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October 2006
“A Touch of Grace” from
Heather O’Hara
"Circumstances do not make a man, they reveal him."
— Dr. Wayne Dyer
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IN THIS ISSUE
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٭
Letter from Heather O’Hara
٭
Words To Live By
٭
A Little Magic & A Touch of Grace, "Strength, Courage and
Love"
٭
Article: Nobel Peace Prize, from The Associated Press
٭
Thoughts on Love
٭
Ponder This...
٭
Poem: "The Things I Do" by John Harricharan
٭
Article: "Mistake Salad" by Alan Cohen
٭
THE WISDOM OF AXIS: Something To Think About
٭
Resources, Recommendations and Comments
٭End
Quote
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LETTER FROM
HEATHER O’HARA
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Dear
Reader...
It is hard to believe that it is
already October and getting rather close to beyond!
My apologies, once again, for
the lapse in newsletters... we are just a breath away from launching the new
Web site, releasing the signature video, completing the Quantum-Grace eBook
and adding a tremendous amount of new content to the Quantum-Grace
Web site.
It has been a busy time... but
fun, exciting and exhilarating! I have cherished these past few months,
often working through the night, sometimes by candlelight, from my small,
but cozy home office—and
I can honestly say that I have never been happier! I love to create; I love
putting my whole heart out there no matter what the outcome; and I love that
my life has been enriched by extraordinary people and experiences that fill
me up with even more passion than I started with!
You will be receiving a
"Special Edition Newsletter" in the next few weeks that will introduce
you to the new Web site. Because the Special Edition Newsletter is
intended for current newsletter subscribers only, it will not be posted online,
so please be sure that you have the newsletter email sending address in your
email program's address book or contacts list. And, if you use a spam
filter, you may want to add the address to your approved senders list as
well.
The address from which this
newsletter is generated is:
hkohara@Quantum-Grace.com
Adding this address to your
contacts list is particularly important if you use Hotmail, Yahoo or other
webmail services.
I am incredibly excited about
the launch of this new site... it has a multitude of inspiring products, ALL
of which can be downloaded and/or printed out for free. So, stay tuned! I
promise... you will not be disappointed!
Also, of major importance, I
have extended the deadline for submissions to the Quantum-Grace eBook.
It has been formatted, but there is still space for anyone who would like to
participate as we have not yet converted it to a PDF file. There is more
information on this under "Resources, Recommendations and Comments" at the
end of this newsletter, so please don't skip that section if you are
interested in being published!
Back to present time...
This month, you may be surprised to find an article from The Associated
Press included with the usual fare of poets, prophets and other remarkable
minds! Worry not... there is a method to my madness! This particular article
is one of the finest examples of human compassion that I have ever read. It
also shows the full cycle of a seemingly small gift, placed into the right
hands, by a generous heart, that eventually changed millions of lives. For
all of you who ask, "What can I do? What difference can I make in this
world?" ...please, read this article from beginning to end.
The fact that Muhammad Yunus
received the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the betterment of
humanity is not the highlight of the story. The fact that he found it in his
heart to offer a stranger his love is. And because he was not afraid
to extend that love, his gift of only $27 eventually became a gift to
millions of impoverished people, which in turn, has become a gift to the
world.
There are no small gifts.
No accidents. No coincidences. And there is no such thing as "a little bit
of love." Love, by divine design, is enormous, powerful and eternal... and
the giving of it will lead you to places far more magnificent than any
Utopia you could ever imagine.
In Love, in Light, and with much
joy...
I thank you again
for being here with me.
Warmest Regards, ...Heather
O'Hara
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WORDS
TO LIVE BY...
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“The most
beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known
suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the
depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an
understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and deep
loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
―
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
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٭
٭
٭
“That which you
gain from each difficult life, you gain for all eternity.”
―
from Destiny of Souls by Michael Newton, PH.D.
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٭
٭
٭
“In the still
night, hearts reveal their secrets to you.
And at dawn,
eyes open at your gentle touch.
Are you
mindful of what the heart has felt or the eyes have seen?”
― Kahlil
Gibran, The Listener
٭
٭
٭
٭
“When you come
to another with love in your heart, asking nothing, only offering that love,
you create miraculous relationships.”
― Dr.
Wayne Dyer
٭
٭
٭
٭
“Gentleness is a divine trait.
There is nothing stronger than gentleness. And there is nothing more gentle
than real strength.”
