I recently appeared as a guest on the blog of wonderful author, Nicky Wells, and wrote a blog post especially for the occasion.  Because it received so many positive comments I’ve decided to share it here with my own followers.  incidentally, I value your support immensely and am humbled that you have taken the trouble to follow my posts.

Here is the article in its entirety:

You Can’t Beat A Bit Of Inspiration

First of all I would like to thank the wonderful Nicky for having me as a guest on her blog.  I know that she has had a number of amazing writers as guests and it’s an honour for me to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before.

I have chosen as a theme for this short post, “inspirational quotes”.  I don’t know about you, but I love a bit of inspiration and I do get fired up by the thoughts and musings of the world’s great “quoters” both past and present.  Some pieces of inspiration are self-explanatory, such as this masterpiece from Marie Curie:

“Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood”

But there are other gems of wisdom that are open to interpretation and may need a bit of pondering before the meaning becomes apparent, such as this piece from Charles Dickens:

“Have a heart that never hardens; a temper that never tires; a touch that never hurts”

On the surface he appears to be contradicting himself with his talk of a temper that never tires, but if you think about it, it seems that he is actually talking about desire and enthusiasm; the fire one gets in the belly when one gets their teeth into a project; the drive to keep going right to the end.

I would like to share with you a couple of my personal favourites, and also my own slant on them.  Firstly, this wonderful quote from Sri Sathya Sai Baba; I will never forget the feeling I had when I first came across this because it is so true and apt:

“In your heart you will find peace, everywhere else you will find only pieces”

These words are just so true.  If you think about it, when we take the time to find a quiet space and sit with our own reflections, we can and do find that inner peace that passes all understanding.  But in the helter-skelter of the outer world everything seems so disjointed.  We are always running here, there and everywhere; sometimes achieving nothing in the process, and the noise can sometimes be deafening.  Life really can seem like a 1000 piece jig-saw at times with the pieces scattered all over the place.  But when we find that inner peace nothing else seems to matter and we can experience that blissful feeling of being an impartial and silent observer, unruffled by all the chaos in the world.

Another quote that really inspires me is this one from Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Someone gave me a picture as a gift back in 2003, when I was moving to Wales, and this quote was on it:

“Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”

I only recently found out it was one of Ralph’s and it really makes me think whenever I’m having one of my “woe is me” phases.  I very recently saw American female singer, Melody Gardot, being interviewed on TV. I had not heard of her before, but she had been involved in a terrible accident and had used her time recovering in a hospital bed to learn to play the guitar.  Although she recovered she was left very sensitive to light and sound, but when the interviewer asked her about her ordeal she said the most wonderful thing.  She described the whole experience as the universe “opening its arms” and giving her the most amazing opportunity which she grasped with both hands.  It made me think of that quote and how she was a classic example of someone who dared to tread where most people would not and because of this she became a shining example for others to follow.

Well, I did say that this was going to be a short post, so all that remains now is for me to say thanks again to Nicky for having me as a guest on her blog……. Thanks Nicky!

Below is a link to Nicky’s blog.  She writes in the genre of romance and her blog is really worth a visit….. so check it out!

http://nickywellsklippert.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/centrestage-with-richard-holmes-get-inspired-here-today/

I’m still as cheeky as ever!