“To him whose elastic and vigorous thought keeps pace with the sun, the day is a perpetual morning”
Henry David Thoreau
I started collecting quotes with the above quote after reading a book by Thoreau in my early teens.
The fallen tree truck is what is left of a large Spruce tree that I climbed, rested under reading books, and daydreamed under the limbs of things that might/could be. As the years passed by and the advent of the computer, and then the internet, collecting quotes became easier. So much so, that my collection would not be considered tiny, and several years ago for a class project I decided to combine the quotes into a small book. After 200 pages and barely scratching the surface, I submitted the workbook as my class project.
For me, the quotes are like taking a walk through the meadows, forest trails, and riverbanks collecting insects. Collecting insects was another hobby of mine in my early teens. It was always fun to catch the insect and take it home for study and display.
Now, as I walk the forest trails, my thoughts of decaying tree trunks remind me of the cycle of life, the Alpha and Omega, and quotes. The writers, wise man and women expressed their lives through many forms and often the quotes or ”snippets” of a much larger phrase remind me of their lives and contribution to history and civilization. They remind me of what is important to me and those quotes or ―snips make up this collection.
They are not mine to sell and yet I can share it with those that enjoy quotes. For in sharing, the law of circulation or ―what you sow, so shall ye reap is returned multiplied many times over.
Enjoy them and have fun
Jim
A – Abundance
In a spiritual context, the notion of abundance or plenty is less about material conditions, revolving instead (once basic needs are met), around an appreciation of life in its fullness, joy and strength of mind, body, and soul. This is the cultivation of respect for the creative energy of the universe.
“There is an abundance of hope in the world, but what we need is more faith. Everybody is hoping for better things; the poor hope to get rich; the sick hope to get well; the sad hope to gain happiness; the troubled hope to find peace; everybody is hoping for something, but few have the faith that is necessary to secure that something. When we are in bondage, or keenly realize our bondage, we hope that the Great Deliverer will come; we pray that He may come; we hope that our prayers will be answered, and we are so absorbed in our hopes that we fail to hear Him knocking at the door even now. To have hope is to face the door, but hope stands still; it never moves toward the door. To live in hope is simply to face the great goal, but we may continue to face that goal for ages, and never move forward a step. “To live in hope is to die in despair,” because hope remains stationary; it never gains what it hopes to gain. But when faith begins we remain stationary no more. We press on directly, and with power, towards the coveted goal; our hopes are soon realized; our desires are granted; what we wished for is withheld no more; through faith we have entered that world where every prayer is answered and every wish made true.”
Christian Larson
“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”
Wayne Dyer
“He who is plenteously provided for from within, needs but little from without.”
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
“Life is a field of unlimited possibilities.”
Deepak Chopra
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
Albert Einstein
“Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.”
John Petit-Senn
“Reflect upon your blessings, of which every man has plenty, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
Charles Dickens
“The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessing previously secured.”
Cicero
A - Art
Art is generally understood as any activity or product done by people with a communicative or aesthetic purpose—something that expresses an idea, an emotion or, more generally, a world view. It is a component of culture, reflecting economic and social substrates in its design.
The great artist is the simplifier.
Vincent Van Gogh
Art is either revolution or plagiarism.
Paul Gauguin
Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.
Jackson Pollock
Art must be life — it must belong to everybody.
Marina Abramović
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
Thomas Merton
Life is creation – self and circumstances, the raw material.
Dorothy Richardson
Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.
Oscar Wilde
You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at the picture for a second and think of it all your life.
Joan Miro
If I paint something, I don’t want to have to explain what it is. Bob Ross
An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success.
Henri Matisse
Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.
Leonardo da Vinci
When I draw something, the brain and the hands work together.
Tadao Ando
We must become artists in living. To live by inspiration means to sense
the divine touch in everything; to enter into the spirit of things; to
enter into the joy of living.
Ernest Holmes
A - Attitude
A manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind: a negative attitude; group attitudes. position or posture of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action, emotion, etc.: a threatening attitude; a relaxed attitude.
"There is a time to let things happen and a time to make things happen."
Prather
“I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was”
Mohammad Ali
"There is a very little difference between people; it is called attitude; and it makes a really big difference.
The big difference is whether it's positive or negative."
W. Clement Stone
"It's almost impossible to be negative when you're sincerely smiling. Smile, and you'll be tuning yourself into the positive possibilities of life. Smile with sincerity, with your eyes and your face as well as your lips, and you'll naturally bring out the best in the people around you.
Smile at the people who pass you on the freeway. Smile as you talk on the phone. Even though the person on the other end cannot see your smile, it will still come across the line and inject a positive energy into the conversation."
Ralph S. Marston
"You can do it in an instant, and it can last a lifetime. It requires no money, no power or influence, no special skills or training. It doesn't require months of preparation or years of study. It is available to you at any time and in any circumstance, no matter what you may have previously been through. It can have a tremendous positive impact on your own life and on the lives of those around you. The more challenges you face, the more beneficial it becomes. It is, quite simply and powerfully, a change in attitude.
Any time, any place, under any conditions, you can decide to change your attitude to one which moves you positively forward. You may indeed have ten thousand very good reasons not to do so. Yet they are all outweighed by the simple fact that you can do it and it works. If you've tried to be more positive in the past you've found that trying isn't enough. Real change comes when you stop just trying and start living each moment focused on the highest and best of possibilities in this magnificent life that you've been given."
Ralph Marston
"The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do."
John Holt
"Despair is an attitude, experienced in the mind. It is a way of looking at a life situation and feeling hopeless. There is no despair in the world. You cannot bring home a bucket of despair, there are only people thinking despairing thoughts. This a crucial point to understand. There may be many deplorable circumstances that exist in your life and in the lives of others yet in and of themselves they are just plain circumstances, the facts of a life.
Despair itself is a mental process that sizes up and views a situation as awful. When you recognize despair as being a mental attitude you begin a process of bringing
hope to the inner vision of despair and dissolving it."
Wayne Dyer
"Life is an attitude. It's what you choose to believe, always."
Wayne Dyer
"Your reputation is in the hands of others. That's what a reputation is. You can't
control that. The only thing you can control is your character."
Wayne Dyer
"Your opinions are trivial, but your commitments to them make all the difference in the world."
Wayne Dyer
"Re-examine the sentence, "Just do your best." I would substitute it with, "Just do.""
Wayne Dyer
"There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There's only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen."
Wayne Dyer
"No one can depress you. No one can make you anxious. No one can hurt your feelings. No one can make you anything other than what you allow inside."
Wayne Dyer
"The story is told about a man who was walking along a city street when a flower pot fell off a sill above him and crashed at his feet, missing him by inches. There are four paths of response the man might take. First, the path of knee-jerk reaction: he would yell a curse toward the window or perhaps dash up the stairs, find the owner, and punch him out. Second, the path of the victim: this experience would confirm his belief that the world is out to get him, and he would go about the rest of his day protecting himself from evil, retelling his story many times. Third, the path of detachment: he would rationalize that this was his karma, do nothing, and just keep walking. Finally, the path of love: he would go to the flower store on the corner, buy a new plant, and deliver it to the person whose plant had been blown off the sill by the wind."
Alan Cohen
"My mentor said, 'Let's go do it,' not 'You go do it.' How powerful when someone says, 'Let's!'"
Jim Rohn
"We are all being asked to take on a little piece of the darkness, because if we can transmute it in our own lives, we can help to transmute it in the world. We are living at a time of an intensification of darkness and we are living at a time of an intensification of light. It doesn’t matter how much light is thrown down on us, if we can’t receive it. We are sent situations where we’re being asked to be bigger than we had been yesterday, more compassionate than we were yesterday; more noble than we were yesterday; more serene than we were yesterday; more forgiving than we
were yesterday and more loving than we were yesterday."
Marianne Williamson
"Every time you are about to have a thought which keeps you in those same patterns of negativity, those same patterns of small-mindedness, those same patterns of dysfunction and toxicity in your life, may the angels minister unto you. May Spirit deliver a conversation, a phone call, a book, a song lyric, or just a spontaneous realization on your part that says, “You know, I’m not going to go in that direction, because that direction is where I’ve been, and where I’ve been is not great, and it’s been a part of the realm of consciousness that’s gotten the whole world where it is."
Marianne Williamson
"The difference between being a neurotic and a no-limit person isn't whether someone has problems. Everyone has problems. It's attitude. Do you look for solutions or more problems?"
Wayne Dyer
"When you argue for your limitations, all you get are your limitations."
Wayne Dyer
"To live your life the way you choose; you have to be a bit rebellious. You have to be willing to stand up for yourself."
Wayne Dyer
"Being relaxed, at peace with yourself, confident, emotionally neutral, loose, and free-floating - these are the keys to successful performance in almost everything."
Wayne Dyer
"Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him."
Gospel of Matthew, 7:7-8
“Your capacity to be creatively alive in virtually all life circumstances will depend in large part upon the kind of attitude you choose for yourself. The most crucial test of your attitude development will be in the face of adversity, rather than while things are running smoothly.”
Wayne Dyer
"He lost everything, he said, that could be taken from a prisoner, except one thing;
"the last of the human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.""
Viktor Frankel - holocaust survivor
"Our experiences depend on our outlook..
Doesn't everybody get mad at unruly children? Surely a downpour in the midst of an outing is depressing. And a job loss can't be anything but discouraging. Or can it? It's a quite a revelation to note how differently each of us responds to our experiences. Seeing a glass as half-full rather than half-empty is clearly our decision. Many of us have suffered from negative attitudes. We didn't understand that it was within our power to relish all our experiences, to see them as points on our learning curve, to recognize that every experience is meant to bless our journey.
Life passes so quickly, and we have so much to learn along the way. Accepting every moment as sacred and just what we need relieves us of the
tendency to judge experiences negatively."
Melody Beattie
“At any given moment we have two voices in our head: one which tells us we can’t, and another which tells us we can. Which will prove true? The one we give the most
attention to. The one we act on. The one we make a stand for.”
Alan Cohen
“You can always access the largeness, the unlimitlessness of life, no matter how hopeless things appear. You don't get that by romancing your partner. You get that if you have a love affair with life itself -- a passionate life. Then your relationships will be passionate and juicy too.”
Lee Lozowick
“There are two kinds of people in the world: those who make excuses and those who get results. An excuse person will find any excuse for why a job was not done, and a results person will find any reason why it can be done. Be a creator, not a reactor.”
Alan Cohen
“When something enters our awareness, that's the moment to take care of it. Don't pay that bill tomorrow, take out the trash later, or make the bed when you get back. When you see it, do it! Don't prioritize anything -- life has already done that for you.”
Jacob Leiberman
A – Awake
Defined as being fully conscious, alert, and aware: not asleep I'm so tired I can barely stay awake.
“Those who are Awake live in a state of constant amazement ...”
Jack Kornfield
“Throughout the world we find stories of this journey, images of the longing to awaken, the steps along the path that we all follow, the voices that call, the intensity of the initiation we may meet, the courage we need. At the heart of each is the original sincerity of the seeker, who must honestly admit how small is our knowledge of the universe, how great the unknown.”
Jack Kornfield
“We see ourselves as broken, and then set out on a long and frustrating journey to fill our emptiness. But it is not fixing that we require; it is awakening.”
Alan Cohen
“To ultimately "make it" in this Work of Awakening, of Transformation, you have to embrace the miraculous -- always. And that miracle is you being so much at peace with yourself that you can turn your energy towards welcoming and using the opportunities that are always falling into your lap. To embrace and devour these opportunities will make you free, happy, full of life, full of passion. Then your circumstances won't affect you so dramatically.”
Lee Lozowick
B – Balance
Defined as having the right amount — not too much or too little — of any quality, which leads to harmony or evenness. You might admire the balance someone has achieved between working hard and having fun.
“The goal of life is balance - that precious middle ground.
Many of us have gone from one extreme to another: years of taking care of everyone but ourselves, followed by a time of refusing to focus on anyone's needs but our own.
We may have spent years refusing to identify, feel, and deal with our feelings, followed by a period of absolute obsession with every trace of emotional energy that passes through our body.
We may succumb to powerlessness, helplessness, and victimization, then we swing to the other extreme by aggressively wielding power over those around us.
We can learn to give to others while taking responsibility for ourselves. We can learn to take care of our feelings, as well as our physical, mental, and spiritual needs. We can nurture the quiet confidence of owning our power as equals in our relationships with others.
The goal of life is balance, but sometimes we get there by going to extremes. Today, I will be gentle with myself, understanding that sometimes to reach the middle ground of balance; I need to explore the peaks and valleys. Sometimes, the only way I can extricate myself from a valley is to jump high enough to land on a peak, and then slowly ease myself down.”
Melody Beattie
B – Beauty
Defined as the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit : loveliness a woman of great physical beauty exploring the natural beauty of the island A thing of beauty is a joy forever
“I declare this world is so beautiful that I can hardly believe it exists."
Emerson
“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”
Anne Frank
“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”
Leo Tolstoy
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
Confucius
C - Cabins
Defined as a small simple dwelling usually having only one story, a log cabin
“If the book is good, is about something that you know, and is truly written, and reading it over you see that this is so, you can let the boys yip and the noise will have that pleasant sound coyotes make on a very cold night when they are out in the snow and you are in your own cabin that you have built or paid for with your work.”
Ernest Hemmingway
“I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet's wings.”
William Butler Yeats
“Cabins are magical places”
Jim Wilkins
C – Celebration
The definition of a celebration is an act or event designed to commemorate something or make something special and enjoyable. An example of a celebration is a party you have for someone's birthday.
“I believe in a life of celebration. I believe that the world we wake up to every day is filled to the brim with deep, aching love and also with hatred and sadness. And I know which one of those I want to win in the end. I want to celebrate in the face of despair, dance when all we see on the horizon is doom. I know that Death knocks on our doors and comes far to early for far to many of us, but when he comes for me, I want to be full-tilt, wide open, caught in the very act of life. I think that's what we're here for, not for a passive, peaceful life, but to stand up in the face of all that lacks peace and demand more.”
Shauna Niequist
C - Chaos
Defined as a state of utter confusion or disorder; a total lack of organization or order. any confused, disorderly mass: a chaos of meaningless phrases. the infinity of space or formless matter supposed to have preceded the existence of the ordered universe.
“You need a little chaos in your life to give birth to a dancing star”
Friedrich Nietzsche
C - Children
Defined as a young human being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority.
"The fact is that most of us do not know how to go about helping children to learn how to enjoy life because we have not learned that simple secret ourselves. We cannot teach what we do not know."
Wayne Dyer
"It is essential to show children a portrait of a person who has self-respect if you want it to rub off on them. It is important that you have your own life together if
you are going to provide an authentic example for children."
Wayne Dyer
"When a child grows up to love himself, to be self-confident, to have high selfesteem, and to respect himself, there are literally no obstacles to his total fulfilment as a human being."
Wayne Dyer
"Treat your children as if they already are what they are capable of becoming."
Wayne Dyer
"Catch children doing something right, and remind them on a regular basis of how terrific they are."
Wayne Dyer
"If you want your children to experience the exhilaration of success, then you must encourage them how to fail - and, in fact, to fail a lot. The important distinction here is the difference between failing at a task and being a failure as a person. No one is a failure as a person. Each person, by virtue of his aliveness, has inherent value and dignity. No one is guaranteed that he will never experience failure, and the more you want to experience a feeling of success in your life, the more you are going to invite the lesson of failure. We learn by our failures!"
Wayne Dyer
"When you teach children that the external symbols of success are the most important part of living, you are teaching them to look outside themselves for their successes. You are teaching them to look for happiness in things, rather than carrying happiness around with them and bringing it to any human enterprise."
Wayne Dyer
"Teach your child that there is no difference between simply conforming for the sake of being like everyone else, and being a non-conformist simply for the sake of being different. The non-conformist who simply wants to be on the other side of the fence is still being controlled by the will and behaviour of others, this type of nonconformity is just as neurotic as conformity for the same reasons."
Wayne Dyer
"Giving a hug and a kiss after disciplining may sound like sending confusing messages, but it is not at all a conflicting response. Children need to know that you love them even when they behave badly. If punishment is called for, always do it with love, the most effective teacher of all."
Wayne Dyer
"You get treated in life the way you teach people to treat you. You must teach this basic lesson to your children and accept it yourself as a guiding principle."
Wayne Dyer
"Perhaps the most neurotic pursuit of all is the desire to have those who love you understand you all the time. The greatest understanding that you can have is that
you do not understand each other, and that it is all right."
Wayne Dyer
"Children learn very early that an expression of anger is a very effective way to get what they want. When you give in to an angry outburst at any time, what you are saying to your child is this : 'All you have to do to get your way is to act uncivilized and angry, and then you can have what you want.'"
Wayne Dyer
"Being able to express one's anger is far superior to keeping it buried inside, where it will eventually spill over. Certainly children must be allowed to have angry thoughts, and to give vent to their feelings. But never at the expense of any other human being. This is our ultimate morality. Anything we do should not interfere with anyone else's right to actualize himself. Your child's right to swing her fist stops with my right to decide how I want my nose to be shaped. Period! No excuses. Express your anger rather than suppress it. Allow your children to vent their hostile frustration at will, but not at the expense of another human being. Sulk for an hour, hit a pillow with your fist, or kick the soccer ball. But screaming, yelling, hitting, manipulating, bullying, swearing, or anything else that is aimed at another person, regardless of who it may be, is simply not tolerable in a society where we must all learn to live together."
Wayne Dyer
"If they adopt self-discipline, you are not going to have to be concerned about their conduct when you leave the room, the neighborhood, the city, or even the country. You will know that they have learned to use their own inner values, rather than relying on you to make decisions for them, based upon being afraid of being disciplined if they fail to do what you told them to do."
Wayne Dyer
"The discipline must be internal. You do not speed - not because you might get caught, but because it is dangerous and immoral to place your life and particularly the innocent lives of others in jeopardy. You do not snort cocaine - not because I say so, but because your body is precious and you want to take care of it always."
Wayne Dyer
"If they learn, it is because they make a decision to learn. If they do not want to learn, no amount of pressuring and pushing from you is going to sway their resolve."
Wayne Dyer
"Children are raised to avoid living today in preparation for a better future. The problem is that the future never arrives; all we get are present moments. The conditioning of always thinking ahead never leaves a person and consequently people so conditioned will never learn to slow down and accept the pleasure that is inherent in virtually everything they see. Such a child becomes the adult who focuses on dessert while eating the appetizer, who does not savor the first cup of coffee because he is thinking about the second one, and who misses the lovemaking experience in anticipation of the orgasm. This vicious circle can be broken by simply accepting the idea that it is all right to feel good, that pleasure is not something bad."
Wayne Dyer
"Get rid of the sentence 'Always do your best.' No one can always do his or her best. Having to always do their best keeps children doing only those things that they can do well. If you want them to enjoy life and be totally alive in their present moments, encourage them to simply do!"
Wayne Dyer
"When they are sick, give the illness as little attention as possible other than to
provide remedial medical care. But praise wellness."
Wayne Dyer
"Get your own act together regarding your health. Provide children with a model of a person who takes care of his body and thinks wellness rather than illness."
"Parents must refuse to place labels on children and instead reinforce their natural inclinations to be anything and everything, depending upon their whims and the whims of the universe."
Wayne Dyer
"As soon as children accept the labels you provide for them, they give up on themselves and become the non-creative people they genuinely do not want to be."
Wayne Dyer
"The creative child is an enigma. He may cause you the most headaches, but he will also make you the proudest."
Wayne Dyer
"A child's creative potential is virtually unlimited, but his desire to pursue a given area can be abandoned forever by criticism."
Wayne Dyer
"Love is needed by all human beings in order to feel a sense of belonging. In studies of children who have been denied all forms of human love, such as being isolated in closets, it has been learned that children cannot recover from such ordeals, and that eventually they perish if that denial of love has been too extreme over a protracted period of time. Love is a basic human right. If you bring a child into the world, you are obligated by moral laws higher than any that have been written by man, to provide the basic survival needs for that human life, as well as
seeing to it that your child receives sufficient amounts of love."
Wayne Dyer
"The history of people who run seriously afoul of the standards that are necessary for a society to function, can always be traced to a lack of receiving or feeling love."
Wayne Dyer
"Help to simplify your children's lives by reducing the number of rules in the house to an absolute minimum, and only imposing those that make sense to all concerned."
Wayne Dyer
"Let your children know that you value truth more than anything in life, and they will come to appreciate the importance of having a parent to whom it is never necessary to tell a lie. Praise children for telling the truth. Talk to them about their lying whenever it surfaces, and do not think that you are doing them a favor by ignoring any lying that they might do. If they do lie, don't view it as their problem, first ask yourself, 'What is it about me, that I have created an environment where my child is afraid to tell me the truth?'"
Wayne Dyer
"I may not approve of what you have done, but I will always respect you for telling the truth."
Wayne Dyer
"When your children adopt the attitude that all life is sacred, they will genuinely feel more purposeful and consequently happier and more content as human beings. If you see them doing cruel things, gently ask them, 'Don't you think that beetle has a right to live?' or 'Why should that little spider die just because you enjoy killing it?' Reinforce that anything that has life in it is part of the purpose of this whole universe, and that killing for the sake of killing is a violation of the very life that we have been given as our gift, temporarily, while we reside here on this beautiful planet."
Wayne Dyer
C – Choice
Defined as an act or instance of choosing; selection: Her choice of a computer was made after months of research. ... the right, power, or opportunity to choose; option: The child had no choice about going to school. the person or thing chosen or eligible to be chosen: Example is gathering these quotes is my choice.
“Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made.”
Wayne Dyer
“Choosing to live your life by your own choice is the greatest freedom you will ever have.”
Shad Helmstetter
“When you're venturing into an unknown place, and you're gripped by fear, and it seems that the only choice is to turn back, remember that there is another way. You can choose to feel the fear, learn from it, let it prepare you and then move confidently forward.
When you've known extreme disappointment, and it seems that the whole world is against you, and you just want to give up, remember that there is another way. You can choose to put disappointments behind you, and look ahead toward the very best you can envision.
If someone has hurt you, and the pain is intense, and it seems that anger and vengeance are your only choices, remember that there is another way. You can choose to re-direct your energy into positively and productively improving the situation, rather than just creating more destruction.
When it seems that your only choice is a negative one, there is always another way. When it seems that the only alternatives are defeat and dismay, there is always another way. Remember, in your most difficult moments, that there's another, more positive way. See it, follow it, live it and you'll lift up your world at every opportunity.”
Ralph Marston
“Your personal power is not something that is going to reveal itself at some later date. Your power is a result of your decision to reveal it. You are powerful in whatever moment you choose to be. The choice to be used as an instrument of love,
right here, right now, is a choice for personal empowerment.”
Marianne Williamson
“I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing
one can be sure of changing is oneself.”
Aldous Huxley
“There is a very interesting mechanism that the universe has to help you make spontaneously correct choices. The mechanism has to do with sensation in your body. Your body experiences two kinds of sensations; one is a sensation of comfort, the other is a sensation of discomfort. At the moment you consciously make a choice, pay attention to your body and ask your body, 'If i make this choice, what happens?' If your body sends a message of comfort, thats the right choice. If your body sends a message of discomfort, then that's not the appropriate choice.”
Deepak Chopra
“Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thoughts he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy, strength, and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection. By the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all of the grades of character and man is their maker and master.”
Baird Spalding
“Why not think about some things you've never done before and do them just
because you've never done them and for no other reason.”
Wayne Dyer
“Nothing out there is bad unless you believe that it is.”
Wayne Dyer
“Life is never boring, but some people choose to be bored.......... Boredom is a choice.”
Wayne Dyer
“This world is a product of our minds.
We have often heard,"You get what you expect," "As you think, so you are," "Attitude is everything." Hearing this message one more time is reassuring. But what if the world we see is scary and threatening harm? It's not easy taking responsibility for these results. There is a way to change what we see, however, regardless of the dreadful details. We can seek the help of our minds. We know that the mind is both ego and Holy Spirit, not necessarily in equal porttions. If our outlook is brooding and bleak, the ego is inflated. If our outlook is hopeful and loving, we sense the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives. We also need to remember if we feel physically threatened the most loving thing we can do for ourselves is to protect ourselves by moving away from a dangerous situation.
We can move from one side of the mind to the other at will. This makes our world our choice.”
Karen Casey
“You become what you think and what you do.
Your life is an empty canvas upon which you are continually painting your own special masterpiece. Though you will have much guidance and inspiration, what you do with that guidance and with that inspiration is ultimately up to you. It is at once an awesome responsibility and a blessing of the most profound and unlimited proportions. And today is when it happens. This is the place and the moment where it all comes together. Even as you ponder these words, the unique work of art that is your life is taking shape.
What an immense opportunity it is to be you. The clothes you wear, the car you drive, the title on your business card are relatively minor factors compared to the real, genuine person you're capable of becoming. See your life in all the fullness of its grand perspective, and spend each moment perfecting the special masterpiece that you were born to live.”
Ralph Marston
“Things do not change: we change.”
Henry David Thoreau
“It's an actual fact that if you've been moping in unhappiness, you can choose to be joyous instead and, by effort, lift yourself into joy.
If you tend to be fearful, you can overcome that misery by choosing to have courage.
Even in darkest grief you have a choice.
The whole trend and quality of anyone's life is determined in the long run by the choices that are made.”
Norman Vincent Peale
“Life is an interpretive experience. What happens is less important than how we respond to our circumstances. An intense stimulus that some people report as pain, others report as pleasure. It is we who decide what the interpretation will be. Are you a "goodfinder"? A recent study of the country's millionaires showed that the most common trait they all shared was the ability to discover good in any situation. This trait is also common in "triumphant survivors"--those individuals who overcome adversity and emerge strengthened and renewed.
A sincere spiritual seeker suffering from a chronic illness wondered, "Why haven't my prayers been answered?" One day, in deep meditation the reply came: "Look for the good in your situation and you will see that the answer has already been provided." Suddenly this woman realized that her crisis provided a wonderful opportunity. She embarked on a program of nutrition, exercise, and yoga which led to a dramatic improvement in the quality of her life.
Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Your state of mind is up to you. Choose now to look for the good."”
Douglas Bloch
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
Lao Tse
“The only way you'll ever quit smoking is to not put cigarettes in your mouth one day at a time.”
Wayne Dyer
“Whatever is going on inside of you is up to you. You own it all. It's yours.”
Wayne Dyer
“You have the power to think whatever you choose to allow into your head. If something just pops into your head, you still have the power to make it go away.
Therefore, you still control your mental world.”
Wayne Dyer
“I am willing to change!
I am willing to change my mind!
I am willing to change my heart!
I am willing to change the perception of myself and the world around me!
I am willing to change what I do and how I do it!
I am willing to change, to be changed and see the miraculous change that change brings!
I know that I of myself can do nothing!
Therefore I am willing to allow the Holy Spirit to hear and change me at the soul level, that I may be all that God created me to be. I am willing to be transformed, to have my true mind restored, to have my heart renewed, according to God's perfect plan.
And so it is!”
Iyanla Vanzant
“For most of us it’s a radical opinion, at least initially, to believe that our problems can be relinquished at will. After all, they seem so integral to all the experiences we’re having. Indeed they are; however, our experiences mirror our thoughts about ourselves and the people we’re with. Problems thus lie with our perceptions. Being told that we can change our lives by changing our minds seems simplistic. The events that involve us appear far too complicated for such an easy solution. But until we earnestly try to change our minds, we’ll not understand the power we garner at the blink of an eye. The Holy Spirit is just as accessible as the ego. If we want to see something, in fact anything, differently, all we need to do is ask the Holy Spirit for a
better vision of the circumstance. One will come to us.”
Karen Casey
C – Clarity
Defined as clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity. the state or quality of being clear or transparent to the eye; pellucidity: the clarity of pure water.
“We want to help you regain clarity about your individual power. Everyone has it. No one can ever take it away from you. No one can ever do anything "bad" to you. No one can assert into your experience. Everything, without exception, comes only by your individual invitation to it. Do you understand the process of asking? When you give something your attention and it becomes your dominant vibration relative to the subject--that is your asking. So, deliberate creating is not so much about looking out into the world and saying, "Oh, there are things that are good that I want to create or attract into my experience, and there are things that are bad that I don't want to create or attract into my experience." Deliberate creating is more about deliberate
allowing. Deliberate allowing is more like deliberate vibration.”
Abraham
C – Co Creators
Defined as someone who creates something jointly with another person, being, or people.
“We are co-creators with God, not puppets on a string waiting for something to happen.” Father Leo Booth
C - Connection
Defined as the state of being connected: the connection between cause and effect. anything that connects; a connecting part; link; bond: an electrical connection. association; relationship: the connection between crime and poverty; no connection with any other firm of the same name.
"As a holistic being you shatter the illusion of your separateness and reveal your connection to everything. This empowers you in a way that the ego-driven self could never contemplate."
Wayne Dyer
“Make a bed for the children of other people in the place where your own children sleep.”
Moroccan folk saying
“Everything is integral and interacts with everything else. This means that nothing is itself without everything else. There is a commonality, an integrity, an intimacy of the universe with itself.”
Thomas Berry
“If I try to be like him,
Who will be like me?”
Yiddish proverb
“Ten Reasons to Speak
To acknowledge kindness, courage, worthy efforts and personal bests.
To offer help, assistance, encouragement; particularly to encourage those who have reached for the stars and just failed to reach them........this time!
To say 'I love you'...........in the way which is appropriate.
When the conscience or intuition prompts. How often have you been in a silent room where there is something crying out to be said?
To share grief or anguish with a trusted friend.
To ask for help when doing so is difficult.
To encourage the development of creative workplaces which honour all associated: staff, clients or customers and staff.
To acknowledge being wrong and to apologize. The more difficult the apology, the greater the need to speak and the more we grow.
To help identify your personal 'group of ten.' These are those who unfailingly encourage and support you, make you laugh and whose feelings you reciprocate.
These are the people you love the most.
To spread joy”
Rev. Thomas Gordy
“Technology and scientific advancement, from the Internet to mobile phones and all the rest of the new things that might rain down on us, make up part of humanity's path to make our work easier and more comfortable. The important thing is not to turn them into gods, but to know how to use them for what they are - tools to make our lives easier and give us greater power to communicate with like-minded people. Because don't forget, humanity's greatest sin is non-communication, unwanted and unloved solitude, forgetting that we were created to find each other, to be each other's mirrors. And everything that makes it easier to find each other and communicate, definitely contributes to our becoming less inhuman and more sympathetic.”
