Clay Aiken - Sparkle and Shine

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
~ Elizabeth K. Ross

Clay Aiken is an example of someone with the true inner beauty, he spreads hope and happiness even on the darkest of days.

Grace of God

AmazingCA graciously sent me most of the Clay Aiken graphics for this this montage.
Thank you "T"!

The World Won’t Make You Happy

Happiness does not come wrapped in brightly colored packages as a “gift” given to us by others. Happiness comes when we uncover the gifts that lie within us and begin to use them to please God and bless others.

Happiness flows from within. It is found in the moments of life we label as “quality’ rather than quantity. George Bernard Shaw once said, “This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one…Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish, little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”

The only person who can truly make you happy is yourself. You simply have to decide to be.

Exercise for Happiness!

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax. Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato sacks. Then try 50-lb potato sacks and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks.

This entry is dedicated to our recently departed friend, xxx4clay.
Her sparkle and shine will be forever remembered through her beautiful photos and friendship on the fan boards.

graphics by Ashes

See Carolina Clay's blog - Clay Nation celebrates Aiken Fan


I love your visits and comments!

Check out the links at the bottom of this page for lots of Clay blogs. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Clay Aiken, memories, windows, sparkle, shine, exercise, Smiles, laughter, friends, Grace of God, montage, xxx4clay

Clay it Forward - an Act of Kindness

Many Clay fans are familiar with the clayism "Clay it forward", our version of the popular pay it forward.

“A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual (Wikipedia).”

Have you ever heard the phrase pay it forward? Popularized by the movie of the same name, paying it forward simply means that the recipient of a good deed has turned around and performed a random act of kindness towards someone else. In 1995, www.actsofkindness.org was founded to inspire people to do exactly that - give back to their community. They have become overwhelmingly successful by helping educators, students, faith groups, and many more- all by paying it forward, spreading the word, and giving back to people in need.

With the holiday season fast approaching, this is the perfect time to stop and reflect on what you’re thankful for…and maybe even be inspired to ‘pay it forward’ to someone else.

I'm a week early, but wanted to start spreading the word now.
A few easy and free things to do are to smile, give a kind word, or give a meaningful hug.

World Kindness Week falls from November 10-16 this year - it will help you get into the holiday spirit.

Smiling is infectious,
You can catch it like the flu.
Someone smiled at me today,
And I started smiling too.







Clay Aiken, I Feel the Earth Move
by SueReu






This is my 200th post! Thank you to all of you for stopping by to visit.




"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
John F. Kennedy

Clay Aiken Smiles

Clay Aiken has the most sincere and infectious smile.
He puts a smile on my face and sunshine in my heart.





Always remember to be happy because you never know who's falling in love with your smile.
~Author Unknown~



Looking through my archives I realized how little Clay has changed these past years, except now he's even cuter and the smile is bigger.


2003


2004

Keep smiling - it makes people wonder what you've been up to. ~Author Unknown



A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you're at home. ~Author Unknown~


October 2008

A smile costs nothing but gives much. It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give. It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it. Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away. Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.
~Author Unknown~

The video of WISYS is delightful. This version includes the prebanter, and "Flat Clay" by Nortigar.




This WISYS version is of the song without the banter, by SLL

WISYS YouTube w-banter SLL




In a previous post "Unconditionally" is a fun SALLYROX puzzle--Clay Blogs.
See SR Clay Puzzle in Unconditionally

Here is the solution for it :) Better late than never!

clickable

#172 Clay's Entertaining Smiles

We are here but a breath, enjoy life, love one another.






As Long As We're Here


Link: OMWH audio AOL Sessions

































Thank you to SLC for the great GMA screencaps






Secretly Loves Clay - GMA LIVE OMWH (new)







Secretly Loves Clay - GMA LIVE Ashes (new)






embedding of this video is disabled so please click to view this beautiful montage by K4Clay2


Our Kind of Love sung by Hannah Waddington




(The gif above is from The Prayer.)








SALLYROX Crossword "Montage Makers"
hint: search YouTube and Clack Unlimited
I found most of them at YouTube and a treasure of montages I haven't seen before as well.

SALLYROX Wordsearch "CITH Venues"

LINKS - Every click and listen is for Clay



OMWH AOL Sessions: VIDEOS
Have you ranked and commented lately?

link to OMWH AOL Sessions videos


AOL Music Sessions: AUDIO


Link: OMWH audio AOL Sessions


OMWH YAHOO Video

link to OMWH YAHOO Video


Clay's My Space

Link: Clay's My Space page