Inspiration from a Collection of Sources #BlogElul 17

I don't know if this happened at every summer camp, but when I went to camp, all the girls had "Quote Book" (even the counselors). These books were journals, the size of a diary, but they weren't private. They were definitely personal. I used my Quote Book to record poems that I liked (often from services or from other people's books). I recorded poems that I wrote and poems my friends wrote. There are funny things people said. In some cases there are profound things that people said.

As an aside, I clearly grew up before social media. I imagine now this would be a virtual book full of tweets and bookmarked pages...does this mean that campers today don't have quote books?

Anyway, going back to my, ultimately three, quote books. As a teenager, I used these for inspiration. Sometimes it was finding a poem for a particular situation. Sometimes it was finding a quote that captured my emotion of the moment.

I find looking back, that I still get inspiration from these books. I copied several poems about puzzle pieces to use at services at Camp Coleman this summer. I could still connect with the emotions. And I think others could as well.

So from Book 1, here is some inspiration for the day:

Live each day to the fullest.
Get the most from each hour, each day
Each age of your life.
Then you can look forward with confidence
And back without regrets.
Be yourself - but be your best self
Dare to be different and to follow your star.
And don't be afraid to be happy.
Enjoy what is beautiful.
Love with all your heart and soul.
Believe that those you love, love you.
Forget what you have done for them.
Disregard what the world owes you,
And concentrate on what you owe the world.
When you are faced with a decision,
Make the decision as wisely as possible -
Then forget it
The moment of absolute certainty never arrives.

According to my 7th grade handwriting, the author is unknown!