Clever words and concepts are not necessary. Simplicity is the key: be real, be aware, be fair, be human, be balanced, be mature, be ethical, be inclusive, be truthful, be responsible. Know yourself, try to know others, know what matters and what does not.

Great article speaking on ways to improve life and living, to improve this new year that is just around the corner, to take the time to read it through is only the first step afterwards there needs to be more then that. To take the action on the thoughts and to take steps in a new direction.

Shelter Outreach Plus' Mobile Outreach Program, which is a service that hands out blankets to the homeless living on the streets, is in need of blankets for the winter season.

To offer your support in this objective makes a big difference, as I remember when I was homeless for the holidays;

As we have been in the holiday season for a time now, since Thanksgiving has come to pass and here we are, less then a week from Christmas, and even through this supposedly joyous time, it is important to remember where I have been. The life I lived not to many holidays ago. A life few should ever have to endure, but I found it to be a hard lesson that must be learned. Reality can be a disciplined teach to say the least, the article shared below speaks more to this trying time in my life and how I overcame it to be where I am today. via Knatchwa at Wordpress - Being Homeless for the Holidays

It's at night, when perhaps we should be dreaming, that the mind is most clear, that we are most able to hold all our life in the palm of our skull.  I don't know if anyone has ever pointed out that great attraction of insomnia before, but it is so; the night seems to release a little more of our vast backward inheritance of instincts and feelings; as with the dawn, a little honey is allowed to ooze between the lips of the sandwich, a little of the stuff of dreams to drip into the waking mind.  I wish I believed, as J. B. Priestley did, that consciousness continues after disembodiment or death, not forever, but for a long while.  Three score years and ten is such a stingy ration of time, when there is so much time around.  Perhaps that's why some of us are insomniacs; night is so precious that it would be pusillanimous to sleep all through it!  A "bad night" is not always a bad thing.  ~Brian W. Aldiss

A unique interpretation, of the idea of the night as a time to think, of the late moments, those moments of absolute clarity without distraction. Though I understand there is importance in sleep, I often wonder what thoughts may be if I close my eyes and not think about it.

Often it is in those late hours, those times of silence throughout the hat that true creativity flows so freely, as a writer, and an explorer of the potential within me I recognize why sometimes I do not sleep. It is simply because, it is in the silence, and the absolute opportunity to truly reflect that sleep seems like a dream in and of itself.

Even thus last night, and two nights more I lay,
And could not win thee, Sleep, by any stealth:
So do not let me wear to-night away.
Without thee what is all the morning's wealth?
Come, blessed barrier between day and day,
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!
~William Wordsworth, "To Sleep"

I heard the bells on Christmas Day; their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the word repeat of peace on earth, good-will to men!-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

To recognize how amazing it can be to experience these things, the quote comes from a site that speaks in depth about alzheimers, and seems appropriate to the times as often such simple things as these quotes speak to may be forgotten.

Alot of good reading, to increase your awareness and also to help in preparation if someone you love finds themselves in that situation.

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.  Here was a machine of precision and balance for the convenience of man.  And (unlike subsequent inventions for man's convenience) the more he used it, the fitter his body became.  Here, for once, was a product of man's brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others.  Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle.  ~Elizabeth West, Hovel in the Hills

There is much to be said as it is mentioned here, about what was the first and the best invention of man, of a vehicle that was human powered, easy to repair and also provided the benefit by simply turning the pedals.

Then times clearly changed, for the better or the worst, people became more lazy, wanting convenience, without the sweat. Yet in that moment, or at least that process more forgot how wonderful a vehicle a bike is, because they became inundated with constant advertisements of the idea that having a car made you someone.

As time progressed more and more people started jumping on the bandwagon, those who knew bicycles as their primary mode of transport passed away and the next generation being overloaded with images, advertisements and ideas started making the car the primary mode of transportation. So begin the process of forgetting how wonderful a bike can be, and even today there is a rebuilding of the idea by more people riding bikes as an example it is still the best means to an end.

Read More About My Sentiments of Bicycling @ bikejourneys.wordpress.com