COMFORT

Let me think that among the stars, 

there is one that guides my life 

through the darkness of the unknown.

- Rabindranath Tagore -

The legend of the rainbow bridge

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In a part of paradise exists a place called "Rainbow Bridge".

When a pet dies, it goes to this land that connects heaven with earth.

There are rolling meadows, peaceful hills and lush valleys, and all the four-legged friends who are gathered there can run and play together.

They can finally dig all the holes they want, run in pretty flowerbeds, roll in generous marshes, in short all the terrestrial prohibitions are no longer a law.

In this distant land there is plenty of water, food and sunshine, and all our friends are comfortable and warm, unless we decide to go for a run in the high mountains covered with eternal snow.

Those who were sick or too old have regained health and vigor here, those who were injured or crippled have become healthy and strong, those who were abandoned, neglected or mistreated have finally found warmth and comfort.

The animals are happy and at peace, but for many of them, something precious is missing from their hearts.

They have lost someone very special that they would love to have back with them.

So days of happiness flow slowly in endless games and mad runs inside this great peaceful pack.

But one day, the time will come when one of them will suddenly stop, all his senses will be on the lookout.

His piercing eyes will shimmer, his attentive ears will stand like watchtowers, his frantic body will flutter.

The chosen one will start to run out of the group, flying over the green pastures, crossing the wide rivers, his legs carrying him faster and faster, higher and higher.

That's it, you see him running towards you in that point of light at the end of the tunnel, in all fidelity your dog has spotted you among all and he has come to this ultimate meeting.

You smile!

Finally, you find yourselves together, his joyful kisses raining down on your face, your hands can once again caress his neck, his side, his head, you can finally look into the trusting and loving eyes of your dog.

From now on, nothing will be able to separate you, you will be reunited forever.

Thus you will cross the Rainbow Bridge together!

                                                                                                                             - Author unknown -

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The most soothing thing in this world is when someone embraces your wounds by not seeing them as disasters in your soul but simply as cracks to put their love into.

                                                                                                                                                                                   - Emery Allen -

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We all deserve a compliment, a kind gesture, because behind smiles are hidden many sadnesses, in the shadow of some pride are found many distresses, in the depths of the silences the pains remain silent. 

                                                                                                                                                 - Siham Mosaddak -

 

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Let my smile offer you tenderness.
Let my hand bring you sweetness.
Let my eyes tell you of your importance
And so accept my gratitude for the gift of your presence.
 
- Jacques Salomé - 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I'll blow you a kiss with the wind,
And I know you'll hear it,
You'll turn around and, without seeing me, I'll be there.
In a kiss you'll know everything I haven't told you.
 
- Pablo Neruda -

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He who strives to comfort you, do not believe, under his simple and calm words which sometimes soothe you, that he lives himself without difficulty. His life is not free of sorrows and sadnesses, which leave him far below them. Had it been otherwise, he could not have found these words there."

- Rainer Maria Rilke - "Letters to a Young Poet -

                   Look at

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Look at what you've been through so far.
Look at all you've endured, succeeded, transcended and be proud of yourself.

Look at all the trials
you've been through.
Look at all that you have suffered.
Look at your past and be proud of yourself.
If you are still here, it's because you have been able to stand up with your courage,
with every step you took, you were able to get up.

So, look, look at the strong being in you.
Look at yourself in your true light.
Look at who you really are.
Look at all you have achieved.
Look at everything you've been through.
And look at your true strength.
You are the masterpiece of Source.
You are a masterpiece of Life.
And you are beautiful.

- Imré Simon -

                                                                                         The little suns

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The most important are the little suns.
The little suns of each day.
A smile, a word of encouragement, an exchange, a small pleasure or a big one, everything that makes us happy, joyful, alive.
All the little suns that illuminate our day and that we should never miss.

- Ondine Khayat - "The little suns". 

