychology.

~Adam Grant~

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

Merry Christmas to my wonderful classmates. Wishing you blessing and love.

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     December 22, 2024: For those who acknowledge and walk with Me, I am making a way that you can follow. Do not be afraid to miss what I am doing in your life. I truly am for you and not against you. You are My own special treasure. Embrace this spiritual reality, and do not doubt the love that I have for you, says the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

    T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N    
TODAYS WORDS - SPECIAL TREASURE

     Passion and purpose go hand in hand. When you discover your purpose, you will normally find it's something you're tremendously passionate about. When you live for a strong purpose, then hard work isn't an option. It's a necessity. The most intelligent thing you can possibly do with your life is to grow. The only thing stopping you is fear, and the only thing that will get you past it is courage. If you're going to improve your situation, you have to put the full burden of doing so squarely on your own shoulders. Fuzzy thinking leads to hesitancy in acting. Clear thinking makes it easier to act boldly and consistently.
     Fear is not your enemy. It is a compass pointing you to the areas where you need to grow. The more disciplined you become; the easier life gets. It's a serious character weakness to think you can get something of value for little or nothing, to believe that life will flood you with abundance when you won't commit yourself to delivering your best contribution in exchange. If someone offers you a gift, and you decline to accept it, the other person still owns that gift. If you dislike the answers you’re getting from life, try asking better questions.
     Hard work is painful when life is devoid of purpose. But when you live for something greater than yourself and the gratification of your own ego, then hard work becomes a labor of love. When you discipline yourself to do what is hard, you gain access to a realm of results that are denied everyone else. The willingness to do what is difficult is like having a key to a special private treasure room. Spend time cultivating your deepest desires, no matter how impractical or impossible they seem. It's perfectly OK to want the impossible.

~Steve Pavlina~

Kenneth Davis

    T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N    
TODAYS WORD - PROGRESS

     You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. If your habits don't line up with your dream, then you need to either change your habits or change your dream. The more you do, the more you fail. The more you fail, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better you get. Progress does not occur without change. Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you.
     Life is like riding in a taxi. Whether you are going anywhere or not, the meter keeps ticking. We cannot choose how many years we will live, but we can choose how much life those years will have. We cannot control the beauty of our face, but we can control the expression on it. We cannot control life's difficult moments, but we can choose to make life less difficult. We cannot control the negative atmosphere of the world, but we can control the atmosphere of our minds. Too often we try to choose and control things we cannot. Too seldom we choose to control what we can ... our attitude. Your life today is a result of your thinking yesterday. Your life tomorrow will be determined by what you think today.
     By choosing to embrace and practice good values every day, you choose the higher course in life. And your life goes in a direction that you will always feel good about. You may not always get what you desire, but you will always be the person you desire to be. I always try to remember that I am a work in progress. It is life's journey that matters and the turns I take will determine how much progress I make. You see, I am unique in my gifts and the purpose I was created for. Each one of us is a work in progress, with a mission and purpose to fulfill that is uniquely ours. Keep that in mind as you journey, won't you? Make personal growth a daily priority.

~John C. Maxwell~

Kenneth Davis

IT'S TIME FOR 
JUST JOKING MONDAYS

Joycelyn Lacy (Sommerville)

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     December 24, 2024: Make today a day of forgiveness for those who have sinned against you. Prepare yourself to be free of agitation and resentment so that you can enjoy the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus Christ was born, lived, and died to give us everlasting life in Him. Let your best gift to others be that of freedom from your own wrath. Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.