Paul Coelho
“At the same moment that you are a protagonist in your own life, you are a spear carrier or an extra in a much larger drama.”
Carl Jung
“My friend died, and I was upset," a man told me one day. "I took off on a trip, wandering around the Southwest, hiking through Bryce Canyon. I saw the vastness of the universe, and the beauty in all of it. I had set off on my trip to prove how unique and isolated I was in my grief. By the time the trip ended, I realized just how connected to this world I am."
Part of letting go is to recognize that you are a part of this universe and not separate from it.
Perhaps a situation has come up in your life recently that signals an ending - the passing of a relative, the end of a relationship, the loss of a job.
The people we love and the things we do contribute to our sense of who we are. When the people and things we love are threatened, taken away, we can rebel. We want to hold on to the known and don't want to see what's on the other side. Let go of the uncontrollable in your life. You're not a solitary being in this great universe, set to struggle against all of the forces; you're part of the whole. And the changes that come - whether they're joyous or sad, easy or difficult - are just part of the growing process that each of us goes through.
Feel the pain when you have a loss. Feel the joy when you triumph.
Then let go and continue to grow. See how connected you are.”
Melody Beattie
“The spiritual being knows that we are all connected, and he is able to see the fullness of God in each person with whom he makes contact. This sense of connection eliminates much of the inner conflict that the non-spiritual being experiences as he constantly judges others, categorizes them according to physical appearances and behaviors, and then proceeds to find ways to either ignore or take advantage of them for his own benefit.”
Wayne Dyer
“Where two or more are gathered in God, His light within us accelerates and intensifies. Nothing is more powerful than an agreement between two people. The
more a thought is shared, the stronger it becomes.”
Marianne Williamson
“Look past the body, past the personality, past the behavior, into the window of one another's souls. There we make a connection. The God in me recognizes and honors the God in you.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
“I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I water'd it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears, And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft, deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright; And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole
When the night had veil'd the pole:
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch'dbeneath the tree.”
William Blake
“It takes courage and honesty to end a relationship - with friends, loved ones, or a work relationship. Sometimes, it may appear easier to let the relationship die from lack of attention rather than risk ending it. Sometimes, it may appear easier to let the other person take responsibility for ending the relationship.
We may be tempted to take a passive approach. Instead of saying how we feel, what we want or don't want, or what we intend to do, we may begin sabotaging the relationship, hoping to force the other person to do the difficult work.
Those are ways to end relationships, but they are not the cleanest or easiest ways. As we walk this path of self-care, we learn that when it is time to end a relationship, the easiest way is one of honesty and directness. We are not being loving, gentle, or kind by avoiding the truth, if we know the truth.
We are not sparing the other person's feelings by sabotaging the relationship instead of accepting the end or the change, and doing something about it. We are prolonging and increasing the pain and discomfort - for the other person and ourselves. If we don't know, if we are on the fence, it is more loving and honest to say that. If we know it is time to terminate a relationship, say that. Endings are never easy, but endings are not made easy by sabotage, indirectness, and lying about what we want and need to do.
“Say what you need to say, in honesty and love, when it is time. If we are trusting and listening to ourselves, we will know what to say and when to say it.”
Melody Beattie
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
John Donne
“For it is not physical solitude that actually separates one from others, not physical isolation, but spiritual isolation. It is not the desert island nor the stony wilderness that cuts you from the people you love. It is the wilderness in the mind, the desert wastes in the heart through which one wanders lost and a stranger.
When one is a stranger to oneself then one is estranged from others too. If one is out of touch with oneself, then one cannot touch others.
Only when one is connected to one's own core is one connected to others, I am beginning to discover. And, for me, the core, the inner spring, can best be refound through solitude.”
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Mother Teresa had been interviewed the day before in Phoenix at KTAR radio station, my friend Pat McMahon, the morning host, had been asked to talk to her about the homeless shelter which had just been opened there.
He had asked if there was anything he could do for her and she had said, "No, but thank you very much, I just want to talk about the homeless shelter." He said, "But Mother Teresa, we have a very powerful radio station" (he went straight to the ego !), "we have a 50,000 free watt channel, we could cause a huge amount of publicity for your cause in Calcutta," and she had said, "No thank you, I am just here to talk about the homeless shelter."
And then he had said, "But Mother Teresa, we could raise an awful lot of money," to which she had replied, "No, I'm really not interested in raising money but thank you very much."
Finally, Pat almost begged her, "Mother Teresa, isn't there anything I can do for you?" to which she replied, "You seem so serious, there is one thing that you can do for me, Pat, tomorrow morning get up at 4 a.m, and go out on to the streets of Phoenix and find someone who's living there who believes that he's alone and convince him that he's not. That's what you can do, because those of us who are lost, the homeless, those who are feeling abandoned, the ill, basically believe that they are alone, they have lost their connection to spirit."
There is a spiritual solution to every problem, we have a spiritual deficit in our Society, a Society that allows these kind of things to take place represents a deficit of spirit, not the right or the wrong laws. We have to shift our spiritual awareness, from what's in it for us to how can I serve.”
Wayne Dyer
“So many people have lost their families," the man said to me. "I have. But I'm beginning to discover that I'm part of a larger family, too. I'm beginning to see my connections to people all over the world."
We all have people we love deeply and dearly, those people we call our family. We have blood ties, genetic ties, long-term relationships with the people in our family, too. We have a kinship with those we've never met, even if they live in others cultures. We share many of the same emotional responses to the experiences in our lives, even though our journey may be taking place on different parts of the planet. If we study history we will see our connection to those who have lived before. The hardships they experienced, the lessons they had to face, were similar in many ways to those we face today. Lessons repeat themselves. The ones that are true seem to last. That's why they're called universal truths.
What are you going through in your life right now? Don't feel you're the only one. Open your eyes. Open your heart to your connections with your larger family. Let them share their stories with you. Let them share their strengths, hopes, fears, and joys.
Stop looking for what's different and what makes you separate and apart. Go on an adventure of discovering your common bonds.”
Melody Beattie
“In order to reclaim our natural connection with life, we must begin living with greater presence, respect, and gratefulness. We have been living under the illusion that evolution has ended with us at its helm. Perhaps the dinosaurs thought that, too!”
Jacob Leiberman
C- Control
Defined as to have control is to have the power to run something in an orderly way. A skillful teacher maintains control over students who might otherwise waste time or be disruptive. A control can also be a device used to operate a machine, like the remote control for a television.
“So we, and we alone, control our destiny.”
Ernest Holmes
“The master addiction is control. It is not lack of courage that keeps us from moving
forward, as most people think; it is the fear of losing control.”
John-Roger
C- Courage
Defined as is the quality of being ready and willing to face negative situations involving danger or pain. A close synonym is bravery. Showing courage is often thought of as facing such situations without fear, but it also involves facing them despite fear.
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
Mohammad Ali
“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”
William Faulkner
“Freedom lies in being bold.”
Robert Frost
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
Nelson Mandela
“Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.”
Mary Anne Radmacher
To live your life you need to risk it. And that means taking the chances that make us whole human beings.
If you're going to live your life, live it all the way. Face your fears and throw that someone special - your heart. You just may be surprised! Otherwise, what's the point?
Jim Wilkins
D – Dance
Defined as the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, for the purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the movement itself.
“May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, and to bask in the sun. It is there for each and every one of you.”
Andre Brink
“Work like you don't need the money, love like your heart has never been broken, and dance like no one is watching.”
Aurora Greenway
“In life as in dance: Grace glides on blistered feet”
Alice Abrams
“Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain”
Unknown
“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
“Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.”
Rumi
“And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon.”
Edward Lear
“Dance is the hidden language of the soul”
Martha Graham
“You’ll learn, as you get older, that rules are made to be broken. Be bold enough to live life on your terms, and never, ever apologize for it. Go against the grain, refuse to conform, take the road less traveled instead of the well-beaten path. Laugh in the face of adversity, and leap before you look. Dance as though EVERYBODY is watching. March to the beat of your own drummer. And stubbornly refuse to fit in.”
Mandy Hale
“Live your truth. Express your love. Share your enthusiasm. Take action towards your dreams. Walk your talk. Dance and sing to your music. Embrace your blessings. Make today worth remembering.”
Steve Maraboli
“Dance for yourself. If someone understands, good. If not, no matter. Go right on doing what interests you, and do it until it stops interesting you.”
Louis Horst
“When we live without connectedness, without an illumination of spirit, we can feel in ourselves the deep longing of a lost child, a subtle longing as though we know something essential is missing, something that dances at the edge of our vision,
always with us like the air we forget until the wind blows.”
Jack Kornfield
D – Downsizing
Defined as - to reduce in size; especially : to design or produce in smaller size. How to use downsize in a sentence.
I consider minimalism not as a destination but rather as a tool and a mindset to reduce distractions and overwhelm. It is not a competition. You are a winner if you find the amount of stuff and size of your home to be perfect for you and your lifestyle and situation. You only lose if you never consider the potential benefits of decluttering and leave your loved ones with messes and burdens.
Lisa J. Shultz
“Clutter may rob us of the life we imagined or prevent us from creating a new vision for our future.”
Lisa J. Shultz
“Much of what we acquire in life isn’t worth dragging to the next leg of our
journey. Travel light. You will be better equipped to travel far.”
Gina Greenlee
Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. William Morris
As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
Henry David Thoreau
Poverty is my pride.
Muhammed
With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy. Lope de Vega
D – Dragons
Defined as a mythical monster generally represented as a huge, winged reptile with crested head and enormous claws and teeth, and often spouting fire. Your dragon can be your inner strength, and spirit. Its strong, and powerful. It flies the skies freely watching. It protects itself. It does not fear others in its way. Everyone has a dragon in them, it's just yours is either free or not. If your dragon is free you are a strong individual that doesn't scar easily or get put down with one shot. Its free and beautiful.
The brave men did not kill dragons, the brave men rode them.
Game of Thrones
You must have a dragon hid inside of you. When you need, you let the dragon out.
Anderson Sllva
Out of the dragon’s claws and into the fire, there’s a moment in every mans’ life when he must decide what is wrong and what is right.
Bryan Adams
If a man wishes to become a hero, then the serpent must first become a dragon: otherwise he lacks his proper enemy.
Friedrich Nietzsche
We should not be just a fan of dragons; we should always be the dragon himself. Then we will not be afraid of any dragon.
Shunryu Suzuki
"Do nothing. Be still. Sleep. Rest in the arms of the Dragon. Dream."
Merlin, Excalibur
D – Dream
Defined as noun. a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep. the sleeping state in which this occurs. an object seen in a dream. an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake.
“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
Dr. Seuss
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
J.K. Rowling
“You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one.”
John Lennon
“I like the night. Without the dark, we'd never see the stars.”
Stephenie Meyer
“Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.”
Langston Hughes
“I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?”
John Lennon
“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.”
Vincent van Gogh
“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.”
Anaïs Nin
“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.”
Henry David Thoreau
“Some people see things that are and ask, Why?
Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not?
Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.”
George Carlin
“If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.”
Walt Disney Company
“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”
Lao Tzu
E - Ego
Defined as the “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought. ... egotism; conceit; self-importance: Her ego becomes more unbearable each day. self-esteem or self-image; feelings: Your criticism wounded his ego.
“Unfortunately, the process whereby the ego gives up control to the spirit usually takes place only through collapse. It's almost impossible for the ego to release its grip voluntarily in the same way as most individuals don't begin their inner spiritual journey until disaster strikes - be it illness, financial collapse, mental stress, or perhaps a marriage breakdown. It will take a crisis to shrink the world ego to the
point where the spirit can begin to win back control.”
Stuart Wilde
“The ego gleefully makes us feel inadequate to others. We can’t forget that the ego’s only hold on us is in making us feel fearful, less than adequate to the tasks and the people around us. Refusing to accept this as our reality, takes both Herculean strength and the humility to look to the Holy Spirit for a different perception of ourselves.
While we are equal, we each have different personalities, unique strengths and weaknesses, and specific dreams and abilities. It’s easier to accept our complexities when we remember that every one of us needed to make the Whole. We all bring something vital to the party.
When we believe in our equality, we are less threatened and more peaceful. The next step then to accepting that we are all One, is not so far removed from our understanding. When we understand our Oneness, we are home.”
Karen Casey
“Did you ever notice how difficult it is to argue with someone who is not obsessed with being right?”
Wayne Dyer
“Ego's voice is always eager to dominate with thoughts like 'I am what I have, what I do, and what others think of me.' If you can remain quiet long enough, God's voice will penetrate with messages such as 'None of these things will bring you happiness, they are only illusions, I am your only source of peace. This is your highest self speaking, this is the spiritual solution to all problems related to attachments.
Wayne Dyer
“Recognize the solution the ego offers you is motivated by fear. Understand that your ego will always have a solution to every perceived problem. But, when you listen to that solution, you don't feel any more peaceful. Indeed, you often feel more charged with anger, more victimized, more suspicious of other people and defensive toward them. The ego's solution cannot bring you peace. What it can do is to make you feel more uncomfortable so that you can finally recognize your discomfort.”
Paul Ferrini
“Your ego wants you to face outward. It wants you to continue facing the wrong way so that you cannot experience the presence of God in your life. By facing away, rather than inward, you ensure the strong presence of your ego forever. The consequences are that you will continually feel the pressure to compare yourself with others; the need to defeat others in order to feel powerful or even worthwhile; to have more and better toys; to accumulate more trophies. All of this facing outward is the work of the ego. When you refuse to listen, it shouts that you must be upset when others get ahead of you; that you are worthless when you lose; that being number one is more important than anything; that to settle for less is to admit being a loser.”
Wayne Dyer
“Everything we do in our lives will be used, or interpreted, by the ego or the Holy Spirit. The ego uses everything to lead us further into anxiety. The Holy Spirit uses everything to lead us into inner peace.”
Marianne Williamson
“What we “see” is decided by who we put in charge of “seeing.” If we designate the ego as our lookout, we’ll often be on the receiving end of anger and attack. Let’s
choose again. The Holy Spirit is always in the wings.”
Karen Casey
“You sense that the real you does not value appearance, possessions, achievements, physical strength, talent or intellect because all these things eventually atrophy and disappear. You know that there is an eternal aspect of you beneath the surface and that for this part of you, only the truth will suffice.”
Wayne Dyer
“Your ego is attracted to what makes it special. When you create a picture that accomplishes that objective, false or not, your ego is enjoying a payoff. The more attractive you make the picture with distortions, the more your ego is rewarded . Remember, your ego is your false picture of yourself. It is not your true self. This inauthentic self thrives on falsity. The more you practice this ersatz thinking and behavior, the less likely you are to consult your higher self and be on your sacred quest.”
Wayne Dyer
“Resist the need to boast and talk about yourself. Strive to be interested rather than interesting. This is the way of the higher self. Become the listener - the one who is interested in the accomplishments and activities of others - and you will not
need to boast and to distort your personal story line.”
Wayne Dyer
“When you rely upon deception, you are falling victim to the approval-seeking game. Your false self is what you want others to see of you, so you project an image of yourself that is based on distortion rather than reality. This is the same as saying, What you think of me is more important than what I think of myself.. With this attitude, your ego can keep you from taking any risks, including making any spiritual changes in your life. The more you stay in the same skin, wearing the same masks,
the more ego succeeds in keeping your from your higher self.”
Wayne Dyer
“To become more tolerant and less controlled by your false self, start practicing being satisfied with what is. Your ego is never quite content. If you choose one thing, your ego will persuade you to consider something else. If someone you love acts meekly toward you, your ego wants that person to be more assertive; if that person is assertive, your ego decides to dislike assertiveness. If you eat too much, you start thinking about how nice it would be to be thinner; go on a diet, and all your thoughts will be about food. If you stay at home for a long period, your ego starts telling you how nice it is to travel; go on the road, and you start thinking about how nice it would be to stay home. You’re in a relationship and begin to imagine it would be nicer to be uninvolved; you’re not in a relationship, and you start wanting to be in one. Your children are running around the house and you think about escaping; you aren’t at home and think of nothing but your children. If you identify with this kind of inner dialogue, rest assured that ego has temporarily separated you from your sacred self.”
Wayne Dyer
“People are the way they are, and your need to dominate or change them in any way is the edict of your false self. Your ego is, as usual, trying to convince you of your separateness. It also doesn’t want you to catch on to how it is controlling your life, so it convinces you that if you don’t dominate others, they will get the best of you.”
Wayne Dyer
“Your highest self only wants you to be at peace. It does not judge, compare or demand that you defeat anyone, or be better than anyone. It only wants you to be at peace. Whenever you are about to act, ask yourself this question: Is what I am about to say or do going to bring me peace? If the answer is yes, then go with it and you will be allowing yourself the wisdom of your highest self. If the answer is no, then remind yourself that it is your ego at work. The ego promotes turmoil because it wants to substantiate your separateness from everyone, including God. It will push you in the direction of judgment and comparison, and cause you to insist on being right and best. You know your highest self by listening to the voice that only wants you to be at peace.”
Wayne Dyer
“Ego is not Self, it just pretends to be. Without ego, there's still someone who likes chocolates or avoids cooked carrots, who cusses up a storm or speaks very gently, still someone who represents a unique snowflake of God's power operating through one individuated form. Our senses and organs are unselfconsciously brilliant. An egoless state of mind is no less. It is spontaneous genius spilling out in every direction. That is why Tukaram, a seventeenth-century Hindu saint, exclaimed, "The
death of the ego is a festive occasion beyond compare!”
Bo Lozoff
“The body is the ego’s projection.
Many of us are critical of our bodies. We perceive ourselves as too tall or too short, too fat or too thin. The list goes on. What we think, however, is what we get: our bodies reflect the message the ego dictates. This can be confusing. But remember, we tend to focus on our imperfections, and the attention we give them strengthens them. So while we claim to want a better physique or a healthier body, we dwell on how our bodies disappoint us. In the process, we manifest those disappointments. Stopping a particular thought pattern takes willingness. We need to change our perspective intentionally and radically and stop lecturing ourselves about how we should look. Aligning with the Holy Spirit rather than the ego diminishes the importance of how we look. The miracle is that how we look changes also.”
Karen Casey
E - Energy
Defined as the work that a certain force (gravitational, electromagnetic, etc) can do. Due to a variety of forces, energy has many different forms (gravitational, electric, heat, etc.) that can be grouped into two major categories: kinetic energy and potential energy.
“Unobtrusively enter hatred fields with love. Without ever having to identify yourself, you have opportunities to use your love in your heart to halt the passions of hatred. When you live with love in your heart you radiate outward a faster, more spiritual energy. You can direct this higher energy of love toward situations of hate...You've heard the expression, "Let's send him some positive energy." This is not fiction; it is just another way of sowing love where there is hatred. You have the power to use your loving energy this way at any time.”
Wayne Dyer
“A breakthrough occurs when you recognize you are more energy than matter.”
Caroline Myss
“In every life there is plenty of time and energy available for magnificent success and achievement. Yet too often that energy is wasted on unproductive, negative pursuits. The next time we feel ourself becoming negative, stop and consider what would happen if we applied that negative energy in a positive direction.
Imagine what would happen if we simply turned it around, and put it to work for us instead of against us. A car that is traveling 70 miles per hour toward the north can be easily stopped, turned around and made to head 70 miles per hour toward the south.
In the same way, we can control our own personal energy so that it moves us toward our goals and dreams rather than away from them.
Instead of bitterly complaining, transform our complaints into useful and productive suggestions. Instead of being envious, transform that envy into positive admiration. Rather than wasting our time with worry, make use of our time with action. Instead of getting destructively angry, become creatively determined.
The energy is already there, ready for us to use. Just imagine what can happen when we make sure it flows in a positive direction.”
Ralph Marston
“Simplify your life. You do not need all the clutter you are holding on to. Get rid of it now because it is stealing your energy.
The clutter in your life takes energy to maintain. Start with the smallest things. Clear away a little and you'll be amazed at the vast amounts of energy it releases inside of you. Look at all your unread books, and declare them complete. Guilt - let go of it, right now. Keep around you only the things that give you energy”
John-Roger
“Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others... they send forth a ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
Robert F. Kennedy
“The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love.
And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire.”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“Remember what Victor Hugo told us, "Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”
Wayne Dyer
“Send out white light and bathe others in it. Remember, everything is energy. Solid, sound, light, thoughts, spirit are movements, waves that vibrate to a certain frequency. You can be an emissary of light and help others to eradicate darkness in their lives. Think light and also practice meditating and visualizing the white, clear, pure light enveloping anyone you choose. If you doubt your ability to accomplish this, or if you feel that sending light through your thoughts and meditation is impossible then that will be your experience. Shift your inner consciousness to the thought that no one knows enough to be a pessimist. Then you will be able to transmit the light at the highest/fastest vibrations where anything is possible.”
Wayne Dyer
“Empathy is a wonderful high energy quality and I encourage you to extend thoughts of compassion and love to those who are experiencing darkness. However, I encourage you not to confuse empathy with reinforcing darkness. Think thoughts of light and love and enter the darkness with that energy. Your light energy will lighten the darkness. You can emanate light when you know that the darkness is an illusion since God's light is always shining, and that thoughts of despair and anguish are
what create the illusion of darkness. Extend compassion and know that all is for good. As I've said many times in this book, we cannot go where God is not, and where God is, all is well.”
Wayne Dyer
“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson
“Just as we strive to protect and conserve earth's energy resources we can strive to protect and conserve our own. Sometimes we need to let go of people, places, and behaviors’ that don't work for us any more, that drain, exhaust, and deplete us. Pay attention to the impact of certain people, places, behaviors’, and events on your energy. Pay attention to how you feel when you eat certain foods, drink certain beverages, go certain places. Learn to listen to your body, your emotions, and your heart.”
Melody Beattie
“If you can place yourself in the company of people who are infused with spirit, their energy gives you spark and facilitation -- a confidence boost.
Fortunately, the electricity of spirit is contagious.
When this positive energy of well-beingness circulates through your system, people often refer to you as being "lit up."”
Benjamin Disraeli
“Everything that you are against weakens you, everything that you are for empowers you.”
Wayne Dyer
“He (Don Juan) went on to explain that a state of heightened awareness is seen not only as a glow that goes deeper inside the egg like shape of human beings, but also as a more intense glow on the surface of the cocoon. Yet it is nothing in comparison to the glow produced by a state of total awareness, which is seen as a burst of incandescence in the entire luminous egg. It is an explosion of light of such a magnitude that the boundaries of the shell are diffused and the inside emanations extend themselves beyond anything imaginable.
Seers who deliberately attain total awareness are a sight to behold. The fire from within consumes them. And in full awareness they fuse themselves to the
emanations at large, and glide into eternity."
Carlos Castaneda
“We living beings are perceivers and we perceive because some emanations inside man's cocoon become aligned with some emanations outside. Alignment, therefore, is the secret passageway, and the earth's boost is the key.”
Carlos Castaneda
“Relationships are eternal. They are of the mind, not the body, since people are energy, not physical substance.”
Marianne Williamson
“Feel the energy of your inner body. Immediately mental noise slows down or ceases. Feel it in your hands, your feet, your abdomen, your chest. Feel the life that you are, the life that animates the body”
Eckhart Tolle
“The real you is simply the cosmos, the energy that is filling all these vast spaces. There are galaxies, billions and billions of light years away that are just as much you as the pupil of your eye.”
Alan Watts
“Think positively. Throw negative thinking away. Positive thinking actually has a physical effect on life. It sends up vibes. It moves energy around in a particular way.
It creates positive outcomes.”
Neale Donald Walsch
“Many years ago when I was involved at looking at some studies on the collective practice of meditation we found that when people were meditating together and they had oscilloscopes hooked to their brainwaves, within a few minutes their brainwaves would entrain, which means that they would become coherent and marching to the same step.
Entrainment is a normal phenomenon in nature which begins even at the time of conception and later through the experience of sound in the womb. Entrainment is a normal phenomenon even in inanimate forms. If you take six clocks with pendulums swinging to a different rhythm and you leave them alone in the same room, after two or three hours they will all swing to the same rhythm.
You've seen birds flying in the sky and they are perfectly entrained, they move in one formation, there is no time for the leader to tell the others that it is going to take a left turn, they all swing in the same rhythm. Or you've seen schools of fish moving as if they are one organism.
Entrainment is very common even amongst people who are very intimate with each other. There have been studies of women living together in a confined environment like a prison or a convent. After a while their menstrual cycles entrain. Our biological rhythms are constantly seeking naturally to align themselves with the rhythms of the cosmos and when we are out of it, first of all we get unhealthy, secondly we create a disruption in that inherent coherent rhythmicity that orchestrates the whole cosmos, which is the nature of this conscious energy field from which everything comes.”
Deepak Chopra
“Negative emotions like loneliness, envy, and guilt have an important role to play in a happy life; they're big, flashing signs that something needs to change.”
Gretchen Rubin
E – Enlightenment
Defined as A state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering and attains nirvana. Or as being advanced and having gained necessary information or knowledge, especially spiritual knowledge.
“Enlightenment is not what you think. It is not about becoming something or gaining something. It is about giving up something. It is about losing or emptying; it is about
emptying ourselves of our fears and our personal dragons.”
Paula Sunray
“The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.”
Albert Einstein
“The road to enlightenment is long and difficult, and you should try not to forget snacks and magazines.”
Anne Lamott
F - Faith
Defined as confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact
“Intuition is the open end, within one’s own being, of the invisible channel ever connecting each individual with God. Faith is, as it were, a ray of light shot out from the central sun – God – one end of which ray comes into your being and mine through the open door of intuition. With our consciousness we perceive the ray of light, and though intellect cannot grasp it, or give the why or wherefore thereof, yet we instinctively feel that the other end of the ray opens out into all there is of God (good). This is “blind” faith. It is based on Truth, but a Truth of which everyone is not at the time conscious. Even this kind of faith will, if persisted in, bring results.”
H. Emilie Cady
“So, when something out of the ordinary happens, some event that brings reassurance that our faith is trustworthy, we welcome it with all our heart. But the lesson is the same, time after time: ultimately everything is going to be okay.”
Mitch Finley
“Faith is the magnetic pull of the heart's desire.
An inner knowing that brings spiritual/ emotional assurance.
The substance/ foundation of that which one believes.”
Iyanla Vanzant
“Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
Martin Luther King Jr
“Faith is a way of going within and creating a sense of control over one’s life at any given moment.”
Wayne Dyer
“Affirm your faith not your doubt. Faith is the complete reliance on the power and goodness of spirit and that you are always connected to this goodness. When you affirm that things might not work out, that your troubles continue to mount, that your problems are insoluble, that God has not been listening, or that you are powerless in the face of so many struggles, you are affirming doubt rather than faith. The ability to know faith and affirm it allows it to manifest in your life.”
Wayne Dyer
“As much as possible, keep your faith a private matter between you and God. The inclination to broadcast your views and convert others to your way of thinking invites the ego into an area where only spirit is successful. The moment that you attempt to persuade others of the rightness of your way of thinking, you stop the process of faith and manifestation. Why? Because you are now in a position of needing to explain and defend yourself. You have a need to be right and make others wrong.
You lower your energy vibration to the frequencies of conflict, anger, resentment, fear and the like, all of which crop up when you invite ego into your faith. It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. Stay in spirit and keep the flesh out of it.”
Wayne Dyer
“Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.”
Kahlil Gibran
“In the Native American tradition, one member of the tribe assumes the role of "Faithkeeper." This person's role is to remain at peace, centered in spiritual vision, no matter what events befall the tribe. Even if everyone else in the tribe slips into pain, fear, or dissention, the Faithkeeper is the one person the tribe can rely on as a lifeline to the Presence. This is our role now.
In the face of the strange and shocking events that have recently occurred, it would be almost humanly impossible not to be moved and challenged. Who could look upon such inhumanity and not be shaken? Yet there is a place within all of us that is always connected to our higher being. That is the place to go to now. Your greatest contribution is your clarity, sense of purpose, and vision. If you go into fear or terror, the terrorists have won. They have succeeded in terrorising you. Is that the role you would play?
Would you not rather overcome hatred with love? Doubt with trust? Sorrow with comfort?
"Fear knocked at the door.
Faith answered.
No one was there."
The question is not, "Have you moved off your centre?" The question is, "How quickly can you regain it?" For many years we have been studying the principles of spiritual truth. Now is the time to put them into practice. When things are going well, it is easy to find God. When things seem chaotic, it is harder. The strength we build by claiming divine order when it is utterly unapparent is paramount. Spiritual mastery is gained in times just such as these.
No single event has connected so many people throughout the entire planet with a sense of caring and support. People from all over the world are reaching out to share resources, blood, skill, money, and heart. There is a miracle in here somewhere. Let us not use this event as a way to stay disconnected from higher power. Hold firm to your sense of wholeness and that of everyone you consider. When you are upset you are ineffective to see a right course of action. When you are hooked up, you are very powerful. Mahatma Gandhi noted, "The pure love of one person can offset the hatred of thousands." The pure love of one person can offset the anxiety of thousands. Let us each be that one person.
There are two elements to this event: What happened, and what we do with it. What was done has been done. What will be is still in our hands. We can make of it what we choose. We can use it as a justification to lash out or we can build a new consciousness that has no home for terror. Let us begin by quitting terrifying ourselves with scary thoughts. Love disarms.
We bless and send love and intentions for well-being to those most affected. Words soothe little, but respect for your power edifies you. When one of my parents passed away, a friend left a simple message on my answering machine that helped me immensely: "I feel your strength." We stand in deep honour of the leaders and people of New York, who are demonstrating immense courage and cooperation. New Yorkers are compellingly resilient, and they will prevail. Thank you for an awesome model of dignity and grace under fire.
Perhaps it is no accident that world attention is being focused on the World Trade Centre. Perhaps the message is that it is time to trade our old world for one more connected to our centre.
We will come out on the other side of this. We will pick up the pieces and move on.
And we will be closer to home for it.”
Alan Cohen
“Parachutes weren't proven trustworthy by having people carry them around on their backs.
The device showed its reliability once someone jumped.
God, too, can be trusted with our lives,
which we discover once we take a leap of faith.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
“Faith is not trying to believe something regardless of the evidence.
Faith is daring to do something regardless of the consequences.”
