Memorial Day: Honoring, Respecting, and Valuing ALL Life

How can we befittingly pay tribute to those we wish to memorialize?

I think we best honor the dead when we truly appreciate, respect, and value ALL LIFE!  Perhaps we can all agree on the universal benefit of focusing on the value of all human life, whether it is a fetus or elderly, able or disabled, black or white, rich or poor, homeless or decadently housed, on foreign or American soil, whether Christian or Moslem, Buddhist or Bahá’í, gay or straight, male or female, employed or unemployed, sick or healthy, or famous or ordinary.   Diverse people remember, honor, and celebrate the dead in different ways.  Some somberly mourn their losses in rituals and visits to cemeteries, while others celebrate the life of the deceased by focusing on and valuing and appreciating the lives of the deceased.   What can you learn from the lives of those who are now on the other side of the sod?  What do you choose to remember?

Memorial Day offers an opportunity and  occasion to:

1. Stop and reflect on the value of every human life.

2. Examine the roles we individually and collectively play to make a difference during our own brief sojourn here.

3. Remember what is worth remembering about those who have passed on.

The ones we memorialize may be military, ancestors, friends, family members, religious figures, or someone totally unrelated, but whose lives and deaths have contributed positively to our understanding, opportunities, and freedoms.   It is an opportunity to learn from the past so that our lives will be more meaningful.

A lot of lives have been silenced in our history because of their diversity or beliefs and in the recent earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and wars. The suffering and pain continue long after the media has turned its attention to the next disaster or sensation.  Let’s not forget them.  What can you do to ease the suffering, change a life, and raise the esteem of the hopeless?  Remember, it is better to light one candle than to continually curse the darkness.  This memorial day, who will you light a candle for?

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Dream Derailer #9c: Lack of Creativity about Money

Think Outside the Box

Most projects require some amount of money in order to be successful, but money is merely a medium of exchange. Think outside the box.  We may not need actual cash, but we do need something of value to exchange for the resources we need to invest in our dreams.  What is it that you have to offer?  Everyone has natural or acquired gifts and talents and the greatest tool you have to get the resources you need is your creativity and imagination.  Some people quit or postpone going after their dreams because they just think about cash and cash alone. Below are a few questions you can ask to stimulate your thinking about attracting the resources you need.

  1. Have you ever thought about bartering?  That’s how people used to do thing in the past before we got so dependent on greenbacks and plastic.
  2. Is there someone else that has a similar goal that you can share the costs with?
  3. What talents do you have that can bring in the resources you need?

If none of these ideas work for you, consider getting together with a master-mind group and brainstorming on your project to come up with some creative ideas.  Who knows, there might be a less expensive course of action and you might be closer to your goals than you think!

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Dream Derailer #8c: Ingratitude for Visions

Be Grateful for Your Dreams and Visions

Visions are gifts to you of what is possible if you would just honor your dreams and moral thoughts and act on them.  Each thought has its own frequency and energy and it is this energy that guides us to our highest potential.  When we are on the right frequency, we have the power of attraction and the right people, resources, and opportunities unfold before us with amazing ease.  When we are on the wrong frequency or the wrong track, much of life seems to be a burden or uphill battle.

Visions are Divine Signs

That is why it is important to spend time focusing on our dreams and visions.  We must keep them foremost in our thoughts so that they can guide us to our intended reality.   It helps to respect our visions when we realize that not only are they possible but that they already exist in the thought realm. We must treat them as sacred and understand that to see future possibilities is a divine sign specifically for us.  We would not receive a vision if it was not possible.  To ignore these gifts, is to ignore our highest potential.  We must understand that thoughts are real but they need our focus, faith, and action to coax them from the realm of  thought into the realm of reality.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.