Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
Helen Keller 

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A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night.
Chanakya

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A LOVE STORY

True Romance: The Luckiest Mistake

RACHEL: It was January 10, 2007, and you were working at a computer lab in Waco.

RUBEN: I got to work, and first thing I did was crank up my e-mail. I discovered one that I didn’t know who it was from, addressed to “RP Salazar.” I figured, Hey, my e-mail is almost the same, so they probably sent it to the wrong person. I dug up this Rachel Salazar name, and I wrote a little message — “Hi, Rachel, holá, it seems as if this message came to me instead of you. I’m in Waco, Texas, USA.” And the signature was “Ruben P. Salazar, Chicano Cyclist, Commuter, and Community Artist.” “PS: How’s the weather in Bangkok?” Because I saw you were in Thailand.

RACHEL: And I wrote to you: “Hi, Ruben, holá, thanks for forwarding the message. Weather in Bangkok is lovely; it’s the best time to visit. Gracias, Rachel.”

RUBEN: So began a chain of e-mails. I just imagined, Here’s this middle-aged woman who’s bored at work. But I happened to hover my pointer over your name and a picture popped up, and I was, like, Wow, she’s beautiful! How can I make this picture bigger?

RACHEL: Every conversation that we had right from the get-go was natural.

RUBEN: I opened myself up and told you who I am, the good things, the bad things. I don’t think I left anything unsaid. By February or March, we were on the computer sometimes for four or five hours.

RACHEL: I wrote a handwritten letter to you on a plane. I actually managed to write eight pages. I started describing the meal, how the flight attendants kept looking at me and wondering, Who is this girl writing to? Around page six or seven I got serious: “I know life has a way of interrupting the best-laid plans, but I am prepared for it.” In hindsight, you are that interruption. Honestly, I don’t think I was thinking about you in a romantic sense, probably until June.

RUBEN: Whereas I looked upon you romantically the first time I saw your picture.

RACHEL: I realized I kept telling you things I didn’t even tell my mom. Then you sent me flowers. You wrote, “Chica naranja, thank you for all you do, and thank you always for this newfound friendship we have happened upon. RPS.”

RUBEN: It sounds cheesy.

RACHEL: I know, but I loved it.

RUBEN: At some point, I called you.

RACHEL: I was excited: Wow! He sounds so real!

RUBEN: Then you threw out that you might come to the U.S., and my reply was, “If you’re ever in Texas, I’ll be glad to show you around.” I never thought you’d take me up on that!

RACHEL: I decided that I was going to Texas, but I didn’t tell anyone. Everyone would have said, You’re foolish to go halfway across the world to meet some strange guy!

RUBEN: On my end, every relative, every friend, every coworker — everyone knew. They’re, like, “No way she’s coming! She doesn’t even know you!”

RACHEL: We were e-mailing for eight months, and finally for eight days we were together. I had the greatest time of my life.

RUBEN: I remember we were dancing one night, and you mentioned something to the effect that no one —

RACHEL: — I said you were the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. No one’s ever been that tender to me.

RUBEN: I knew right at that moment: I need to do something so I don’t lose you. I got on my knee and asked you to marry me.

RACHEL: And I said yes. We got married in Waco on November 24, 2007.

RUBEN: But when you first told your family that I had proposed, they weren’t so excited. And when I told people, they’d say — You what?! Followed by five minutes of laughter.

RACHEL: Yes, but now they all tell us: You’re perfect for each other. You found the right match!

RECORDED IN WACO, TEXAS, ON NOVEMBER 27, 2010.

The Salazars celebrated their fourth anniversary last fall. At press time, they were planning to visit the Philippines, where Rachel’s family lives.

ALL THERE IS: LOVE STORIES FROM STORYCORPS, BY DAVE ISAY, COPYRIGHT © 2012 BY storycorps, IS PUBLISHED BY THE PENGUIN PRESS, A MEMBER OF PENGUIN GROUP (USA) INC., 375 HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10014.

Read more: http://www.rd.com/true-stories/love/the-luckiest-mistake/#ixzz2b4gjGLVF

INSPIRING WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE GREAT

Nelson Mandela

Wounds that can’t be seen are more painful than those that can be seen and cured by a doctor. I learned that to humiliate another person is to make him suffer an unnecessarily cruel fate.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.

I felt fear myself more times than I can remember, but I hid it behind a mask of boldness. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid but he who conquers fear.

Where people of goodwill get together and transcend their differences for the common good, peaceful and just solutions can be found, even for those problems that seem most intractable.