Sherwood Eddy
“I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of God shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is our faith.”
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I have faith that God will care for me, and God does provide my needs. I don't in any way feel insecure because I don't know where I will sleep at night, where or when I will eat next. When you have spiritual security, you have no more feeling of need for material security. I don't know anybody who feels more secure than I do-and, of course, people think l am the poorest of the poor. I know better, I am the richest of the rich. I have health, happiness, inner peace--things you couldn't buy if you were a billionaire.”
Peace Pilgrim
“Faith begins by believing in your heart that what is right has a chance. Faith is knowing in your heart that light can illuminate darkness, that the sun can shine in a rainstorm.
Faith is peaceful and comforting, because it comes from within where no one can invade your private dreams.
Faith is not something you can demand or command; it is a result of commitment to belief.
Faith is believing in something you can't see or hear, that only you understand and only you control.
Faith is trusting in yourself enough to know that no matter how things turn out, you will make the best of them...”
Beth Fagan Quinn
“Rabindranath Tagore, the brilliant Indian poet, once said, “Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.” It is a knowing within that in any moment of darkness, light is on the way. No one can oblige you to have this faith which, like love, cannot be forced. When you force love, your create resistance and even hate. Trying to compel faith leads most often to doubt and disbelief. If you are not ready, no amount of forcing will allow you to see light in the midst of what may appear to you.”
Wayne Dyer
“Faith is not a storm cellar to which men and women can flee for refuge from the storms of life. It is, instead, an inner force that gives them the strength to face those
storms and their consequences with serenity of spirit.”
Sam J. Ervin
“Belief in God and faith in God are different. A belief is valueless if you don’t live by
it. Belief converted into experience becomes faith.”
Yogananda
“Faith defined as an acceptance of certain religious doctrines is an essential element in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Hinduism and Buddhism, it is an attitude of devotion that opens a gateway to spiritual practice.
In the broad scope of the spiritual life, we see faith not as something you have but as something you are in a relationship. It involves an awareness of and an attunement to God's presence in our everyday experiences.
Practicing faith, then, is like developing any relationship. You have to give it time and attention. It requires you to see, hear, feel, and constantly remember your partner - God. Have confidence in the relationship's viability, even when you are facing mysteries, doubts, and paradoxes. Trust in this faith, even to the point of staking your life on it.”
Unknown
“God doesn't ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.”
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
“You do not demonstrate your faith by wearing a crucifix, any more than you do so by going to church or to synagogue or to temple every day or every week. You demonstrate your faith by every word that you utter. By every thought that you hold. By everything that you do.”
Neale Donald Walsch
F - Fear
Defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
“Fear isn't real.
Heart palpitations, clammy hands, a sweaty brow - these are undeniable bodily reactions to an experience. However, our misinterpretation of the circumstance
triggered the reactions. Nothing fearful was actually happening.”
Karen Casey
“Leave safety behind. Put your body on the line. Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind even if your voice shakes. When you least expect it, someone may actually listen to what you have to say. Well aimed slingshots can topple giants.”
Maggie Kuhn
“When you feel awful - angry, resentful, stressful, envious, depressed, worried, guilty, frustrated, etc - at the root of it is FEAR.
But what happens to your body, on a molecular level, when you experience fear?
Something quite destructive, actually.
You see, the basis of fear is SEPARATION. That means that, at a molecular level, there is less communication between the cells of your body - you're separating yourself from your healing power.
Whereas, when you're happy - feeling joyful, playful, eager, enthusiastic, excited, generous, etc., you are experiencing LOVE. And here's why love is so powerful: the basis of love is CONNECTION.
At a molecular level, your cells "talk" to each other more freely. There's an open flow of energy and communication from one part of your body to another - from the life-giving energy in the universe directly into and through your body.
LOVE sustains life, while FEAR destroys it.”
Deepak Chopra
“Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make yourself a happier and more productive person.”
Dr. David M. Burns
“If you knew who walked beside you, at all times, on this path that you have chosen, you would never be afraid.”
A Course in Miracles
“As we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson
“The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear. It is the storm within that endangers him, not the storm without.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
Marcus Aurelius
“Fear itself does not exist in the world. There are only fearful thoughts and avoidance behaviors’.
Wayne Dyer
“Fear is the feeling you have when you anticipate the loss of something you value. How, then, does one become free of fear? 'Tis simple, is it not? Be free of your valuing. That is all. Let go of those values, and you shall be free. When you do, you shall spread your wings and fly into the world of love, and into the Kingdom of God. Perhaps you feel it is so difficult to imagine loving without valuing. Indeed, those of you here on this earth may find it most difficult to imagine loving without valuing. But I tell you, in the Kingdom of God it is not possible to love and value at the same time. When you value something, anything, you have a sense of needing whatever it is. You have a sense of needing that something to be a certain thing, or a certain way, in order for you to be what you wish to be. Therefore, you restrict yourself, and put yourself in a prison.”
Brent Haskell
“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”
William Shakespeare
“Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.”
Chinese Proverb
“What we think of as people's guilt is their fear. All negativity derives from fear.
When someone is angry, they are afraid. When someone is rude, they are afraid. When someone is manipulative, they are afraid. When someone is cruel, they are afraid. There is no fear that love does not dissolve. There is no negativity that forgiveness does not transform.
Darkness is merely the absence of light, and fear is merely the absence of love. We can't get rid of darkness by hitting it with a baseball bat, because there is nothing to hit. If we want to be rid of darkness, we must turn on a light. Similarly, if we want to
be rid of fear, we cannot fight it but must replace it with love.”
Marianne Williamson
“I also suggest that you reexamine fearful thoughts in bright sunlight. Thoughts that seem so terrifying in bed at night never seem to be as troublesome when you review them in daylight. I recall being a young boy living in a foster home thinking about how much I missed my mother and becoming fearful that something might happen to her and I wouldn't see her again. My mind would wander into all sorts of dark happenings and my anxiousness would increase until finally I would become frightened and truly scared. The next morning in the safety of the light those fears
disappeared and I wondered how I could have been so frightened.”
Wayne Dyer
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this
horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
“Fear can be a big stopper for many of us: fear of fragility, fear of failure, fear of making a mistake, fear of what others might think, fear of success. We may secondguess our next action or word until we talk ourselves out of participating in life. "But I failed before!" "I can¹t do it good enough!" "Look at what happened last time!" "What if...?" These statements may disguise fear. Sometimes the fear is disguising shame.
After I finished the first two chapters of a book I was writing, I read them and grimaced. "No good," I thought. "Can¹t do it." I was ready to pitch the chapters, and my writing career, out the window. A writer friend called, and I told her about my problem. She listened and told me: "Those chapters are fine. Stop being afraid. Stop criticising yourself. And keep on writing."
I followed her advice. The book I almost threw away became a "New York Times" best-seller.
Relax. Our best is good enough. It may be better than we think. Even our failures may turn out to be important learning experiences that lead directly to - and are necessary for - an upcoming success.
Feel the fear, then let it go. Jump in and do it - whatever it is. If our instincts and
path have led us there, it's where we need to be.”
Melody Beattie
“I was at a carnival somewhere, sitting on a bench, eating blue cotton candy and experiencing the noise and colour of the big carousel. Garishly colored horses bounced up and down, round and round; lights flashed; people whirred past. The little girl was on the verge of tears as her mother brought her up to the gate. She stalled, trying desperately to convince her Mom, that no, she really didn't want to go on the merry-go-around after all. Mom was reassuring but firm, and finally a deal was reached. Daughter would go on the big ride if Mom would go, too. They gave the man their tickets and walked around, the little one in awe of the multihued beasts that surrounded her. Finally, she settled on a white one with gold mane and tail, and directed her Mom to sit on the blue one next to her. Mom smiled, a little embarrassed, but complied with her daughter's request. Then the music started.
And suddenly, they were both five years old, shrieking and laughing as their horses bounded away. I laughed, too, watching from my bench. They raced around an imaginary track through valleys, over rivers, across plains.
The music screamed, the lights flashed, and for a few minutes, they could fly. They were still laughing when the ride ended. "Again Mommy. Let's go again!" laughed the girl excitedly. So they turned and got back in line.
In letting go of her fear, that little girl was able to feel the wonder and excitement of a new experience, and in helping her daughter to overcome fear, the mother was able to recapture some of that thrill, as well.
In our everyday lives, there are times when we are frightened, times when we need a friend to give us courage, and times when we can be a friend to give us courage to someone else.
Be grateful for the times when you have helped your friends find courage of their own.
Both sides of the coin are winners, and sometimes, experience is sweetest when shared.”
Melody Beattie
“...Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
Frank Herbert
F - Fearlessness
Defined as the quality of having no fear: their fearlessness in the face of the enemy.
In my defenselessness my safety lies.
Coarse in Miracles
F - Flow
Defined as an act of moving or running smoothly, a movement of water or the continuous moving of ideas, stories, etc. ... To flow is defined as to run or move smoothly.
”Master your responses to external events - don't attempt to control them.”
Caroline Myss
“Change is constant. Learn to go with its flow, whether it's peaceful or difficult.”
Caroline Myss
“In Find and Use Your Inner Power, author Emmet Fox used the metaphor of trying to force a key into the lock to unlock the door.
When we're tense and afraid, Fox explained, we fumble. Sometimes the very key that is the right key doesn't work because we're trying to force it, because we're so tense and uptight.
Relax! See! The less control and force you use, the better. Maybe the key you've been trying to use all along is the right one. Maybe it was your fear and panic that was keeping you from unlocking the door. Maybe you were trying to force it, after all.
See how easily and naturally things work out when you just simply relax and let go. You will tap into your true power and the power of the universe when you move, love, work, and play from a place of relaxed and calm inner peace.
Move from your centre. Let things work out.”
Melody Power
“Life doesn't have to be hard. Yes, there are times we need to endure, struggle through, and rely on our survival skills. But we don't have to make life, growth, recovery, change, or our day-to-day affairs that hard all the time.
Having life be that hard is a remnant of our martyrdom, a leftover from old ways of thinking, feeling, and believing. We are worthy, even when life isn't that hard. Our value and worth are not determined by how hard we struggle. If we're making it that hard, we may be making it harder than it needs to be, said one woman. Learn to let things happen easily and naturally. Learn to let events, and our participation in them, fall into place. It can be easy now. Easier than it has been. We can go with the flow, take the world off our shoulders, and let our Higher Power ease us into where we need to be.”
Melody Beattie
“Go with the flow.
Let go of fear and your need to control. Relinquish anxiety. Let it slip away, as you dive into the river of the present moment, the river of your life, your place in the universe. Stop trying to force the direction. Try not to swim against the current, unless it is necessary for your survival. If you've been clinging to a branch at the riverside, let go.
Let yourself move forward. Let yourself be moved forward.
Avoid the rapids when possible. If you can't, stay relaxed. Staying relaxed can take you safely through fierce currents.
If you go under for a moment, allow yourself to surface naturally. You will.
Appreciate the beauty of the scenery, as it is. See things with freshness, with newness.
You shall never pass by today's scenery again!
Don't think too hard about things. The flow is meant to be experienced. Within it, care for yourself. You are part of the flow, an important part. Work with the flow. Work within the flow. Thrashing about isn't necessary. Let the flow help you care for yourself. Let it help you set boundaries, make decisions, and get you where you need to be when it is time.
You can trust the flow, and your part in it.
Today, I will go with the flow.”
Melody Beattie
“The physical body is at work every moment, an array of mechanisms with a brilliance of design and efficiency our human efforts have never begun to match. Our hearts beat, our lungs breathe, our ears hear, our hair grows. And we don’t have to make them work- they just do. Planets revolve around the sun, seeds become flowers, embryos become babies, and with no help from us. Their movement is built into a natural system. You and I are integral parts of that system, too. We can let our lives be directed by the same force that makes flowers grow - or we can do it ourselves.”
Marianne Williamson
“Row Row Row (move forward in your life)
Your boat (not anyone else's boat but yours!)
Gently (life can be fun...be gentle on yourself)
Down the stream (let us remember which way the current is going)
Merrily Merrily Merrily (remember the joy, always)
Life is but a dream (are we living what is real or an illusion? If it is the latter don't be concerned or obsessed about it, just accept that it is).”
Traditional Children's Song/ Wayne Dyer
“This is called the Row Your Boat experience. Row, row, row your boat. Do what you can do. Gently down the stream. Don't get yourself upset. Experience your experience. Don't fight the flow. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Stay up, stay in tune. Life is but a dream, and you realize that you are the dreamer. As the dreamer, you know you can change your scenario any time you wish.”
Iyanla Vanzant
“To reach the port of Heaven we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But we must sail, and not drift nor lie at anchor.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes
“Life is cyclical, not static. Our relationships benefit when we allow them to follow their natural cycles.
Like the tide ebbs and flows, so do the cycles in relationships. We have periods of closeness and periods of distance. We have times of coming together and times of separating to work on individual issues.
We have times of love and joy, and times of anger. Sometimes, the dimensions of relationships change as we go through changes. Sometimes life brings us new friends or a new loved one to teach us the next lesson.
That does not mean the old friend disappears forever.
It means we have entered a new cycle.
We do not have to control the course of our relationships, whether these be friendships or love relationships. We do not have to satisfy our need to control by imposing a static form on relationships.
Let it flow. Be open to the cycles. Love will not disappear.
The bond between friends will not sever.
Things do not remain the same forever, especially when we are growing and changing at such a rapid pace.
Trust the flow.
Take care of yourself, but be willing to let people go. Hanging on to them too tightly will make them disappear. The old adage about love still holds true: "If it's meant to be, it will be. And if you love someone, let them go. If they come back to you, the love is yours. Melody Beattie
“If we believe our relationships or jobs are finite situations, then it becomes easy to feel stressed if things don't go the way we planned in the time frame that we expected. The promotion doesn't come in time, and now our careful career plan is off track. And relationship problems become huge, dramatic monsters - a series of issues-that eat away every spare minute.
But if we believe that we are living in an infinite time frame, stress begins to dissipate. If I don't get the promotion this week, maybe it will come next month and who knows, I may not even want it by then.
Some of those big, monstrous relationships issues just sort themselves out if they're not constantly held under a magnifying glass. And the moments spent with our loved ones becomes more enjoyable because we're continually working on the relationship. When we behave on a finite scale, we can get so wrapped up in the details of a few moments that we cannot free ourselves to enjoy the next moment.
When we start living on an infinite plane, it's easier to relax and let the universe carry us down the river, bringing us to all the lessons and joy that we need.”
Melody Beattie
“Going with the Flow means giving up our belief in the struggle and learning to swim with the current in our lives and the Divine guidance of our intuition. We usually hear about this type of surrender when someone faces some terrible adversity that leads them to change their path and listen to their heart. Like the person whose successful, but unfulfilling, life is transformed by a serious illness that finally compels her to give up her frantic pace, rediscover the value of her family and spiritual life, and pursue a life-long passion.”
Fred Luskin
“Balance in what you eat, how you feel, what you do, and what you think, is desirable in every aspect of life, as it creates more harmony within yourself and with others. Nature works on the basis of balance. It works in total perfection, where each action is harmonized with another. We are all part of it and function on the same principles. Our society is based on imbalanced motives, such as trying to heal one deficiency with one remedy instead of looking at it as a whole. Attachments and addictions are effects caused
by imbalanced thoughts and actions. Let the law of nature control your life.”
Gudrun Kretshman
“Go easy. You may have to push forward, but you don't have to push so hard. Go in gentleness, go in peace.
Do not be in so much of a hurry to begin. Begin, but do not force the beginning if it is not time. Beginnings will arrive soon enough. Enjoy and relish middles, the heart of the matter.
Do not be in too much of a hurry to finish. You may be almost done, but enjoy the final moments. Give yourself fully to those moments so that you may give and get all there is. Let the pace flow naturally. Move forward. Start. Keep moving forward. Do it gently, though. Do it in peace. Cherish each moment.”
Melody Beattie
“This universe that we live in operates according to set laws of nature and unfolds according to orderly principles. Because of this, one does not have to assume that choices are forced on us. There is also the possibility of simple being, of letting the flow of life take care of us.”
Deepak Chopra
“Those in a hurry do not arrive.”
Zen Saying
“Only dead fish go with the flow”
Andy Hunt
F - Forgiveness
Defined as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness. ... Forgiveness does not mean forgetting, nor does it mean condoning or excusing offenses.
“Never forget that to forgive yourself is to release trapped energy that could be doing good work in the world.” D. Patrick Miller
“The capacity to forgive is the capacity to let go of ego.”
David Richo
“The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.”
Marianne Williamson
“Forgiveness is a complex experience that changes an offended person's spiritual feelings, emotions, thoughts, actions, and self-confidence level. I believe learning to forgive the hurts and grudges of our life may be an important step for us to feel more hopeful and spiritually connected and less depressed. These changes improve our health and give us more energy to create a better life for ourselves. They allow our bodies to function in an optimal way.”
Fred Luskin
“Whenever you feel that someone has injured you, or sullied your reputation, or caused you physical harm, the spiritual solution, as difficult as it may appear, is to extend forgiveness. To hold onto the pain and seek to exact revenge will simply keep you stuck in pain and the problem will be exacerbated...Practice letting go of injured feelings with love and pardon and the spiritual solutions to most of your problems will be activated. Let go, and let God is great advice, as also is this reminder from a previous chapter: 'All your conflicts with others are never between you and them; they are between you and God.”
Wayne Dyer
“Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury.”
E. H. Chapin
“Forgiveness isn't something nice I do for someone who is "guilty." Forgiveness is something nice I do for my own mind.
Do I want a mind that tortures me or one that is a friend to me?”
Hugh Prather
“In forgiving ourselves, we make the journey from guilt for what we have done (or not done) to celebration of what we have become.”
Joan Borysenko
“The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive. If you can state, despite your resistance, your willingness to see the spiritual innocence, the light in the soul of one who has harmed you, you have begun the journey to a deep and unshakable peace.”
Marianne Williamson
“A former inmate of a Nazi concentration camp was visiting a friend who had shared the ordeal with him.
"Have you forgiven the Nazis?" he asked his friend.
"Yes."
"Well, I haven't! I'm still consumed with hatred for them!"
"In that case," said his friend gently, "They still have you prisoner."
Ernest Kurtz and Katharine Kitcham
“There has to be a mass, collective forgiveness of what went before in order for our culture to have a chance to heal itself and begin again. Some of the best and the brightest that America has to offer are dropping through the cracks because they can't shake their pasts. How sad for America that anyone who has had too much sex or drugs in their past, for instance, is too scared to enter politics for fear of being crucified for their personal histories. The important thing about our past is not what happened, but what we have done with what happened. Anything can contribute to our being a more compassionate person now, if we choose.
The meaningful question is never what we did yesterday, but what we have learned from it and are doing today. No one can counsel a recovering alcoholic like another recovering person, who has been on the road to recovery longer. No one can counsel a person in grief like someone who has grieved. No one can help with anything like someone who has been through the pain themselves.”
Marianne Williamson
“Forgiveness makes us peaceful.”
Karen Casey
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive.
He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The way out of bonding to your wounds is through forgiveness. Forgiveness is the most powerful thing you can do for your physiology and your spirituality, and it remains one of the least attractive things to us, largely because our egos rule so unequivocally. To forgive is somehow associated with saying that it is all right, that we accept the evil deed. But this is not forgiveness. Forgiveness means that you fill yourself with love and you radiate that love outward and refuse to hang onto the venom or hatred that was engendered by the behaviors’ that caused the wounds. Forgiveness is a spiritual act of love for yourself and it sends a message to everyone, including yourself, that you are an object of love and that that is what you are going to impart.”
Wayne Dyer
“Forgiveness is like the martial arts of consciousness.
In Aikido and other martial arts, we sidestep our attacker's force rather than resisting it. The energy of the attack then boomerangs back in the direction of the attacker. Our power lies in remaining nonreactive. Forgiveness works in the same way.
When we attack back, and defense is a form of attack, we initiate a war that no one can win.”
Marianne Williamson
“When I make a choice to forgive, I am transformed from being someone who was tense and upset into someone who is loving and compassionate. Joy returns to my heart, rushing in to soothe my mind and body. I am once again able to appreciate every day of life.
As I forgive, I am relived of emotional pain that I had been carrying and symptoms of tension in my body are also eliminated. By greatly reducing stress, I am supporting my body in carrying out its normal process of ongoing healing.
Forgiving a deep hurt or a small grievance creates a spiritual transformation that changes my life for the better. Happier, healthier, and calmer, I am free to enjoy life’s blessings.” Unity's Daily Word
“Christ can be crucified, but he cannot be forced to hate those who attack him. He stands committed in his love, regardless of the hatred that dwells in other people’s hearts. Christ is gentle with himself and all others, yet he will defend the truth fearlessly. No one can intimidate him, nor would he intimidate any brother or sister. His only call to his siblings is a call to awaken and accept the mantle of love. Do not think that I alone am Christ or you will miss the entire point
of my teaching. Every one of you is the anointed one. Every one of you is chosen.” Paul Ferrini
“My old man's a white old man And my old mother's black. If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back.
If ever I cursed my black old mother
And wished she were in hell, I'm sorry for that evil wish And now I wish her well.
My old man died in a fine big house My ma died in a shack.
I wonder where I'm gonne die,
Being neither white or black?”
Langston Hughes
“Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”
Mark Twain
“Applied to other people, forgiveness is a process through which we seek to free ourselves from the bondage to another person that is maintained for as long as we stand in judgment of them.
Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.
Sister Helen Prejean, who wrote the book Dead Man Walking, has said that if there was a hero in her story, it was the father of the young man who had been murdered. Called by police to identify his slain child, he held his son and recited The Lord's Prayer, choking on the words about forgiving those who trespass against us. In that moment, he had to make a decision if bitterness and revenge would reside in his heart, or if he would choose something greater. In the most painful situation imaginable, he chose not to let hatred overtake him. Is there any hatred that resides in your heart? If so, remember that a single shift can alter the course of a life, yours, and countless others.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
“Forgiveness isn't something nice I do for someone who is "guilty." Forgiveness is something nice I do for my own mind. Do I want a mind that tortures me or one that is a friend to me?”
Hugh Prather
F - Friend
Defined as someone who has your back, no matter what. They watch out for you and ensure you are not in danger. They will never purposely lead you into making decisions that are not good for you. A true friend will always have your best interest at heart
“A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere, Before him, I may think aloud.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Love makes itself known through our friendships. Ask yourself, in my friendships, Do I share my life openly? Do I speak the truth with love? Do I express not just what's wrong with this relationship, but what is right? Do I honor this friend? Today, no matter how
busy you are, reach out to a friend and demonstrate how much you care.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
"We need to find God and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is a friend of silence. The more we engage in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. The essential thing is not what we say but what God says to us and what He says through us.”
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.”
Bernard Meltzer.
“A friend is one who knows us, but loves us anyway.”
Fr. Jerome Cummings
“A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.”
Douglas Pagels
“Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things.”
Author Unknown
“A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.”
Leo Buscaglia
“Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty.”
Sicilian Proverb
“The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.”
Aristotle
“In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”
Albert Schweitzer
“A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good, and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad.”
Arnold H. Glasgow
“The friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.”
Elbert Hubbard, The Notebook, 1927
“A good friend is cheaper than therapy.”
Author Unknown
“If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do.
Think up something appropriate and do it.”
Edgar Watson Howe
“The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.”
Henry David Thoreau
“A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.”
Arnold Glasow
“But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.”
William Shakespeare
“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.”
Elisabeth Foley
“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”
William Blake
“A friend is the only person you will let into the house when you are Turning Out Drawers.”
Pam Brown
“One's friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.”
George Santayana
“A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.”
Donna Roberts
“If I had to sum up Friendship in one word, it would be Comfort.”
Adabella Radici
“If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man should keep his friendships in constant repair. Samuel Johnson True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable.”
Dave Tyson Gentry
“You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job.”
Laurence J. Peter
“Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait for the answer.”
Author Unknown
“A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out.”
Grace Pulpit
“One doesn't know, till one is a bit at odds with the world, how much one's friends who believe in one rather generously, mean to one.”
D.H. Lawrence
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”
C.S. Lewis
“Constant use will not wear ragged the fabric of friendship.”
Dorothy Parker
“Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.”
Virginia Woolf
“There are big ships and small ships. But the best ship of all is friendship.”
Author Unknown
“The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had.”
Author Unknown
“The language of friendship is not words but meanings.”
Henry David Thoreau
“A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half-cracked.”
Author Unknown
“Friends are kisses blown to us by angels.”
Author Unknown
“It's important to our friends to believe that we are unreservedly frank with them, and important to the friendship that we are not.”
Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
“It is the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.”
Marlene Dietrich
“She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind.”
Toni Morrison, Beloved
“Friends can be said to "fall in like" with as profound a thud as romantic partners fall in love.”
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
“Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.”
Plautus
“If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the
heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.”
George MacDonald
“A real friend is someone who would feel loss if you jumped on a train, or in front of one.”
Author Unknown
“Silences make the real conversations between friends. Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts.”
Margaret Lee Runbeck, Answer Without Ceasing
“Love is like the wild-rose briar; Friendship is like the holly-tree.
The holly is dark when the rose briar blooms,
But which will bloom most constantly?”
Emily Brontë
“The friend within the man is that part of him which belongs to you and opens to you a door which never, perhaps, is opened to another. Such a friend is true, and all he says is true; and he loves you even if he hates you in other mansions of his heart.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Wisdom of the Sands, translated from French by Stuart Gilbert
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory will swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Yes we are [friends] and I do like to pass the day with you in serious and inconsequential chatter. I wouldn't mind washing up beside you, dusting beside you, reading the back half of the paper while you read the front. We are friends and I would miss you, do miss you and think of you very often. I don't want to lose this happy space where I have found someone who is smart and easy and doesn't bother to check her diary when we arrange to meet.”
Jeanette Winterson, Written on the Body, 1992
“It takes a long time to grow an old friend.”
John Leonard
F - Fun
Defined as what provides amusement or enjoyment specifically: playful often boisterous action or speech full of fun, a mood for finding or making amusement all in fun.
“You're never going to get to any final place. And so, we want to remind you to relax and start having fun on the way.”
Abraham-Hicks
“Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes:
find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don't try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”
Anthony Robbins
“Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it.”
Eileen Caddy
“If you are not having fun, what is the point of doing it?”
Ben & Jerry’s Mousepad
“It's kind of fun to do the impossible.”
Walt Disney
“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”
Dale Carnegie
“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun”
Katherine Hepburn
“Fun is good.”
Dr. Seuss
G - God
The definition of a god is an image, person or thing that is worshiped, honored or believed to be all-powerful or the creator and ruler of the universe.
The chief tenets of New Thought are: Infinite Intelligence or God is omnipotent and omnipresent. Spirit is the ultimate reality. True human self-hood is divine. Divinely attuned thought is a positive force for good.
“God never becomes a great being located somewhere in the skies in a place called heaven, where He has a throne which He sits upon and judges people after they die; for God is the Life itself and the life never dies....God is not a judge or king who can intrude
His presence upon you or bring you before the bar of justice.‖
Baird Spalding
“You can see and talk with God at any time, just as you can with father, mother, brother or friend. Indeed, He is far closer than any mortal can be. God is far dearer and truer than any friend. God is never wrought up, nor angry, nor cast down. God never destroys, nor hurts, nor hinders one of His children or creatures or creations. If God did these things, He would not be God. The God that judges, destroys or withholds any good thing from his children or creatures or creations is but a God that is conjured up by man's ignorant thinking; and you need not fear that God unless you wish to do so. For
the true God stretches forth His hand and says, "All that I have is yours."
Baird Spalding
“God writes with a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, and acts with a hand that never fails.
God can heal a broken heart, but he has to have all the pieces.
God has a history of using the insignificant to accomplish the impossible.
God never asks about our ability or inability -- just our availability.
Without God the world would be a maze without a clue.
Many millions search for God and find Him in their hearts.
Sometimes God calms the storm; Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.
God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.
When God measures a man, He puts the tape around the heart instead of the head.
God does not wish us to remember what he is willing to forget.
God has two dwellings -- one in heaven and the other in a grateful heart.
God is more interested in making us what He wants us to be than in giving us what we think we ought to have.‖
Unknown
“Why do special relationships seem so attractive? They cause us frequent pain, and the feeling of abandonment visits us often. What also accompanies these relationships is an occasional moment of seeming control over someone else, thus our future. When we're feeling this, we're certain we'll never be rejected again. But that feeling is extremely short-lived. We can't, finally, control someone else. And when this person leaves, we seek another substitute, then another and another. Let's seek God instead.”
Karen Casey
“As we receive God’s love and impart it to others, we are given the power to repair the world.”
Marianne Williamson
“Everything is God, including that which tries to live without God. For what tries to live without God is simply a part of God that doesn’t accept Itself. It is God pretending not to be God. People who do ―evil‖ acts are not separate from God even though they feel separate. They feel unloved and act in unloving ways. But God has not stopped loving them. God is not able to stop loving anyone. For God is love, always love, in every moment. Every sin is but a temporary moment of separation. It cannot be final. Every child who strays from God’s love will return, because it is too painful to be separate from the Source of love. When the pain becomes too great, every wounded child turns back.
There are no exceptions.”
Paul Ferrini
“You think your hurtful actions condemn you for all time. You think that God is vengeful and will punish you for your mistakes. But that is not the God I know. That is the God created out of human fear and guilt.”
Paul Ferrini
“The ego looks only to the externals: get a new resume, call this person or that person, arrange for unemployment insurance, etc. All of that and more might be called for on the worldly plane. But it is a mistake to look to God as a last resort, second to more practical solutions. He is not, after all, a mere weak appendage to the really powerful things we can do to help ourselves. Our greatest power lies in asking God to light our way.”
Marianne Williamson
“It is not necessary to seek God, because God is already the essence of who you are. To connect with God, simply remove all judgments and thoughts that do not bless you and others. These are not your essence. They are false ideas that you carry around. They are the veils, the illusions that appear to separate you from your own heart and the heart of God. Remove the illusions, lift the veils and you will rest in the heart. Rest in the heart, and God will abide with you.”
