Dear Folks,
• When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
• Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
—    Author Unknown
Many qualities seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. Nonetheless, all positive qualities are balanced within the overarching umbrella of Love. Krisnamurti wisely advised us to be joyfully discontent. This weeks qualities can be pursued singly or as a pair. Can you find a way to be Solemnly Glad or Gladsomely Solemn?
Peace,
Jim
            GLAD
Definitions: (1) affected with pleasure or joy; happy; cheerful; (2) wearing a gay appearance; showy; bright; (3) pleasing; exhilarating; (4) very willing <I’m glad to help.>
Synonyms: delighted, gratified
Symbol: smooth like the gleam of polished gold (German)
Fictional Figure: Pollyanna, also known as the Glad Girl, who finds good in everything and is brightly optimistic. — Eleanor H. Porter (1868-1920) American Novelist
            SOLEMN
Definitions: (1) serious <especially with religious reverence>; sacred; devout; pious; marked by veneration to God; (2) willing to be deeply earnest, very sincere <a solemn oath>
Synonyms: awe‑inspiring, profound
Compatible Qualities: liturgical, prayerful, worshipful
Familial Qualities: humor, selflessness
Too Far: dour
Consider the Source

It’s what you do that makes your soul. — Animal Dreams, Barbara Kingsolver (1955-) Author
Adding a Risible quality to your repertoire greatly increases the depth and breadth of your soul creation. Your unique Soulful nature is a key ingredient in your attraction to others.
Peace,
Jim
            RISIBLE
Definitions: (1) able or inclined to laugh; (2) causing laughter; sunny; amusing
Saying: Laughter is the music of grace.
Quotes:

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities. — Jean Houston (1937 – ) American Spiritual Teacher

If you’re going to be able to look back on something and laugh about it, you might as well laugh about it now. — Marie Osmond (1959 – ) American Singer

A smile costs nothing but its value is priceless. It enriches the one who gives it, yet does not impoverish them. It happens in a flash but the memories may last for days. No one is so rich that they can get along without it. A smile generates happiness in the home and goodwill in the business. . . . If you meet an acquaintance or a friend who is too busy to give you a smile leave one of yours. No one needs a smile so much as the person who has none to give. — Anonymous

             SOULFUL
Definitions: (1) full of or expressive of emotion or deep feeling <All were moved by the artist’s soulful rendition.>; (2) possessing positive qualities; the embodiment of a quality <Brevity is the soul of wit.>; (3) having spiritual or emotional warmth, power, or understanding
Quotes:

If the head and the body are to be well, you must begin by curing the soul. — Plato (c. 4^th Century bc) Greek Philosopher

What shall it profit you if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul? — Jesus of Nazareth (7 bc-30 ad) The Bible, Matthew 16:26

If the soul could have known God without the world, the world would never have been created. — Meister Eckhart [born Eckhart von Hochheim] (c.1260-1328) German Theologian

The soul is the self‑reflective, truth‑discerning, and spirit‑perceiving part of man which forever elevates the human being above the level of the animal world. — Jesus of Nazareth (7 bc-30 ad) The Urantia Book (133:6.5)

If you would have the message of the gods to direct your life, look for that which repeats. . . . It comes again and again until you have made it part of your soul and your enduring spirit. — Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930-1999) The Mists of Avalon

Comments:
• Remember your belongings are just stuff; material possessions belong to Mother Earth. You are really made of your spiritual qualities, your soul.
• The tools used to build your soul are:
1. Event – may be external or internal
2. Evaluation/reaction – based on your mind frame and soul characteristics to date
3. Choice
4. Action
5. Experience
6. Assimilation
7. Growth
Observation: Human beings, in a structural sense, are made up of five components: body, mind, spirit, personality, and soul. Enlightenment is a balanced integration of positive qualities into each of these aspects.
Advice: If a person is considered the embodiment of a quality or attribute, i.e., “the soul of generosity,” emulate him or her.
Symbols: 1) birds; 2) a well; 3) the foot; 4) a garden; 5) the tunic; 6) the gazelle; 7) the number six; 8) the hawk (Egyptian); 9) a butterfly [attraction to light]
Mythological Figure: Psyche is the Personification of the Soul. Psyche was so lovely that the jealous Venus asked Cupid to destroy her; but Cupid fell in love with her instead. — Lucius Apuleius (c. 125 -180) Latin Writer
Consider the Source

They haven’t walked their dog on my lawn since I paraded around in my Haz Mat Chic outfit.

