A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

 

One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.

Until it suddenly stopped making any progress and looked like it was stuck.

Therefore, the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, although it had a swollen body and small, shrivelled wings.

The man did not think anything of it and sat there waiting for the wings to enlarge to support the butterfly. But that didn’t happen. The butterfly spent the rest of its life unable to fly, crawling around with tiny wings and a swollen body.

Despite the kind heart of the man, he didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through the small opening; were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings. To prepare itself for flying once it was out of the cocoon.

 

Moral of the story:

Our struggles in life develop our strengths. Without struggles, we never grow and never get stronger, so it is important for us to tackle challenges on our own, and not be relying on help from others.

https://wealthygorilla.com/

DECOUPAGE ON GLASS

 

Note to self: do what you can’t until you can.

 At the end of the day, people will let you down, they will label you as something you are not, it is all to make them feel better, it is about them not you. – Leon Brown

“There’s nothing wrong with hard work, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of life’s more important areas: health, relationships, passion.”

“Yesterday’s solutions may not work tomorrow.”

“The journey is less difficult when we find meaning in the struggle.”

“A paintbrush can create a masterpiece. A paintbrush can destroy a masterpiece. An idle paintbrush, however, does nothing at all.”

“You may have to endure today’s pain to avoid tomorrow’s suffering.”

“There’s often a large difference between what you want and what you think you want.”

“Dreams usually don’t cost money, but the pursuit of money often costs dreams.”

“Accept it, fix it, or let it go.”

“Being cool has nothing to do with the stuff we own: it has everything to do with the ways we act, the ways we treat other people, the ways we contribute—those are the attributes that make people cool.”

Thinking Out of the box.

 

In a small Italian town, hundreds of years ago, a small business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan-shark. The loan-shark was a very old, unattractive looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business owner’s daughter.

He decided to offer the businessman a deal that would completely wipe out the debt he owed him. However, the catch was that we would only wipe out the debt if he could marry the businessman’s daughter.

Needless to say, this proposal was met with a look of disgust.

The loan-shark said that he would place two pebbles into a bag, one white and one black.

The daughter would then have to reach into the bag and pick out a pebble. If it was black, the debt would be wiped, but the loan-shark would then marry her. If it was white, the debt would also be wiped, but the daughter wouldn’t have to marry the loan-shark.

Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the businessman’s garden, the loan-shark bent over and picked up two pebbles.

Whilst he was picking them up, the daughter noticed that he’d picked up two black pebbles and placed them both into the bag.

He then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and pick one.

The daughter naturally had three choices as to what she could have done:

1.   Refuse to pick a pebble from the bag.

2.   Take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan-shark for cheating.

3.   Pick a pebble from the bag fully well knowing it was black and sacrifice herself for her father’s freedom.

She drew out a pebble from the bag, and before looking at it ‘accidentally’ dropped it into the midst of the other pebbles. She said to the loan-shark;

“Oh, how clumsy of me. Never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

 The pebble left in the bag is obviously black, and seeing as the loan-shark didn’t want to be exposed, he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white, and clear her father’s debt.

 Moral of the story:

It’s always possible to overcome a tough situation throughout of the box thinking, and not give in to the only options you think you have to pick from.

 https://wealthygorilla.com/

Portuguese Angel Wings (Coscorões) Recipe

 

Ingredients

5 cups of flour4 eggsZest of 1 orangeJuice of 1 orange4 tablespoons of melted butter4 tablespoons of sugar4 tablespoons of whiskeyCinnamon (to taste)Sugar (to taste)Pinch of saltOil for frying                                                                                                                       

Directions

1. Beat the sugar, eggs and butter. Add the pinch of salt, orange rind, orange juice, aguardente,(fire water/moon shine) and the flour and continue beating until the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl and set aside for 1 hour.
2. After 1 hour, pour the batter onto a very floured counter. Knead the dough with enough flour until the batter is no longer sticky.
3. Roll out the dough into 3×5 inch rectangles 1/4 inch thick. Make cuts lengthwise  in center of the rectangles.
4. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Place on paper towels to absorb any grease.
5. Blend sugar with cinnamon in a bowl and coat each Coscorões.

Recipe & Photo Credit: Tia Maria's Blog, portuguesediner.com/tiamaria *

Nancy comic strip 1947

 

As Judy Garland once said, "Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else!”

“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens” ― Jimi Hendrix

“Even strength must bow to wisdom sometimes.”
― Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief

“The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.”
― Thomas Paine

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”
― Sharon Salzberg

“Don't Gain The World & Lose Your Soul, Wisdom Is Better Than Silver Or Gold.”
― Bob Marley

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
― Joseph Campbell

“Don't waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.”
― Paulo Coelho

“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
― Truman Capote