Paul Ferrini
“Where would I go to escape from your presence? Where could I get away from your presence? If I went up to heaven, you would be there; If I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there. If I flew away beyond the east or lived in the farthest place in the west, you would be there to lead me, you would be there to help me. I could ask the darkness to hide me or the light around me to turn into night, but even darkness is not dark for you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”
Psalm 139, The Bible
“Give yourself a specific period of time each day to be alone and undisturbed. Take a brisk walk, or lock your bedroom door so you can sit quietly, or leave the frantic pace of your office to go somewhere else to be with God. The well-known phrase, "let go and let God", is a very useful notion. In your precious moments of being alone and undisturbed, say to yourself, ―I am letting go and letting God.‖ What happens is that you let go of your sense of taking personal responsibility for everything and everyone around you, and in a calm way you turn all that over to God. You will feel the peace enveloping you almost immediately.”
Wayne Dyer
“Remind yourself of how much you have to give away and of how precious and valuable your giving is. You have the same force running through you that allows the planets to move, the earth to orbit, the seeds to sprout, and the flowers to open. There is not a separate God for each person. There is one universal intelligence flowing through all of us.”
Wayne Dyer
“With every prayer and every thought of love, we release the light that will cast out darkness. One light alone seems small and weak, but no one's light is ever alone, for all our lights are part of God.”
Marianne Williamson
“The nature of God is a circle of which the centre is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere.”
Empedocles
“In a classic episode of the television cartoon, ―The Simpsons,‖ Homer is sent overseas to build a church to pay off a financial pledge he made to a ministry. When the church was completed, he said, ―I don't know much about God, but that's quite a cage we built for him” We laugh, but the truth is, we often try to contain God. We close our eyes and envision God in a particular place instead of all around us. Where do you see God?”
Mary Manin Morrissey
“God = Love. This ultimate truth stands as the foundation for Jesus' teachings and in actual practice is such a radical notion that our thinking minds simply cannot grasp it. Why is this? Because love is not a concept. It is not an idea. It is not a belief. It is the positive life force and integrating power that creates and holds all reality together.”
John Selby
“God is here, everywhere present, right now. God is good and that means good exists everywhere, even in the most challenging situations. When we don't see the good, it's not because it is not present but we are simply not aware of the good present. There's a practice you can do to open up to the experience of God's good, called, "Pause Power." When you're tempted to say, "This is bad, I don't like this, there's no good here," pause, and in the pause say, "I don't see the good, but if God's here then there must be some
good so I'm going to invite that good to reveal itself to me.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
“Have you ever wondered who answers God's prayers? A seeker asked God, "How is it that a loving Creator allows people to be disabled, lonely, and poor? Why don't you do anything for them?" And God replied, "I did. I created you.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
“There is only one God and He is God to all; therefore it is important that everyone is
seen as equal before God.
I've always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic.”
Mother Teresa
“When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her.
It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.”
Mother Teresa
G - Gratitude
Gratitude defined as the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. 'she expressed her gratitude to the committee for their support'.
"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called...and be thankful. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the
Lord...giving thanks to God the Father."
Colossians 15-17
"Begin your day, every day, in a celebration consciousness. Within you is the unborn possibility of limitless life, and yours is the joyous privilege of giving birth to it. Let the child of your great potential be born. The
universe is celebrating you. Celebrate yourself!"
Eric Butterworth
“Gratitude is the intention to count-your-blessings every day, every minute, while avoiding, whenever possible, the belief that you need or deserve different circumstances.”
Timothy Miller
“Gratitude is here presented as more than a feeling, a virtue, or an experience; gratitude emerges as an attitude we can freely choose in order to create a better life for ourselves and for others. The Nigerian Hausa put it this way: Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.‖
David Steindl-Rast
“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.”
Johannes A. Gaertner
“The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who has learned this knows what it means to live. He has penetrated the whole mystery of life: giving thanks for everything.”
Albert Schweitzer
“Gratitude is one of the sweet shortcuts to finding peace of mind and happiness inside.
No matter what's going on outside, there's always something we can be grateful for.” Barry Neil Kaufman
“One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Oh yeah" said the son. "So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father proudly.
The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us they have friends to protect them."
With this the boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks Dad, for showing me how poor we are."
Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't have. What is one person's worthless object is another's prize possession. It is all based on one's perspective. Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for all the bounty we have instead of worrying about wanting more. Take joy in what you have and see the treasure in it.”
Unknown Author
“I look back upon my youth and realize how so many people gave me help, understanding, courage. Very important things to me and they never knew it. They entered into my life and became powers within me.
All of us live spiritually by what others have given us, often unwittingly, in the significant hours of our life. At the time these significant hours may not even be perceived. We may not recognize them until years later when we look back, as one remembers some long-ago music or a boyhood landscape.
We all owe to others much of the gentleness and wisdom that we have made our own; and we may well ask ourselves what will others owe to us.”
Albert Schweitzer
“If we take the time, no matter how crazy and troubled we feel, we can find something to be thankful for.”
Terry Lynn Taylor
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect time, and mistakes into important events. It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Gratitude makes things right. Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy. There is no situation or circumstance so small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude's power. We can start with who we are and what we have today, apply gratitude, then let it work its magic. Say thank you, until you mean it. If you say it long enough, you will believe it"
Melody Beattie
“Gratitude is essential to happiness. Developing a grateful attitude--knowing that every time we arrive somewhere safely, we have something to be happy about; every time our children rush up to us and smile, we have something to be happy about; every time we get out of bed and can take a deep breath and go out for a walk, we have something to be happy about--that is the essence of a happy existence. Happiness is a muscle we must use, or it will wither away.”
Marianne Williamson
“Gratitude releases a dynamic current of spiritual energy to go before us to exert a mighty influence in our world.”
John Randolph Price
“The way to experience true abundance is to stop worrying about what's wrong and start being thankful for what's right. For whatever you focus upon will grow stronger. Focus on the positive, and by so doing you'll create more of it. Live each moment with sincere gratitude, and as each day goes by you'll have more for which to be grateful. Is it naive, wishful thinking to focus on the positive when there are so many serious problems in the world? No, because the best response to life's difficulties is not to wallow in them but rather to move positively forward from them.
Firmly grasp the good things in life, with real and abiding appreciation. When you value and support the good things you have, you'll solidly connect yourself to the increasing abundance that positive commitment can bring.
Start each day knowing that life is precious, valuable, beautiful and continually getting better. Experience the abundance and it will grow ever stronger.”
Ralph Marston
“Feelings of gratitude release positive endorphins throughout the body, creating health.”
Sharon Huffman
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Marcel Proust
“Make me sweet again, Fragrant and fresh and wild, And thankful for any small event.” Rumi
“Live the life that you've been given. Live it fully, generously and enthusiastically in each and every moment. Fulfillment is not hidden from you in some secret, mysterious place. It is right there in front of you the moment you are ready to see it and to live it.
There are so many things of which you are capable; you could not even list them all. Instead of making that list, make use of some of those magnificent capabilities and make a life that is filled with richness.
If you were fully appreciative of just one-tenth of your blessings, it would cause you to spring to life with such exuberance that nothing would stop you. Consider for a moment what it truly means to be you, here, now. Think about the abundance of powerful, positive options that are available to you this very moment.
Then stand up tall, step forward and live.
Live this day for everything its worth and immerse yourself in the joy of being fully alive.”
Ralph Marston
“It's easy to be thankful for answered prayers, easy to be joyfully grateful when the universe gives us exactly what we want. What's not so easy is to remember to be grateful when we don't get what we want.
John wanted an executive position in the company he worked for. He worked hard for the promotion. He prayed daily for his promotion, while giving a hundred percent of his energy and dedication to the position that he was in. But when the time came, he was passed over for his dream job. He left the company shortly after that. Today, he runs his own company with more responsibility, success, and joy than he could have ever hoped for at his old firm.
Susan, a recovering addict, wanted to date Sam more than anything. They got along great those times they ran into each other at work. He was charming, handsome, and sober, she thought. For months she tried to arrange a date with him, prayed that God would bring him into her life. But things never seemed to work out. She didn't know why. He seemed so interested in her. She was positive that the relationship was divinely ordained. She was stunned when she arrived at work one morning to find that Sam had died the night before of a drug overdose. He had been using drugs and lying about it the whole time. Sometimes we get what we asked for. Sometimes we don't. God says, "No." Be grateful - force gratitude, fake it if you must - when God answers your furtive prayers by saying no.
Take the rejections with a smile. Let God's "no's" move you happily down the road.
Maybe you're not being punished, after all. Maybe God is protecting you from yourself.”
Melody Beattie
“Happy people are the ones who are grateful for what they have and what they are. Miserable and depressed people don't know how to say thank you. The more you have, the more grateful you can be. Start off by saying thank you to yourself; appreciate how far you have come and what you have achieved. It could be a lot worse. Giving thanks and appreciation opens many doors. Be grateful even for mistakes and conflicts, because these give you the opportunity to learn and grow. Give and you receive. Remember last time you gave something with love? Was it not really receiving?”
Gudrun Kretschman
“There's no more potent way to thank God for your gifts, or to increase them, than by sharing them. You will be given as much power in the world as you are willing to use on His behalf.”
Marianne Williamson
G - Guide
The definition of a guide is someone or something that instructs others or shows others the way. An example of a guide is someone who leads you on a hike. An example of a guide is a book that teaches you how to use a new computer software program.
“This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival; a joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and attend them all! Even if they're a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorable.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the same, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each guest has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
Malal al-Din Rumi
“I am guided by the same intelligence and inspired by the same imagination which scatters the moon beams across the waves and holds the forces of nature in it's grasp.”
Ernest Holmes
H - Happiness
Happiness is a sense of well-being, joy, or contentment. When people are successful, or safe, or lucky, they feel happiness.
“But we are born to be happy, to be abundantly supplied with every good thing, to have fun in living, to consciously unite with the Divine Power that is around us and within us, and to grow and expand forever.”
Ernest Holmes
"Happiness, not in another place, but this place...not for another hour, but for this hour."
Walt Whitman
“Facts are what we must completely let go of if we want to be happy. Happiness requires that we give up a worldly attachment to things. We have to surrender all
outcomes. We have to live here but appreciate the joke.”
Marianne Williamson
“Never look to another person to make you happy - happiness is an internal, personal attitude and responsibility.”
Caroline Myss
“Maybe when the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.”
Unknown
“The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.”
Unknown
“Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come.”
Chinese Proverb
“Usually we figure out what we think would make us happy, and then try to make those things happen. But happiness isn’t circumstance-dependent. There are people who have every reason in the world to be happy who aren’t. There are people with genuine
problems who are. The key to happiness is the decision to be happy.”
Marianne WIlliamson
“It is sometimes not easy to find happiness in ourselves, but it is not possible to find it elsewhere.”
Agnes Repplier
“Most people are searching for happiness. They're looking for it. They're trying to find it in someone or something outside of themselves. That's a fundamental mistake.
Happiness is something that you are, and it comes from the way that you think.”
Wayne Dyer
“It isn't the world that makes you unhappy, or the way people are in the world. It's how you process the people and events of our world.”
Wayne Dyer
“Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.”
Roy Goodman
“Realise that true happiness lies within you.
Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside.
Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving.
Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug.
Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.”
Og Mandino
“To seek happiness outside of ourselves is like trying to lasso a cloud.
Happiness is not a thing, It is a state of mind.”
Omar Khayyam
“Five simple rules to be happy:
Free your heart from hatred.
Free your mind from worries.
Live simply.
Give more.
Expect less.”
Unknown
“A woman asked me one time, "What are the blocks to my happiness?" I said, "The belief that you have blocks."”
Wayne Dyer
“What, then, is happiness? The answer is not complex. Happiness is simply a state of inner freedom. Freedom from what? With a bit of self-insight, every individual can answer that question for himself. It is freedom from the secret angers and anxieties we tell no one about. It is freedom from fear of being unappreciated and ignored, from muddled thinking that drives us to compulsive actions, and later, to regrets. It is freedom from painful cravings that deceive us into thinking that our attainment of this person or of that circumstance will make everything right. Happiness is liberty from everything that makes us unhappy.”
The Daily Guru
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the
closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller
“Intelligent' people do not have N.B.D.'s (nervous break downs) because they are in charge of themselves. They know how to choose happiness over depression, because they know how to deal with the problems of their lives. Notice I didn't say solve the problems. Rather than measuring their intelligence on their ability to solve the problem, they measure it on their capacity for maintaining themselves as happy and worthy, whether the problem gets solved or not.”
Wayne Dyer
“The ingredients of happiness are so simple that they can be counted on one hand. First of all, happiness must be shared. Selfishness is its enemy; to make another happy is to be happy one's self. It is quiet, seldom found for long in crowds, most easily won in moments of solitude and reflection. It comes from within, and rests most securely on simple goodness and clear conscience. It cannot be bought; indeed money, strange as it may seem, has very little to do with it. People are not happy unless they are reasonably well satisfied with themselves.”
William D.Ogden
“In the course of living, many people are disappointed when others do not live up (or down) to their expectations. In order to be happy, some expectations must be dropped.
These unrealistic and unhealthy expectations are three of the main culprits.
Do not EXPECT appreciation. When others say, "Thank you," or in any way show their gratitude, be happy. It is a gift!
Do not EXPECT others to make you happy. They simply cannot do that. Make yourself happy and share your joy with others.
Do not expect NOT to be let down. At times, people will simply not come through for you in the way you need. Forgive them and move on.
Get rid of these three expectations and you will be getting rid of daily disappointment!”
Steve Goodier
“There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.”
Wayne Dyer
“We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another, get a new job, get a new house. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now! If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the way.”
Rosie Rodriquez
“My greatest happiness consists precisely in doing nothing whatever that is calculated to obtain happiness.”
Chuang Tzu
“Someone once wrote: "Happiness is always a by-product. You don't make yourself happy by chasing happiness. You make yourself happy by being a good person." The happiest people I know are people who don't even think about being happy. They just think about being good neighbors’, good people. And then happiness sort of sneaks in the back window while they're busy doing good.‖
Rabbi Harold Kushner
“JUST BE HAPPY? I know it's seem to be easier said than done, this happy thing. It is hard to be happy, at first. Some of us have been taught to think wrongly and we don't even know it. Our thoughts are creating our suffering. Yet with practice, with aware, awake, conscience thoughts we can learn to focus on the good that life has to offer. There is so much good. Look at the space you are living in, look at the gifts you've been given, think of the love that family and friends have for you. Think of the love that you have for them. The more thoughts of good you practice into your daily moment to moment living, the more good thoughts you will have when you are sad, when things don't seem fair, when you are hurting or even when you are in pain. Think Love Thoughts. Think about your health, your body, your eyes, your nose, the insides of your body, the veins and the blood, the heart, the lungs, what a miracle. Amazing, the human body. Think about your favorite things to think about and it will bring you back to your happiness. Then the harder stuff is easier to handle.”
Ms. Rosie
"You wander from room to room
Hunting for the diamond necklace
That is already around your neck!"
Jalal-Uddin Rumi
"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude."
Denis Waitley
H - Harmony
Defined as a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity. Music. any simultaneous combination of tones. the simultaneous combination of tones, especially when blended into chords pleasing to the ear; chordal structure, as distinguished from melody and rhythm. Harmony is the combination of separate but related parts in a way that uses their similarities to bring unity to a painting, drawing, or other art
“Our task is to allow ourselves to come into harmony with our Source. Our task is to believe in, and look to, our true Source. Our task is to release fear; negative thinking, limitations, and short supply thinking. Everything we need shall be provided to us. Let it become a natural response to all situations, and all situations of need.
Reject fear. Reject short supply and limited thinking notions. Be open to abundance. No need is too small or too great. If we care and value our need, God will too.” Melody Beattie
“Harmony resides with those who choose to align themselves with the flow of the universe. People who live harmonious lives are in synchronicity with Spirit. Its course becomes their course. Instead of blindly pursuing their own ego-agenda, they remain flexible and open to new possibilities. They worry less. They rarely panic. They live in faith, and trust that no matter what shows up in life, they are in the presence of a power whose only intention for their lives is to unfold the highest good. They are not afraid to
float on their own.”
Chris Michaels
“The Great Affirmation, therefore, is the perception that the “I AM” is ONE, always harmonious with itself, and including all things in this harmony for the simple reason that there is no second creative power; and when the individual realizes that this always-single power is the root of his own being, and therefore has centre in himself and finds expression through him, he learns to trust its singleness and the consequent harmony of its action in him with what it is doing around him.” Thomas Troward
H - Heart
The heart is the locus of physical and spiritual being, and represents the "central wisdom of feeling as opposed to the head-wisdom of reason" (Cooper, 82). It is compassion and understanding, life-giving and complex. It is a symbol for love. Often known as the seat of emotions, the heart is synonymous with affection.
“The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand.” Robert Valett
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly,
what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
Antointe de Saint-Exupery
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“We must hold to the conviction that the heart, not the brain, is the light of the world. The mind goes insane without the guidance of the heart.”
Marianne Williamson
“To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life we must first set our hearts right.” Confucius
“There is no need to run outside for better seeing, nor to peer from a window.
Rather abide at the centre of your being;
for the more you leave it, the less you learn.
Search your heart and see if he is wise who takes each turn:
The way to do is to be.”
Lao-Tsu
“For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it.
For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it.
For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.”
Ivan Panin
“For so long, you relied on your head. Now it's time to make the shift-, the great leap into your heart.
Are you beginning to see how your head gets in the way? How it creates so much noise? The chatter, the limited vision, the fear? Are you beginning to see how what you've relied on -- your intellect, your assessments, and sometimes your logic---has complicated your life?
It isn't the head that sees clearly, nor does the head always see with love. Often, it sees with eyes of fear. The heart sees clearly. It balances the mind and emotions. It takes what¹s real and processes it into truth, then into action. It takes into account all that needs to be done, then draws a map, an itinerary, for how to accomplish that.
Yes, you say, but my head does that too. And then I don't need to feel ...
Your heart can do it better because it maps the way in love.
Learn to listen to your inner voice. Listen to your heart. It’s your connection to God, to people, to the universe, and to yourself.”
Melody Beattie
“To know how to choose a path with heart is to learn how to follow intuitive feeling. Logic can tell you superficially where a path might lead to, but it cannot judge whether your heart will be in it.”
Jean Shinoda Bolen
“Whereas the mind attempts to know the spirit by setting up conditions that must be met logically for there to be a release of love, the heart employs intuitive love as its way. It is not a conclusion of reasoning. It is the way of spontaneity, not the result of bargaining with the intellect. The heart trusts the inner wisdom that it feels and spontaneously knows, whereas the mind demands scientific evidence before it will trust.”
Wayne Dyer
“I am blind and do not see the things of this world; but when the Light comes from Above, it enlightens my heart and I can see, for the Eye of my heart sees everything.
The heart is a sanctuary at the centre of which there is a little space, wherein the Great Spirit dwells, and this is the Eye.
This is the Eye of the Great Spirit by which He sees all things, and through which we see Him...
In order to know the centre of the heart where the Great Spirit dwells you must be pure and good, and live in the manner that the Great Spirit taught us. The man who is thus pure contains the Universe in the pocket of his heart.”
Black Elk
“My heart is a miraculous creation of God, and I am grateful for the work that it
does. As I consider its amazing power, I say a prayer, blessing my heart for its constant support of my body.
As I bless my heart in prayer, I give thanks for its steady beat, attuning my awareness to the rhythm of God’s healing life within me. With every beat of my heart, God’s healing life circulates throughout my body as blood that carries oxygen and nutrients to wherever they are needed. And at the same time, my blood is gently carrying away that which is no longer needed, cleansing and purifying my entire body.
I give thanks that each beat of my heart is a pulse of the gentle but powerful healing energy of God that renews every cell, tissue, organ, and system of my body.”
Unity’s Daily Word
“If you want to hear the truth, listen to the heart, because it doesn't know how to lie.”
Gingerale
“We don't open our hearts by being a tower of strength. We don't open our hearts by glossing over things in our head. We open our hearts by feeling what we feel.
We open our hearts by being vulnerable, honest, and gentle.
We've become so strong, so self-sufficient. I can deal with that, we say. no big deal.
I'll keep moving on.
Yet many circumstances we've been through, and some we're going through now, cause break lines in our heart. Some of the fractures are small. Some are big. They really hurt. Maybe certain people in our lives weren't there for us, aren't there for us now in a way we'd like them to be. Maybe some deceived us unconsciously or betrayed us deliberately. I can deal with that, we say. I understand. They have their own issues. I forgive...
Yes, people do have their own issues. And we do forgive. But now it may be time to learn gentleness, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness for ourselves as well. We don't open our hearts by ignoring the break lines. We take our hand, knowing it's held by God, and gently run our fingers across each crack.
Yes, it's there. Yes, I feel it. Yes, I'm ready to heal my heart.”
Melody Beattie
“Don't hide your heart but reveal it, so that mine might be revealed, and I might accept what I am capable of.”
Rumi
“Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.”
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
“As the human species awakens to itself as a collection of immortal souls learning together, care for the environment and the earth will become a matter of the heart, the natural response of souls moving toward their full potentials.”
Gary Zukav
“Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.”
Mother Teresa
“The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand.”
Robert Valett
“The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt with the heart.”
Helen Keller
“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.” Cicero
“The simple, clear answer for life's situations can be easily found in the heart. Don't limit it's wisdom to just one or two areas; let it guide you through all of your life. Are you struggling with finances? Feeling overwhelmed by taxes? Not certain what to do to help someone you love? Do you have a problem with a friend? Has a business relationship gotten sticky, maybe hopelessly adversarial? Are you at war with the person you love? Problems with children? Problems with parents? A landlord who just won't get the job done? All of these areas, and more, can be brought to your heart. Do you need to find a new hobby? Are you stuck on a project? Do you need an idea, some creative inspiration? Do you need a new place to live, or a way to fix your current home? Take it all back to your heart.
Calm your mind. Let it go. Get quiet. You don't have to know the plan. Just put out the question, then listen to your inner voice. It will guide you through any maze you've been lost in.”
Melody Beattie
“You just have to listen to your heart, no matter what," he told the other children, 'cause somewhere inside of us, where we feel our feelings, like in our hearts, there's a little voice. Not really a voice that talks out loud. But if you really listen, you can hear it. And it will know what you should do.”
Sara O'Meara/Yvonne Fedderson
“We need to be for change -- starting within our own heart -- to be more caring, kind and loving individuals and to be a more caring, kind, and loving country. Then we can focus on spreading that caring, kindness, and love around us -- wherever we see the need for it. Not by judging and condemning, but by observing and then offering a
helping hand and a caring heart whenever and wherever we can.”
Marie T. Russell
“I will greet this day with love in my heart. For this is the greatest secret of success in all ventures. Muscle can split a shield and even destroy life itself but only the unseen power of love can open the hearts of man, and until I master this act I will remain no more than a peddler in the market place. I will make love my greatest weapon and none on who I call can defend upon its force... my love will melt all hearts liken to the sun whose rays soften the coldest day.”
Og Mandino
“Come forward and speak from the heart, recognizing that love can prosper in the midst of a problem.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
"Love makes our hearts grow and expand. It changes everything it touches for the better. Nurture these precious seeds of love, scatter them far and wide and watch them grow."
Mary Anne Byrne
I – I Am
Defined as from the universal standpoint, means God; and from the individual, means the Real Man.
“Since the Presence which we call the I Am is the only Presence and Power, let us lift ourselves into that consciousness of oneness through our daily living which brings those around us into the concept of wholeness. Our thinking must be based on the affirmation,
―God is all, both visible and invisible.”
Nona L. Brooks
“There is a royal road for every man – a road in which he will be conscious of the dominion that is his by divine right. That road, Jesus said, leads out from the I AM. As Moses delivered the Children of Israel from the Egyptian darkness of their ignorance by affirming in their ears the power of the I AM, so Jesus gives us a series of affirmations that will deliver us from the wilderness of ignorance. His command is ―Keep my word.‖ Then His words are set before us: ―I am the way, and the truth, and the life.‖ ―I am the resurrection, and the life.‖ ―I am the light of the world.‖ ―I am meek and lowly in heart.‖ ―Before Abraham was born, I am.”
Charles Fillmore
If I am, what must I be? Must I not be God in substance, nature, and office? And if the I
AM of me is God, then that of me which is not God is not the I AM of me. It is nothing. Then as flesh I am nothing, and as Spirit I am substance. The rest of the reasoning based on the first premise is exactly as righteous. If this is true, then I must believe it. If I am the Truth in my substance, I must believe in myself. I must have faith in my own Truth. I must be the word of Truth or my words are nothing. By the utterance of this reasoning the power of God is expressed. It is by the word of the Lord that the heavens were formed and all the hosts of them. This is prosperity when we speak the word in power.
Emma Curtis Hopkins
The Great Affirmation, therefore, is the perception that the ―I AM‖ is ONE, always harmonious with itself, and including all things in this harmony for the simple reason that there is no second creative power; and when the individual realizes that this alwayssingle power is the root of his own being, and therefore has centre in himself and finds expression through him, he learns to trust its singleness and the consequent harmony of its action in him with what it is doing around him.
Thomas Troward
I – Imagination
“I am guided by the same intelligence and inspired by the same imagination which scatters the moon beams across the waves and holds the forces of nature in it's grasp.”
Ernest Holmes
“Many mystics have said, and it is true, that anything you see is not God. Anything you think is not God, neither are visions, lights, moving objects or anything else. Any sensation or feeling is not God. They are all the products of the creation or your imagination.”
Barry Long
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
Pablo Picasso
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
Albert Einstein
“Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.”
Terry Pratchett
I – Integrity
Defined as the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. ... The word integrity evolved from the Latin adjective integer, meaning whole or complete.
“The God of integrity is the God of love. God is love, means that God is in action; and God in action is law as well as love. In the light of the unfolding concept of God as love and integrity, we see that all law is beneficent. The God of love knows no unforgiveness.”
Nona L. Brooks
”One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.”
Gandhi
“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The word “integrity” means wholeness, oneness, completeness, so, by my definition, I am living with integrity when the outside of my life matches that which I profess to believe. For example, if I profess to believe that God is love, and that I am one with God, and therefore I am love, then how can I wave an interesting gesture at someone who cuts me off in traffic? That would not be a gesture of love.”
Edwene Gaines
“The universe doesn’t hear words, it senses our feelings and the intention behind the words . . . and says yes to our intentions. Therefore, if our intentions are dishonorable or simply cloudy and confused, it has to show up in the body of our relationships. To be impeccable in our word is to bring our spoken word and our unspoken intention into alignment so that the inner thought and the outer action are the same. When this happens, we find ourselves living in true spiritual integrity, actually integrating the awareness of God’s presence into not just our words but our intentions and actions as well.” Dennis Merritt Jones
J – Joy
Defined as the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation: She felt the joy of seeing her son's success. a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated: Her prose style is a pure joy.
“Pain happens, but suffering is optional. When pain comes, make use of the experience, but do not wallow in it. When you accidentally place your finger in a flame, it is supposed to hurt just long enough for you to pull it out. If you think there is value in keeping it there, you will be a crispy critter. Pain is a minor element of life, unless you are indulging it. Then it becomes suffering. Get the message and
then get on with your life, which is far more about joy than sorrow.”
Alan Cohen
“Enjoy the journey, enjoy every moment, and quit worrying about winning and losing.”
Matt Biondi
“Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.”
Earl Nightingale
“Fill your life with as many moments and experiences of joy and passion as you humanly can. Start with one experience and build on it.”
Marcia Wieder
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” Mark Twain
“Happiness consists in activity. It is a running steam, not a stagnant pool.”
John Mason Good
“The first half of life consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the capacity.”
Mark Twain
“The joy in life is to be used for a purpose. I want to be used up when I die.”
George Bernard Shaw
“The mere sense of living is joy enough.”
Emily Dickinson
“The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy.”
Henry Ward Beecher
“There's lots of people who spend so much time watching their health, they haven't got time to enjoy it.”
Josh Billings
“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.” Sir James M. Barrie
“Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods.”
Japanese Proverb
“To have joy one must share it. Happiness was born a twin.”
Lord Byron
“True happiness involves the full use of one's power and talents.”
John W. Gardner
“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.”
Cherokee Expression
“Your life is a gift from the Creator. Your gift back to the Creator is what you do with your life.”
Billy Mills
“You're a happy fellow, for you'll give happiness and joy to many other people. There is nothing better or greater than that.”
Ludwig van Beethoven
“Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.”
Marianne Williamson
“I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.”
Kahlil Gibran
“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”
Ashley Smith
“Comparison is the death of joy.”
Mark Twain
“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.”
Iris Murdoch
“Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.”
Leo Tolstoy
“The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.”
Rabindranath Tagore
J - Judgment
Defined as the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing.
"How we get from being judgmental to being accepting is the journey of our lives. By monitoring what we think and say to ourselves and others, we learn who we are. If we aren't at peace with what we discover, every experience offers a chance to rectify our attitude and self-perception. It's never too late to take a road less traveled on our journey."
Karen Casey
"If you judge others, you have no time to love them."
Mother Teresa
"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into the doing and sharing with others that is important. Try not to judge people. If you judge others then you are not giving love."
Mother Teresa
"A person is not hurt so much by what happens, as by his opinion of what happens."
Michel de Montaigne
"The more you become established in yourself, the more you take your brothers and sisters off the hook.. They no longer have to be perfect in your eyes. You see their shortcoming and mistakes without judging them harshly. You see their beauty and integrity without envy or the need to possess."
Paul Ferrini
"There is a feeling of inner peace that comes from total relinquishment of judgment. We don't feel the need to change others, and we don't feel the need to be different than we are."
Marianne Williamson
"It really is not up to me to wander around the world judging everyone else. Not only does it make me someone who people want to avoid, but it also keeps me from seeing myself clearly. Judging gets no one anywhere. When I put out that kind of energy toward others, they are more likely to return it to me in kind, thus I create an atmosphere of criticism for myself to live in. Wouldn't it be nicer today if I left the judging for someone else and I just lived?"
Tian Dayton
"A non-doer is very often a critic - that is, someone who sits back and watches doers, and then waxes philosophically about how the doers are doing. It's easy to be a critic, but being a doer requires effort, risk and change."
Wayne Dyer
"Failure is an editorial judgment imposed by others."
Wayne Dyer
"True inner serenity will always elude those who sit in judgment, since they use up their life energy in anger at what is."
Wayne Dyer
"Being against anything weakens you, while being for something empowers you."