― Kabir
٭
٭
٭
٭
“God is on the
side of those who are brave enough to go into the storm with their divine
truth and their divine beauty and their divine power radiating from a full
heart, mind and body.”
―
Andrew Harvey
٭
٭
٭
٭
"I expect to pass through life
but once.
If therefore, there be any
kindness I can show,
or any good thing I can do to
any fellow being,
let me do it now, and not defer
or neglect it,
as I shall not pass this way
again."
—
William Penn
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A LITTLE
MAGIC & A TOUCH OF GRACE
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by Heather K. O'Hara
With spiritual knowledge, with
our ever unfolding character, with wisdom, awareness and perception comes
responsibility—responsibility
for ourselves, responsibility for each other and responsibility for facing
challenge and adversity with strength, courage and love.
Strength: The strong, yet
gentle hands by which we pull ourselves up, again and again,
and
by which we lift others and help them to stand on their own.
Courage: Fear surrendered;
which in turn, reveals itself as the golden key to the soul—and
is otherwise
known as... trust.
But... love? ...How might we face
challenge or adversity or rejection or pain or mystery or risk with the one
thing that we have spent our entire lives trying to protect?
Yes... protect.
Why else would we hide something
so deeply within ourselves, if not to protect it?
If it were not our greatest
asset, if it were not more valuable than breath itself, more powerful
than life itself, and more eternal than eternity itself—then
why did we bring it with us, into this lifetime, and not choose to leave it behind,
instead?
(Where it would be safe...
forever.)
Perhaps the drawing out and the
sharing of this hidden love is our only purpose for being here. And,
so, logically... it must come with us.
Perhaps "strength" is not in our
hands at all, but in our hearts.
Perhaps "courage," the golden
key of trust, is what unlocks the door that leads to the room that holds the
love that we keep hidden... deep inside ourselves.
And, perhaps it is not
our own adversity that will inspire us to bring forth the love that we have
hidden and protected and safely guarded throughout our lives... no, perhaps
it is not our own challenges that will bring about the unlocking of
this love.
Perhaps it is another's
challenge, another's pain, another's adversity that will finally set love
free; and then lead us, lift us, and gently take us Home . . .
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ARTICLE:
BANGLADESH BANKER WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
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by Doug
Mellgren, Associated Press Writer
Bangladesh Banker Wins Nobel
Peace Prize
OSLO, Norway -
Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded won the
Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their pioneering use of tiny, seemingly
insignificant loans—microcredit—to lift millions out of poverty.
Through Yunus's efforts and
those of the bank he founded, poor people around the world, especially
women, have been able to buy cows, a few chickens or the cell phone they
desperately needed to get ahead.
The 65-year-old economist said
he would use part of his share of the $1.4 million award money to create a
company to make low-cost, high-nutrition food for the poor. The rest would
go toward setting up an eye hospital for the poor in Bangladesh, he said.
The food company, to be known as
Social Business Enterprise, will sell food for a nominal price, he said.
"Lasting peace cannot be
achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of
poverty," the Nobel Committee said in its citation. "Microcredit is one such
means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human
rights."
Yunus is the first Nobel Prize
winner from Bangladesh, a poverty-stricken nation of about 141 million
people located on the Bay on Bengal.
"I am so, so happy, it's really
a great news for the whole nation," Yunus told The Associated Press shortly
after the prize was announced. He was reached by telephone at his home in
the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
Grameen Bank was the first
lender to hand out microcredit, giving very small loans to poor Bangladeshis
who did not qualify for loans from conventional banks. No collateral is
needed and repayment is based on an honor system.
Anyone can qualify for a loan—the
average is about $200—but
recipients are put in groups of five. Once two members of the group have
borrowed money, the other three must wait for the funds to be repaid before
they get a loan.
Grameen, which means rural in
the Bengali language, says the method encourages social responsibility. The
results are hard to argue with—the
bank says it has a 99 percent repayment rate.
Since Yunus gave out his first
loans in 1974, microcredit schemes have spread throughout the developing
world and are now considered a key to alleviating poverty and spurring
development.
Yunus told The Associated Press
in a 2004 interview that his "eureka moment" came while chatting to a shy
woman weaving bamboo stools with calloused fingers.
Sufia Begum was a 21-year-old
villager and a mother of three when the economics professor met her in 1974
and asked her how much she earned. She replied that she borrowed about five
taka (nine cents) from a middleman for the bamboo for each stool.
All but two cents of that went
back to the lender.
"I thought to myself, my God,
for five takas she has become a slave," Yunus said in the interview.