 

 

 

 

Once upon a time, a little feather filled with tenderness

 

 

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Once upon a time, there was a feather filled with tenderness,
Who loved words so much,
That it wanted to calm all the evils.
The saturated hearts,
When they read it,
Found beautiful thoughts.
Then the pen,
In its kindness,
Added sweetness to its ink
So that each lost soul,
Finds the key to happiness.

 - Chris Bauberger -

I would like to cry so much

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I wish I could cry," she thought.
I would so like to be comforted.
I'm so tired of being strong.
I would so much like, for once, to be frivolous
and frumpy.
Not for long, just for a bit, a day, an hour ..."

- Catelyn Stark - 

("Games of Thrones" - George R.R. Martin)

At the end of the sorrows,
we always find a path that leads to the one who loves us...

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"In the plains and valleys,
Every wind whispered his name
Like the most beautiful music.
Even though your heart was dead,
Your love grew stronger.
In memory and absence,
He was all your thoughts.
And every day it bloomed
In the great garden of silence.
... You learned that at the end of sorrows
There is always a way
That leads to the one who loves us.

- From the song "Evangeline
from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1847) -

 

 

 

You watch in the shadows

 

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When I sleep, you watch in the shadows.
Your wings rest upon me.
All my dreams come from you.
Soft as the gaze of a shadow.

 - Alphonse de Lamartine - "Extract from Souvenir".

The two tears     

 

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One day, a Saint was praying when he suddenly saw angels appear.

He asked them, during this meditation:
"But who are you?"

They answered him:
"We are the two tears that were flowing yesterday, when you were praying sincerely."

 

 

 

(Source: https://www.facebook.com/lescontesangeliques/
https://www.facebook.com/nosamislesanges/...)

                                Tear birds

 

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Tears are a kind of bird that inhabit the hearts of beings. Sometimes they appear in flocks, but often only one of them lands on the edge of an eyelid.

Flying away from us, from our eyelashes which border the eyelids, these birds of sorrow take with them under their wings, like stones which make the heart so heavy to bear.

But to get to our eyes, from where they escape, they have to fight against the winds of indifference and pride; those that sometimes catch the birds in a big net and keep them prisoner until they remain choked like a ball knotted in the hollow of the throat.

Let's never capture a songbird, they are messengers from the world of our heart. They have something to say, to show others. Tearbirds sing of the beauty of our being.

When a tear springs from a person's eyes and beads tenderly and slides down the cheek, pick it up with a kiss. It will give your lips words of love ...

 
                                                        - Nicole CHAREST - "Little sweets for the heart" - volume I.

Today, somewhere ...

 

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Today, somewhere, a treasure is waiting for you.
It can be a smile, it can be a great conquest. It doesn't matter.
Life is made of small and big miracles. Nothing is boring because everything is constantly changing.
Boredom is not in the world, but in the way we see the world.

                                                                                                                                    - Paulo Coelho -

Love stronger than death

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So many beautiful things
Even if I have to let go of your hand
Without being able to say "see you tomorrow"
Nothing will ever undo our bonds.
Even if I have to go further
Cut bridges, change trains,
Love is stronger than sorrow.
The love that makes our hearts beat
Go sublimate this pain,
Transform lead into gold.
You have so many beautiful things left to live for.
You'll see at the end of the tunnel
Drawing a rainbow
And reflower the lilacs.
You have so many beautiful things in front of you.
Even if I'm watching from the other side,
No matter what you do, no matter what happens to you,
I will be with you as I was before.
Even if you go adrift,
The state of grace, the living forces
Will come back faster than you think.
In the space that links heaven and earth
Hides the greatest of mysteries
Like mist veiling the dawn.
There are so many beautiful things you don't know:
The faith that knocks down mountains,
The white spring in your soul,
Think about it when you fall asleep.
Love is stronger than death.
In the time that binds heaven and earth
Hides the most beautiful of mysteries.
Think about it when you fall asleep:
Love is stronger than death.