     T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAY'S WORD - FORGIVENESS     

     Responsibilities and expectations are the basis of guilt and shame and judgement, and they provide the essential framework that promotes performance as the basis for identity and value. Emotions talked to you before you had words, so listen to them ... they are often more honest than the mind's remarkable ability to self-deceive. There is always risk in relationships. The world has no meaning apart from relationships. Some are just messier than others, some are seasonal, others are difficult, and a few are easy, but every one of them is important. I suppose that since most of our hurts come through relationships so will our healing, and I know that grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside.
     Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, purposes are accomplished, and nothing will be the same again. Anger is the right response to something that is so wrong. But don't let the anger and pain and loss you feel prevent you from forgiving and removing your hands from around the neck. Don't forget that in the midst of all your pain and heartache, you are surrounded by beauty, the wonder of creation, art, your music and culture, the sounds of laughter and love, of whispered hopes and celebrations, of new life and transformation, of reconciliation and forgiveness. Forgiveness is first for you, the forgiver...to release you from something that will eat you alive; that will destroy your joy and your ability to love fully and openly. 
     Forgiveness does not create a relationship. Unless people speak the truth about what they have done and change their mind and behavior, a relationship of trust is not possible. When you forgive someone, you certainly release them from judgment, but without true change, no real relationship can be established. You may have to declare your forgiveness a hundred times the first day and the second day, but the third day will be less and each day after, until one day you will realize that you have forgiven completely. Forgiveness in no way requires that you trust the one you forgive. Healing is as incremental and mysterious as the damage ... what took time, takes time. Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.  I really do believe that God is love, one of deep affection and grace and forgiveness and inspiration.

~William P. Young~

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAY'S WORDS - RESTORATION AND RENEWAL

     We can stop waiting for life to become perfect and start working with what we’ve got to make it as satisfying as we can. We can accept, bless, give thanks, and get going. Today, we can begin to call forth the riches from our everyday life. Today we can move from lack to abundance. Sometimes the tasks we take on seem virtually impossible. But amazingly, when we harness the incredible power of the subconscious in our lives, we can accomplish whatever we set out to do, no matter what obstacles we have to overcome. Life is not made up of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years, but of moments. You must experience each one before you can appreciate it.
     Making the absolute best of ourselves is not an easy task. It is a pleasurable pursuit...but it requires patience, persistence, and perseverance. Discerning our personal gifts is essential if we are to experience harmony in our lives. Each day that you love, honor, and respect your own unique point of view, you're a step closer to finding a fortune. Today, and every day, take as your personal mantra: I am what I am and what I am is wonderful. This moment is your life. It is the process of living, the journey, that is life itself, and we often wish away our lives by focusing only on what tomorrow could, should, would bring. Whatever we are waiting for - peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance - it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart. Gratitude is the most passionate transformative force in the cosmos. When we offer thanks to God or to another human being, gratitude gifts us with renewal, reflection, reconnection.
      No one needs to know that you've shut the world out and are meditating as you stroll down the street. Twenty minutes to a half-hour every day is a good amount of time to restore a sense of serenity. One way of celebrating is to consider it a sacred time of reflection, release, restoration, and renewal. Turn away from the world and begin to listen. Listen to the whispers of your heart. Look within. Your silent companion has lit lanterns of love to illuminate the path to Wholeness. At long last, the journey you were destined to take has begun. Grace is available for each of us every day - our spiritual daily bread - but we've got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and not worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow.

~Sarah Ban Breathnach~

Kenneth Davis

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY

Here’s How Long You Need to Walk
 to Lower Your Blood Sugar, New Research Finds
By Kristine Gasbarre Qaderi
Updated on Aug. 06, 2024
https://www.thehealthy.com/ 

