Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons! ************ "Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are." **************
"A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world." --Paul Dudley White
************ "Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired." - George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this… When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome To Holland”. “Holland?!?” you say, “What do you mean “Holland”??? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy” But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place. So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills…Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy…and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned”. And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away…because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But…if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things…about Holland.
31 comments:
Awesome pics, especially the last one!
Those are wonderful pictures. Those horses are gorgeous.
Beautiful horses! And sky.
What beautiful horses. I love the sky scene too. Happy WW
Oh I love the horses!
Beautiful photos.
happy WW!
Beautiful horses!
It`s nice just driving around=)
sweet,sweet, wordless wednesday it is! these horses have tender look and the sky is just magnificent!
wow! lots of horses!
My two daughters will drool when I show them these pictures, they both love horses!
Please come visit me and check my WW post for this week: First steps.
Happy WW!
My daughters keep bugging me about going horse back riding. Girls just love horses.
Excellent shots of the horses. Of course, that sky's not bad either. ;-}
Excellent shots of the horses. Of course, that sky's not bad either. ;-}
Your town sure does like different than mine...
Beautiful photos.
Happy WW! Great photos. I love Westerns and horses...
You are invited to learn more about Villager on my WW meme today!
peace, Villager
Beautiful! I love the horses! And the sky! It's almost magical.
Great shots. One thing blogging has done for me is made me stop and enjoy the scenery! Enjoy...
Excellent horespictures. Must have been a realxing and wonderful tour.
Great pictures! Happy WW!
Lovely horses! Have a great Wednesday!
How lucky are you to see this around town? Grrr8 post - love, love, love animals!
Lovely horses! And the sky photo is awesome. Happy WW
Excellent photos! Happy WW.
Mommy's Little Corner
pretty horses, thanks for sharing.
Mine is up at 4SeasonsOfMyLife
Hope to see you too. Happy Wordless Wednesday.
Aww I love horses :)
Those are beautiful. That one horse with the light eyes is stunning.
Have a great day.
hey, it's a town full of horses!
Pretty horses, great job in taking these photos. Have a good day and happy valentines day!
Hair Cut or Life Cut?
My Little Funny Boy
Wish I had a view like that! Happy WW!
they are gorgeous
Happy WW
I love horses. These are beautiful. This is the first time I've seen your blog - it's really nice.
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