The problem with trickle-down economics is that evaporation occurs at twice the rate of flow. — Robert H. Kalk

You have two cows . . .
CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull -and build a herd of cows.
AMERICAN-STYLE ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You don’t have any cows. The bank will not lend you money to buy cows, because you don’t have any cows to put up as collateral. The price of milk goes up, and when you can no longer afford milk, you steal a bottle so your children won’t starve. You are arrested, charged with theft, disorderly conduct, interfering with government sophistries, and reckless endangerment of children. You are tried, convicted, and sentenced to Life Without Parole at the new Borden’s Federal Penitentiary.
HONG KONG CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly-listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax deduction for keeping five cows. The milk rights of six cows are transferred via a Panamanian intermediary to a Cayman Islands company secretly owned by the majority shareholder, who sells the rights to all seven cows’ milk back to the listed company. The annual report says that the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Meanwhile, you kill the two cows because the fung shiu is bad.
COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You share two cows with your neighbors. You and your neighbors bicker about who has the most “ability” and who has the most “need”. Meanwhile, no one works, no one gets any milk, and the cows die of starvation.
SOVIET REPUBLIC COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government seizes both and promises to provide you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. By the time you can see the store, there is no milk left, which doesn’t matter much, because what was there cost three times your monthly social credit, and was sour.
RUSSIAN FEDERATION COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the black market.
CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.
AMERICAN CORPORATIONISM: You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows using bioengineered hormones. You lobby an ignorant Congress so as to make sure that you do not have to label your milk products even if they cross state lines. You are surprised when one cow drops dead, but you work out a deal so that you can sell it to a renderer and feed it back to your herd. Some of the older second-cycle cows cannot be impregnated while others deliver twins that have to be killed and sold for pittance as vealers… You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses. Your stock goes up.
ENRONIC CORPORATIONISM: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with the associated general offer so you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder, who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report states that the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Nobody notices until after the election, when it becomes obvious that someone has to go. You take the CFO (Cow Finance Officer) out, drug it with a prescription somnambulant, and shoot it in the head with a pistol loaded with Rat Shot, from two feet away. The COWroner, who took six weeks to decide murdered children were drowned, takes less than 24 hours to declare the CFO a suicide. You celebrate by choking on a pretzel because you don’t have any milk to wash it down.
FRENCH CORPORATIONISM: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch and drink wine instead of milk. Life is good.
JAPANESE CORPORATIONISM: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school, and the suicide rate, although four times that of other countries, is low enough that the profits are still remarkable, even though you are embarrassed by the occasional public Hara-Cowri.
GERMAN CORPORATIONISM: You have two cows. You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.
ITALIAN CORPORATIONISM: You have two cows but you don’t know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.
RUSSIAN CORPORATIONISM: You have two cows. You count them and find you have five cows. You have some more vodka. You count them again and find you now have 42 cows. You count them again and when there turn out to be twelve cows, you stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka. You produce your 10th 5-year plan in the last 3 months. The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.
FLORIDA CORPORATIONISM: You have a black cow and a brown cow. Everyone votes for the best looking one. Some of the people who like the brown one best, vote for the black one. Some people vote for both. Some people vote for neither. Some people can’t figure out how to vote at all. Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which is the best-looking one.
NEW YORK CORPORATIONISM: You have fifteen million cows. You have to choose which one will be the leader of the herd, so you pick some fat cow from Arkansas.
ENVIRONMENTALISM: You have two cows. The government bans you from milking or killing them.
FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.
FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.
SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.
PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else’s cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you a glass of milk.
BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else’s cows. The cows are cared for by former chicken farmers. You are assigned to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government says you will get as much milk and eggs the regulations say you should need, but the bureaucrats take it and sell it on the black market. The government denies the black market exists.
SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
DEMOCRATIC SURREALISM: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. You vote people into office that put a tax on your cows, forcing you to sell one to raise money to pay the tax. The people you voted for then take the tax money, buy a cow and give it to your neighbor. You feel righteous. Barbara Streisand sings for you.
LIBERTARIAN SURREALISM: You have two cows. One has actually read the constitution, believes in it, and has some really good ideas about government. The cow runs for office, and while most people agree that the cow is the best candidate, nobody except the other cow votes for her because they think it would be “throwing their vote away.”
REPUBLICAN SURREALISM: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?
TOTALITARIANISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned.
Consider the Source

To false religion, humor remains one of the most dreaded adversaries. Humor punctures the pomposities of theological arrogance with an efficacy wondrous to behold. — Vern Bennom Grimsley (1964)

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The little girl said, “When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah.” The teacher asked, “What if Jonah went to hell?” The little girl replied, “Then you can ask him.”

At a computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, “If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon”.
In response to Bill’s comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like! Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Apple would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive – but would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single “This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation” warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask “Are you sure?” before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10.You’d have to press the “Start” button to turn the engine off.

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy takes out his phone and calls the emergency services.
He gasps: “My friend is dead! What can I do?” The operator says: “Calm down, I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.” There is a silence, then a gunshot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: “OK, now what?”