     Sports medicine researchers suggest a short stroll can have a big impact on your blood sugar health. If you’ve ever noticed a pattern of eaten something relatively heavy and high in carbohydrates…and then, noticed that your heart was pounding…then it’s very possible you’ve experienced the effects of high blood sugar. Keeping a balanced blood sugar level is important for everyone, even if you’re not diabetic—as approximately 40 million Americans are, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Diabetes Association.
     Fortunately, for many of us, the fix can be simple. According to a 2022 review in the peer-reviewed journal, Sports Medicine, bringing down your blood sugar could be a walk in the park. (Even a short one!)
The effect of walking on blood sugar
     A group of researchers at Ireland’s University of Limerick and Manchester Metropolitan University in England performed a meta-analysis of seven past studies that had compared the effects of sitting, standing, and light-intensity walking on blood pressure, insulin levels, and post-meal blood glucose (blood sugar), all which the researchers reported are considered to be “cardiometabolic health markers” that can be keys to indicating an individual’s risk factor for chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes. The past studies had included mixed-gender participants that were over 18 years old.
     From their analysis, the researchers of the current study found that for people who were overweight or obese, simply standing “significantly” reduced blood sugar levels when compared to sitting. However, the researchers reported, “Light-intensity walking was found to be a superior intervention compared to standing and prolonged sitting.”
     So, what’s considered light-intensity walking? The past studies showed effectiveness for a two-minute walking break every 20 minutes and a five-minute walking break every 30 minutes. The walking speeds that researchers found to have “good” effect on blood sugar were between 1.5 miles per hour and two miles per hour. The best part? Those participants had walked on a treadmill or a marked track. Imagine what just getting out in the fresh air could do for your body!
What’s a healthy blood sugar level?
     The Mayo Clinic suggests that a blood sugar level of less than 140 milligrams per deciliter is “normal.” However, this can vary depending on certain health factors and when you’ve eaten your last meal. To determine the healthiest blood sugar level for you, it’s best to speak with your licensed healthcare provider.

     This is for information purpose only, and should not be considered as a substitute for medical expertise. These are opinions from an external panel of individual doctors. Please seek professional help regarding any health conditions or concerns.

Joycelyn Lacy (Sommerville)

https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxL4JYLVVk5MWiMWfDjJFe8sQZZcHncjSe

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH  ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS
 TO 
CHERLYN HARRIS CONNER
 &
ANN  IVY  WINN 

     Although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God. God never gives someone a gift they are not capable of receiving. If he gives us the gift of Christmas, it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it. 

~Pope Francis~

Kenneth Davis

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAY'S WORDS - MAKE ADJUSTMENTS

     Your image isn't your character. Character is what you are as a person. When I was younger, I was always taught not to make excuses. I went to school on Senior Skip Day. You have to be confident, if you're not confident you might as well go home. I'm not perfect; no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. I think you try to learn from those mistakes. I have feelings. I'm not emotionally stunted. I always have tried to treat people with respect, the way I want to be treated.
     Everyone fears rejection. Surround yourself with good people. People who are going to be honest with you and look out for your best interests. The longer you wait to decide what you want to do, the more time you're wasting. It's up to you to want something so badly that your passion shows through in your actions. Your actions, not your words, will do the shouting for you. You can't be sensitive, because you're going to get criticized. I don't care who you are, you're going to get criticized. I always take criticism as a challenge. It's the way I've always looked at it. 
     There's responsibility, but there's also accountability. You have to be accountable for your actions. There's feelings there, but I think I've just been pretty good at trying to hide my emotions throughout the years. I try to have the same demeanor each and every day. Sometimes people complicate things by thinking too much about what someone might think of what they said or did. I think when things linger, that's when they become a distraction. I don't want any distractions. I don't listen to opinions. I'm not one to sit around and be satisfied about something. I can always get better. You've got to make adjustments as you get older.
     Obviously, you're known for what you do. But you still want to be known as a good person. I wish I trusted people more. But when I meet someone, the first thing is, 'What does this person want?' And I put up a defense mechanism. But I've always been that way. Through time you learn from your experiences. I think I've learned to deal with people a little bit better over time. That in particular has developed a little bit. Work hard, love what you do, put your best foot forward and never forget the kid in you. You know what I want to do? Wake up one weekend and not have to go anywhere and do nothing.

~Derek Jeter~

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS

 TO 

  IRETHA ROLFE WATKINS

     Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. Live all you can; it's a mistake not to. It's time to start living the life you've imagined. You must save what you can of your life; you musn't lose it all simply because you've lost a part. Until you try, you don't know what you can't do. 

~Henry James~