"I couldn't understand how she
could be so poor when she was making such beautiful things," he said.
The following day, he and his
students did a survey in the woman's village, Jobra, and discovered that 43
of the villagers owed a total of 856 taka (about $27).
"I couldn't take it anymore. I
put the $27 out there and told them they could liberate themselves," he
said, and pay him back whenever they could. The idea was to buy their own
materials and cut out the middleman.
They all paid him back, day by
day, over a year, and his spur-of-the-moment generosity grew into a
full-fledged business concept that came to fruition with the founding of
Grameen Bank in 1983.
In the years since, the bank
says it has lent $5.72 billion to more than 6 million Bangladeshis.
Worldwide, microcredit financing
is estimated to have helped some 17 million people.
"Yunus and Grameen Bank have
shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own
development," the Nobel citation said.
Today, the bank claims to have
6.6 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women, and provides services
in more than 70,000 villages in Bangladesh. Its model of microfinancing has
inspired similar efforts around the world.
The success has allowed Grameen
Bank to expand its credit to include housing loans, financing for irrigation
and fisheries as well as traditional savings accounts.
One of Yunus' aides, Dipal Barua,
said the award was an "honor for millions of poor women who have made this
possible."
—
Associated Press writers Julhas
Alam and Matt Moore
contributed
to this report
BRAVO!
...THIS IS WHAT LOVE DOES!
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THOUGHTS
ON LOVE
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There is
nothing holier
in this life
of ours
than the
first consciousness of love—
the first
fluttering of its silken wings.
—
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
* * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
Love cannot be forced . . .
It comes out of Heaven,
unasked and unsought.
—
Pearl S. Buck
* * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
Love is a short word
but it contains everything.
Love means the body, the soul,
the life, the entire being.
—
Guy de Maupassant
* * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
Time is
Too slow for those who wait,
Too swift for those who grieve,
Too short for those who rejoice.
But for those who love,
time is Eternity.
Hours fly, flowers die,
new days, new ways pass by.
Love stays.
—
Sundial Inscription
* * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
And now these three remain:
faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is
love.
—
I Corinthians 13:13
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PONDER
THIS...
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by Heather K. O'Hara
I gather that most of you have
already realized that the answers we seek in our daily lives are always
found in the center of our questions. And the bigger the question, of
course, the bigger the center... more to reflect upon; more to learn.
One of the questions that I have
been pondering for the last few months is this: If the only thing that goes
with us when we leave this world is our consciousness... then why is it that
so many of us spend the majority of our time and our energy working to
improve and expand all the things that are not going with us—everything,
it seems, but our own consciousness?
We seem to invest ninety-nine
percent of ourselves in the raising of our bank accounts, stock portfolios
and real estate holdings; the improvement of our homes, our businesses and
our social status; and the expansion of our wardrobes, our art collections,
and our degrees, awards and trophies... yet, when it comes to raising our
own consciousness—we
just don't have the time or the energy to invest in what is most valuable
and, ultimately, the one thing that really counts.
It isn't that all the other
things in life are not important; they are important—they
build our intellect, our character and our strength; although I have come to
realize that they are not nearly as important as what stays with us...
forever.
Please take some time with this
question... ponder it, look at it, absorb it. Perhaps the answer is waiting
for you—in
the center of your soul.
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POEM:
THE THINGS I DO
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------by
John Harricharan
The Things I Do
I ask not for an easy path
Nor gifts to come my way.
I seek not for the golden round
But strength to live this day.
I will not whine nor cry in pain
But learn to carry on.
The darkest night must always
yield
The victory to dawn.
So in this world of joy and woe,
In this great school of life
The victor's crown will always
go
To those who learn and strive.
—
John Harricharan
http://www.Insight2000.com
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MISTAKE
SALAD
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by Alan Cohen
Mistake Salad
A mother seeking to inspire her
young son to progress with his piano lessons took him to a concert by the
famed virtuoso Ignacy Paderewski. After the two took their seats, mom
noticed a friend a few aisles away and went to chat with her.
When mother returned, she
discovered her son was missing from his seat. She began to search for him,
but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly the house lights dimmed, the
curtains parted, and a spotlight shined on the gleaming Steinway piano on
stage.
There, to the woman's horror,
she saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out the
notes to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
Embarrassed beyond words, she
began to rush to the stage to retrieve her mischievous little musician.
