Welcome to a Wonderful New Year!

The past year has been a wild ride for The 51% Project, a year of beginnings, the first year of our project.  It’s given both of us the opportunity to assess ourselves, our values, and goals with a critical eye.    We have both grown in ways we couldn’t have imagined as we began our journey, and we are so grateful for all that we’ve learned along the way.

Beginning a new year gives us the opportunity and challenge of sweeping away the old and beginning anew.  Change isn’t always easy, but the benefits of it are undeniable.   Not since 2000, and the change to a new millennium has the world looked to the new year with such anticipation and trepidation.  It’s a perfect time to look closely at our lives and decide to live with gratitude and positive expectation.  We expect 2012 to be the beginning of a brilliant future for all of us.

With this new beginning, Dorothy and I have decided to make some changes in how we reach out to you.  You’ll see us more on our Facebook page, daily in fact.  Our posts will  be in the form of passages that have touched our hearts.  We hope it will make it easier to take a moment from your very busy day to charge your outlook with positivity.  

We’ll still post to our blog site weekly and include all of the quotes for the week, as well as post beautiful videos and stories as we encounter them.  It’s a change, and change is growth ... please join us as often as you can and if you like what you see we hope you’ll share our project with your family and friends.

As we look forward to welcoming a new year, it is our sincere hope that it is one of giving with love, receiving with gratitude, and giving thanks for all of our gifts.

Susan and Dorothy

Gratitude and Peace

This month of holidays brings wonderful gifts, no matter what our unique circumstances are.  These beautiful lyrics by John Bucchino touched our hearts and we hope they give you pause for a moment of gratitude.  

   

I’ve got a roof over my head.

I’ve got a warm place to sleep.

Some nights I lie awake counting gifts

Instead of counting sheep,

I’ve got a heart that can hold love,

I’ve got a mind that can think.

There may be times when I lose the light

And let my spirits sink.

But I can’t stay depressed

When I remember how I’m blessed.

Grateful, grateful

Truly grateful I am.

Grateful, grateful

Truly blessed and duly grateful.

In a world that can bring pain

I will still take each chance.

For I believe that whatever the terrain

Our feet can learn to dance.

Whatever stone life may sling

We can moan or we can sing.

Grateful, grateful

Truly grateful I am.

Grateful, grateful

Truly blessed and duly grateful.

-John Bucchino

As we look forward to welcoming a new year, it is our sincere hope that it is one of giving with love, receiving with gratitude, and giving thanks for all of our gifts.  May the celebrations of the season fill your heart with joy and love.

Susan and Dorothy

A Grown Up Christmas List

As Christmas nears, many of us find ourselves caught up in the not enough time, too much to do, high dollar experience of the holiday season.  We hope this beautiful video will provide you a few minutes to pause, reflect and remember that the greatest gifts are not those grandly wrapped and placed beneath the tree, but are the intentions of the heart to make the world a better place for all humankind.

We thank  Kelly Clarkson for her beautiful rendition of David Foster's touching composition and Rob Pattinson for putting it all together in this wonderful video and add our hopes for the safe return of those fighting in Afghanistan as well.

We wish you and your loved ones much comfort and joy.

Dorothy and Susan

A Prayer for a Child

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From here on earth, 

From my small place 

I ask of You 

Way out in space: 

Please tell all men 

In every land 

What You and I 

Both understand...

Please tell all men 

That Peace is Good 

That's all 

That need be understood 

In every world 

In Your great sky. 

(We understand

Both You and I.) 

  -Dr. Seuss

With hearts full of sadness we offer this as a beacon of hope.

Susan and Dorothy

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Choose Joy!

Find Joy in Unexpected Places

 

Doro 2011                                       dorocards@gmail.com

  

During this time of harried days and frazzled nerves, with daunting To-Do lists, and time passing at full speed, remember that the choices you make today will determine how pleasant, productive or problematic the day will be.  You have the power to find and make joy.

We wish you Peace….

Dorothy and Susan

Thank You Friends!

Two Wolves: A Cherokee Teaching

An elderly Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life...

He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

One wolf is evil -- he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority, and ego.

The other is good---he is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied: "The one you feed.”

Along with letting our families know how much we love and appreciate them, Dorothy and I want you to know how grateful we are for the kind words and encouragement from all of you.  Without you enjoying our posts and passing them on to those you feel will be intrigued by them, we wouldn’t see the tremendous growth in our friends.  Thank you for your support!

In this traditional month of giving thanks we want to remember the special people in our lives;  our parents who showed us the path for achievement, our siblings who helped us learn selflessness, our grandparents who taught us that we could be magnificent, our teachers and mentors who give us the gift of expansion, our children who teach us that we succeed as they succeed, our friends who give us love, laughter, and sometimes prod us in the “right” direction, and our spouses who support our whims and dreams.

We both feel that we truly live under lucky stars and we are so thankful for all of the gifts we’ve been given.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Susan and Dorothy

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.

                                                                                                    Bishop Desmond Tutu 

Years ago, renown author and lecturer, Leo Buscalia was asked to judge a contest, the purpose of which was to find the most caring child.  The winner was a 4-year-old child whose next-door neighbor, an elderly man, had recently lost his wife of many years.  Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went to him, climbed up on his lap and sat there quietly.  When his mother asked him what he had said to the man, the boy said, “Nothing, I just wanted to help him cry.” 

After stumbling upon this story again this week, I set out to see what other children had to say about love.  I want to share what I found with you today, with hopes that it will bring a smile and a bit of sweet perspective: 

“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”  Rebecca- age 8 

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy – age 4 

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” Karl – age 5 

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” Chrissy – age 6 

“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” Terri – age 4 

“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.” Danny – age 7 

“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss” Emily – age 8 

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”  Bobby – age 7 (Wow!) 

“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,” Nikka – age 6  (We need a few million more Nikka’s on this planet) 

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.” Noelle – age 7 

“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.”  Tommy – age 6 

“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.”  Cindy – age 8 

“My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.”  Clare – age 6 

“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.”  Elaine-age 5 

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.” Chris – age 7 

“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.”

Mary Ann – age 4 

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”  Lauren – age 4 

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” Karen – age 7 

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross.”

Mark – age 6 

“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.”  Jessica – age 8 

I’ve been so moved by these sweet words of wisdom, I just can’t stop thinking about them. I hope they’ve touched you, too!  Let’s all try heeding the simple lessons of these beautiful children.  This week let’s all share our French fries, make friends with someone we hate, shoot little stars, stop (opening presents, watching TV, sending texts, rushing) and listen, and if we mean it - say it a lot! 

Namaste,

Dorothy 

Dorothy: If you're having trouble getting into the swing of the "season" - or the "season" brings you special challenges, I recommend visiting your local grade school in the weeks ahead.  Volunteer to read, or help in the lunchroom or whatever suits you...but I guarantee the sweet faces of the children you pass (this week many wearing construction paper Pilgrim hats or Indian headdresses!) will help you to make the shift!  The good and beauty of the world lies within a child's face! 

Susan: The simplicity and truth in young wisdom touches me deeply. Sharing our hearts can change the world.