                                                               - Françoise Hardy - "So many beautiful things"

 

 

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The paradise of angels

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I fell asleep
And the dream took me away
In a strange country.
A country full of clouds,
Laughter and joy.
I heard whispers,
Words here and there,
As if someone was showing me the way.
From cloud to cloud,
I arrived on a giant rainbow
Where everyone was sitting.
I didn't quite understand.
But their faces are so familiar.
I think I'm in heaven.
I'm dead, then?.
"No," shouts a voice.
"You're travelling. You're in a dream.
You've come to see your loved ones,
And those you miss so much.
You see, here we are, quiet,
Without anger or hatred.
Here you will only find love.
Tell that to your friends, those who are in pain,
That every day we sit on the clouds,
We think about them and protect them.
So don't forget that the rains are the tears of angels.
Who, sitting on their clouds,
Listen to your misfortunes to turn them into happiness..."

(Poem from "terriblelemaudit" on the blog "le-circle-du-paus-lectur.skyrock.com")

 

 

Eternal love

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A word of love, a kind word
A bit of humour and madness
A scent of rose
The forgetting of a sorrow
There are so many things
That do us good.

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We must believe in angels
To the little miracles of life
You have to believe in angels
And see the stars in the night
See the sun
Despite the rain
Believe in the sun
After the rain.

 

 

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Walking barefoot in a garden
With a cat, with a dog
Seeing in nature
In the blue of the sky
In clear and pure water
Eternal love.

                                                                                                                        - Alain Morisod -

No one I have ever loved has ever died ...

 

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When you love people, they die, of course, that is to say they go away for a little while.
No one I have ever loved has ever died.
 
                                                                      - Georges BRASSENS -

 

 

 

Losing someone you love

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To lose someone you love is to lose a part of yourself.
Of course, those we love do not belong to us, but our heart belongs to them.
The one you love is part of you. Losing him or her is suffering in your body. This wound in you is as tangible as the emptiness you feel around you.

 

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You wonder if you will have the strength to walk in a world where your loved one will never again leave his or her footprints.
You wonder how the earth can continue to rotate when your world has come to a standstill.  

You silently speak the language of tears and your heart struggles to understand what no one can understand.
Spiritual thoughts, religious convictions, philosophy, are powerless to heal your wounds.
But the power of Love will comfort you.

 

You will find Love in the hearts of those around you and who care about you.
Those who have crossed the land of tears where you are lost today will show you the way.

The sun will rise every day and every night the moon and the stars will shine in the sky.
You will begin the sacred ritual of remembrance. 

 

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Grief will become your travel companion.
It will nourish that part of you that knows the meaning of compassion, strength and depth.
Your grief will give you the courage to face life's most demanding challenges.

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To know how to accept what life gives and what life takes away.

To know how to accept the mysteries that are an integral part of life.
One fine day, peace will return.

 

Perhaps peace will return in a timid ray of sunshine through the closed window.
Perhaps peace will return in the song of a bird.
In time, the veil of sorrow will lift.

 

Peace will return to your heart and you will know that shared love is a gift from heaven that never dies.
You will know that shared Love is the most precious and sacred of our riches in this world.
This Love is eternal.
                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                  - Suzan SQUELATTI -  

 

 

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We are never alone

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The real companions are the trees, the blades of grass, the rays of the sun, the clouds that run in the twilight or morning sky, the sea, the mountains.

It is in all of this that life flows, real life, and one is never alone when one knows how to see and feel it.
 

                                                                                                                         - Alexandra David-Neel -

 

 

 

Meaning is always present deep inside

 

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The meaning is present, always.
But it is easy to lose sight of it.
Often, when things are at their darkest, the world beyond will speak to us, using language, the symbols of this world: sometimes as powerful as lightning, sometimes as delicate as the shock of a beetle on a window.
And in this way, our joy and our confidence in life return, a joy that can be there in us, despite the pain of the world, and not in place of it.