Read more: http://www.rd.com/slideshows/words-of-wisdom-who-lived-full-life/#ixzz2b4d9o510

Jane Goodall

We’ve been very arrogant in assuming that there’s a sharp line dividing us from the rest of the animal kingdom. We are not the only beings on this planet with personalities, minds, and, above all, emotions. We need to be more respectful.

As a child, I dreamed of going to Africa, living there with the animals, and not a day passed when I wasn’t almost disbelieving that such an amazing thing happened. Being out on my own in nature, with or without the chimpanzees, is just something I loved.

The most important thing we can do to try to get out of the mess we’ve made on this planet is to spend time thinking about the consequences of the choices we make. What did we eat? How was it grown? Did it adversely affect animal welfare? Is it good for human health? What do we wear? Where was it made? Could we make it in a way that is less damaging to the environment? If we start thinking like that, inevitably people make small changes. And if people start making small changes, then you start getting the major change that we must have if we care about the future for our children.

—Jane Goodall, primatologist and conservationist • founder, the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation, based in Washington, D.C.

Read more: http://www.rd.com/slideshows/words-of-wisdom-who-lived-full-life/#ixzz2b4egll00

Jacques Pépin

For most kids now, a chicken is rectangular. It’s got plastic on top, and it doesn’t have eyes or feet. This is scary. You should never eat something you cannot recognize. A simple principle, but important.

Children never lie. I have a granddaughter, and if she likes something, she says, ‘Papa, it’s good,’ or, if she doesn’t, ‘It’s no good.’ There is no sarcasm. I remember my daughter standing in her crib the first time I gave her caviar. I put it on bread. She ate it and said, ‘Encore, Papa.’

Cook with love. Sit down around the table and share food with your children and your family. When my daughter was small, she’d get home and say, ‘Mum, what’s for dinner?’ My wife would say, ‘Food.’ That’s where it stayed. We have been married 43 years now, and I don’t remember a time when we did not sit around the table an hour every night. It’s not necessarily a pleasant conversation to recap the day, but it’s necessary. Otherwise there is no communication.

—Jacques Pépin, chef & author, 25 cookbooks & founder, American Institute of Wine & Food

Read more: http://www.rd.com/slideshows/words-of-wisdom-who-lived-full-life/#ixzz2b4f0fBMt

ANNIVERSARY QUOTES

http://www.lovequotesfor-him.com/2013/03/love-quotes-for-him-on-anniversary.html

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.  ~Dinah Craik

Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots.  ~Hoosier Farmer

Spouse:  someone who'll stand by you through all the trouble you wouldn't have had if you'd stayed single.  ~Author Unknown

Infatuation is when you think he's as sexy as Robert Redford, as smart as Henry Kissinger, as noble as Ralph Nader, as funny as Woody Allen, and as athletic as Jimmy Conners.  Love is when you realize that he's as sexy as Woody Allen, as smart as Jimmy Connors, as funny as Ralph Nader, as athletic as Henry Kissinger and nothing like Robert Redford - but you'll take him anyway.  ~Judith Viorst,Redbook, 1975

A man reserves his true and deepest love not for the species of woman in whose company he finds himself electrified and enkindled, but for that one in whose company he may feel tenderly drowsy.  ~George Jean Nathan

“I think it is always important to ask fundamental questions, but when we do ask a fundamental question, most of us are seeking an answer, and then the answer is invariably superficial because there is no yes or no answer to life. Life is a movement, an endless movement, and to inquire into this extraordinary thing called life, with all its innumerable aspects, one must ask fundamental questions and never be satisfied with answers, however satisfactory they may be, because the moment you have an answer, the mind has concluded, and conclusion is not life - it is merely a static state. So what is important is to ask the right question and never be satisfied with the answer, however clever, however logical, because the truth of the question lies beyond the conclusion, beyond the answer, beyond the verbal expression. The mind that asks a question and is merely satisfied with an explanation, a verbal statement, remains superficial. It is only the mind that asks a fundamental question and is capable of pursuing that question to the end - it is only such a mind that can find out what is truth.” 
― Jiddu Krishnamurti, Talks and Dialogues

quotes from popular authors

“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” 
― Apple Inc.


“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” 
― Marilyn Monroe

“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” 
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

“Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
― Albert Camus

“So many books, so little time.” 
― Frank Zappa

“Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision, but making mistakes is just part of life. What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back to where I came from because I didn't have the courage to say "yes" to life?”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.” 
― Marilyn Monroe

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.” 
― William W. Purkey

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” 

― Marcus Tullius Cicero