Before she could get there, however, the great piano master emerged from a
stage wing and approached the child. Paderewski leaned over and whispered in
the boy's ear, "Keep playing." Then he reached his arms around the boy's and
added a bass part with his left hand. With his right hand Paderewski
improvised a running obbligato. Together, the seasoned master and the young
novice turned a potential disaster into a triumph that inspired everyone.
Are you so sure your mistakes
are just mistakes? Or could they be building blocks to a success beyond any
you imagined?
When my friend Dorothy goes home
to visit her family each Thanksgiving, her mother serves the traditional
"mistake salad." The dish was born many years ago, Dorothy explains, when
mother was using a cookbook to make a salad. In the process, mother
accidentally included half the salad ingredients from a different salad
recipe on the opposite page. Everyone enjoyed the salad so much that she
continued to serve it every year. So it was really no mistake at all . . .
Everything is part of something
bigger, and mistakes are no exception. Every minus is half of a plus,
waiting for a stroke of vertical awareness. In his brilliant book Illusions,
Richard Bach explains that every problem comes to you with a gift in its
hands. If you focus only on what went wrong, you miss the gift. If you are
willing to look deeper and ask for the insight, the problem dissipates, you
are left only with the learning, and you advance on your path . . .
A Course in Miracles tells us,
"It takes great learning to understand that all things, events, encounters
and circumstances are helpful." The Course also notes that trust is the
bedrock of a true master's belief system. Trust implies faith that there is
a wiser plan afoot than the one that meets the eye. Only the inner eye, the
insight of higher wisdom, can make sense out of apparent human error.
We all make mistakes, and plenty
of them. Enlightenment does not ask you to be perfect; it simply asks you to
be open to a bigger picture that embraces your humanity while rising above
it. True perfection has space for imperfection . . .
Within you is a child who
wriggles off into unacceptable places. Also within you is a Paderewski, a
master who knows how to transform child's play into a masterpiece. You can
regret your errors, and those of others, or you can honor them. At the very
least, mistakes are opportunities to practice forgiveness. At the most, they
are invitations to acknowledge perfection. Ultimately, real forgiveness
means seeing good where others find fault. A friend is someone who sees
through you and still enjoys the view. You become your own best friend when
you do the same.
Salad, anyone?
—
Alan Cohen
from 101 Great Ways to
Improve Your Life: Volume 2
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?Clk=1582481
Note: 101 Great
Ways to Improve Your Life; Volume 2 is the book that I recently
co-authored with Alan Cohen, John Gray, Jack Canfield, Richard Carlson and
Bob Proctor. It is published by SelfGrowth.com and it is currently available
in paperback. I was truly honored to be a part of this book and I encourage
you to get a copy for yourself today—it
is filled with wisdom, integrity and insight.
Also, my beloved friend, teacher
and guide, John Harricharan, co-authored Volume 1; and if you have not
purchased it already and are interested in a double dose of enlightenment—you
might want to order the combo deal!
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THE
WISDOM OF AXIS
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Something to
think about...
Without risk,
without authenticity...
without color, both vibrant
and quiet,
there would be no
masterpiece,
for there would be no truth
from which a master could
emerge.
—Heather
K. O'Hara
from AXIS, The Song in the
Center of the Soul
http://www.Quantum-Grace.com/books2.htm
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RESOURCES,
RECOMMENDATIONS AND COMMENTS
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BOOKS I HIGHLY RECOMMEND:
POWER VS. FORCE
David R. Hawkins, M.D.,
Ph.D.; Hay House, Inc.
In my opinion, this is one of
the most enlightening books on the planet! Don't let the cover fool you...
it looks like a psychology book and, at first, it reads like a
physics book... but keep going and you will discover that it is one of the
most spiritual books ever written. It thoroughly describes "the anatomy of
consciousness," and whether you believe in the science of kinesiology or
not, this book will raise your level of awareness and change your life
forever. The last words in the book:
"Gloria in Excelsis Deo."
JOURNEY OF SOULS
Michael Newton, Ph.D.;
Llewellyn Publications
DESTINY OF SOULS
Michael Newton, Ph.D.;
Llewellyn Publications
I could write one thousand
newsletters based on the information contained in these two incredibly
fascinating books by Michael Newton. If you think that when this particular
lifetime is over, you are done... you may want to expand your understanding
of the word "eternity."
What I found most fascinating
about these books: The material and experiences they contain felt
familiar. Much of what is written in these "case study" volumes, I felt
a profound connection with... and, as far as soul identity and why we choose
to do what we do in this lifetime, these books offer some amazing things to
think about.