Wayne Dyer
"Prejudice means to "pre-judge." When you prejudge, you are making a decision about something before you have enough data on which to base a decision."
Wayne Dyer
"Get your nose out of everybody else's garden. Get your own in order, and stop focusing
on everybody else's. Grow what you want to grow in your garden."
Wayne Dyer
"When you encounter someone who resents you, you can be certain that this person feels resented, and is doing only what it is possible for him to do, which is giving away what he has. If you see a person who is judgmental toward you, be assured that this person is only sending the judgment he feels directed at him. These are examples of people believing they are not loved, sending out disagreeable and hateful energy."
Wayne Dyer
“If you are judging a brother, you’re wrong even if you’re right.”
Marianne Williamson
“You must make a daily effort to look upon others without condemnation. Every judgment takes you away from your goal of peace. Your ego loves your judgments, because with them you remain in a constant state of anguish and remorse. Keep in mind that you do not define anyone with your judgment; you only define yourself as someone who needs to be judged.”
Wayne Dyer
"People who find fault with others are insecure and incapable of trusting their feelings or acting on them. They cannot make a commitment to you because they are not committed to themselves."
Paul Ferrini
"The only difference between someone who's beautiful and unattractive is a judgment. There's nobody in the world who is unattractive. No one on this planet. Unattractive is just what people decide to believe."
Wayne Dyer
“Every day we catch ourselves in the act of judging someone. The ego loves to make comparisons. It loves to keep us feeling separate, either superior or inferior, competitive, and alone. Otherwise it has no control over what we do and think. Why do we keep giving the ego so much power, particularly when we get nothing good in return? Habits are hard to break, even when they harm us."
Karen Casey
“Just as your body need a judicious alternation of exercise and rest to be healthy and fully functioning, so does your mind. Learning how to quiet your mind and allow it to be totally free from thinking, analyzing, figuring, and constantly replaying the past, is a most important skill to cultivate as you work at minimizing your self-depreciating judgments about reality.”
Wayne Dyer
"Don't judge me by who I was or by who I will be, But by who I am right now. Don't judge me by the clothes I wear upon by body, but by the expressions I wear upon my face.
Don't judge me by how many friends I have, but by the friends I choose.
Don't judge me by the color of my skin, but by the color of my personality.
Don't judge me by how I speak, but by what I listen to and what I hear.
Don't judge me by my eyes, but by how my eyes look upon the world.
In fact, don't judge me at all, because if you judge me, then you are only comparing me to you, and I am not you. I reflect you, But I am not you.
And if you stop judging me, and take the time to see me for who I am, then you may find, that you love me for who I am."
Jen Barnes
"THE COOKIE THIEF
A woman was waiting at an airport one night
With several long hours before her flight
She hunted for a book in the airport shop
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop
She was engrossed in her book but happened to see
That the man beside her as bold as could be
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene
She munched cookies and watched the clock
As the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by
Thinking if I wasn't so nice I'd blacken his eye
With each cookie she took he took one too
When only one was left she wondered what he'd do
With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh
He took the last cookie and broke it in half
He offered her half as he ate the other
She snatched it from him and thought, oh bother!
This guy has some nerve and he's also rude
Why he didn't even show any gratitude
She had never known when she had been so galled
And sighed with relief when her flight was called
She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate
Refusing to look back at that thieving engrade
She boarded the plane and sank in her seat
Then sought her book which was almost complete
As she reached in her bag she gasped with surprise
There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes
If mine are here she moaned in despair
Then the others were his and he tried to share
Too late to apologize she realized with grief
That she was the rude one, the engrade, the thief."
Valerie Cox
"If people around you are acting out anger, look within yourself and find out what you are angry about. If you find yourself in conversations where the 'other' is judging and criticizing, ask yourself how you are being judgmental and critical. It could be behavior that you are directing towards others or towards yourself. Have you been judging yourself? Have you been finding yourself wanting in certain areas?
Remember that the 'other' is always a reflection of you. So rather than expend energy trying to 'fix' the other, use that energy where it can really make a difference... 'fix' yourself. Look at yourself and see what needs clearing." Marie T. Russell
K – Kindness
Kindness is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Affection, gentleness, warmth, concern, and care are words that are associated with kindness. While kindness has a connotation of meaning someone is naive or weak, that is not the case. Being kind often requires courage and strength
"Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love."
Lao Tzu
"Anyone can speak words that can rob another of the spirit to push forward in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another. Be kind to others."
Unknown
"When given the choice between being right or being kind, always choose kind."
Wayne Dyer
"You will regret many things in life but you will never regret being too kind or too fair."
Brian Tracy
"Appreciative words are the most powerful force for good on the earth."
George W. Crane
"Kindness trumps greed: it asks for sharing. Kindness trumps fear: it calls forth gratefulness and love. Kindness trumps even stupidity, for with sharing and love, one learns."
Marc Estrin
"Be kind to people whether they deserve your kindness or not. If your kindness reaches the deserving, good for you; if your kindness reaches the undeserving, take joy in your compassion."
James Fadiman and Robert Frager
"There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our
own heart is our temple; my philosophy is kindness."
The Dalai Lama
"The kindnesses of others fertilize our soul, they become a part of who we are, and we carry them and their love. We feel this when people die, how their gifts remain alive in us."
Wayne Muller
"If there is 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
"Practice kindness, particularly when you feel irritated or things are not going well.
Kindness hardly ever goes wrong."
Lewis Richmond
"Like a stone dropped into a lake, our acts of kindness can create a ripple effect. The long-term effects may be unknown to us, but the ripples of one wave creating another and another, to forever impact - that is a definite fact. Make your ripples today."
Susan Fahncke
"Knowing who you are and why you came here - that you are a child of God and that you came here to heal and be healed - is more important than knowing what you want to do. What you want to do is not the important question. The question to ask is, "When I do anything, how should I do it?" And the answer is, "Kindly.""
Marianne Williamson
"The more you extend kindness to yourself, the more it will become your automatic response to others."
Wayne Dyer
"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again."
Og Mandino
"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked on the Jericho Road was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?'
But...the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?' "
Martin Luther King
"Treat every person with kindness and respect, even those who are rude to you.
Remember that you show compassion to others not because of who they are, but because of who you are."
Andrew T. Somers
"It isn't the thing you do, friend,
It's the thing you leave undone, Which gives you the bitter heartache, At the setting of the sun:
The tender words unspoken,
The letter you did not write, The flowers you might have sent, Are your haunting ghosts at night.
The stone you might have lifted, Out of a dear friend's way.
The bit of heartsome counsel You were hurried too much to say:
The loving touch of a helping hand,
The gentle and winsome tone, That you had no time or thought for, With troubles enough of your own.
These little acts of kindness,
So easily out of mind, These chances to be angels, Which even mortals find.
They come in night and silence,
Each chill reproachful wraith, When hope is faint and flagging, And a blight has dropped on faith.
For life is all too short friend,
And sorrow is all too great,
To suffer our slow compassion, That tarries until too late.
So, it's not the thing you do,
It's the deeds you leave undone,
Which gives you a bitter heartache,
At the setting of the sun."
Bertha A. Lawson
"Keep what is worth keeping - and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away."
Dinah Muloch Craik
"The Sufis speak of "secret charity" where a person benefits from your anonymous actions and doesn't have any chance to respond. Try to make an anonymous gift at least once a week. Buy a ticket for someone at the end of the museum line. Leave a dollar next to a tree in the park."
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spiritual Rx
"Our work-a-day lives are filled with opportunities to bless others. The power of a single
glance or an encouraging smile must never be underestimated."
G.Richard Rieger
"Knowing who you are and why you came here-that you are a child of God and that you came here to heal and be healed-is more important than knowing what you want to do. What you want to do is not the important question. The question to ask is, "When I do anything, how should I do it?" And the answer is, "Kindly." People don't normally associate business with kindness, because business has come to be regarded as simply a tool for making money. Miracle-workers are not in business only to make money; they're in business to inject love into the world." Marianne Williamson
"We must find the place within ourselves where we know that in some non-earth based way, we are all connected by an invisible organizing intelligence and we need to live in this intelligence. We must refuse to participate in any form of activity that purports to be entertainment which trivializes violence and killing. We must teach our young sons that they were not born to drill and die, not born to throw their hands toward the sky in some kind of ego ritual to dying in battle as a badge of courage. We must raise them to have disdain for violence, and to check the impulses of fury brought on by an over identification with ego's need to be triumphant in battle. We must teach them and ourselves the value of co-operation over competition, and the great wisdom in the Native
American homily, "No tree has branches so foolish as to fight among themselves." Wayne Dyer
L - Learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, ... Some learning is immediate, induced by a single event (e.g. being burned by a hot stove), but much skill and knowledge accumulate from repeated experiences. The changes induced by learning often last a lifetime, and it is hard to distinguish learned material that seems to be "lost" from that which cannot be retrieved.
"Tell me and I'll forget.
Show me, and I may not remember.
Involve me, and I'll understand."
Native American Proverb
"In any society there are certain areas of human experience that cannot be taught.
There is a great deal about love and the loving relationship between two people that can be demonstrated to a certain degree, but must be lived
and experienced directly in order for it to be part of anyone's learning experience."
John-Roger
"Everything that happens today is helpful. Perhaps we can accept that the loss of a job which was highly stressful or the death of a parent who was gravely ill can be helpful, at least from a philosophical standpoint. But how can every occurrence be helpful? If we have an automobile accident or fight with a friend, it doesn't feel helpful.
We are learning slowly, that our lessons, which are contained in the circumstances of our lives, are never meant to hurt us, just educate us. We adjust to this knowledge with the help of others who seem far more peaceful than we. Probably they have already learned that there are no accidents. Our first reaction to any unexpected encounter is often resistance and fear. That's okay. That doesn't mean we can't change. The more that we trust that everything is helpful, the less afraid we'll become."
Karen Casey
"A spiritual notebook filled with ideas and quotations from the holy men and women who have walked before us — or who walk alongside of us — can help remind us
of what's important and what we are doing and why. "
Lama Surya Das
"The great error which many people make is that they do not look upon lessons as a means of attaining a given end. They do not realise that, when that end is attained and fully recognized, the lessons are to be discarded and the attainment is to be followed. Then, if they still wish to go on, they may pause for a moment and place what they have accomplished in their storehouse (sometimes called the subconscious); and after this step, the lessons leading to the further attainment which they seek may be taken up. But as soon as the goal is reached they must again discard the lessons. In this way they may go on, step by step, to the highest attainment. You will find that the lessons are but steps in the stairway; and if you were to attempt to carry all the steps you have used, to reach the top, the load would soon crush you. Besides, there would be no steps for your brother to use as he follows on. Leave the steps for him to use if he chooses. They have assisted you to reach the top. You do not need them any longer."
Baird Spalding
"If we have not put closure on a relationship, if we cannot walk away in peace, we have not yet learned our lesson. That may mean we will have to have another-go-around with that lesson before we are ready to move on."
Melody Beattie
"It is a rare person who can go about her work without calling attention to herself, without seeking publicity, without building an organization around her. It is a rare person who inspires without taking credit, who heals without charging a fee and gives without asking anything in return. You may seek her, but you will find her only if you are prepared to walk in her footsteps. The greatest teachers are the most humble, the most loving, the most empowering to others. If you wish to find such a teacher, you must look beyond appearances. Find the man or woman who promises you nothing, but loves you without hesitation. Find the teacher who makes no pretension to fix or to teach, yet opens your heart when he or she looks into your eyes."
Paul Ferrini
"Each problem is an opportunity in disguise."
Wayne Dyer
"If things are not working, ask yourself, "In what way am I creating this? In what way can I change? What is the lesson?"
Wayne Dyer
"Everyone makes mistakes. In fact, highly successful, creative people make more mistakes than the rest of us because they're always trying new things and searching for better ways to do them. The difference is, they look their mistakes squarely in the eye, learn from them, and move on. So, cut yourself some slack and accept you are not perfect."
Harry Bloomfield
"I've learned that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.
I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I've learned that you can keep going long after you can't.
I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.
I've learned that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I've learned that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
I've learned that no matter how good a friend is they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
I've learned that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean that they don't love each other.
I've learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different."
Author Unknown
"We are enrolled in a full time, informal school called, "Life." Each day of this school, we have the opportunity to learn lessons. We may like the lessons or hate them, but they are part of the curriculum. The greatest lessons we learn are about love and fear, that every action is either an expression of love, or a call for love. And the great blessing is that every lesson repeats itself until we learn it."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself." Galileo
"Learning is an upward, ever-evolving process. We will never reach the point where we've learned all we need to know. Every aspect of life contains lessons. We can choose to discard them or to embrace them. Lessons embraced lead to wisdom."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"In Zen Buddhism, there's a concept called 'zen mind,' or 'beginner's mind.' They say that the mind should be like an empty rice bowl. If it's already full, then the universe can't fill it. If it's empty, it has room to receive. This means that when we think we have things already figured out, we're not teachable. Genuine insight can't dawn on a mind that's not open to receive it. Surrender is a process of emptying the mind. In the Christic tradition, this is the meaning of 'becoming as a little child.' Little children don't think they know what things mean. In fact, they know they don't know. They ask someone older and wiser to explain things to them. We're like children who don't know, but think we do."
Marianne Williamson
"A group of Geography students studied the Seven Wonders of the World. At the end of that section, the students were asked to list what they considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes:
Egypt's Great Pyramids
Taj Mahal
Grand Canyon
Panama Canal
Empire State Building
St. Peter's Basilica
China's Great Wall
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."
The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:
to touch
to taste
to see
to hear
She hesitated a little, and then...
to run
to laugh
and to love
It is far too easy for us to look at the exploits of man and refer to them as "wonders" while we overlook all God has done, regarding them as merely "ordinary." May you
be reminded today of those things which are truly wondrous."
Bob & Juanita Poole
“The best way to put the past behind us is to learn from it. When we make mistakes, we can see the consequences to ourselves and others. We can apologize and make amends to others. We can forgive ourselves and learn from our errors. When we learn from our mistakes, we don’t repeat them. The past stays past. It isn’t carried forward. When we find we are constantly repeating past patterns, there is a good chance that we haven’t learned from our mistakes. We may be focused on what other people did, blaming them for our misfortune, rather than looking at our own actions."
Paul Ferrini
"Be a student. Stay open and willing to learn from everyone and anyone. Being a student means you have room for new input."
Wayne Dyer
"I've learned....That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
I've learned....That when you're in love, it shows.
I've learned....That just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.
I've learned....That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
I've learned....That being kind is more important than being right.
I've learned....That you should never say no to a gift grom a child.
I've learned....That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.
I've learned....That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
I've learned....That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
I've learned....That walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
I've learned....That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
I've learned....That money doesn't buy class.
I've learned....That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular. I've learned....That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
I've learned....That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
I've learned....That love, not time, heals all wounds.
I've learned....That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
I've learned....That no one is perfect until you fall in love.
I've learned....That life is tough, but I'm tougher.
I've learned....That I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time before he passed away.
I've learned....That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. I've learned....That it is best to give advice in only two circumstances, when it is
requested and when it is a life threatening situation."
Andy Rooney
"When they think that they know the answers, people are difficult to guide.
When they know that they don't know, people can find their own way."
Tao Te Ching
"To be mistaken is not so terrible a thing. It will not deprive you of love and acceptance. You think that it will, but that is a fiction. What deprives you of love is your insistence on being right when you are not. That prevents correction from being made.
Being wrong does not mean being "bad" and being right does not mean being
"good." Every one of you will be both right and wrong hundreds of times in a single day.
This world is a school and you have come here to learn. Learning means making mistakes and correcting them. Learning does not mean being right all the time. If you were right all the time, why would you need to come to school?
Be humble, my friend. Unless you recognize that you have made a mistake, how can you correct it?
But admit your mistake and correction will be there, along with forgiveness." Paul Ferrini
"It is easy to be negative about past mistakes and unhappiness.
But it is much more healing to look at ourselves and our past in the light of experience, acceptance, and growth. Our past is a series of lessons that advance us to a higher levels of living and loving.
The relationships we entered, stayed in, or ended taught us necessary lessons. Some of us have emerged from the most painful circumstances with strong insights about who we are and what we want.
Our mistakes? Necessary. Our frustrations, failures, and sometimes stumbling attempts at growth and progress? Necessary too.
Each step of the way, we learned. We went through exactly the experiences we needed to, to become who we are today. Each step of the way, we progressed. Is our past a mistake? No. The only mistake we can make is mistaking that for the truth."
Melody Beattie
“Looking for Mr. Right leads to desperation, because there is no Mr. Right. There is no Mr. Right because there is no Mr. Wrong. There is whoever is in front of us, and
the perfect lessons to be learned from that person.”
Marianne Williamson
"An adventure is going into the unknown. If you know exactly where you are going, exactly how you will get there, and exactly what you will see along the way, it is not an adventure...
Because they involve the unknown, adventures are inherently dangerous to a greater or lesser degree. Yet it is also only from adventures and their newness that we learn. If we know exactly where we're going, exactly how to get there, and exactly what we'll see along the way, we won't learn anything."
M. Scott Peck
“Sometimes the lesson to be learned in a relationship is how to hang in there and try to work things out. Other times, the lesson to be learned is how to exit a situation that doesn’t serve.”
Marianne Williamson
"My friend Andrea is a popular college instructor of human relations, and a relationship counselor. She has also been married four times, and divorced three. At a party we both attended, I overheard one of Andrea's former students ask her, "How can you pass yourself off as a relationship expert when you are a four-time loser?"
Andrea responded coolly, "I don't see myself as a four-time loser; I consider myself a four-time learner. Although those marriages didn't endure, I gained valuable lessons that helped me bring more depth and presence to the relationships that followed, and ultimately contributed to the successful marriage I now have.""
Alan Cohen
"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"We need to transform our fear of failure, into acceptance and learning. Not only can we learn from our own mistakes, but also from the mistakes of others. Let's teach our children (both the one inside and the ones outside ourselves) that mistakes are inevitable, that they are not fearsome, rather they are the necessary events to help us learn how to be successfully alive and involved in the world."
Lloyd J. Thomas
"Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, teachers."
Richard Bach
"Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by
saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing."
Denis Waitley
"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."
Carl Jung
"Sometimes, we aren't certain what lesson we're learning, especially while we're in the midst of the process. But we can trust that the lesson and the gift are there. We don't have to control this process. We'll understand, when it's time. We can also trust that the gift is precisely what we need."
Melody Beattie
"All children are rewarded for every "mistake" they make. Their reward is what they learn from what has occurred."
Neale Donald Walsch
"There is not a person on Earth who has not concluded at some point that what they once considered a "huge mistake" turned out to be, actually, a big blessing."
Neale Donald Walsch
"If you have to make a thousand errors in order to make one truly right move, you
have done something tremendous - truly tremendous."
Vernon Howard
"People say everything happens for a reason and God has a Plan for it all. I believe things do happen for a reason. And God does have a Plan. But if we don't learn the lesson from the circumstance and let ourselves completely heal from it -- whether it is the past or today -- the things that happen for a reason will just keep happening over and over again."
Melody Beattie
"Change is the end result of all true learning. Change involves three things: First, a dissatisfaction with self- a felt void or need; second, a decision to change-to fill the void or need; and third, a conscious dedication to the process of growth and change
- the willful act of making the change; Doing Something."
Dr. Leo Buscaglia
L – Let go
Defined as to stop thinking about or being angry about the past or something that happened in the past: She finds it hard to let go of a grudge.
“Let Go of what is not working in our lives. Anger, fear, resentment, perfectionism, struggle, ego, and the need for approval are just some of the emotions and beliefs that don't serve us. We may also need to let go of an abusive relationship, a dead-end job, or our preconceived ideas of how situations and people should be. Releasing the negative in our lives makes room for the positive - like love, serendipity, and abundance.”
Fred Luskin, Ph.D., Director of Stanford University's Forgiveness Project
"We must give up our will, give up control, and release our expectations about a specific result. This is where the going starts to get tough. We want what we want, and usually we want it yesterday. We need to open ourselves up to the possibility that we don't always know what's best for us."
Kathy Cordova
"Let go of your expectations. The universe will do what it will. Sometimes your dreams will come true. Sometimes they won't. Sometimes when you let go of a broken dream, another one gently takes its place. Be aware of what is, not what you would like to be, taking place."
Melody Beattie
L - Life
Our path, therefore, is plain; it is simply to contemplate the Life, Love, and Beauty of the Originating Spirit and affirm that we are already giving expression to it in our thoughts and in our actions however insignificant they may at present appear. This path may be very narrow and humble in its beginning, but it ever grows wider and mounts higher, for it is the continually expanding expression of the Life of the Spirit which is infinite and knows no limits.
Thomas Troward
You've got to take life by the cojones and let it sweep you up in its extravagance. There's generally too much "me" -- too much ego -- trying to take life and chew it up. Relax and let life smother you. Life will consume you if you let it. You're the ring on the carousel and life is coming around to grab you. Don't shy away. When life comes around to grab you, throw yourself out there. Just the colors in a room and people's faces, which are all treasure houses of impressions, can elevate you to states of mystic clarity. Watch even the nastiest person carefully enough, once or twice a week, and you'll have to be moved to compassion and tenderness.
Lee Lozowick
"Suppose the night were never over, And the day had no surcease. Suppose the end had no arrival, And the start had no release.
Suppose the rain would never fall, And there were never clouds at all. And what if you were I and I were you, And we were one forever too.
Suppose that all we saw we didn't see,
And sounds were never known to be. And songs you sang were never sung, And bells you heard had never rung.
You'd think if all these things were so, The world you know would be a dream - And that, my friend, is not a lie.
For that is why we never "live,"
And why in fact we never die."
Robert Skutch
"Life is much more than the life of the body; it is an infinite expanse of energy, a continuum of love in countless dimensions, a psychological and spiritual experience independent of physical form. We have been alive forever. We will be alive forevermore. But the life of the body is an important classroom. It is our opportunity to deliver the world from Hell. “Dear God, may your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."
Marianne Williamson
"Quality rather than appearance.... ethics rather than rules.... knowledge rather than achievement.... integrity rather than domination.... serenity rather than acquisitions."
Wayne Dyer
"The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day, runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measure."
Rabindranath Tagore
"Fame or integrity: which is more important?
Money or happiness: which is more valuable?
Success or failure: which is more destructive?
If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never truly be fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself.
Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize that nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you!"
Lao Tzu
"First you believe in Santa Claus.
Then you don't believe in Santa Claus.
And before you know it, you are Santa Claus.
Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect."
Oren Arnold
"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviors.
Keep your behaviors positive because your behaviors become your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny."
Gandhi
"It has not always been with the utmost of grace and coordination that I have performed on this stage we call life. The critics have often been harsh, the reviews unfavorable. I, naturally, my own worst critic.
But I am committed to the dance for I have realized that ultimately it is not the final performance that we live but the unending hours, days, years, lifetimes of practice that make us what we are...
So, all I ask, is that you not judge too harshly as I practice my dance of life...I will stumble, I will fall, I have, and will again.
I ask you to look beyond the practice, to the commitment, to the intention, to the man, the soul beneath the performer...
For that is where my truth lies...
The dance has taught me many many lessons, and I continue to learn...because my heart is open, I am willing to try, I am willing to fail...
I have come to know the Truth...I have come to believe in myself...and if I never receive a standing ovation, if I never receive the acceptance and approval of those I seek to please with my dance, those things will be reward enough, for I am a seeker, dancing an uneven path...
A nonbalerina..."
Jeff Anderson
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
George Bernard Shaw
"Life is what happens to us when we are busy making other plans."
John Lennon
"When you are full of problems, there is no room for anything new to enter, no room for a solution. So whenever you can, make some room, create some space, so that you find the life underneath your life situation."
Eckhart Tolle
"What we must realize is that we cannot see everything. We do not know everything. More important, we must understand that it is impossible for us to control anything. The process of life is a spiritual one, governed by invisible, intangible spiritual laws and principles."
Iyanla Vanzant
"Life, at its best, is a flowing, changing process in which nothing is fixed. I find I am at my best when I can let the flow of my experience carry me, in a direction which appears to be forward, toward a goal of which I am but dimly aware.
In thus floating with the complex stream of my experiencing and in trying to understand its ever-changing complexity, it should be evident that there are no fixed points. When I am thus able to be in the process, it is clear that there can be no closed system of beliefs, no unchanging set of principles that I hold.
Life is guided by a changing of and interpretation of my experience.
It is always in process of becoming."
Carl Rogers
"The game of life goes on with each of us playing our part. And you're the only one that knows in your heart what you can do and what you're inspired to do. The ball's
always in your court and it's always your turn to play!"
Marie T. Russell
“God is renewing me in every moment, and a new me is always emerging. Every seventh year, my body will have undergone a complete renewal. This is true, because according to a divine plan, every cell of my body will have been replaced by a brand-new cell at some point during each seven-year period of my life. My mind is also in a process of renewal. With every challenge I move through and with every new spiritual awareness I gain, I expand and grow in knowledge and wisdom.
My soul experiences its own rebirth as well, every time I turn to God in prayer. Each time I release thoughts of unforgiveness and each time I let go and let God provide a solution for a problem, I feel alive with new hope and gratitude.
A new me is always emerging. Through an ongoing process of renewal, I am alive with the newness of life.”
Unity's Daily Word
"Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'"
Maya Angelou
“Many people victimize themselves by seeing life as one experience to be judged as a whole, which is either good or bad. If such a person has had a series of bad experiences, he views life as bad.
But life is not a single experience. Life is always changing, and every day of your life “ every moment of every day – represents something totally new, which has never existed before, and which can be used in uncountable new ways if you decide to view it that way.
Self-experience exponents are seldom happy, because consciously or unconsciously, they are constantly reviewing and judging their lives, which already sets them against reality and wastes their present moments. They typically think some other people are lucky enough to have happy lives, while they themselves inherited unhappy lives. They get stuck because they believe they have no control over their own destinies.
But the continuing-experience exponents are in a different ballgame. They view life as ever changeable, and therefore as something over which they can exercise a great deal of control. They tend to look for new ways of living, instead of hanging on to old ways. Change doesn’t frighten them. In fact, they welcome it with open arms.
Success is a journey, not a destination.”
Wayne Dyer
"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit."
Henry David Thoreau
""Come to the edge."
"We can't. We're afraid."
"Come to the edge."
"We can't. We will fall!" "Come to the edge." And they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew."
Guillaume Apollinaire
"It is easy enough to be pleasant, when life flows by like a song, but the man worth
while is the one who can smile, when everything goes dead wrong."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“Refuse to see the negative side of anyone. Refuse to let yourself misunderstand or be misunderstood. Know that everyone wants you to have the best. Affirm this wherever you go, and you will find things just as you wish them to be.”
Ernest Holmes
"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Life is simple, but people make it difficult. They can't stop judging and having opinions. Debating the scriptures, they forget to breathe. Deaf to the drumbeat in their hearts, they discuss "the nature of reality." Thus the pathway to the infinite is forsaken. The more words you use, the more confused people become. Fools speculate on "original cause." Those who know aren't talking."
Paul Ferrini
"Man should experience inside of himself, not only outer. Everything we see or do outside is reflection of the inner being; there is nothing outside that is not inside." Sai Pages
"Inside yourself or outside, you never have to change what you see, only the way you see it."
Thaddeus Golas
"I've had many problems in my life, most of which never happened."
Mark Twain
"There are seasons and cycles in our lives, just as there are seasons and cycles to nature, to all of life. We move imperceptibly from one to the other ~ learning, growing, laughing and crying along the way.
We accept with joy the seasons of nature. We honor them. We wouldn't think of pulling at the tiny blades of grass in early spring to force their growth. Neither would we chastise them for growing too slowly or wilting with the first frost of autumn. We can learn to recognize and honor the seasons and cycles in ourselves. The answers will come ~ small glimpses at first, like the first tender shoots of grass. We get an idea, a clue, a hint, of what we're about to learn. Then come a series of experiences. Sometimes we immediately see the connection. Sometimes we don't. We go about the business of living our lives.
Then one day, we see. That tiny shoot has become a full-grown blade of grass, a rolling lawn covering the landscape. We see the connections, the lessons ~ and we'll honor all the feelings that we had along the way. We're different. We're changed. We're new. A new season has arrived. And just when we think that the way it is now is the way it will be forever, another season begins. As naturally, as imperceptibly as the last. It, too, will build on what has already happened and create something new. There are seasons and cycles in us, just as there are in nature. Learn to recognize and honor the seasons and cycles of the soul."
Melody Beattie
"There are no little events in life, those we think of no consequence may be full of fate, and it is at our own risk if we neglect the acquaintances and opportunities that
seem to be casually offered, and of small importance."
Amelia E. Barr
"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."
Albert Einstein
"Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; Dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible Is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding Is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail."
Tao Te Ching
"For most of us, the being side of life is underused, and the doing side is weighted down. When we are being, we are humane and very much in touch with everything in life. When we are doing, we forget the essence of our humanity and narrowly focus our minds on "making things happen." We forget that everything in life is already happening!"
Jacob Liberman with Erik Liberman
"Our life experience is a reflection of our consciousness. If we find we are faced with someone who is judgmental and wants their own way, like it or not, we must look for those same qualities in ourselves. If we want to change our life experience, we must change ourselves. Life is a mirror. It smiles back to us when we smile and frowns back at us when we frown."
Cara Lumen
"Nobody gets through this life without facing difficulty. You lose a loved one to disease. A relationship dissolves. You get rejected at work or by someone you care about. A dream you really wanted doesn't happen. You may ask, if God is good, then why do bad things happen? There is good beyond what any of us can see at a given moment. Part of our journey in life is to become more fully awake to our eternal nature, so that we find a measure of peace in despair, and comfort in the midst of any circumstance."
Mary Manin Morrissey
“This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor...Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
Rumi
"Often, people attempt to live their life backward. They try to have more things or more money in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want."
Shakti Gawain
"One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing
wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole."
Gandhi
"We can't keep trying to cram our OLD life into our NEW life. Otherwise, it's NOT a NEW life."
Rev. Dr. Linda Marie Nelson
"But today our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change. The large house in which we live demands that we transform this world-wide neighborhood into a worldwide brotherhood. Together we must learn to live as brothers or together we will be forced to perish as fools.
We must work passionately and indefatigably to bridge the gulf between our scientific progress and our moral progress. One of the great problems of mankind is that we suffer from a poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the
poorer we have become morally and spiritually." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
Robert Frost
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong.
