I have just discovered the work of Christian Larson and wanted to share this poem with you.

The Optimist Creed

Promise Yourself

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and
too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

This is my first blog. I am not sure what it will become; part random thoughts, part useful information and part ideas. So here I begin with a random thought and a recommendation.

Cherish

I don’t want to dwell on the state of the economy.  One can hardly move for media bombarding us with doom and gloom stories, but is it all bad news? Perhaps we will no longer buy things we neither need nor want for the sake of a shopping high that barely lasts the journey home.  It is not about how much we spend but how we feel about the things we surround ourselves with.

The things that endure, that give a feeling of comfort and pleasure tend to have meaning and memories attached to them and for me some of these include my mothers jewellery, a few of my children’s paintings, trusted kitchen utensils battered from the many meals they have created, shabby furniture from the first home I shared with my husband, old books that remind me of certain periods of my life – the one I read when pregnant, the one I read on holiday with friends… and then there is the work of Carolyn Quartermaine. Carolyn’s exquisite textiles prove it is possible to please adult and child without compromising either’s tastes and are fabrics to be cherished through the generations.

www.carolynquartermaine.com