Here’s some word art based on a C.S. Lewis quote: “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

To download word art (without watermark), click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

Background Image by Michael Travers.

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I’ve been focusing on the Small Hands Creating Hope Project lately. It only seems appropriate to have a post with my favorite hope quotes. Although the Small Hands Creating Hope Project focuses on hope for cancer, hope is obviously something we all need.

Best Hope Quotes

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” Albert Einstein

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.” Dalai Lama

“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.” Winston Churchill

“Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.” Mark Twain

“Hope is a waking dream.” Aristotle

“Hope is the dream of a soul awake.” French Proverb

“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.” George Iles

“Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.” Mignon McLaughlin

“Hope is patience with the lamp lit.” Tertullian

“Hope is the pillar that holds up the world.” Pliny the Elder

“What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life.” Emil Brunner

“We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

“It is a huge danger to pretend that awful things do not happen. But you need enough hope to keep going. I am trying to make hope. Flowers grow out of darkness.” Corita Kent

“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” Christopher Reeve

“Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.” Martin Luther

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” Dale Carnegie

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” Helen Keller

“Many believe – and I believe – that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.” Michelangelo

“We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.” John F. Kennedy

“Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A word of optimism and hope. And you can do it when things are tough.” Richard M DeVos

“Nine requisites for contented living:

Health enough to make work a pleasure.

Wealth enough to support your needs.

Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them.

Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.

Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.

Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor.

Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others.

Faith enough to make real the things of God.

Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“In all things it is better to hope than to despair.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.” George Washington Carver

“While there’s life, there’s hope.” Marcus Tullius Cicero

“My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope.” Ovid

“To live without Hope is to Cease to live.” Fyodor Dostoevsky

“I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.” Benjamin Disraeli

“Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man.” Victor Hugo

“Walk on with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone.” Oscar Hammerstein II

“The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.” Norman Cousins

“A strong mind always hopes, and has always cause to hope.” Thomas Carlyle

“Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all.”

 Emily Dickinson

“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

“It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.” Leo Buscaglia

“I am probably the most selfish man you will ever meet in your life. No one gets the satisfaction or the joy that I get out of seeing kids realize there is hope.” Jerry Lewis

“If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or Fight Like Hell.” Lance Armstrong

“There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow.” Orison Swett Marden

“Where hope grows, miracles blossom.” Elna Rae

Word-Art Freebies from Hope Quotes

“Once You Choose Hope” Word-Art Freebie

“Hope and Confidence” Word-Art Freebie

“Where Hope Grows, Miracles Blossom” Word-Art Freebie

What is your favorite hope quote?

Photo at the top of this post by Margaret Almon at Flickr Creative Commons.

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In honor of the Small Hands Creating Hope Project, my word art for today is based on the Elna Rae quote “Where hope grows, miracles blossom.”

To download word art (without watermark), click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

Background Photo by Serghei Velusceac.

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If you’ve been following my blog, you know I can relate to the concept of being a survivor: Being a Survivor. I think we all can. Who hasn’t gone through some hard times?!

Stronger | Seattle Children’s Hospital

Yet, my hard times can’t begin to compare with the hard times many individuals face. I want to share a moving video you might have seen on YouTube. I learned about the video from Shannon at Blog Frog’s Mom Loop.

This video was created by Chris Rumble, a 22-year-old hockey player/filmmaker who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. He brought together the hemoncology floor of Seattle Children’s Hospital for an inspiring remake of Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).” Published on May 6, the video has already had 1,980,235 views.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you’d like to know more about how the video was made, check this out: Extended Cut – Making Of Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Here’s more about Chris Rumble from the Huffington Post: Chris Rumble, Seattle Children’s Hospital Cancer Patient, Creates ‘Stronger’ Video.

Small Hands Creating Hope

I’m happy to say that I’m participating in a fundraising project going on right now to help the American Cancer Society. The Small Hands Creating Hope eBook and print book was organized by MaryAnne from Mama Smiles blog. MaryAnne was diagnosed with cancer at 22 months and is celebrating 30 years of being cancer-free.

Small Hands Creating Hope symbolizes hope in the face of cancer. For the book, MaryAnne brought together 40+ kid bloggers to share crafts, tutorials, and many stories that inspired the projects. Children can make the projects to bring hope to cancer patients.

I was inspired by my own parents, who are both cancer survivors. Here’s more about my part of the book: Free Counting Book Printable for Any Theme  and One Small Part of Small Hands Creating Hope (at Living Montessori Now).

Ultimately, I wish for a cure for cancer. For now, there’s the strength and depth that comes to anyone who’s a survivor. And there’s always hope for the future.

“What Doesn’t Kill You” Word-Art Freebie

Photo at the top of this post by Michael Deeble at Flickr Creative Commons.

Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.

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Here’s a word-art freebie from the lyrics to Kelly Clarkson’s song “Stronger”: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”   The song was written by Jörgen Elofsson, Ali Tamposi, David Gamson, and Greg Kurstin. Kelly Clarkson’s song was inspired by the Friedrich Nietzsche quote from The Twilight of the Idols (1899): “What does not destroy me, makes me stronger.” (Word-art freebie).