Because someday in your life you will have been all of these."
George Washington Carver
"The secret of life is that there is no secret. All that you need to know about life is there for you to see. All you have to do is open your eyes and recognize what you already know."
Dorothy Rowe
"Everything you do has consequences and these consequences spread in all directions and go on forever."
Dorothy Rowe
"Because every interpretation has good implications and bad implications, and every action has good consequences and bad consequences, life can never be perfect."
Dorothy Rowe
"Do more than exist, live. Do more than touch, feel. Do more than look, observe.
Do more than read, absorb. Do more than hear, listen. Do more than think, ponder.
Do more than talk, say something."
John H. Rhoades
"May you live all the days of your life."
Jonathan Swift
“We do not have to spend our life reacting to others and to the course they would prefer we took with our life. We can set boundaries, firm limits on how far we shall go with others. We can trust and listen to ourselves. We can set goals and direction for our life. We can place value on ourselves. We can own our power with people.”
Melody Beattie
L – Living Small
Any half-awake materialist well knows – that which you hold holds you.
Tom Robbins
The intention of voluntary simplicity is not to dogmatically live with less. It’s a more demanding intention of living with balance. This is a middle way that moves between the extremes of poverty and indulgence.
Duane Elgin
If one’s life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness. Having few desires, feeling satisfied with what you have, is very vital: satisfaction with just enough food, clothing, and shelter to protect yourself from the elements.
The Dalai Lama
The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things.
Elise Boulding
Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
Lao Tzu
I bet most of us have experienced at some point the joys of less: college – in your dorm, traveling – in a hotel room, camping – rig up basically nothing, maybe a boat. Whatever it was for you, I bet that, among other things, this gave you a little more freedom, a little more time.
Graham Hill
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver
L - Love
“Love is rarer than genius itself. And friendship is rarer than love.”
Charles Peguy
“And I don't care what age you are, kissing in the rain is the best.”
Carew Papritz
"Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to love developing until it embraces the totality of men and the earth."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”
Paulo Coelho
“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.”
C.S. Lewis
"Beliefs separate. Loving thoughts unite."
Paul Ferrini
“True love never goes away.
The shape it takes may change, but it itself never changes, except to get sweeter and sweeter and more full … It is love that really connects us all through truth and wisdom, and makes ignorance ashamed to show itself. The wisdom that comes from love, from God, from our own divinity, cannot be studied. In its own time it simply blossoms inside the heart and gives light to the world.”
Mooji
“We are not held back by the love we didn't receive in the past but by the love we're not extending in the present.”
Marianne Williamson
“So often in our relationships, we try to get the other person to behave the way we want. This forcing of our will on them will ultimately become a great strain. It can also block love. When we're trying to change someone else, we overlook his or her gifts. We don't value the parts of the person that are different from us, because
we're too busy trying to change the person into someone else.”
Melody Beattie
“Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible, it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could.”
Barbara De Angelis
“Love brings with it the gift of freedom.
Love teaches us to allow the person we love to do as he or she chooses. It teaches us to encourage the people we love to freely make their own choices, to seek their own path, to learn their way in their own time.
Love that restrains isn't love. It's insecurity.
We may tell others how we feel about something they do or don't do.
We may make decisions as a reaction to others' choices.
That is our right and our responsibility.
But to restrain another in the name of love doesn't create love; it creates restraint.” Melody Beattie
“Start the Day with Love;
Spend the Day with Love;
Fill the Day with Love;
End the Day with Love;
This is the way to God.”
Sathya Sai Baba
“I may have the gift of inspired preaching.
I may have all the knowledge and understand all secrets. I may have all the faith needed to move mountains But if I have not love I am nothing.
I may give away everything I own and even give up my body to be burned But if I have no love, this does me no good.
Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud;
Love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable;
Love does not keep a record of wrongs;
Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth.
Love never gives up; and its faith, hope and patience never fail"
Corinthians 1.13
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.”
Mother Teresa
“Falling in love is the most important clue a human can ever find to his or her latent spiritual needs and potentialities. Without this experience a human's relationship with God remains largely one of obedience, respect and will, but one that ultimately lacks passion, heart and love.”
Patrick Arnold
“Learning how to love is the goal and the purpose of spiritual life — not learning how to develop psychic powers, not learning how to bow, chant, do yoga, or even meditate, but learning to love. Love is the truth. Love is the light.”
Lama Surya Das
“The only reason there is for living is love. There is no other reason for staying on earth.”
Joel Goldsmith
“Let us make a pledge that, if not all day or all night long, at least for a few moments every day, we will make an effort to experience love, love that is free from selfishness, free from desire, free from expectation, love that is complete freedom.”
Swami Chidvilasananda
“Let the good in me connect with the good in others, until all the world is transformed through the compelling power of love.”
Rebbe Nachman
“This world is nothing but a school of love; our relationships with our husband or wife, with our children and parents, with our friends and relatives are the university
in which we are meant to learn what love and devotion truly are.”
Swami Muktananda
“Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart; but if it does not, be content it grew in yours.”
Unknown
“It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a
day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.”
Unknown
“Look lovingly upon the present, for it holds the only things that are forever true.” A Course in Miracles
“A long-term romance is like a rose bush. In any given season, a blossom might fall off. But if the plant is well nourished, then the season will come around again, and new blossoms appear.” Marianne Williamson
“If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were.”
Kahlil Gibran
“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really
lived are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love.”
Henry Drummond
“When we were born, we were programmed perfectly. We had a natural tendency to focus on love...Why is it that we reached a certain age, looked around, and the enchantment was gone?...Because we were taught to focus elsewhere. We were taught to think unnaturally. We were taught a very bad philosophy, a way of looking at the world that contradicts who we are.”
Marianne Williamson
“To love somebody is not just a strong feeling- it is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise. If love were only a feeling, there would be no basis for the promise to love each other forever.”
Eric Fromm
“The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents; someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.”
Leo Buscaglia
“The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere they are in each other all along.”
Rumi
“One of the first things to do, is to love everybody ... with love, all things are possible ... and the one who has learned to love all people will find plenty of people who will return that love.”
Ernest Holmes
“Say the words.
Tell your partner, your children, your parents:
"I love you" frequently.
Let them know the difference they make in your life.
Miss no opportunities for loving.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
“None of us has the power to make someone else love us. But we all have the power to give away love, to love other people. And if we do so, we change the kind
of person we are, and we change the kind of world we live in.”
Rabbi Harold Kushner
“We love because it's the only true adventure.”
Nikki Giovanni
“Vastly more people on this planet love than hate, but the whole planet is literally being held hostage right now by a relatively small group of people who hate. Think about that. What we are being shown metaphysically is that we have not tended to love. We have not been proactive around love. We have just kind of been very passive and asked, “When can I get it? How can I get it? Where can I get it?” The question is, “How can we give it? How can we truly tend to the garden? How can we
be the immune system of the planet, the spiritual immune system?”
Marianne Williamson
"The more you notice the Love, the miracles, and the beauty around you, the more Love comes into your life. The more you Love, the greater your ability to Love. And the process perpetuates itself. As you Love the world and the people in it,
you find this Love manifests itself and returns to you."
Betty Eadie
"Love is caring for another human being and allowing them to be who they are and
make their own choices without any demand that they meet yours."
Vickie Dishner
"Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they
choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you."
Wayne Dyer
"Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so."
David Grayson
"Love is not neutral. It takes a stand. It is a commitment to the attainment of the
conditions of peace for everyone involved in a situation."
Marianne Williamson
"And if we are to be lovers for the first time or again, after many times, let the lovemaking be filled with shyness and discovery the way it was, or could have been, when we were sixteen: today a kiss that lingers, a touch on the back of my neck that I can feel for hours; tomorrow a light caress across my breasts that makes my breath catch. I want to savor each discovery of touch as the infinite unfolding of the other. I want to slow it all down, to wander around wet, aching for what is to come next, so I will know when I have been fully entered, whether by your body, your
story, or just simply the moment that passes between us."
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly
lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love."
Henry Drummond
"Love alone can unite living beings so as to complete and fulfill them. . .for it alone joins them by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to
love developing until it embraces the totality of men and of the earth."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
"You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by
working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving."
St. Francis De Sales
"As you continue to send out love, the energy returns to you in a regenerating spiral... As love accumulates, it keeps your system in balance and harmony.
Love is the tool, and more love is the end product."
Sara Paddison
"Send all your enemies love. It's easy to love some people. The true test is to love someone who's hard to love."
Wayne Dyer
"The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the
second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
"Often the true path of love begins only when romance has begun to taper off, for love is the capacity to see light when darkness has begun to eclipse it."
Marianne Williamson
"Love what you do and it will be great. Love the world and it will be beautiful. Love this day and it will bring fulfillment. Love yourself and you'll grow stronger. Love others and they'll blossom. Love learning and you'll be wise. Love a challenge and you'll be skilled. Love the moments and they'll propel you forward. Love the truth and you'll understand. Love to make a difference and you'll be admired. Love to be alive and your life will be full. Loveto work and your work will bring true value. Love to play and you'll experience true enjoyment. If you're going to do it, love it, and see how much better it makes you. No one achieves greatness by doing what they detest. If you're going to be it, if you're going to live it, love it. Think of how exhilarating love can be. Think of how love can motivate you and inspire you like nothing else can. Tap into that power with every passing moment. It's your life.
Love it and make it great.--"
Ralph Marston
"Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction."
Antoine de Saint Exupery
"Love all God's creation, both the whole and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of light. Love the animals, love the plants, love each separate thing. If you love each thing, you will perceive the mystery of God in all; and when once you perceive this, you will from that time on grow every day to a fuller understanding of it until you come at last to love the whole world with a love that will then be all embracing and universal."
Feodor Dostoevski
"Wanting what we can't have is universal dilemma.
It's so easy to conjure up fantasies about how delicious it would be if we could only have that, even though we know we never could. Then we don't have to deal with what we have. And we don't have to face issues like intimacy, commitment, and love.
Learn to recognize longing and yearning for what we can't have. And ask for the courage and wisdom to learn about the true delights of available, requited love."
Melody Beattie
“When you know that you are not feeling loved, you naturally ask the question “how can I feel loved right now” What you realize as you explore this important question is that the only way you can “feel” loved is to “think” a loving thought. Loving thoughts lead to the emotional state of feeling loved. And out of this positive emotional state actions arise which connect you to others. Now it doesn’t matter that this loving thought is about yourself or about someone else. Any loving thought will do. Love is completely unselfish and unselective. Whomever you love will do just fine. When you offer love to another person, you are also offering it to yourself.”
Paul Ferrini
"A soul which is not clothed with the inner garments of love should be ashamed of its existence.
Be drunk with love for love is all that exists. Where is intimacy found
if not in the give and take of love."
Rumi
"Make love a priority in your life and everything you will do will be for the best. Love makes the universe turn if we but knew it. The intelligence of love is as supreme as it is subtle, and too seldom we dismiss its great power as some romantic fantasy that cannot be applied to the hard and fast reality of life. Live by love and see how miraculous everything becomes. Love is the universal truth that conquers all." Manuela Dunn Mascetti
"Say the words. Tell your partner, your children, your parents: "I love you" frequently. Let them know the difference they make in your life. Miss no opportunities for loving."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"None of us has the power to make someone else love us. But we all have the power to give away love, to love other people. And if we do so, we change the kind of
person we are, and we change the kind of world we live in."
Rabbi Harold Kushner
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints - I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears of all my life! - and if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
"If you wish your relationship with your children or parents were different, remember this: It is never too late to be a better father or mother. It is never too late to be a better daughter or son. It is never too late to start communicating. And no matter how long ago or recently you spoke the words, it is never too late, and never too soon to say, "I love you.""
Mary Manin Morrissey
"It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how
much we give, but how much love we put in the giving."
Mother Teresa
“The difference between a friendship and a romance can be illustrated with the image of a long-stemmed rose. The stem is the friendship; the blossom is the romance.”
Marianne Williamson
"My love is like a red red rose That's newly sprung in June: My love is like the melodie That's sweetly play'd in tune.
As fair thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I;
And I will love thee still my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry.
Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun: And I will love thee still, my dear, While the sands o' life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only love, And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my love.
Tho' it were ten thousand mile."
Robert Burns
"Love is the most important ingredient in life. When there is love there is no fear or doubt. It is compassion, forgiveness and total detachment. Love is the ever extending and expanding life itself. Have faith in love. It is the solution to whatever confronts you, the answer to every question, the healer of every wound, the friend when you feel lonely, the nurturer in hard times. Love cannot be given to you. It can only come from yourself. You do not know that there is love until you have and give it yourself. When you have love for yourself you will see love in everyone and
everything, without comparison and judgment."
Gudrun Kretschman
"Love, as a word, is memorialized in countless books, movies, poems, and musical compositions. While there are many definitions of love, its essence, when used as a verb, can be captured in a few phrases: to care for, to cherish, to respect, to honour,
to show an interest in, to value, or to treat with kindness."
Francine Ward
"Where there is love there is the natural instinct to rescue. But at times we must resist that instinct. There may be those who gasp in dismay at my words. Is it love to stand aside and allow a loved one to suffer? Is it love when we do not race down into the trenches to pull our friend out of the mud? Yes . There are times when taking no action is love."
Lauren Zimmerman
"Human beings think that love is a Godly response to having needs met, and it is not. Love is not a response, it is a decision."
Neale Donald Walsch
"I do not love you for what you do for me. I love you because you are."
Neale Donald Walsch
"You really don't want people to love you because you love them. You want people to love you not as a return for what you give them, but as an honest response and reaction to how you are in the world - whether you do something specifically for them or not.
Do not fall into the trap of treating someone nicely just so that they will treat you nicely. If you're not careful, that could fall into a manipulation. Treat others nicely
simply because that's who you are, and that's who you choose to be."
Neale Donald Walsch
"Love is something you can leave behind you when you die. It's that powerful."
John Lame Deer
"Love does not grandstand. Like water, it is humble and unstoppable. Love does not try to fix the whole world. It is enough to plant seeds of kindness and justice everywhere we can."
Jack Kornfield
"Never look at the masses as your responsibility, look at the individual as you can only love one person at a time. You can only feed one person at a time. Just one, just one.... So you begin - pick up one person.
Maybe if I hadn't picked up that one person, I wouldn't have ended picking up forty-two thousand. The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if I didn't put that drop in, the ocean would be one drop less.
Same thing for you, same thing in your family, same thing in the community where you live. Just begin...... one, one, one."
Mother Teresa
“Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn here. The spiritual journey is the relinquishment “or unlearning” of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts.”
Marianne Williamson
"In real love you want the other person's good. In romantic love, you want the other person."
Margaret Anderson
"The expression of real love is so easy between grandparents and children - and between good friends it passes effortlessly. But why is it so hard to share real love with a spouse or lover? Why, instead, do we want to possess them? And from them we dream of selfless devotion. Yet neither possession nor devotion guarantees the security we long for. Real love is not selfish; it frees both the giver and the receiver. Knowing we're loved sustains our hearts and diminishes our difficulties. It doesn't bind us, yet paradoxically it bonds our hearts. This encouragement to grow, to change, to dare to depart if it's for our own good, are expressions of real love. Real love is never ownership, only stewardship of this moment's experiences. Let's be gentle with one another, and love fully with trust, as a child loves a grandmother."
Karen Casey
“May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.”
Andre Brink
“Long ago, I began to understand that the desires of the heart are not placed there to torture us. God could never do that, for God is and always has been love. To dangle the proverbial carrot to get us to be subservient or obedient does not even register within the Divine.
My passion for music is not given to me to ignore even though I may have been taught I can’t make a respectable living singing. An interest in sculpting didn’t just surface for someone to become frustrated working at a more sensible and safe profession. Something is drawing each of us to examine more fully what role that creative urge is begging to play in our lives. It is the call. It is constant.”
David Ault
L – Luck
“You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don't help.”
Bill Watterson
“Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”
Thomas Jefferson
“Nanny Ogg looked under her bed in case there was a man there. Well, you never knew your luck.”
Terry Pratchet
“Nanny Ogg looked under her bed in case there was a man there. Well, you never knew your luck.”
Terry Pratchet
“Life is full of luck, like getting dealt a good hand, or simply by being in the right place at the right time. Some people get luck handed to them, a second chance, a save. It can happen heroically, or by a simple coincidence , but there are those who don’t get luck on a shiny platter, who end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, who don’t get saved.”
Jessica Sorensen
“Ability is of little account without opportunity.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
“Luck?" Drizzt replied. "Perhaps. But more often, I dare to say, luck is simply the advantage a true warrior gains in executing the correct course of action.”
R.A. Salvatore
“It's a question of attitude. If you really work at something you can do it up to a point. If you really work at being happy you can do it up to a point. But anything more than that you can't. Anything more than that is luck.”
Haruki Murakam
M – Magic
“The truth is more magical - in the best and most exciting sense of the word - than any myth or made-up mystery or miracle. Science has its own magic: the magic of reality.”
Richard Dawkins
“Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live.”
Nora Roberts
“There are some things, after all, that Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.”
Alice Hoffman
“Is there magic in this world? Certainly! But it is not the kind of magic written about in fantasy stories. It is the kind of magic that comes from ideas and the hard work it often takes to make them real.”
Robert Fanney
“Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”
J.K. Rowling
“I know it is something of a cliche to say that love makes all things possible, but I believe it does. It is not a magic wand that can be waved over life to make it all sweet and lovely and trouble free, but it can give the energy to fight the odds and win.”
Mary Balogh
“You think that it’s not magic that keeps you alive? Just ‘cause you understand the mechanics of how something works, doesn’t make it any less of a miracle. Which is just another word for magic. We’re all kept alive by magic, Sookie. My magic’s just a little different from yours, that’s all.”
Charlaine Harris
M – Making a difference
“It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.”
Tom Brokaw
“It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference”
Paul "Bear" Bryant
“Never be afraid to do something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the titanic.”
Anonymous
Go out more, keep cheerful as well as busy, for you are the sunshine-maker of the family, and if you get dismal there is no fair weather.”
Louisa May Alcott.
“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.”
Ayn Rand
“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first
cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”
Confucius
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
Robert Frost
“We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.”
Stevie Wonder
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
Marian Wright Edelman
“We must overcome the notion that we must be regular... it robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre.”
Uta Hagen
“You're the only one who can make the difference. Whatever your dream is, go for it.”
Earvin Magic Johnson
M – Meditation
“God intended us to have dominion over our lives, to be the captains of our souls. Of course, in the ship of life, you cannot make port unless all sails are set. You must pursue the spiritual life wholeheartedly. You cannot expect to reach port if you are faithful in your prayers and
meditations for a time, and then for a time you forget God.”
Emmet Fox
“Often, once we get started with the day, we may not listen as closely to life and ourselves as we do in those still moments when we first awaken. An ideal time to listen to ourselves is when we are laying quietly, our defenses are down, and we're open and most vulnerable. What is the first feeling that floods through us, the feeling that perhaps we are trying to avoid during the business of the day? That is what we need to focus on and work through. That's the issue we need to address.” Melody Beattie
M – Minimalist
“But I deal with this by meditating and by understanding I’ve been put on the planet to serve humanity. I have to remind myself to live simply and not overindulge, which is a constant battle in a material world.”
Sandra Cisneros.
“One of the advantages of being born in an affluent society is that if one has any intelligence at all, one will realize that having more and more won’t solve the problem, and happiness does not lie in possessions, or even relationships: The answer lies within ourselves. If we can’t find peace and happiness there, it’s not going to come from the outside.”
Tenzin Palmo
“The intention of voluntary simplicity is not to dogmatically live with less. It’s a more demanding intention of living with balance. This is a middle way that moves between the extremes of poverty and indulgence.”
Duane Elgin
“We really must understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic. It is psychotic because it has completely lost touch with reality. We crave things we neither need nor enjoy.”
Richard Foster
“The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn’t simple.”
Doris Janzen Longacre
“Any half-awake materialist well knows – that which you hold holds you.”
Tom Robbins
“The simplest things are often the truest.”
Richard Bach.
“Contentment comes not so much from great wealth as from few wants.”
Epictetus
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” Seneca
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”
Jesus Christ
“The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”
John the Baptist
“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” –
Epicurus
“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
Socrates
“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” –
Lao Tzu
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” –
Confucious
To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”
Buddha
M - Miracles
"Miracles are shifts in the mind's perception.
We have all heard a story of someone who was cured of cancer. Wouldn't that be a miracle in the body? Some might argue yes; however, many would say a change in the body has to be precipitated by a change in the mind. If illness is all one thinks is possible, illness is what one gets. Thinking health and well-being might not make a disease disappear, but the person's healed mind and attitude will guarantee a peaceful response to life."
Karen Casey
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
Albert Einstein
"Miracles occur as involuntary effects of a loving personality, an invisible force that emanates from someone whose conscious intention is to give and receive love. As we relinquish the fears that block the love within us, we become God's instruments. We become His miracle workers."
Marianne Williamson
"A miracle is merely a shift, a change in perception. It comes from changing the mind, not other people or situations."
Karen Casey
“Miracles are merely thoughts. Whatever our religious background, we’ve generally thought of miracles as unimaginable outcomes to serious situations, in other words, really big things. Which is right? Sometimes a life-threatening health challenge might disappear fully. When that’s the case, nobody scoffs, everybody recognizes how big that is. But on the other hand, we have all experienced the unexpected dissipation of an intense power struggle with a colleague and have thought, “What a miracle!” Miracles are mysterious and elusive. They have not absolute characteristics. The parameters of what defines a miracle changes, depending on the circumstances. But the one element that is the same in all miracles is our change in thinking. Looking at it from this perspective suggests that we can create miracles at will. All we have to do is change our minds.”
Karen Casey
"I hate to contradict one of your favorite slogans, but "expecting a miracle" is not always helpful. Sometimes you think you need a miracle, but all you need is a little common sense. Sometimes, you are certain you need a miracle, but all you need to do is walk through your fear. I am not trying to suggest that there is a shortage of miracles out there and that you must save them up for special occasions. On the contrary, there are miracles happening everywhere, but you often don't see them because you are expecting fireworks. When you are doing the best that you can in your life, you are making miracles constantly. When you are moving through your fear, seeing your projections, and reaching out lovingly to people who are dispirited or afraid, you are a miracle worker." Paul Ferrini
"Miracles are created in an invisible realm. The Holy Spirit improves our style. He teaches us how to communicate from love instead of attack. Often people will say, "Well, I told them. I really communicated!" But communication is a two-way street. It only occurs if one person speaks, and the other one can hear them. We've all been in conversations where two people spoke and no one heard a thing. We've also had conversations where no one said anything and both people understood everything perfectly. In order to truly communicate, we must take responsibility for the heart space that exists between us and another. It is that heart space, or the absence of it, which will determine whether communication is miraculous or fearful. Sometimes, of course, that means
keeping our mouths shut. Silence can be a powerfully loving communication."
Marianne Williamson
"No matter what the shape of a problem, its form or its size, a miracle can handle it. Miracles mean that at any moment we can begin again. No matter what the problem, as long as we return our minds to a graceful position now, the universe will always help to clean up the mess and start over."
Marianne Williamson
"Everyone can make a miracle.
We are raised to think of miracles as unique, rare occurrences that few people deserve. Our familiarity with miracles is limited, particularly if we define them as dramatic healings, being saved from a near accident, or winning a great deal of money. Now we are learning that miracles are available to all of us all the time.
What do we need to make a miracle? Willingness. A change of the mind will result in a miracle every time we are willing to give up the ego's perspective of whatever situation is distressing us. It's very hard to do this at first. We think there's so much at stake. Being right has been important to us. After all, doesn't it define who we are and how worthy we are?
We see that taking the risk of walking away from a situation, rather than 'righting it' according to our perspective, is absolutely freeing, once we've experienced it. And that's the miracle."
Karen Casey
"Miracles aren't reserved for the few.
To receive a miracle takes no more time than an instant. It doesn't take a special prayer, a unique relationship with God, or an extremely unfortunate life. It takes only an open mind and a willing heart.
But what's the process for receiving a miracle? It's asking a simple question. "Holy Spirit, will you please help me see this situation in a more loving way?" Miraculously, the new perspective
comes. Miraculously, the burden of worry or fear or anger dissolves."
Karen Casey
"There's a story about a wealthy fellow who goes to a Zen monastery seeking the secret to life.
But instead of listening to the Master, the fellow does nothing but speak of his accomplishments. The Zen Master pours the man a cup of tea as he continues his monologue. Suddenly, the man looks down, and sees his teacup overflowing onto the saucer and down the table. 'What's wrong with you?' he bellows at the Zen Master. 'The tea is overflowing all over the place!'
The Zen Master responded: 'The secret of life is having some emptiness so that the Universe can give you its gift.'
The man was so full of himself, that he had no room for God.
Have you created space for a miracle to occur? If our cup is always full, what can be poured into it?"
Mary Manin Morrissey
“Changes in life are always going to happen; they’re part of the human experience. What we can change, however, is how we perceive them. And that shift in our perception is a miracle” Marianne Williamson
"In the 1800s, Paganini was an emerging violinist and composer. And his dream was to play to a packed opera house in which the audience would jump to its feet with an ovation. And then that evening came. It was time for his solo. But as the musician began to draw his bow, he felt this terror and sickness in his stomach because he realized that he had grabbed the wrong violin, a far inferior one. And then deep inside himself he heard, "Play with what you've got." And so he drew back his bow and he began to play. And he asked that even in this instrument, something might happen that would make a difference for the gift of music. As Paganini maximized what he had, the audience rose to ovation after ovation after ovation. He said: "Before tonight, I always thought the music came from my violin. Tonight I realized the music comes from me." Often we have thought our miracle comes from the world, when the truth is, the only miracle that's real must come through us, from that place in us where the spirit of God truly resides. The music is within you."
Mary Manin Morrissey
“Prayer is a conduit for miracles. It addresses the problems of the world at their source. It changes people at a cellular level, and with each one who changes, others are brought miraculously closer to enlightenment.”
Marianne Williamson
“The miracles worker’s goal in every circumstance is peace of mind.”
Marianne Williamson
"Albert Einstein said this: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Celebrate your life every day, or you will be discarding your most precious possession, for every moment of your life is a gift. The distance between where you are now and the place you ultimately desire to be may seem overwhelming, but gifts abound along the path. Look deeply, and you will find a miracle today, in your very midst."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"The Zen master Ling Chi said that the miracle is not to walk on burning charcoal or in the thin air or on the water; the miracle is just to walk on earth. You breathe in. You become aware of the fact that you are alive. You are still alive and you are walking on this beautiful planet! The greatest of all miracles is to be alive."
Thich Nhat Hanh
“A miracle can be defined as an extremely outstanding event, thing, or accomplishment. Observing nature, I am reminded of the glory of God in the miracles that abound. I may be quietly watching a bumblebee collect pollen from a flower, wondering how its delicate wings could possibly lift its robust body into the air, and indeed they do. The miraculous bumblebee flies! I never have to look far for a miracle of life, for I am a miraculous being in so many ways. My mind and my body carry out numerous complex functions every second. I am able to move and heal and think and communicate with others. My spirit is eternally one with God, and my life is a miracle!”
Unity’s Daily Word
“The miraculous is not extraordinary, but the common mode of existence. It is our daily bread. Whoever really has considered the lilies of the field or the birds of the air and pondered the improbability of their existence in this warm world within the cold and empty stellar distances will hardly balk at the turning of water into wine --- which was, after all, a very small miracle. We forget the greater and still continuing miracle by which water (with soil and sunlight) is turned into grapes.”
Wendell Berry
“If you don't have a love affair with life everyday, if you don't expect a miracle everyday, you're always going to be looking for God exclusively in what appears good -- in the attractive, in the easeful, in the predictable. Most of you reading this are old enough and mature enough and have had enough experience to know that you should not expect appearances to convey everything. Appearances are totally subjective. Instead, you should look to the heart of things; feel through appearances to the Essence. Not only are you capable of that, you all do that naturally anyway. You just need to be aware that you do it, trust it, and make this awareness more real than the illusions of your trained beliefs and opinions.”
Lee Lozowick
M – Mystics
“The truth is more magical - in the best and most exciting sense of the word - than any myth or made-up mystery or miracle. Science has its own magic: the magic of reality.”
Richard Dawkins
“Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live.”
Nora Roberts
“There are some things, after all, that Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.”
Alice Hoffman
“Is there magic in this world? Certainly! But it is not the kind of magic written about in fantasy stories. It is the kind of magic that comes from ideas and the hard work it often takes to make them real.”
Robert Fanney
“Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”
J.K. Rowling
“I know it is something of a cliche to say that love makes all things possible, but I believe it does. It is not a magic wand that can be waved over life to make it all sweet and lovely and trouble free, but it can give the energy to fight the odds and win.”
Mary Balogh
“You think that it’s not magic that keeps you alive? Just ‘cause you understand the mechanics of how something works, doesn’t make it any less of a miracle. Which is just another word for magic. We’re all kept alive by magic, Sookie. My magic’s just a little different from yours, that’s all.”
Charlaine Harris
M – Making a difference
“It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.”
Tom Brokaw
“It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference”
Paul "Bear" Bryant
“Never be afraid to do something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the titanic.”
Anonymous
Go out more, keep cheerful as well as busy, for you are the sunshine-maker of the family, and if you get dismal there is no fair weather.”
Louisa May Alcott.
“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.”
Ayn Rand
“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first
cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”
Confucius
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
Robert Frost
“We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.”
Stevie Wonder
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
Marian Wright Edelman
“We must overcome the notion that we must be regular... it robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre.”
Uta Hagen
“You're the only one who can make the difference. Whatever your dream is, go for it.”
Earvin Magic Johnson
M – Meditation
“God intended us to have dominion over our lives, to be the captains of our souls. Of course, in the ship of life, you cannot make port unless all sails are set. You must pursue the spiritual life wholeheartedly. You cannot expect to reach port if you are faithful in your prayers and
meditations for a time, and then for a time you forget God.”
Emmet Fox
“Often, once we get started with the day, we may not listen as closely to life and ourselves as we do in those still moments when we first awaken. An ideal time to listen to ourselves is when we are laying quietly, our defenses are down, and we're open and most vulnerable. What is the first feeling that floods through us, the feeling that perhaps we are trying to avoid during the business of the day? That is what we need to focus on and work through. That's the issue we need to address.” Melody Beattie
M – Minimalist
“But I deal with this by meditating and by understanding I’ve been put on the planet to serve humanity. I have to remind myself to live simply and not overindulge, which is a constant battle in a material world.”