                                                                             - Doctor Eben ALEXANDER -

(Doctor ALEXANDER is an American neurosurgeon who lived through a near-death experience in 2008, which he relates in his book entitled "The Map of Paradise" )-. 

 

 

HAVE A BIG HEART" - Avoir le cœur gros" (French expression) -
 

 

 

 

"Have a big heart".
I like this expression, which suggests that grief is not a lack, but a fullness, on the contrary, an overflow of memories, emotions and tears.

                        - Michel TOURNIER -

 

 

The night is never complete ...

 

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The night is never complete.
There is always as I say,
Since I say so,
At the end of the sorrow, a window opened,
An illuminated window.
There's always a dream waiting to happen,
Desire to be satisfied, hunger to be satisfied,
A generous heart,
An outstretched hand, an open hand,
Attentive eyes,
One life, a life to be shared.

- Paul ELUARD -

 

In what, at the very top, crowns this ordeal,
Can't you guess a rose?

 

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The philosopher Friedrich NIETZSCHE said:

"Today, I will welcome anything, even what falls badly!
For the blind destiny too, I'm bringing in my prickles."

"These are only beautiful words," the man who endures the ordeal will rightly object.
How can I "pluck the day", it is too thorny!"

"Yes, but see the thorns,
Follow the curve of this stem along which they bristles,
Raise your head at last: in that which at the very top crowns this ordeal, can't you guess a rose?"

- According to Martin STEFFENS' book "La vie en bleu".
         - (Why life is so beautiful in the face of hardship) -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little boy and the star

 

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A little boy looked at a star and started to cry.

The star asked the boy:
"Why are you crying?"

And the boy replied:
"You're so far away, I'll never be able to touch you."

And the star replied:

"If I wasn't already in your heart,
you wouldn't be able to see me."

                                                     - John MAGLIORA -
 

 

Prayer to Mary

 

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I would like to share with you this prayer to Mary, written by my friend Antoinette, at the death of her daughter Cynthia.

Personally, I do not believe in a god in the image of humans, but whether we call him God, Allah, Buddha or Universe, faith inevitably helps us to survive the loss of a loved one and sometimes to understand and live with the unacceptable.

I also think like Antoinette that: "... all our sufferings, are only there to see, further than ourselves, further than the horizon, all the love that is there ... that everything is possible, and that nothing is acquired ... that our sufferings, are only there to make us advance, towards the divine.".

If I choose to share this "Prayer to Mary", it is because not only through the words, the questioning and the struggle of a mother to survive the death of her child, but because it is also the message of a suffering that we would like to hear, to recognise.

What could be more beautiful, more true than what we say or write from the heart?

May this prayer help you to move forward on the path of mourning ...

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To you Mary,
I send you this prayer
Above all, you who are a mother.
You allowed my child to be taken away.
I don't want to be a martyr
You allowed her to retire.
From this life, without a sigh
Without even a warning
I received it as a gift
Putting my life on the water at that time,
And, today, what a delirium!
You leave me in the fog.
Of my tears,
In the despair of my soul
And in incomprehension,
I would like you to enlighten me.
Taking her from me, without a sermon,
Without a presentiment.
What could I have done to deserve this punishment?

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And, above all, I would like you to answer
To my questions.
If you are compassionate,
Bring me absolution
You, Mary, who is goodness,
Who knew how to forgive
To those who have killed
Your beloved son.
Please, I beg you,
Relieve my suffering.
Give me courage
To combat this absence,
To face this reality,
And to try to continue
Fighting against ...

- Antoinette Egidi - © protected text

 

 

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A child has flown away, an angel is born.