To download word art (without watermark), click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

Background Photo by zavulonya.

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So many of us mothers want to be perfect mothers. But that’s obviously impossible. I’ve grown to like the concept of being a good-enough mother.

I remember wanting to be a more-perfect mom years ago, and I can only imagine how much worse the Internet has made things for moms with perfectionistic tendencies today. Who can possibly be a saintly mother happily creating even a fraction of all the wonderful materials, amazing activities, and fun foods found on Pinterest alone?

I love this post by Jennifer Kunst, Ph.D., at Psychology Today: Searching for the “Good Enough” Mother.

And I REALLY LOVE this post by April Perry at The Power of Moms: Your Children Want YOU!

Whether you’re a sports mom, homeschool mom, career mom, or any other type of mom, I hope you’ll give yourself permission to be happily imperfect. Here’s a post I wrote at Living Montessori Now about learning what my kids really needed: Top 5 Homeschool Lessons My Children Taught Me.

Despite my imperfections, my now-adult kids turned out great. I’m incredibly proud of my kids. I’ve learned that being a good-enough mother is good enough!

“The Ideal Mother” Word-Art Freebie

Happy Mother’s Day weekend! Enjoy being a good-enough mother!

Linked with The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co. and Thought-Provoking Thursday.

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Here’s a word-art freebie from the quote “OF COURSE I’d like to be the ideal mother. But I’m too busy raising children.” From the comic strip The Family Circus by Bil Keane

To download word art (without watermark), click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday.

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I wonder how often we’re simply afraid to enjoy life. I love the following video. It made me laugh out loud when I first saw it.

A DRAMATIC SURPRISE ON A QUIET SQUARE

“To launch the high quality TV channel TNT in Belgium we placed a big red push button on an average Flemish square of an average Flemish town. A sign with the text ‘Push to add drama’ invited people to use the button.”

Wasn’t that fun?! It’s interesting that the button wasn’t pushed immediately. Most of us tend to be too afraid to live fully.

I shared a great graphic from Smile BIG, Love Everybody on the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page. It says:

“When we reach the top, we tend to forget how we got there. It’s on the way down we suddenly remember the journey. Without the lows, there wouldn’t be any highs. Life is exactly like a roller coaster. Always sit in the front row.” Jesse Magoon

Whether we need to spend more time in nature or just be open to life as it happens, I hope we can all start to truly enjoy our lives.

“The Moments That Take Our Breath Away” Word-Art Freebie

I’ll be on spring break from blogging at Raising Figure Skaters next week. I’ll still add my quote of the day and share word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page. But I need to spend a bit more time enjoying the outdoors! So I’ll skip next week’s blog posts. See you here on Wednesday, May 9!

Photo Credit: Image at the top of this post by Sumayah Essa at Flickr Creative Commons.

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Here’s a word-art freebie from the quote “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.” The origin of the quote has been attributed to a number of people, but the quote most likely came from an anonymous male Canadian writer for Carlton Cards in the mid-1970s.

To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

Background photo by Yang Jun.

I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

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I recently wrote a post at Living Montessori Now about helping kids avoid nature-deficit disorder through Montessori-inspired outdoor activities. But it isn’t just kids who can have nature-deficit disorder.

Richard Louv first coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” in the 2005 book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. In a more recent article, “Get Your Mind Dirty” at Outside Online, Louv says that adults as well as children are suffering from lack of time in nature. He writes:

“In the book, I introduced the term nature-deficit disorder—not as a medical diagnosis but as a way to describe the growing gap between children and nature. By its broadest interpretation, nature-deficit disorder is an atrophied awareness, a diminished ability to find meaning in the life that surrounds us. When we think of the nature deficit, we usually think of kids spending too much time indoors plugged into an outlet or computer screen. But after the book’s publication, I heard adults speak with heartfelt emotion, even anger, about their own sense of loss.”

In the spring especially, I feel a greater need to spend time outdoors. “Spring fever” hits me each year and continues throughout the warm months. And I need to get out of the house some even the middle of winter. I think that most adults as well as kids feel better, more whole, by spending time outdoors.

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” John Burroughs

Richard Louv talks about some interesting benefits of spending time in nature:

“While the study of the relationship between mental acuity, creativity, and time spent outdoors is still a frontier for science, new data suggests that exposure to the living world can even enhance intelligence. At least two factors are involved: first, our senses and sensibilities can be improved by spending time in nature; second, the natural environment seems to stimulate our ability to pay attention, think clearly, and be more creative.”

I’ve been focusing on getting outdoors more in general lately. And I want to take my writing outdoors, too. I plan to take my laptop outdoors in the warm weather rather than spending the day sitting at my desk, even though my computer is right by a window.

“The Earth Delights” Word-Art Freebie

What better plan for Earth Day or any day than to get outdoors and enjoy the earth? How do you plan to spend more time outdoors?

Photo Credit: Photo at the top of this post by Vinoth Chandar at Flickr Creative Commons (License).

Linked with Thought Provoking Thursday.

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