Thought For the Day: Optimism Is the Faith That Leads To Achievement. Nothing Can Be Done Without Hope and Confidence

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller

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Stone Cast

Stone Cast
by Michael Doyle

Memory building on this June's night
You walk beside under the pale moonlight
That you're not troubled seems clear
But there's something to the something there

These things are important to you
Let's talk about how it is we will do
This life of ours together every day
I promise my love to you in every way

Come along with me on this walk
With joined hands, we will talk
I want you to confidently know
How our love is, and we will grow

I don't want to set the world on fire
I only want to be your heart's desire
I love you with a heart that is ever true
No one else can mean as much as you

We learn, we think, we blend
Coming together as each other's friend
It's how we share each other's smile
Our worst day is my more than worthwhile

Our comfort levels are achieved
In natural faithfulness believed
And the moon shines as we walk
Holding hands, amazed; I love the way you talk

There's a look of love in your shining eyes
It captivates me as the sun begins to rise
Catching us still awake and still talking
Wrapped in my arms, no longer walking

Remembering, with one look, I could see
That I hoped you would be the one for me
One dream shared with my bride-to-be
Then the thought; maybe love will last an eternity

Once in a lifetime - seen before my eyes
This is a true love unveiled without disguise
It's in the banter that we casually share
That brings us together deeper as we care

I wonder how it will be; together - as we blend
I know you're my lover and my best friend
Being faithful comes completely natural with you
You're my one; my person who will always be true

All my inner demons are tired and put aside
No more struggle; you are my truth, my love I won't hide
It came so fast; too fast? Yet, I'm sure it will last
Our promises made, lips-to-lips, are stone cast

(c) June 26, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: When You Want To Help People, You Tell Them the Truth. When You Want To Help Yourself, You Tell Them What They Want To Hear

“When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.” – Thomas Sowell

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First Principles: The Essence of Government Is Power; and Power, Lodged As It Must Be In Human Hands, Will Ever Be Liable To Abuse

“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.” – James Madison (1829)

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Into A Pirate’s Tomorrow

Into A Pirate's Tomorrow
by Michael Doyle

It's a rough pirate's world out there
When words spoken spill into loose fear
Mobs, it seems, are as easily turned
As pirate shanty towns are easily burned

Just as melancholy on the azure waves
Are the boarding plans that lead to graves
Someone once winced at the best plans made
Isn't it funny how the best plans fade

So it is with life's best improvisation
As we zig and zag to our consternation
By most accounts, treasure is a pirate's desire
Even when their pistols refuse to fire

If it might be allowed for me to tattle
Every virgin pirate has their first turn at battle
So it goes as true as it is for every pirate's lot
The first thrust into this life is not soon forgot

A half-broken pirate sits and quietly wonders
Thinking back on his history and many plunders
Even in this ragtag world hate does no good
It's best in every pirate's heart this is understood

This then is the allure of a pirate king's power
That weak or strong in any eventful timeless hour
There is the truest power that is ever hold
When a pirate can sit calmly and quietly bold

Assured that their power is the kind to hold sway
Regardless of the marked cards put into play
A pirate's pirate knows his destiny and lot
And is untroubled that his role will be forgot

Put to this challenge, it's time we found out
What the truth of pirating is really about
Ship-to-ship faced in battle head-to-head
We'll fight to win and win or end up dead

A captain hopes he knows what he is doing
As he leads his ship into battle as he's crewing
Those who fight under his flag and lead
He wishes each to live and tell of these deeds

Cannon shot and bullets fill the ocean air
As a ship prepares to repeal boarders with dare
The ships come about to fight this perilous fight
Both captains hope to win; only one will be right

A kiss of danger and faith in one's unholy sword
The bravest pirates push to move ever forward
Pistols and cutlasses are brandished in this fray
While quaking hearts put their last fears away

A pirate's blood is spilled onto the ship's deck
While even more pirates are instantly wrecked
But the pirate who feared most yet lives
Grateful to the God who redeems and forgives

Petty animosities are put aside for common good
As a consortium rises from pirate brotherhood
Power ceded to a gaggle of perfect strangers
Is one seeded with life's worst dangers

The guilt of decisions made naturally fadeaway
As every pirate knows who has faced a new day
The path that walks a crew into their tomorrow
Is the path to rejoice and conquers sorrow

(c) June 25, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: Remember, We All Stumble, Every One of Us. That’s Why It’s A Comfort To Go Hand In Hand

“Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.” – Emily Kimbrough, author and broadcaster (23 Oct 1899-1989)

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First Principles: We Are What We Repeatedly Do. Excellence, Then, Is Not An Act, But A Habit

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

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Rated Pain

Rated Pain
by Michael Doyle

Sitting here tonight after the injury
I know that it won't require surgery
But all the same, I don't like the pain
Yet, asking me to rate it feels insane

The trouble is as I stumbled and talked
Is that the path broke as I walked
Who knew that limestone would crumble
Yet, there I was, river-bound in tumble

Now, I got lucky and did not fall in
But all the same, I'd rather not again
There are a lot of bones in a foot to break
Two weeks later, my foot still aches

Pain can be squirrely in how it's complicated
All I know is that I don't need to be sedated
It seems wrong to rate it scale from one to 10
But how else shall we measure this is asked again

We have learned a lot in the 30 or 40 years
That opioids are a bad choice to avoid tears
But then how do we rate pain with any meaning
It's individualized for every single human being

For me, I have chosen to ignore the pain going on
Because I know there are things that need pressing on
Once these goals are met, I will deal with the pain
It's proven inconvenience is best met with ignoring again

Pain is a hydra whose heads are hardly definitive
The choices and experiences can prove quite infinitive
But either way, it comes down to which of our voices
We take our lead from experiencing our life's choices

(c) June 24, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

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Thought For the Day: It’s Like, At the End, There’s This Surprise Quiz: Am I Proud of Me? I Gave My Life To Become the Person I Am Right Now. Was It Worth What I Paid?

“It’s like, at the end, there’s this surprise quiz: Am I proud of me? I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth what I paid?” – Richard Bach, writer (b. 23 Jun 1936)”

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First Principles: Never Suppose In Any Possible Situation, Or Under Any Circumstances, It Is Best For You To Do A Dishonorable Thing

“Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you.” – Thomas Jefferson (1785)

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