wyhr.orgWendy’s World

“You know, I think as children we are taught that courage is John Wayne courage. It is loud and it is brash and it wears boots.

But that’s not courage.

Courage is being diagnosed with Parkinson’s and writing chainsaw-juggling jokes about it.

And Richard’s discussion of his diagnosis is, at least to me, a reminder that while life may be unpredictable and unfair, its greatest beauty is in the capacity of the individual to stare into the face of that difficulty and smile.

And make chainsaw jokes.”

~Stephan Pastis, Pearls Before Swine creator

“It isn’t the great big pleasures that count the most; it’s making a great deal out of the little ones.”
~Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs

From the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story:

Lance Armstrong: Could I get a bottle of water. – - Hey, aren’t you Peter La Fleur?
Peter La Fleur: Lance Armstrong!
Lance Armstrong: Yeah, that’s me. But I’m a big fan of yours.
Peter La Fleur: Really?
Lance Armstrong: Yeah, I’ve been watching the dodgeball tournament on the Ocho. ESPN 8. I just can’t get enough of it. But, good luck in the tournament. I’m really pulling for you against those jerks from Globo Gym. I think you better hurry up or you’re gonna be late.
Peter La Fleur: Uh, actually I decided to quit… Lance.
Lance Armstrong: Quit? You know, once I was thinking about quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer, all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and I won the Tour de France five times in a row. But I’m sure you have a good reason to quit. So what are you dying from that’s keeping you from the finals?
Peter La Fleur: Right now it feels a little bit like… shame.
Lance Armstrong: Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn’t anything to regret for the rest of their life. But good luck to you Peter. I’m sure this decision won’t haunt you forever.

To watch, check out this YouTube link.

“If the world had more ubuntu*, we would not have war. We would not have this huge gap between the rich and the poor. You are rich so that you can make up what is lacking for others. You are powerful so that you can help the weak, just as a mother or father helps their children. This is God’s dream.”
~Desmond Tutu, God has a Dream

* Ubuntu is the essence of being a person. It means that we are people through other people. We can not be fully human alone. God keeps trying to make us realize we are made for interdependence, we are made for family.

“Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing.”
~Optimus Prime

I would amend this quote to say: “God rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing.”

I heart books and I heard quotes. Put the two together and you get me quoting books. Here’s one from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The bad guy, Voldemort, has returned and Hagrid, a good guy, says:

“No good sitting worrying about it. What’s coming will come, and we’ll meet it when it does.”

It’s so true. Why do we worry about things beyond our control, in this case the future? As Jesus said:

²⁷“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life”

³⁴“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

“I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible because dreams offer too little collateral.”
~Walt Disney

“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.”
~Madeleine L’Engle

It’s never F-in easy.
~Bob O

The best things in life were meant to be shared.

p. 73, The Sacred Romance