 

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The sun has gone down
And, in the darkness
Lights, this star in the night.
A new day has just dawned.
The clouds have gathered.
But, never forget
That when the wind blows
It will chase them away
And, again, will warm you up.
He has come
  Brighten up your life
Then, in one fell swoop
He disappeared
Towards immensity, towards oblivion!
And, here you are, stunned
Distressed, desperate.
A child flew away.
An angel is born.
You, you cry forever
But in this infinity
Listen, this voice, deep inside you
Who shouts and tells you
I am here... I live
Then, slowly, you become aware
Little by little,
Like this bird leaving its nest,
Whether here or elsewhere,
Love remains, grows and does not die.

- Antoinette EGIDI -

© protected text

 You who are here, don't cry in front of my grave ...

You who are here, don't cry at my grave..,
I'm not there and I'm not sleeping.

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I blow in the sky like a thousand winds,

I am the sparkle of the diamond on the snow,

I don't sleep, I am the sun on the golden wheat,

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I am the rain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.

You who are here, don't cry at my grave.
I am not there because I am still alive.

 

- Minnie Haskins, British poet (1875-1957) -

 

 

 

 

 Hope, comfort and love ...

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"Because for all of us, sunny days follow rainy days.
Because no one is indivisible, immutable, petrified.
Because no one is either all good or all bad. All beautiful or all ugly.
Because no one is perfect, starting with oneself.
Because no one is frozen in the torments he goes through.
So we must always believe in better days.
To believe in them for the other. When we know that it is sometimes so difficult to believe in it for ourselves. 

To believe in it for the other person, especially when they no longer dare to believe in it, when they can't see or even imagine these better days, so unlikely for them.
Comfort is never in vain. He opens a window to ventilate the confined space of inner turmoil.
And if it seems to us that we can no longer say or do anything, neither help nor comfort nor console, then... we still have to love.
Just to love. For real."

 

"Plural Thoughts" - Author unknown -

 

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 PRAYER OF SERENITY 

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My God,

Give me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change,

The courage

To change the things I can,

And the wisdom

To know the difference.

 When my patience runs out, help me find it again. 

Teach me to face difficulties with calm and serenity.

When I run out of lively answers and intelligent explanations, allow the flow of questions to cease, at least for a short time.

And when I feel that the days are too boring for me to accomplish the tasks that lie ahead, at least allow me to find time to do what is most important, time to listen, time to love, and time to laugh too.

Dear God,

Give me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change,

The courage

To change the things I can,

And the wisdom

To know the difference.

 - Reinhold Nieburh -1926 -

 I'm here for you

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I hear your cry!
I know you miss me, I miss you too.
Know that even though my body is gone, my spirit lives more than ever with you.

Death does not separate us because love weaves this long golden thread between our hearts and keeps us united for eternity.
I admire you in your ability to continue, to rebuild your life and to know that everything is still possible for you.
I have loved you, I love you and I will love you.
One fine day, we will meet again in the Garden of Light.
Come on! Please! Don't let go! Love yourself as much as you love me and you will see, the sun will come back into your life.
I LOVE YOU!

- Author unknown -

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 The caress of the wind

I particularly like this quote from David SERVAN SCHREIBER that I took from his book "we can say goodbye many times" and which was written in a letter that a man had sent to his wife when he left for the American Civil War.
 
 

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"If I don't come back physically, don't forget that every time you feel the breeze on your face, it will be me who will have come back to kiss you".

 

 

 

 

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And life is not over ...

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Standing in this cemetery on a sunny February day,
Beyond the graves and flowers by the thousands,
I glimpse the green meadows.
Nature gently awakening in spring,
Flowers, birdsong and the gentle wind,
Suddenly remind me that for me, life is not over ...

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The presence of family and friends brings me back to life.
Misunderstood, I also felt lonely, rejected and abandoned.
I had made a big mistake.
And I realise that for me life is not over ...

 

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I understand that another existence is beginning.
Certainly different with absence,
But so rich with happy memories of those who left me and whom I loved so much;
So strong also from the hardships and mourning that I have had to endure.
I know today that life is not over ...