Sandra Cisneros.
“One of the advantages of being born in an affluent society is that if one has any intelligence at all, one will realize that having more and more won’t solve the problem, and happiness does not lie in possessions, or even relationships: The answer lies within ourselves. If we can’t find peace and happiness there, it’s not going to come from the outside.”
Tenzin Palmo
“The intention of voluntary simplicity is not to dogmatically live with less. It’s a more demanding intention of living with balance. This is a middle way that moves between the extremes of poverty and indulgence.”
Duane Elgin
“We really must understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic. It is psychotic because it has completely lost touch with reality. We crave things we neither need nor enjoy.”
Richard Foster
“The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn’t simple.”
Doris Janzen Longacre
“Any half-awake materialist well knows – that which you hold holds you.”
Tom Robbins
“The simplest things are often the truest.”
Richard Bach.
“Contentment comes not so much from great wealth as from few wants.”
Epictetus
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” Seneca
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”
Jesus Christ
“The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”
John the Baptist
“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” –
Epicurus
“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
Socrates
“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” –
Lao Tzu
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” –
Confucious
To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”
Buddha
M - Miracles
"Miracles are shifts in the mind's perception.
We have all heard a story of someone who was cured of cancer. Wouldn't that be a miracle in the body? Some might argue yes; however, many would say a change in the body has to be precipitated by a change in the mind. If illness is all one thinks is possible, illness is what one gets. Thinking health and well-being might not make a disease disappear, but the person's healed mind and attitude will guarantee a peaceful response to life."
Karen Casey
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
Albert Einstein
"Miracles occur as involuntary effects of a loving personality, an invisible force that emanates from someone whose conscious intention is to give and receive love. As we relinquish the fears that block the love within us, we become God's instruments. We become His miracle workers."
Marianne Williamson
"A miracle is merely a shift, a change in perception. It comes from changing the mind, not other people or situations."
Karen Casey
“Miracles are merely thoughts. Whatever our religious background, we’ve generally thought of miracles as unimaginable outcomes to serious situations, in other words, really big things. Which is right? Sometimes a life-threatening health challenge might disappear fully. When that’s the case, nobody scoffs, everybody recognizes how big that is. But on the other hand, we have all experienced the unexpected dissipation of an intense power struggle with a colleague and have thought, “What a miracle!” Miracles are mysterious and elusive. They have not absolute characteristics. The parameters of what defines a miracle changes, depending on the circumstances. But the one element that is the same in all miracles is our change in thinking. Looking at it from this perspective suggests that we can create miracles at will. All we have to do is change our minds.”
Karen Casey
"I hate to contradict one of your favorite slogans, but "expecting a miracle" is not always helpful. Sometimes you think you need a miracle, but all you need is a little common sense. Sometimes, you are certain you need a miracle, but all you need to do is walk through your fear. I am not trying to suggest that there is a shortage of miracles out there and that you must save them up for special occasions. On the contrary, there are miracles happening everywhere, but you often don't see them because you are expecting fireworks. When you are doing the best that you can in your life, you are making miracles constantly. When you are moving through your fear, seeing your projections, and reaching out lovingly to people who are dispirited or afraid, you are a miracle worker." Paul Ferrini
"Miracles are created in an invisible realm. The Holy Spirit improves our style. He teaches us how to communicate from love instead of attack. Often people will say, "Well, I told them. I really communicated!" But communication is a two-way street. It only occurs if one person speaks, and the other one can hear them. We've all been in conversations where two people spoke and no one heard a thing. We've also had conversations where no one said anything and both people understood everything perfectly. In order to truly communicate, we must take responsibility for the heart space that exists between us and another. It is that heart space, or the absence of it, which will determine whether communication is miraculous or fearful. Sometimes, of course, that means
keeping our mouths shut. Silence can be a powerfully loving communication."
Marianne Williamson
"No matter what the shape of a problem, its form or its size, a miracle can handle it. Miracles mean that at any moment we can begin again. No matter what the problem, as long as we return our minds to a graceful position now, the universe will always help to clean up the mess and start over."
Marianne Williamson
"Everyone can make a miracle.
We are raised to think of miracles as unique, rare occurrences that few people deserve. Our familiarity with miracles is limited, particularly if we define them as dramatic healings, being saved from a near accident, or winning a great deal of money. Now we are learning that miracles are available to all of us all the time.
What do we need to make a miracle? Willingness. A change of the mind will result in a miracle every time we are willing to give up the ego's perspective of whatever situation is distressing us. It's very hard to do this at first. We think there's so much at stake. Being right has been important to us. After all, doesn't it define who we are and how worthy we are?
We see that taking the risk of walking away from a situation, rather than 'righting it' according to our perspective, is absolutely freeing, once we've experienced it. And that's the miracle."
Karen Casey
"Miracles aren't reserved for the few.
To receive a miracle takes no more time than an instant. It doesn't take a special prayer, a unique relationship with God, or an extremely unfortunate life. It takes only an open mind and a willing heart.
But what's the process for receiving a miracle? It's asking a simple question. "Holy Spirit, will you please help me see this situation in a more loving way?" Miraculously, the new perspective
comes. Miraculously, the burden of worry or fear or anger dissolves."
Karen Casey
"There's a story about a wealthy fellow who goes to a Zen monastery seeking the secret to life.
But instead of listening to the Master, the fellow does nothing but speak of his accomplishments. The Zen Master pours the man a cup of tea as he continues his monologue. Suddenly, the man looks down, and sees his teacup overflowing onto the saucer and down the table. 'What's wrong with you?' he bellows at the Zen Master. 'The tea is overflowing all over the place!'
The Zen Master responded: 'The secret of life is having some emptiness so that the Universe can give you its gift.'
The man was so full of himself, that he had no room for God.
Have you created space for a miracle to occur? If our cup is always full, what can be poured into it?"
Mary Manin Morrissey
“Changes in life are always going to happen; they’re part of the human experience. What we can change, however, is how we perceive them. And that shift in our perception is a miracle” Marianne Williamson
"In the 1800s, Paganini was an emerging violinist and composer. And his dream was to play to a packed opera house in which the audience would jump to its feet with an ovation. And then that evening came. It was time for his solo. But as the musician began to draw his bow, he felt this terror and sickness in his stomach because he realized that he had grabbed the wrong violin, a far inferior one. And then deep inside himself he heard, "Play with what you've got." And so he drew back his bow and he began to play. And he asked that even in this instrument, something might happen that would make a difference for the gift of music. As Paganini maximized what he had, the audience rose to ovation after ovation after ovation. He said: "Before tonight, I always thought the music came from my violin. Tonight I realized the music comes from me." Often we have thought our miracle comes from the world, when the truth is, the only miracle that's real must come through us, from that place in us where the spirit of God truly resides. The music is within you."
Mary Manin Morrissey
“Prayer is a conduit for miracles. It addresses the problems of the world at their source. It changes people at a cellular level, and with each one who changes, others are brought miraculously closer to enlightenment.”
Marianne Williamson
“The miracles worker’s goal in every circumstance is peace of mind.”
Marianne Williamson
"Albert Einstein said this: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Celebrate your life every day, or you will be discarding your most precious possession, for every moment of your life is a gift. The distance between where you are now and the place you ultimately desire to be may seem overwhelming, but gifts abound along the path. Look deeply, and you will find a miracle today, in your very midst."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"The Zen master Ling Chi said that the miracle is not to walk on burning charcoal or in the thin air or on the water; the miracle is just to walk on earth. You breathe in. You become aware of the fact that you are alive. You are still alive and you are walking on this beautiful planet! The greatest of all miracles is to be alive."
Thich Nhat Hanh
“A miracle can be defined as an extremely outstanding event, thing, or accomplishment. Observing nature, I am reminded of the glory of God in the miracles that abound. I may be quietly watching a bumblebee collect pollen from a flower, wondering how its delicate wings could possibly lift its robust body into the air, and indeed they do. The miraculous bumblebee flies! I never have to look far for a miracle of life, for I am a miraculous being in so many ways. My mind and my body carry out numerous complex functions every second. I am able to move and heal and think and communicate with others. My spirit is eternally one with God, and my life is a miracle!”
Unity’s Daily Word
“The miraculous is not extraordinary, but the common mode of existence. It is our daily bread. Whoever really has considered the lilies of the field or the birds of the air and pondered the improbability of their existence in this warm world within the cold and empty stellar distances will hardly balk at the turning of water into wine --- which was, after all, a very small miracle. We forget the greater and still continuing miracle by which water (with soil and sunlight) is turned into grapes.”
Wendell Berry
“If you don't have a love affair with life everyday, if you don't expect a miracle everyday, you're always going to be looking for God exclusively in what appears good -- in the attractive, in the easeful, in the predictable. Most of you reading this are old enough and mature enough and have had enough experience to know that you should not expect appearances to convey everything. Appearances are totally subjective. Instead, you should look to the heart of things; feel through appearances to the Essence. Not only are you capable of that, you all do that naturally anyway. You just need to be aware that you do it, trust it, and make this awareness more real than the illusions of your trained beliefs and opinions.”
Lee Lozowick
M – Mystics
“The language of the mystics cannot meet the language of science and reason, but nevertheless in a world that craves experimental testimonies it will be always one of the roads by which our contemporaries can find God”
Rene Vouillaume
“Many mystics have said, and it is true, that anything you see is not God. Anything you think is not God, neither are visions, lights, moving objects or anything else. Any sensation or feeling is not God. They are all the products of the creation or your imagination.”
Barry Long
“The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man.”
Albert Einstein
“Just as in earthly life lovers long for the moment when they are able to breathe forth their love for each other, to let their souls blend in a soft whisper, so the mystic longs for the moment when in prayer he can, as it were, creep into God.”
Soren Kierkegaard
N – Nature
“On the material plane light is the freest process of nature. You cannot bottle it up. It will shed itself to the farthest that its nature tells it to. If you hide it under a bushel, it burns the bushel and makes a greater light than ever. If you hide it in iron vaults, it heats things red hot and melts and destroys them. While it lasts you may hide it behind some screen, but you cannot quench it by confinement. So of the eternal, unquenchable light of the reasoning based on the truth that there is one God, above you all, and through you all, and in your all – it cannot be spoken without shedding its light through the next statement of Science. And once it is set streaming through the mind, we must speak and think and write and live the doctrine.”
Emma Curtis Hopkins
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.”
Anne Frank
“Nature is just enough; but men and women must comprehend and accept her suggestions.”
Antoinette Brown Blackwell
“The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.”
Blaise Pascal
“The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration.”
Claude Monet
“My best Acquaintances are those
With Whom I spoke no Word— The Stars that stated come to Town
Esteemed Me never rude
Although to their Celestial Call
I failed to make reply— My constant—reverential Face
Sufficient Courtesy.”
Emily Dickinson
“Some keep the Sabbath going to Church,
I keep it staying at Home - With a bobolink for a Chorister,
And an Orchard, for a Dome. Emily Dickinson
Who has not found the heaven below Will fail of it above.
God's residence is next to min,
His furniture is love.”
Emily Dickinson
“When we understand that man is the only animal who must create meaning, who must open a wedge into neutral nature, we already understand the essence of love. Love is the problem of an animal who must find life, create a dialogue with nature in order to experience his own being.”
Ernest Becker
“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
“Find happiness in nature
In the beauty of a mountain
In the serenity of the sea
Find happiness in a friendship
In the fun of doing things together
In the sharing and understanding
Find happiness in your family
In the stability of knowing
That someone cares
In the strength of love and honesty
Find happiness in yourself
In your mind and body
In your values and achievements
Find happiness in
Everything
You
Do”
Susan Polis Schutz
N – New Thought
“New Thought, then, is not the name of a particular sect, but is the essential factor by which our own future development is to be carried on; and its essence consists in seeing the relation of things in a New Order. Hitherto we have inverted the true order of cause and effect; now, by carefully considering the real nature of the Principle of Causation in itself – causa causans as distinguished from causa causata – we return to the true order
and adopt a new method of thinking in accordance with it.”
Thomas Troward
“Almost imperceptibly to ourselves we grow into a New Order of Thought which proceeds, not from a knowledge of good and evil, but from the Principle of Life itself. That is what makes the difference between our old thought and our new thought. Our old thought was based upon a comparison of limited facts; our new thought is based upon a comprehension of principles.”
Thomas Troward
N – Now
“In the Infinite there is no past or future; there is only the living present – the Now. There is no place for a false creation in a universe of form that is Infinite Mind in action; there is no false world except in man’s misconception.”
Nona L. Brooks
“But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“God is, and we are. Let us live in His world – not a world to be tomorrow, next month, next year, or next century, but here and now. God’s beautiful universe is all about us, only awaiting our acknowledge of its presence. Let us know God and live – live with love and joy, health and peace, here evermore.”
Charles Fillmore
“As all truth exists now, and awaits simply our perception of it, so all things necessary for the present needs exist now, and await simply the power in us to appropriate them. God holds all things in His hands. His constant word is, My child, acknowledge Me in all your ways, and in the degree that you do this, in the degree that you live this, then what is Mine is yours.”
Ralph Waldo Trine
“It is here that we find the importance of realizing spirit’s independence of time and space. An ideal, as such, cannot be formed in the future. It must either be formed here and now or not be formed at all; and it is for this reason that every teacher who has ever spoken with due knowledge of the subject has impressed upon his followers the necessity of picturing to themselves the fulfillment of their desires as already accomplished on the spiritual plane, as the indispensable condition of fulfillment in the visible and concrete.”
Thomas Troward
“The only time we can initiate any manifestation is in the present. The past is gone and there is absolutely nothing we can do in the future. What we have is right now, and there’s nothing more powerful than to be fully present in this now moment.”
Dr. John B. Waterhouse
O - Oneness
“Whether you are an extrovert who thrives in social settings, or an introvert who finds joy in quiet moments, you are a unique individual with gifts that can enrich the lives of others. You are part of the vast One-ness that is God.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
“Music can also be a sensual pleasure, like eating food or sex. But its highest vibration for me is that point of taking us to a real understanding of something in our nature which we can very rarely get at. It is a spiritual state of oneness.”
Terry Riley
“Music should probably provide answers in terms of lyrical content, and giving people a sense of togetherness and oneness, as opposed to being alone in their thoughts and dilemmas or regrets or happiness or whatever.”
Peabo Bryson
“Quantum physics thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe.”
Erwin Schrodinger
“All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.”
Swami Vivekananda
“Praying without ceasing is not ritualized, nor are there even words. It is a constant state of awareness of oneness with God.”
Peace Pilgrim
“To discover joy is to return to a state of oneness with the universe.”
Peggy Jenkins
P – Passion
“If your passion starts to die, it won't be because of your spiritual work, your friends, your lover, or because of life's down times. Your passion will die because you have bought -- hook, line, and sinker -- an attitude that was sold to you by your parents, your school teachers, and this society. You've bought the attitude that you've got to look like that Playgirl man (if you're a man) or that Playboy woman (if you're a woman). You think you've got to be cool and cultured, that you've got to dress right and smell like the corporate world wants you to smell. If your passion dies it will be because you've bought that appearances are everything, including the appearance of your worldview, politics, opinions, and beliefs.”
Lee Lozowick
“The Work [used in many spiritual traditions to refer to the Work of God] wants your life -- but only when you are in a love affair with life itself, only when you are bright, strong, confident, capable, in short: ALIVE. The Work does not want some kind of dull, dispassionate, struggling, agonizing humanoid. To give your life to the Work is to give breath and activity to the Work everyday; to give passion to the
Work everyday. You have to have a childlike, eternal beginner's mind [approaching each moment as new], a belief in miracles, like, "Any day anything can happen!"”
Lee Lozowick
P - Peace
"Who are the people who seem to be able to push your buttons and send you into a frenzy?
Your spouse? Your children? Your parents? A certain employee? Your boss? A neighbor? I'm talking about the ones who really get to you. Anyone else might say the same thing and you are able to blissfully ignore them and even respond in your most spiritual and unconditionally loving tone. 'Thank you for sharing.' Obviously those people do not present any threat to your being an instrument of peace. It's those button pushers, the ones who succeed in sending you into a state of frustration and turmoil with a simple look of disapproval or a frown, who are your greatest teachers."
Wayne Dyer
"Remember, you become what you think about all day long. How often do you clutter your mind with thoughts of non-peace? How many times a day do you say out loud how terrible the world is? How violent we have all become? How uncaring we seem to be? How racist we are? How little government cares about us? All of these thoughts and their expressions are indications that you have become trapped in a non-peaceful mind and therefore, a non-peaceful world."
Wayne Dyer
"The blessing for us is that peace is always available. It's never more than an instant away. In the quiet spaces of our minds, it waits to be called. Searching our minds for complex solutions to daily problems will never provide the answers we deserve. Seeking to know nothing but peace will always satisfy us."
Karen Casey
"For a time let us put aside the idea of solving the worlds problems of famine and despair and begin with our own households."
Jim Rosemergy
"Peace and war start within one's own home. If we really want peace for the world, let us start by loving one another within our families."
Mother Teresa
"Peace is built on the foundations of other spiritual practices: connections, compassion, justice, unity. It is a goal of all spiritual people. Peace is an inner state of well-being and calm. It is also an outer project of promoting nonviolence, conflict resolution, and cooperation in the world. The root of the Hebrew word for peace, "shalom," means "whole" and points to this twofold meaning: peace within oneself and peace between people. Practice peace by refusing to participate in violence either directly or indirectly. Try to stay composed no matter how agitated the people around you become. Meet conflict with equanimity. Disarm yourself “lower your guard” as a first step in disarming the world." Spirituality & Health magazine
"Making our goal anything other than peace is emotionally self-destructive. If our goal is to get the job, then that's fine if we do, but if we don't get the job, we'll feel depressed. If we make peace our goal, then if we get the job, that's great, but if we don't, we're still peaceful." Marianne Williamson
"I can choose peace, rather than this."
A Course in Miracles
"There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden, or even your bathtub."
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
"You do not seek peace by looking into the lives of others and wishing that they would change so that you could become more peaceful. Rather, you bring your own sense of calm to everyone you encounter."
Wayne Dyer
"You cannot always control what goes on outside.
But you can always control what goes on inside."
Wayne Dyer
"Nothing in the world matters.
The trials of our daily lives - the job loss, the communication breakdown with a spouse, the incorrigible daughter - certainly upset us. How could they not matter?
All situations can be interpreted through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. When we call upon it to give us a different perspective, whether on the most traumatic or exceedingly mundane experience, we will feel relief, even peace, in an instant. The understanding we cultivate, in the process, is that, finally, nothing really matters, not when viewed through a holy perspective. The concept baffles us. We would not be troubled by the idea if we could understand that changing our minds is a decision, a process, a journey, an activity that requires willingness and
lots of practice. When we come to grips with this, we're on our way."
Karen Casey
"Attacks can come in many shapes and forms. They can be emotional attacks, where someone pelts us with anger and rage. We can be attacked physically, too.
Self-defense is important. But it's easy to get confused, when we're being attacked, about what it means to take care of and protect ourselves. It may be a boss, a spouse, a child, or a friend, who turns on us in anger and rage. We might be dating someone, someone we don't know well, who suddenly starts spewing venom and rage. Instinctively, we may attack back. If someone yells at us in anger, says something mean, or physically hurts us, we usually don't think twice. We tense up and fight back. Then the situation escalates.
The other person's fear and anger contaminate us. We become afraid, angry, and mean, too. Our intense and volatile emotions feed and fuel the situation. Things can easily get out of control. Instead of escalating the situation into an all-out brawl, try harmonizing and restoring the situation to peace. You might be surprised with the results that learning to relax and harmonize brings. And you'll be closer to connecting with your true power.
God, fill me up with so much peace that my presence neutralizes and deflects attacks, no matter where I might be."
Melody Beattie~
"How do you get world peace? You get world peace through inner peace. If you've got a world
full of people who have inner peace, then you have a peaceful world."
Wayne Dyer
"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal." Martin Luther King Jr
"When you make peace with yourself you take a hard look at everything you have ever done and you remind yourself that you needed all those experiences in order to provide you with the energy to propel yourself to a higher spiritual frequency. Eventually you acknowledge that virtually every spiritual advance is preceded by a disaster of some kind, and that all of the unwanted events of your life were necessary. Why? Because they occurred, and there are no accidents in this intelligent system we call our universe. If you are better than you used to be that is reason enough to make peace with yourself. All the self-reproach, guilt, disappointment, self-hatred,
and anger that you direct at yourself simply takes away from peace."
Wayne Dyer
"The world is not dominated, particularly Western culture is not dominated, by a deeply sacred sensibility. And we are living at a time where, I believe and I think many of us believe, that literally the survival of the human race depends on our ability to move into a new ground of being. Away from the war within ourselves and the little wars as well as the big wars which occur outside and just the level of warfare that dominates this planet. I'm not even talking now about a particular national or international situation. I'm talking about our own inner battle and the battles among us - even those of us who proclaim to like or even love each other. There's never been a time in the history of the human race where it's so important that we eschew the wagers of war; that we lay claim to a plane of reconciliation with each other and with those battling forces inside ourselves."
Marianne Williamson
"Peace is the least dense state you can experience while in a physical body. It has no goal except itself. It has no agenda. One who is at peace has great flexibility, great patience, great compassion. S/he has no need to try to fix anyone, no need to improve the world. One who is at peace naturally improves the world just by being. S/he breathes peace, talks peace, and walks peace. There is no effort, no attempt to fix. Nothing in the world is broken. The perception of pain is healed just by seeing it differently. When you look through the eyes of love, there is no situation which cannot be accepted as it is. There is no injustice anywhere apart from the eyes of the beholder. And it is the
beholder, in the end, who must let his pain go and see the world differently." Paul Ferrini
"There are times when everything runs according to plan. The kids make good grades, the bills are paid on time and your family is healthy and happy. Anyone can choose peace when everything is going according to plan. Choosing peace when all hell is breaking loose around you is where you learn who you really are. When the trials and tribulations of life break down your front door, choose to remain calm.
How can I be peaceful when my family member is ill, or my company is having layoffs and I don”t know what’s going to happen tomorrow?”
In situations like these you always make a choice, whether you realize it or not. You either choose to worry about situations you have no control over. Or you choose peace and hand over those situations to your Higher Power. Either way, the outcome of the situations is not up to you.
But how you deal with it is.
When you have a clear purpose, you won’t have time for negativity."
Mark Victor Hansen
"Peace is possible.
Each moment that one individual chooses peace inside, the whole of humanity moves forward. We each have the ability and responsibility to become peacemakers in our daily lives." John Morton
"Practice thinking peace. Remember, you become what you think about all day long. How often do you clutter your mind with thoughts of non-peace? How many times a day do you say out loud how terrible the world is? How violent we have all become? How uncaring we seem to be? How racist we are? How little the Government cares about us? All of these thoughts and their expressions are indications that you have become trapped in a non-peaceful mind and, therefore, a non peaceful world. Every time you bemoan the horrors of the world, or listen to media reports on all that is evil, or read tabloids that exploit the unpleasant facts about other's lives, you are continuing the conditioning that takes you away from becoming an instrument of peace." Wayne Dyer
"Your peace is between you and God. Period. It is not between you and anyone else, or any set of circumstances, as difficult as that is to accept sometimes. When people say to me, "How can you possibly be at peace in a non peaceful world?", I always remind them that inner peace is just that, inner, not outer. You must come to the point where you bring your peace to everyone
and everyone thing, rather than attempting to secure it from outer circumstances."
Wayne Dyer
“Your highest self only wants you to be at peace. It does not judge, compare or demand that you defeat anyone, or be better than anyone. It only wants you to be at peace. Whenever you are about to act, ask yourself this question: “Is what I am about to say or do going to bring me peace?” If the answer is yes, then go with it and you will be allowing yourself the wisdom of your
highest self. If the answer is no, then remind yourself that it is your ego at work.”
Wayne Dyer
"Let your first response to any situation be a peaceful one, and from that point you can fashion a positive, effective course of action. When confronted with anger, hostility, incompetence, frustration, hatred or confusion, respond with peace. Put yourself in a position to move things powerfully, positively forward. Make peace your starting point, for it is a powerful place from which true progress can be made. Though trouble may surround you, close in upon you, and grow more challenging with each moment, it does not have to define you. Within you there is always a place for peace to live, and when that peace is there, it radiates powerfully outward. A peaceful response does not mean that you allow others to harm you or take advantage of you. What it means is that you remain committed to being and doing what is right, rather than being overcome by whatever has gone wrong. A peaceful response is not a weak, naive response, but rather a strong, confident, powerful and effective one. Let a part of you remain at peace, no matter what, and the rest of you, as well as those around you, and the situations in which you're involved, will benefit greatly."
Ralph Marston
"The formula for discovering peace is simple. Try the following: Stop thinking. Get quiet. Turn your attention to the Spirit within and ask for clarity, for a different perspective, for a forgiving heart. Peace will come. If it's so easy, why aren't we surrounded by more peaceful companions? Because the noisy ego is so seductive. It clamors for our attention just as it clamors for control of our lives and the lives of others. The ego convinces us we'll be more secure if it's in charge. Painfully learning, again and again, that that's not the case eventually leaves an indelible mark. Peace will seek us then. My journey will enlighten me today if I'm attentive."
Karen Casey
"When things are investigated, then true knowledge is achieved;
When true knowledge is achieved, then the will becomes sincere;
When the will is sincere, then the heart is set right;
When the heart is set right, then personal life is cultivated;
When the personal life is cultivated, then the family life is regulated;
When the family life is regulated, then the national life is orderly;
And when the national life is orderly, then there is peace in the world."
Confucius
"I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it."
Dwight D. Eisenhower
"You can have peace in relationships by not entering into conflicts. We can have peace in this world by not entering into war."
John Roger
"The war situation is the result of not one person's belief system, or one country's belief system, but of the shared belief systems of all people on earth. Blame is not an option. Guilt is not an option. A sense of shared responsibility is imperative.
This means that each of us is involved in creating and sustaining the war, and each of us can impact its course, however minutely, by looking to our own level of internal peace and cultivating it every day. Each of us affects the whole, moment by moment, just as it affects us. The more peaceful we become, the more we spread peace in the universal consciousness of humanity." Mary Shelton
“There is no peace without forgiveness. Attack thoughts toward others are attacks on ourselves. Marianne Williamson
"Understand the paradox: If you study the physics of a waterspout, you will see that the outer vortex whirls far more quickly than the inner one. To calm the storm means to quiet the outer layer, to cause it to swirl much less, to more evenly match the velocity of the inner core - till whatever has been lifted into such a vicious funnel falls back to Earth, lays down, is peaceable again. One of the most important steps you can take to help calm the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or desperation thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and the swirl.
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale."
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
“When you are an instrument of thy peace, you are not seeking anything, you are a peace provider. You do not seek peace by looking into the lives of others and wishing that they would change so that you could become more peaceful. Rather, you bring your own sense of calm to everyone you encounter. You do not go about viewing every circumstance of your life in terms of whether it meets with your standard for peace. Rather, you bring your peaceful countenance to the chaos you encounter and your presence soothes the outer turmoil."
Wayne Dyer
"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders."
Lao-Tzu
“When you remind yourself that for every act of evil, there are a thousand acts of kindness, you put your thoughts back on peace. When you stop someone who is relating yet another disaster story and change the tone to something more loving, you become an instrument of peace. When you stop yourself from rehashing the same old scenes, with new characters, concerning accidents, crimes, poverty, mistreatment, and disasters of all kinds, and put your mind on making these things disappear, you become an instrument of peace. Use your mind to think peace, because peace is the happy natural state of man, and evil, war, and hatred are his disgrace. Be a part of the natural in your mind and not our disgrace.”
Wayne Dyer
"Peace must begin somewhere, and it must begin with one individual.... Until peace has been established in our innermost being, there will be no domestic or world peace. Only when peace shall have been established in the minds and hearts of mankind will peace be restored nationally and internationally."
Joel Goldsmith
P - Perspective
“The true perspective is love in the big picture, welcoming absolutely whatever comes up, and aiming at the highest good without disappointment at whatever happens. Every event has the seeds of positive value.”
Chuck Turner
"The reality of life is that your perceptions - right or wrong - influence everything else you do. When you get a proper perspective of your perceptions, you may be surprised how many other things fall into place."
Roger Birkman
P - Play
“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
Kahlil Gibran
“Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.”
Henry Van Dyke
“If you aren't playing well, the game isn't as much fun. When that happens I tell myself just to go out and play as I did when I was a kid.”
Thomas J. Watson
“It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game.”
Unknown Author
“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.” Heraclitus
“Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.”
Roger von Oech
“The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.”
Richard Bach
“The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.” G.K. Chesterton
“There is work that is work and there is play that is play; there is play that is work and work that is play. And in only one of these lies happiness.”
Gelett Burgess
“We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
George Bernard Shaw
“Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing conditions.”
Mark Twain
“Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.”
Mark Twain
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
Plato
P - Possibilities
“So many things are possible as long as you don't know they are impossible.”
“Turn your obstacles into opportunities and your problems into possibilities.”
“A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us.”
“It's the possibility that keeps me going, not the guarantee.”
The secret to getting unstuck is so simple, you'll laugh. Here it is: Begin. Do something, anything that gets you moving in the right direction. Sure, it's not always smooth or even easy and problems don't just disappear but you will be unstuck. So pick up that pencil, paint brush, mixing bowl, greeting card, make that appointment, walk around the house, scream, laugh, cry… Begin!
Moving forward despite our fears and obstacles is one of the most empowering and powerful things we will ever do.
P - Prayer
"Dear God. As we join together on this holy day, may Your spirit be upon us all. May the hand of God be on every heart. May the Holy Spirit fill every cell of our being. And may all of us, dear God, be uplifted. May we be moved beyond all energies of fear, limitation, despair and sorrow. Wipe away our tears and open our hearts. May we be healed by You, that through us You might heal the entire world. Thank You, dear God. Together, we all say, Amen."
Marianne Williamson
"Dear God,
Please send to me the spirit of Your peace.
Then send, dear Lord, the spirit of peace from me to all the world.