AN OPEN HEART
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Edited by Nicholas Vreeland;
Little, Brown and Company
The Dalai Lama wrote it, which
is reason enough to read it. ...Refer to the two books above if you are
wondering who he really is and why he is here with us, right now—and
if you want to know the full extent of the effect that his
consciousness has on the world, turn to page 282 in Power Vs. Force...
The Dalai Lama is one of the twelve.
THESE ARE THE GIFTS I'D LIKE
TO GIVE TO YOU
Edited by Douglas Pagels;
Blue Mountain Press
A Sourcebook of Joy and
Encouragement: This is a beautiful book filled with inspiring quotes and
timeless messages from both the masters and the students...
"Each day brings with it the
miracle of a new beginning. Many of the moments ahead will be marvelously
disguised as ordinary days, but each one of us has the chance to make
something extraordinary out of them." — Douglas Pagels
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eBOOK SUBMISSIONS... JUST 12
MORE DAYS!
I'm
extending the Submission Deadline for our 2006 Quantum-Grace eBook for
twelve
more days! The book has been formatted, but there is still space for those
of you who may have last minute submissions.
In answer
to all of your questions...
YES! You
can submit your favorite quotes by other people as long as you acknowledge
who wrote it or who said it. If you do not know its origin, simply write
"Unknown" beneath the quote. And... you might want to add, "What this quote
means to me," or "How these words changed my life."
YES! If a
dream or a vision or a message or something written on a billboard has had a
significant impact on your life, it could very well have the same impact on
someone else's life! Share your experience!
YES! A
page from your journal is possibly one of the most enlightening "articles"
you could ever write! If you want to edit it, add to it or subtract from it,
that's okay, too. My first book, AXIS, was written from my
journals... and we all know where that led!
YES!
Reflections are thoughts and thoughts are what books are made of! ...A
sentence, a paragraph or a page... your reflections could be the answer to a
question that thousands of people are asking themselves right now!
Additionally... if you are concerned about your writing skills, punctuation,
spelling or your command of the English language—that
is why we use proofreaders and they
are very, very good at what they do!
IF... for
some reason, you do not want your name in print, simply submit your work
using your initials or write "Author's name withheld" on your submission. We
would, however, like to know the name of the country you are from.
AND...
YES, WE
NEED MORE POETRY! Two lines; ten lines; thirty lines; a simple rhyme or a
complex reflection... I know there is a poet inside each and every one of
you!
This is
your chance, so get up and dance!
The
submission guidelines are in the last three or four newsletters, which are
all posted online... please do not miss this opportunity to help others help
themselves:
http://www.Quantum-Grace.com
(Newsletter Archives / Resources,
Recommendations and Comments section.)
Submit
your stories, articles, poetry, quotes or other inspirational material via
email to:
hkohara@Quantum-Grace.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In closing, I would like to thank you again for
helping Quantum-Grace.com become the highest example of people helping
people. Only by inspiring, encouraging and supporting each other will we
evolve into a new and higher level of awareness.
Your good energy and positive thoughts are not
only the best gifts you can give yourself, they are also the greatest
contribution you can make to the spiritual evolution of humanity. Know you
are important and that you count in a very big way. Live your love, trust
your joy―stand up and say your name!
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” ―
Gandhi
May you walk with impeccable grace, my good
friend.
Namaste, ...Heather K. O’Hara
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“A Touch of Grace” is a Heather K. O’Hara
worldwide ePublication brought to you by Quantum-Grace.com where healing,
insight, transformation, awareness and flight are the treasured expressions
of a life well lived; brilliantly, authentically and overflowing with
Quantum Grace.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If this newsletter has been forwarded to you by
a friend and you would like to sign up for your own copy, simply click the
following link to subscribe,
http://www.Quantum-Grace.com/news2.htm
IT’S
INSPIRING. IT’S EMPOWERING. AND
IT’S FREE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: I never sell, trade, rent or give away
your address to others. Your information is always kept in the strictest
confidence. That’s a promise you can count on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2006, Heather K. O’Hara. All rights
reserved.
This
newsletter is published exclusively by:
Heather K.
O'Hara, Author
Founder and
CEO, Global Inspiration, Inc.
P.O. Box
22646
Denver,
Colorado 80222 USA
www.Quantum-Grace.com
www.LivingOnLevel7.com
www.hkohara.com
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"Traveler,
there are no paths... paths are made by walking."
—
Australian Aboriginal Saying
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