 

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Now, I resume the course of my life and let joy, happiness and love come to me...
Which I will share with those who now suit me,
For a life that will truly be mine!
I leave behind me disappointments, pains, sorrows, without regrets, without detours,

 

Because, at last, I have understood that my life is not over!

- © Cathy André Gay - Protected text -

 

 

 There are pains that cannot be cured ...

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Often, tangled up in our emotions, we think there are pains that we cannot cure. This is what we believe because pains are like wounds, with time, work, support, accompaniment, they close up.

 Of course, they are always there and will always be there, like a scar, we cannot remove or forget what has been, but we will have learned to overcome them, to live with them, as part of our life and our history ... and one day we will be able to see these scars, to remember them but without any particular pain.

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If the pain is always so strong and present, it is because nothing could be worked on, to be overcome... Even the pain of the loss of a loved one can be softened, with time, with work on the emotions and a special understanding of the events, and all that remains is the sweetness of the memory and the happy moments ... of what we have been to each other and which will remain forever in our hearts and memories.


I'm not saying it's easy, I'm not saying that we all make it, I'm saying that it's possible...

- C A-G -

 

 Never ignore ...

 

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Never ignore someone who cares about you,
because one day you will realize,
that you lost a diamond,
while you were busy
picking up stones..."

- Author unknown - 

 

 

 The doors of appeasement

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"Friendship does not make misfortune lighter,
But by being present and dedicated,
It allows to share the weight
And opens the doors of appeasement."

- Tahar Ben Jelloun -

 

 

 

 

 Happiness, for a short time

Just for a smile, a sign of gratitude, from a perfect stranger, we feel a little moment of happiness that remains engraved forever in our heart and that is worth moments of eternity ... As this quotation expresses it :

 

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"There are people like that, who give us a smile without meaning to do so. People whose whole story you don't especially know, but who by their simple presence encompass us with their well-being, because they are part of a pleasant routine, like a song.
There are moments like that, when you tell yourself that in the end, life is really worth living, just for having known them."

- Author unknown -

 

 

 The meaning of flowers

 

  "These flowers that bring nothing
except for the essential things that every being lives on:
Love!"

- Armand MARQUISET -

 

 

 Comforting thoughts

We are so helpless and suffering in the face of grief! Here are a few comforting thoughts from Josée JACQUES' book "Les saisons du deuil" (The seasons of mourning):

"- You will get through this. Suffering is a journey that has an end.
- A loved one never leaves us. She lives in the depths of our heart and to see her again, we only have to close our eyes.
- All that we were unable to express before the death of a loved one can always be expressed afterwards: be it our love, our gratitude, as well as our regrets and sorrows.
- We never forget the person who died. However, there comes a time when we can think of that person and love him or her without suffering."

                                                                                       - Josée JACQUES - Seasons of Mourning -

 

 

 Anxiety

 

Taken from HowardCUTLER's book and interviews with the Dalai Lama, "The Art of Happiness", here is a short text on anxiety which may help you.

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 ... If we are overcome by anxiety, let us think of others who are experiencing similar or even worse tragedies. This will be of great help to us. Once we understand this, we will no longer feel isolated: our fate will no longer be different from that of others.  This will bring us comfort ...".

 

 

 What could be more beautiful than a smile?

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A smile costs nothing and produces a lot,
It enriches those who receive it
Without impoverishing those who give it.
It lasts only a moment
But its memory is sometimes eternal.

Nobody is rich enough to do without it,
No one is poor enough not to deserve it.
It sometimes creates happiness at home, supports business.
It is a sensitive sign of friendship.

A smile gives a tired person a rest,
Gives courage to the most discouraged.
It cannot be bought, lent or stolen.
Because it is a thing that has no value.
That from the moment it gives itself.

And if sometimes you meet a person
Who no longer knows how to smile,
Be generous and give him yours.
Because no one needs a smile
Only the one who cannot give it to others.

 

 - Raoul FOLLEREAU -