For years, I've been a collector of quotes. Some of them are just plain stupid, like the clip from a newspaper article that pointed out that in one particular Middle East country, "Not only did blondes have more fun, but they were worth more too! About four camels." Others are funny.like the comic strip where the guy looks at his haggard face in the mirror and then picks up the phone and says, "I'm calling in 'ugly' to work!"

But many of the quotes I have run across and committed to memory or to a notebook over the years are quotes that have spoken to me at a particular time in my life. Some are inspirational. Some are just plain common sense.

On a weekly basis, I'll be sharing some of those quotes with you.and why the words meant something to me. I hope you'll return the favor! If you've got some special words, share them with the rest of us!!

Service is the rent we pay for living.- Marian Wright Edelman

Years ago, when I was hosting the radio show from home, Marian Wright Edelman joined me as a guest. The founder of the Children 's Defense Fund came over to talk about a precious little book she had written on the occasion of her son's graduation from college. This simple, yet powerful phrase, was one of the pearls that book contained.

Life is free. Not one of us paid a thing for it. The gift of being on this planet was given to us.giving back to others is one way of repaying the favor. Just as one pays rent for the privilege of living in an apartment.serving others is one way to repay the gift of life we've been given.

There are so many ways to give back. Writing a check is one way, but not necessarily the most fulfillling. Try reading or playing cards with the seniors at the nursing home. What about volunteering to lead a scout troop? There are many ways to 'pay' your rent for living.

A child will hear his mother's voice
for the rest of his life- Terry Savage

The name 'Terry Savage' isn't one that pops up in those huge books of quotes they have at the library. She's not a dead poet, former government official or a low-level movie star. She's one of my oldest friends in Chicago. The kind of friend who will see you after a long absence and tell you honestly that your hair looks horrible and insist that you use her hair appointment the following day! I know, because Terry did that for me once.

It was in the same conversation that Terry said something that struck me as particularly profound and worth remembering.

"A child will hear his mother's voice for the rest of his life"

I wonder what it is that my children will 'hear' for the rest of their lives? Are the messages that I am imparting, knowingly and unconsciously, the kinds of positive pronouncements that will inspire and guide them well?

One friend of mine said the message she remembers from her mother was marry well, find a successful man to be your husband. That friend ended up twice divorced and only realized well after she'd turned forty that marrying for financial security was not the key to personal happiness or a solid relationship.

My own mother often said to my sisters and me, "I don't care what you girls do for a living, but I want you to work so that you will know you never have to be dependent upon a man for your survival." Mom had been a career woman before she married my father and knew the self confidence that came from having made her own way in the corporate world. I too feel a sense of security knowing that having a career means I can provide for my family if, God forbid, something should happen to my husband.

But do I continue to work because my mother's voice is still ringing in my mind? Am I afraid to leave the world of daily deadlines because of some unarticulated fear of becoming dependent?

And what message am I sending the little people in my own house who call me Mommy? Though I know what they probably hear most right now is, "What's the first thing a gentleman does when he sits at the table?" (Answer: Put your napkin in your lap!), I hope that the affirmations they remember from me have to do with compassion and kindness.

A child will hear his mother's voice for the rest of his life. My prayer this week is that the message my children - and the other important people in my life - hear from me is one that I wouldn't mind hearing repeated.

One of the ironies of the human being is that
when he has lost his way, he travels twice as fast- Rollo May

We've all done it. Taken a wrong turn. Missed the exit. And become furious at ourselves when it happens.

Why is it you never get lost when you've actually got time to find your way back? Invariably it happens when we've got an appointment to keep. In our effort to get back on the road to where we thought we were headed, we hit the accelerator and make some wild turns, all while feeling panicky about the situation we've gotten ourselves into.

It's the same when we've lost our sense of life direction. When we don't really know where we're going in life, we tend to make lots of quick moves always with that nagging feeling in the pit of one's stomach that what we're doing is really getting us no closer to where we want to be. We rush pell mell onward - never really knowing where we are headed. And unlike those times when we're lost on the highway, there's really no where to pull into to ask directions.

Or is there?

If the lost traveler really needs only to slow down, pull out a map and take a moment to figure out where he is.can those of us who've lost our direction in life do the same? Of course, but in our fast paced world where time is now measured in milliseconds and information in bits and bites, it isn't easy.

If you feel you've lost your way, take an hour from your busy week and ask yourself, "Where are you?" Is it where you hoped you'd be in life? If you've not reached your destination, are you even on the right freeway to get there? Is there light at the end of the tunnel in which you find yourself - or is that just another oncoming train?

If the answer to these questions is 'No.' Then ask for directions - and the best person to give them is yourself. During this quiet stationary time in which you're taking stock, search your heart and ask what it is you truly want in life. Make sure your goals are your goals and not those which society might dictate for you. And then slowly start moving in that direction.

And as you see so many others in the world speeding beside you in their various directions, you can wonder, 'Maybe they are really travelling twice as fast, because they too have lost their way.'

A little sunburnt by the glare of life.- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I 'm not sure why this particular quote spoke to me...but it has - deeply. Life in the new millenium is intense. Technology which was supposed to make our lives easier, confronts us at every turn.haunting us to do more and do it faster. As parents, we feel the pressure to help prepare our children for the world they will eventually enter while simultaneously protecting them from the harsh influences that might harm them. At work, we give our all . and then drag ourselves home to face another fulltime job minding the house, the family, and the finances.

It is intense.

Just as the sun bears down upon us leaving our skin tender and burned and our bodies exhausted.so it goes with life. The relentless deadlines, expectations, to-do lists, and pressure to compete leaves our hearts tender, our emotions drained. Too many days are ended with us feeling 'burned.'

Wouldn't it be great if we could rub on a little "LPF" - Life Protection Factor each day just as we reach for our lotions with SPF? We can. It's called perspective and it's applied regularly with a deep, cleansing breath.

When the pressures of life bear down a bit too intensely, give yourself a small dose of perspective. Ask yourself as you take a big breath, "Is my life going to radically change because of this issue?" If it really doesn't matter if the report is completed before or after lunch, the answer is clearly "No." The correct response is, 'Don't let this bug you.' If your spouse is despondent over a change in his or her work situation, this is a different matter, one that clearly requires your time and attention and emotion.

Sunburned by the glare of life? Try a little perspective applied regularly throughout the day. It's an "LPF" - Life Protection Factor, that can really make a difference.