Beauty Around Us

There is so much beauty all around us and I love trying to capture some of that beauty with my camera.  There is another kind of beauty....the beauty of spirit.  At our last Garden Club Circle meeting, the below words were our "words of inspiration" for the meeting.  I thought the "always do what is right and good and true" message was so inspiring.   I thought you might like that message as much as I did.

The Paradoxical Commandments

by

Dr. Kent M. Keith

 

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered,

Love them anyway. 

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior

motives,

Do good anyway. 

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true

enemies,

Succeed anyway. 

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway. 

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway. 

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be

shot down by the smallest men and women with the

smallest minds.

Think big anyway. 

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.

Fight for a few underdogs anyway. 

What you spend years building may be destroyed

overnight.

Build anyway. 

People really need help but may attack you if you do help

them.

Help people anyway. 

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in

the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.

And then, we have this kind of beauty ..... Our local grocery store had these beautiful tulips yesterday when I went grocery shopping.  I walked by them and just could not resist.  When I first put them in the vase they were drooping over, but I guess the light streaming in the kitchen windows pulled them up straight.

In the above photo this is one of my favorite places to be in our home.  I love to sit by the kitchen window with my coffee in the early morning and see what kind of wildlife is stopping by.  I did not see him this morning, but the bird suet that was in the feeder from yesterday was all gone.  So I know Mr. Raccoon stopped by during the night and had a midnight snack.

The tulips opened a little more today.  What a pretty color!

Coming back from the grocery yesterday I could not help but notice how the Japanese Magnolia trees are blooming .  They are blooming much earlier than usual.  Here in north Florida they usually bloom in mid February.

After unloading groceries I decided to take my camera and walk around the yard and try to get some photos of the Magnolia trees that were blooming.   Next time we visit,  I will share some of the pretty blossoms I captured with my camera yesterday.

Our prayers are with any of you who may be in the path of that tornado filled storm coming across the country.  Be safe until we meet again.