Thought For the Day: You Will Accomplish More By Kind Words and A Courteous Manner Than By Anger Or Sharp Rebuke, Which Should Never Be Used Except In Necessity

“You will accomplish more by kind words and a courteous manner than by anger or sharp rebuke, which should never be used except in necessity.” – Angela Merici

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First Principles: Now More Than Ever, the People Are Responsible For the Character of Their Congress. If That Body Be Ignorant, Reckless, and Corrupt, It Is Because the People Tolerate Ignorance, Recklessness, and Corruption

“Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature. . . . If the next centennial does not find us a great nation . . . it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.” – James Garfield

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Waking Up the Summer of Love

Waking up from the Summer of Love
by Michael Doyle

Love is more than sexual annexation,
And maybe that's why some hold vexation,
That's what passes off as animalistic desire
Comes off cold and in need of some fire.

Love and lust are more than curiosity.
Tactless plays at desire hold no chemistry.
It takes the obvious need for connection,
And it is so much deeper than a juvenile erection.

It seems some find it a fragrant mystery,
The Summer of Love has lost its intensity.
They seek romance and get degeneration,
It's the futility of an enraged generation.

Too often, the elements of romance are missing.
It takes more than groping and excitable kissing.
The dirty hippy generation with their love-ins,
Only got to the commission and omissions of sins.

The question of what love truly is was a question
They only approached with the most juvenile hesitation.
When a generation by and large finds romance just for fun,
The premise of finding love is a stuck fork of being done.

It seems some find it a fragrant mystery,
The Summer of Love has lost its intensity.
They seek romance and get degeneration,
It's the futility of an enraged generation.

Sex, money, and endless mental-health struggles
Are the latest rage, and love isn't in this jungle.
Sadly, love and intimacy bring the truest equality.
Without romance, there cannot be the needed intimacy.

The scripts and cues of the romantic relationship,
Has been lost in the hub where all fall for worship.
However deviant and skewered by what leads to sorrow,
If love doesn't get its mojo back, there's no tomorrow.

It seems some find it a fragrant mystery,
The Summer of Love has lost its intensity.
They seek romance and get degeneration,
It's the futility of an enraged generation.

(c) March 20, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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First Principles: Don’t Expect To Build Up the Weak By Pulling Down the Strong

“Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.” – Calvin Coolidge

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Thought For the Day: You Make Each Day A Special Day. You Know How, By Just Your Being You

“You make each day a special day. You know how, by just your being you.” – Fred Rogers

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Dancing With Ghosts

Dancing With Ghosts
by Michael Doyle

In spaces where war is thought of as glory
There are legends that make for great story.
Those of us who have fought for our nation
Know this as a fantastic conversation.

Around the fire, it's meant to endlessly inspire
So that in battle, we will not tire.
At least not so much as to give up the fight,
As endlessly as it can last into the night.

We find ourselves moving toward
The fights and ever forward,
All so we would never be flanked.
The marks of battle reach truth fully ranked.

Death comes too often at our completion.
It often comes quietly and without apt explanation.
At least, not the acceptable kind,
But the truth found can leave you half blind.

Though it's easier not to think or feel,
The worst truth is that some monsters are real.
They strike quietly n the silence of the night,
And are gone before the morning's light.

On the back country pathways,
Can be evaded for many days
We hide away our treasures in a hidden cave,
Keeping away the memories we live to save.

When we begin to live our nightmare
In the day, we begin to forget why we care.
Maybe that's the thing of war we miss most,
The way we find ourselves dancing with ghosts.

(c) March 19, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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Thought For the Day: If You Want To Meet Someone Who Can Fix Any Situation You Don’t Like… Look Into A Mirror, Then Say This Word: “Hello”

“If you want to meet someone who can fix any situation you don’t like, who can bring you happiness in spite of what other people say or believe, look in a mirror, then say this magic word: ‘Hello.'” -Richard Bach

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First Principles: We Must Dare To Be Great; and We Must Realize That Greatness Is the Fruit of Toil and Sacrifice and High Courage

“We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage.” – William Howard Taft

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Dreams In the Khyber Pass

Dreams In the Khyber Pass
by Michael Doyle

Stories are important
To our understanding.
They aren't just random compartments
For when life gets too demanding.

Each story provides a layer
Of step or steps bringing us near.
These take us from here to there
And make the details clear.

We cross borders along our journey,
Bribed forward toward our destiny.
Only pride requires life to make sense,
For most, there's only a useful pretense.

Sometimes all we have is our contribution,
As a step-by-step, we find the solution,
Searching out answers that are to see,
Until they surface quite plainly.

Sometimes bad things happen unexpectedly,
And still we push on quite reasonably.
Life is founded on the struggles we slip by,
But we never know unless we give it our best try.

Our journey will take us places
That we have been seen.
We'll find this in the faces
That will not seek the same sense of being.

We need to bravely open our eyes,
And there before us, without surprise,
Are the things that are best to be had,
But without the prize, we'd be less than sad.

Somewhere along the Khyber Pass,
There are reams of futures without a past.
These are the dreams of innocence cast,
But anyone with an ounce of wisdom knows t won't last.

(c) March 18, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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I’m Finally Home

I'm Finally Home
by Michael Doyle

Turned around to solid ground,
I was no longer Hellbound.
My interest in the open road
Was replaced by the blessing I was told.

I find my freedom in my salvation.
The glory road became my fascination.
I am no longer destined for my grave,
And I am thankful to be saved.

My light seen in the dark of night,
I am constantly praying to get things right.
Though I have traveled across the land,
In Christ's strength, I will make my stand.

I've finally found love and victory.
He offered redemption despite my history.
In Christ alone, I feel my true home.
In His love, I am no longer alone.

And so I sing my victory song,
Finally knowing where I belong.
I've gained sweet freedom as I atone.
In the Lord, I am no longer alone.

(c) March 17, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
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