May everyone I think of and all who think of me see only innocence and love— for that is who we are.
Bless, dear God, my bond with others.
Make holy my relationships and peaceful our communications, body to body and soul to soul.
Amen."
Marianne Williamson
"Dear God,
Show me the light at the centre of my brothers.
Show me the light at the centre of myself.
Show me the light at the centre of the world.
Where I see guilt, show me innocence.
Where I focus on mistakes, show me how to focus on efforts at good.
Help me have faith in the goodness of others.
Help me have faith in Your spirit within me. Thus may darkness be cast out.
May I cleave to the light that is in my heart.
This is my prayer.
May I see the light in everyone.
Amen."
Marianne Williamson
"Dear God,
I give this day to You.
May my mind stay centered on the things of spirit.
May I not be tempted to stray from love.
As I begin this day, I open to receive You. Please enter where you already abide. May my mind and heart be pure and true, and may I not deviate from the things of goodness. May I see the love and innocence in all mankind, behind the masks we all wear and the illusions of this worldly plane.
I surrender to You my doings this day.
I ask only that they serve You and the healing of the world. May I bring Your love and goodness with me, to give unto others wherever I go.
Make me the person You would have me be.
Direct my footsteps, and show me what You would have me do.
Make the world a safer, more beautiful place.
Bless all Your creatures.
Heal us all, and use me, dear Lord, that I might know the joy of being used by You.
Amen.
Marianne Williamson
"Don't ask God to send you a brilliant career but rather ask Him to show you the brilliance within you. It is the recognition of our brilliance that releases it into expression."
Marianne Williamson
"The purpose of prayer...is not to influence God to grant you special favors, but rather to remind yourself that you are always connected to God. As Soren Kierkegaard, the famed Danish theologian, once put it, "Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays." The change that happens in prayer is the removal of all doubt by your faith."
Wayne Dyer
"Dear God.
Bless and protect us in this dangerous hour. Forgive us how often our hearts have been closed when danger was visiting others. May the eyes of our enemies be open, that they might see the Light in us. And may we see the Light in them, that darkness shall be no more. Surround us all with love,
dear God, so hatred will dissolve.
Amen."
Marianne Williamson
"Dear God
Today this day, I give to You.
Do within me what You want to do.
Please make of my heart Your vessel and servant. May the glorious light of the Lord of Creation find a restful home inside my soul.
May I be no more who I used to be.
I embrace the divine child within me.
May it burst forth now to bless the world. May I not be tempted to doubt the light that lights the entire world.
Illumine the earth and save the world.
Thank you Lord.
Amen."
Marianne Williamson
"Dear God, we surrender today our opinions, we surrender our views, we surrender all, and ask that You, dear God, now fill our hearts and fill our minds. We come to You as Your children. We ask to understand other people's points of view. We ask to see as we have not seen, and hear as we have not heard. For we ask You, dear God, to give us new eyes on this day, and new ears, and new minds, and new hearts; that we might become new people. Make us new, dear God, that we might seek together, a newer world. For this we pray for us and all humanity, and so it is. Amen."
Marianne Williamson
"Dear God,
Please bless the children of the earth, mine and all others, the precious angels in our midst. Send all darkness away from them. Thank you, God.
Amen"
Marianne Williamson
"God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the person I can, and the wisdom to know, that person is me."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays."
Soren Kierkegaard
"Dear God
I surrender to You my striving.
I let go all need to effort or to struggle.
I relax deeply into things exactly as they are.
I accept life, that it might move through me with grace.
Amen."
Marianne Williamson
“Prayer is where we talk to God, stake claim to His thought forms, and honor His power to heal us.”
Marianne Williamson
"Pray for your friends, but by all means, pray for your enemies. And don't pray that they'll change; pray that you might change - from an accusatory mind to a loving one."
Marianne Williamson
"Our goal is to bring our lives to prayer. Emotionally, there are no small issues, Anything has the power to hurt, if our mind is vicious enough to use it against us. A torn shirt can drive us to tears, if it reminds us enough of a day in third grade when we felt like our clothes weren't adequate. A small, careless word from someone can trigger a torrent of painful feelings. It is these small, insidious moments of pain that God can cast out but that we alone cannot. Hurt children, their
wounds unhealed, too often become very dangerous adults."
Marianne Williamson
"The value of persistent prayer is not that he will hear us but that we will finally hear him." Father Wm. McGill
"How different the world would be if every day's newspaper reports were met with prayers for healing from its readers! And that will happen, when the modern mind realizes the power of spirit. Prayer itself will emerge from the constricting limitations of religious doctrine, to become a spontaneous call of the soul to the higher power from whence we came."
Marianne Williamson
"Dear God...
With this prayer, I call to mind my friends. I ask for Your blessing on them.
May angels fill their nights and bless their days. May they find joy and peace and harmony. May I be a source of happiness in their lives. May our bonds be strong and based on truth. May they always know that in me, they have support. May I live a life that lives up to this prayer.
Thank You, God. Amen."
Marianne Williamson
"May I be medicine for those who are sick, a partner for those who are lonely, a bridge for those who need to cross over, and a light for those who are blind."
A prayer of the Bodhisattva
"Demographic experts are telling us that there is a general spiritual awakening among people of various faiths. Some are returning to "organized" religions. Others are seeking spiritual answers along other paths. However it is done, people are realizing the importance of a healthy spiritual dimension to their lives.
One man tells about a time when his wife suffered from a headache. She took medication and lay down, but nothing seemed to help. Her six-year-old daughter was concerned about her Mommy's health, so the ailing woman asked her if she would like to pray for her. Little Leia said that she would. Leia put her hand on her mother's head and prayed the only prayer she knew: "Lord, thank you for this food..."
I imagine that the words she uses are not important. In fact, I don't know if any words are really adequate to express our deepest spiritual desires. Moreover, what seems most crucial is not so much how "good" we are at praying, but that we simply pause regularly to nurture the soul.
Prayer is a dose of spiritual medication that, taken daily, enhances all of life.
Leonardo da Vinci spent countless hours ruminating upon things of the spirit as he worked on his famous canvas of the Last Supper. He spent so much time meditating in the cloister that some of the monks in that little church became concerned. They remonstrated with the artist about his wasting precious time and money. "Why do you spend so much time with us in prayer when you have come here to work?" they wondered.
Leonardo answered, "When I pause the longest, I make the most telling strokes with my brush." You may not feel that you are much good at prayer, but how good are you without it?" Steve Goodier
"Dear God,
As I write these words it is almost dawn and I am thinking about the day before me.
There are meetings to attend, plans to make and errands to run. I am glad that You are always with me. Help me to be about Your business today God. It seems that it is near dawn on a spiritual level as well.
I am thinking of the five thousand plus people who will read these words today.
Please bless them God, each and every one. You are the common bond between us, the great connection. We can feel that connection when we are quiet and still.
God, we all want more love in our lives and peace in our hearts. We want all children to be fed, safe and happy. We want our homes to be cozy. We want our cities and countries to be peaceful and safe. We want our air and water to be clean and pure. We need miracles God. We need You to be the centre of our lives.
We have technology and knowledge; we have learned to do many things. Help us to use these gifts with a heaping helping of heart.
We are ready for the dawn; we are willing to be holy. We are willing to love each other. Help us move from our heads to our hearts.
May Your Spirit lead the way. Thank You so very much. And so it is. Amen."
Marianne Williamson
P – Present Moment
"Whether it be an argument with your spouse, child, or boss, a mistake, a lost opportunity, a lost wallet, a work-related rejection, or sprained ankle, chances are a year from now you aren't going to care.
It will be one more irrelevant detail in your life.
While this simple game won't solve all our problems, it can give you an enormous amount of needed perspective.
I find myself laughing at things that I used to take far too seriously. Now, rather than using up my energy feeling angry and overwhelmed, I can use it instead on spending time with my wife and children or engaging in creative thinking."
Richard Carlson
"You cannot be both unhappy, and fully present in the Now."
Eckhart Tolle
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Throughout life, the two most futile emotions are guilt for what has been done and worry about what might be done."
Wayne Dyer
"Guilt takes place in the present moment, as does everything. It is a way of using up the present moment to be consumed with something that has already happened, over which you have no control."
Wayne Dyer
"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many -- not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
Charles Dickens
"Remember that from where you are in this moment, in this time and space, you are doing the best that you know to do.
If you could do better in this moment, you would do better."
John-Roger
"Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life."
Eckhart Tolle
"Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
And today?
Today is a gift.
That's why we call it The Present."
Babatunde Olatunji
"It is never too late to be what you might have been."
George Eliot
"The past is over for all of us. The future is promised to none of us. All we get is this one. That’s all we get. "
Wayne Dyer
"Enjoy each moment as it comes. It's so easy to relish that final moment, when the project is finished and the work is turned in. It's easy to trick ourselves into thinking that peak moments in life are the only ones that count.
In Benjamin Hoff's The Tao of Pooh, Pooh talks about the anticipation of eating his honey. The moment when the honey touches your lips is good, Pooh says. But there's the moment right before, that moment of anticipation, that might be just as good if not better.
Go for your dreams. Go for those peak moments of performance and pleasure, too. The day you get your ten-year medallion for sobriety is a good day. Achieving that success in your career - that special award - is a wonderful moment, indeed. And those peak moments in love are indescribably delicious to experience and reminisce about.
While many people talk about being in that peak zone of pleasure all the time, most of us know that peak moments are only a very small fraction of our lives. If we only enjoy those peak moments, or those moments just before, we'll forget to notice the importance of a lot of our lives. Go for peak moments. But open up your heart and let the sheer raw beauty of all the moments in. When you stop looking and waiting for those peak experiences, you might find out how sweet and delicious each single moment really is.
Savor each moment of your life."
Melody Beattie
"Whatever has happened in the past, with whomever, over whatever, is past. It is as simple as that because it's past. And whether they were right or they were wrong, whether you did it or you didn't do it, whether they did or they didn't - this is absolutely immaterial. I wouldn't even discuss it
with you; I wouldn't waste my time. And I suggest that you don't, either."
John-Roger
"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly."
Buddha
"What we do today, right now, has a cumulative effect on all of our tomorrows."
Alexandra Stoddard
"When you are on a journey, it is certainly helpful to know where you are going or at least the general direction in which you are moving, but don't forget: the only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That's all there ever is." Eckhart Tolle
"One of the tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon, instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today."
Dale Carnegie
"Present-moment living, getting in touch with our "Now", is at the heart of effective living. When we think about it, there really is no other moment we can live. Now is all there is, and the future is just another present moment to live when it arrives. One thing is certain, we cannot live it until it does appear."
Wayne Dyer
“Happiness happens only in the present moment. If you become concerned about whether you will be happy tomorrow or even five minutes from now, you won’t be able to be happy now. Your scheming and dreaming take you away from your present happiness. Many of you have important jobs serving others. Yet you are not happy right now in this moment. I must ask you: “Do you really believe that you can help others find happiness when you are worried and stressed?” I must ask you, “Are you willing to give up your lofty goals for the sake of your present happiness?” All of the chaos and confusion in your mind can be transcended through your simple decision to be wholly present and attentive right now. That is the miraculous truth.”
Paul Ferrini
"None of us is given a lifetime. We're given one day at a time. We're given this day. Don't spend today worrying about whether the next one's going to come or where it's going to lead. The joy is
in not missing a second of today, in the depth and the power of this very moment."
Mary Manin Morrissey
“After any episode where hatred has been directed at you, or when you have been a silent witness to hatred, don’t allow the incident to linger in your mind. Furthermore, resist the temptation to discuss the episode or make it the focus of your conversation. Many people, who do not themselves send out hatred, seem to enjoy discussing the hateful ways of others, and tend to make that the focal point of almost all of their discussions. On and on they go relating what someone else said, how terrible it was, and how it affected everyone around them. Meanwhile,
the present moment environment is reduced to one of hatred by proxy."
Wayne Dyer
“The present is a timeless space. It has no sequence, no goal, no process. It merely is what is. Live in the present and what need do you have for beliefs or theories? What concern do you have about yesterday or tomorrow? Living in the present is effortless, that is to say it takes no more effort than you spontaneously give to it. You don’t have to labor to be present. Nobody can come to you and tell you “You need to work harder at living in the present.” It is easy to live in the present because all it demands of you is your awareness and your attention. As soon as you lose your awareness or attention, you move out of the present.”
Paul Ferrini
"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it." Greg Anderson
"Today I will delete from my diary two days: yesterday and tomorrow.
Yesterday was to learn and tomorrow will be the consequence of what I can do today.
Today I will face life with the conviction that this day will not ever return.
Today is the last opportunity I have to live intensely, as no one can assure me that I will see tomorrow's sunrise.
Today I will be brave enough not to let any opportunity pass me by, my only alternative
is to succeed.
Today I will invest my most valuable resource: my time, in the most transcendental work: my life; I will spend each minute passionately to make of today a different and unique day in my life.
Today I will defy every obstacle that appears on my way trusting I will succeed. Today I will resist pessimism and will conquer the world with a smile, with the positive attitude of expecting always the best.
Today I will make of every ordinary task a sublime expression,
Today I will have my feet on the ground understanding reality and the stars' gaze to invent my future.
Today I will take the time to be happy and will leave my footprints and my presence in the hearts of others.
Today, I invite you to begin a new season where we can dream that everything we undertake is possible and we fulfill it, with joy and dignity."
~ Erma
"The time to begin is now. The time to live is now. The day to make a difference is today.
The moment of truth is this very one you have in front of you.
There is something you've been meaning to do, and now is the time to get going on it. The fact that it will take some time is even more reason to go ahead and begin. It does not matter how much or how little time you may seem to have. What truly matters is what you do with now. And what you can do with now is to live, to love, to comfort and encourage and create, to work and to build, to express, to experience, to enjoy. The possibilities have no limit. Now is everything you require and all you desire. And now is when you can truly live it."
Ralph Marston
"For the rest of my life there are two days that will never again trouble me. The first day is yesterday with all Its blunders and tears, its follies and defects. Yesterday has passed forever beyond my control. The other day is tomorrow with its pitfalls and threats, its dangers and mystery. Until the sun rises again, I have no stake In tomorrow, for it is still unborn. With God's help and only one day to concentrate all my effort and energy on, this day, I can win."
Og Mandino
"Be someone who listens, and you will be heard. Be someone who cares, and you will be loved. Be someone who gives, and you will be blessed. Be someone who comforts, and you will know peace. Be someone who genuinely seeks to understand, and you will be wise. Be someone kind, someone considerate, and you will be admired. Be someone who values truth, and you will be respected. Be someone who takes action, and you will move life forward. Be someone who lifts others higher, and your life will be rich. Be someone filled with gratitude, and there will be no end to the things for which you'll be thankful. Be someone who lives with joy, with purpose, as your own light brightly shines. Be, in every moment, the special someone you are truly meant to be."
Ralph Marston
"The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."
Omar Khayyam
"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly."
Buddha
"There won't be a day much better than this. This is the day you just don't want to miss.
The chance to speak up, to make amends. This is the day to love your family and friends. There's never a time much better than now. There's no time like today for discovering how to say I love you, or to apologize. Forget about finding what for's and why's.
There's never a chance much better than yours. This opportunity has never been before.
Step up and take it. Don't hesitate. Do your heart's urging before it's too late.
This is the day the Lord has made. Use each precious second before it fades.
Rejoice! Go for it! Do what you can do! This day is made especially for you."
Virginia Santaro
"Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait."
Longfellow
" I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is."
Alan Watts
"We look backward too much and we look forward too much; thus we miss the only eternity of which we can be absolutely sure - the eternal present, for it is always now."
William Phelps
"Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you cannot live the moment of your daily life deeply. That is why those who are not capable of being there in the present moment, they don't really live their lives - they live like dead people, like the French writer Camus used to say. That is why if you know the technique of mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindful smiling, you can bring your mind back to your body and you become truly alive at every moment and that can be described as the practice of resurrection. Resurrection can be at every moment for life to be truly possible."
Thich Nhat Hanh
"As we become more conscious, we're learning to let ourselves go! We're learning to be spontaneous. Spontaneity may frighten some of us. We may be afraid of loss of control involved with spontaneity. We may still be operating under the codependent rules that prohibit spontaneity; be good; be right; be perfect; be strong; don't have fun; and always be in control. We may associate spontaneity with acting out in an addictive, compulsive, self-destructive, or irresponsible manner.
That's not what we're talking about. Positive spontaneity involves freely expressing who we are -- in a way that is fun, healthy, doesn't hurt us, and doesn't infringe on the rights of other. We learn to be spontaneous and free as we grow in self-awareness and self-esteem. Spontaneity emerges as our confidence and trust in ourselves increase, and we become more secure in our ability to maintain healthy boundaries.
Being spontaneous is connected to our ability to play and to achieve intimacy. For all those desirable acts, we need to be able to let go of our need to control ourselves and others, and fully and freely enter into the present moment.
Let go of your tight rein on yourself. So what if you make a mistake? So what if you're wrong?
Relish your imperfections. Let yourself be a little vulnerable. Take a risk!
We can be spontaneous without hurting ourselves, or others. In fact, everyone will benefit by our spontaneity."
Melody Beattie
“If you could be without time for a single instant “and I assure that you can” you would understand your salvation. In that timeless moment, nothing you have said or done means anything. In that moment, there is nothing to own: no past, no future, no identity. There is just the moment of pure being, of non-separateness, of non-judgment. This is the moment you inhabit all the time without
knowing it. Imagine that: you are already in heaven and you do not know it!” Paul Ferrini
"This is the day you've been waiting for. This is the day you've been working toward. This day is the culmination of all you've ever done, said, thought, dreamed of, hoped for and planned. It is here, it is real, and it is yours now.
No, it is not perfect, yet it is all you could ever need. No, it is not exactly like you might have imagined, yet in many ways it is even better.
Today is the day you are living your dreams. Today is the day you are fulfilling your highest possibilities.
It's not a rehearsal. It really counts. This is your life and this is your day to live it with all the fullness, all the richness you can possibly give. This is really it, so make it truly great."
Ralph Marston
"One of the most curious things about human beings is that each of us possess a vast potential for expanding our fulfillment to our lives - yet mostly we maintain our consciousness at tightly contracted levels that distance us from our deeper spiritual nature and potential...Perhaps the most fundamental psychological insight into meditation is that spiritual awakening happens only in the immediacy of the present moment...The primary culprit that constantly pulls our attention away from the present moment is the tendency of our thinking minds to drift away from the here and now into memories, imaginings, judgments, or abstract thought flows and reflections about those judgments."
John Selby
"The division of life into past, present, and future is mind-made and ultimately illusory. Past and future are thought forms, mental abstractions. The past can only be remembered Now. What you remember is an event that took place in the Now, and you remember it Now. The future, when it comes, is the Now. So the only thing that is real, the only thing there ever is - is the Now."
Eckhart Tolle
"This moment matters very much because it is the culmination of all you have ever been and all you have done.
This moment matters very much because it is the starting point for everything you will become.
This moment may seem quite ordinary.
And yet in its ordinary appearance is an extraordinary nature.
For in this moment you are experiencing the incredible, unmatched wonder of life. It seems ordinary only because you know it so well, and even that adds to its wonder.
This moment has its problems and frustrations, its challenges and disappointments. Yet when you step back and put things in perspective, it becomes clear that the positive possibilities far outweigh even the most negative circumstances.
This moment has brought you more than you've ever had before, and its treasure is here now for you to live.
Value this moment for all it is by giving to it all you can be, and truly magnificent things will come from it."
Ralph Marston
Q – Quality
“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.”
Henry Ford
“The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to
excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
Vince Lombardi
“If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.”
William James
“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
Anthony Robbins
“It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.”
Gandhi
“The qualities of a great man are vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the
power of articulation, and profundity of character.”
Dwight D Eisenhower
“Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”
Booker T Washington
“To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of the arts.”
Henry David Thoreau
“The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are
intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.”
Maya Angelou
Q – Question
“When we find the right question to ask, the answer will be within the question.”
Rev. Nancy Herrick
“Open your eyes, look with. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living”
Bob Marley
R - Relationships
"We can let others take responsibility for themselves in their relationships. We can let them work out their issues with each other.
Being a peacemaker does not mean we get in the middle.
We are bearers of peace by staying peaceful ourselves."
Melody Beattie
"Are you still in that relationship?" I asked my friend one day.
"If I were really sick, I could be," my friend said.
"But I've decided not to do that to myself anymore."
Melody Beattie
"For undefended intimacy to unfold, we must not only develop the ability to be close to another in a healthy way, we must also develop the capacity to relate to ourselves in a healthy way."
Jett Psaris / Marlena Lyons
"Everyone hears what you say.
Friends listen to what you say.
Best friends listen to what you don't say."
Unknown
"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
Unknown
"We all take different paths in life but no matter where we go,
we take a little of each other everywhere."
Tim McGraw
"Maybe the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had."
Unknown
"We must be willing to let our relationships reveal themselves to us. If we are true to ourselves, expressing ourselves fully and honestly, the relationship will unfold in its own and fascinating way. You never know exactly where it will lead. It keeps changing its mood, flavor and form from minute to minute, day to day and year to year. At times it may take you closer to each other, at times it may take you further apart, but each stage in the relationship is an amazing adventure when we are trusting the Universe."
Shakti Gawain
"Never again will I do anything for anyone that I do not feel directly from my heart. I will not attend a meeting, make a phone call, write a letter, sponsor or participate in any activity in which every fibre of my being does not resound, yes I will act with the intent to be true to myself."
Oprah Winfrey
"As you come to seek and see the virtues and strengths and nobilities of others, you begin to seek and see them in yourself also."
Gary Zukav
"Relationships are our primary teacher. They are the context in which we either grow into the consciousness of God, or deny ourselves and others the opportunity to do so."
Marianne Williamson
"The only way to have a friend is to be one."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Sometimes, to protect ourselves, we close ourselves off from a person we're in a relationship with. Our body may be present, but we're not. We're not available to participate in the relationship. We shut down.
Sometimes, it is appropriate and healthy to shut down in a relationship. We may legitimately need some time out.
Sometimes it is self-defeating to close ourselves off in a relationship. To stop being vulnerable, honest, and present for another person can put an end to the relationship. The other person can do nothing in the relationship when we are gone. Closing ourselves makes us unavailable to that relationship.
It is common to go through temporary periods of closing down in a relationship. But it is unhealthy to make this an ongoing practice. It may be one of our relationship sabotaging devices.
Before we close down, we need to ask ourselves what we are hoping to accomplish by shutting down. Do we need some time to deal? To heal? To grow? To sort out through things? Do we need time out from this relationship? Or are we reverting to our old ways - hiding, running, and terminating relationships because we are afraid we cannot take care of ourselves in any other way?
Do we need to shut down because the other person truly isn't safe, is manipulating, lying, or acting out addictively or abusively? Are we shutting down because the other person has shut down and we no longer want to be available?
Shutting down, shutting off, closing ourselves and removing our emotional presence from a relationship is a powerful tool. We need to use it carefully and responsibly. To achieve intimacy and closeness in a relationship, we need to be present emotionally.
We need to be available."
Melody Beattie
"It is very romantic to say that now that your special other has entered your life, you feel complete. Yet the purpose of relationship is not to have another who might complete you; but to have another with whom you might share your completeness."
Neale Donald Walsch
"Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that,
but the really great, make you feel that you too can become great."
Mark Twain
"I have come to the frightening conclusion.... that I am the decisive element.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or deescalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized.
If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming."
Johann von Goethe
"To make marriage work, you also have to continue to get married, every day. In fact, it might be called "marriaging," an ongoing activity of nourishing and caring for each other."
John-Roger
"Today's family can take a myriad of forms. There is the traditional family-two parents, two kids, and a pet or two. There are families headed by a single parent, by same sex parents, and by grandparents. There are people who live alone who have found family in a particular community. Regardless of its configuration,
the essence of what creates and sustains a healthy family is love."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"When we enter into any relationship with the premise that we are empty and the other person will fill us in, we are sure to fail. We can only win when we proceed from wholeness."
Alan Cohen
"Loving relationships work because there is no work."
Wayne Dyer
“Relationships are eternal. They are of the mind, not the body, since people are energy, not physical substance.”
Marianne Williamson
"Sometimes the lesson to be learned in a relationship is how to hang in there and try to work things out. Other times, the lesson to be learned is how to exit a situation that doesn't serve."
Marianne Williamson
"Friendships begin because, even without words, we understand how someone feels."
Joan Walsh Anglund
“Relationships are eternal; separation does not mean separation of our souls. Someone’s leaving sometimes feels like the greatest pain we have ever suffered. But our relationships do not die; they just change form. Faith means knowing that no one is every really gone.”
Marianne Williamson
“In every successful relationship, forgiveness is an ongoing practice. Without forgiveness, there can be no communion between people. Instead, old wounds will be aggravated by hidden resentments. This will not do. Negative thoughts and feeling states must be cleared on no less than a daily basis. Do not go to sleep angry with each other. Do not let the sun rise or set without making peace. Nurture your relationships. Be ready and let go of thoughts and feelings that can only injure and separate.”
Paul Ferrini
"When you come to another with love in your heart, ask nothing, only offering that love, you create miraculous relationships."
Wayne Dyer
“Our relationships always reflect our state of mind. Sometimes we feel hurt and angry at everyone. It seems as if the world is out to get us. At these times, it’s well to remember that our attitudes deeply influence how we see the world and the people around us. We can remember to “turn the other cheek.” When we meet an affront with kindness, the perpetrator miraculously backs off. The lesson is not that elusive.
We frequently lament the characteristics of our relationships. There is not enough intimacy, there is too much disagreement, or we share too few interests. Perhaps we have too few friends. The solution to our relationship problems is to check out our inner perceptions. The signals we send to others define what we get back in return. When we meet happy people, we’ll likely soon see the balance in their lives, the level of peace in their relationship. Positive attitudes and healthy relationships go hand in
hand. Fortunately, we’re in charge of the attitudes we nurture.”
Karen Casey
"A friend will see us at our worst, as well as our best.
A friend will not close his or her heart when we have made a mistake.
A friend will not condemn us but will compassionately support our return to a state of grace."
Marianne Williamson
“A friend is one who is free to agree or disagree. A friend will speak to you truthfully. She may or may not perceive the situation accurately, but she is not afraid to tell you what she thinks. A friend speaks her truth and then reminds you that you are free to make you own choice. This is love in action. A friend loves you equally whether she is saying yes or no. She is willing to share her experience, but she doesn’t try to impose her opinion on you. You can’t be a friend if you are not willing to tell the truth. But honesty alone is not enough. Honesty and humility must go hand in hand. Your humility says to your brother -This is the way that I see it. I may be right or I may be wrong. How do you see it? After all, you are the one who must make the choice.”
Paul Ferrini
"You are treated the way you teach others to treat you."
Wayne Dyer
“No meetings are accidental. Those who are to meet will meet, because together they have the potential for a holy relationship.
Marianne Williamson
"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."
Henri Nouwen
"A good love relationship can reinforce self-esteem, but it cannot create it. Many people carry a lot of unfinished business from childhood into relationships, and look to their partners to fulfill their unmet needs. So you get immature, dependencytype relationships that tend not to work. The more you can complete unfinished business from childhood, the better your chance in relationships as an adult."
Nathaniel Branden
""I don't want to get in the middle, but..." is a sign that we may have just stepped into the middle. We do not have to get caught in the middle of other people's issues, problems, or communication. We can let others take responsibility for themselves in their relationships. We can let them work out their issues with each other.
Being a peacemaker does not mean we get in the middle.
We are bearers of peace by staying peaceful ourselves and not harboring turmoil. We are peacemakers by not causing the extra chaos created when we get in the middle of other people's affairs and relationships. Don't get in the middle unless you want to be there."
Karen Casey
"Mother Teresa once wrote that loneliness is the most terrible poverty. Friendship, then, must be the most prized of riches. Friends root for each other; they cheer for each other and cry for each other. For our friends no favor is too much of an imposition, no question too trivial to ponder. Genuine friendship is uplifting, a source of joy in good times, and source of strength in challenging ones. How might you demonstrate friendship today?"
Mary Manin Morrissey
"Often, we can learn much about ourselves from the people to whom we are attracted. As we progress through life, we learn we can no longer form relationships solely on the basis of attraction. We learn to be patient, to allow ourselves to take into account important facts, and to process information about those people. What we are striving for in life is a healthy attraction to people. We allow ourselves to be attracted to who people are, not to their potential or to what we hope they are. The more we work through our family of origin issues, the less we will find ourselves needing to work through them with people we're attracted to.
Finishing our business from the past helps us form new and healthier relationships. The more we overcome our need to be excessive caretakers, the less we will find ourselves attracted to people who need to be constantly taken care of.
The more we learn to love and respect ourselves, the more we will become attracted to people who will love and respect us and who we can safely love and respect. This can be a slow process. We need to be patient with ourselves. The type of people we find ourselves attracted to does not change overnight.
Being attracted to dysfunctional people can linger long and well into becoming conscious and aware. That does not mean we need to allow it to control us. The fact is, we will initiate and maintain relationships with people we need to be with until we learn what it is we need to learn - no matter how long we've been awakened. No matter who we find ourselves relating to, and what we discover happening in the relationship, the issue is still about us, and not about the other person. That is the heart, the hope, and the power of awakening. We can learn to take care of ourselves during the process of initiating and forming relationships. We can learn to go slowly. We can learn to pay attention. We can allow ourselves to make mistakes, even when we know better. We can stop blaming our relationships on God, and begin to take responsibility for them. We can learn to enjoy the healthy relationships, and remove ourselves more quickly from the dysfunctional ones. We can learn to look for what's good for us, instead of what's good for the other person."
Melody Beattie
"Real friendship is bigger than behavior. It's bigger than distance. It's bigger than time. So often we hesitate to call a friend with whom there has been separation, be it physical or emotional. By remembering the love that created this friendship in the first place, we may be emboldened to reach out now. Whom will you call today?"
Mary Manin Morrissey
"If you had a friend who talked to you, like you sometimes talk to yourself, would
you continue to hang around with that person?"
Rob Bremner
"We shall never have friends if we expect to find them without fault."
Thomas Fuller
“Seeking someone special to provide the love your parents weren’t able to provide will not help either. It just raises the temperature in the pressure cooker. Don’t be surprised if the mate you choose is the perfect embodiment of the parent with whom you most need to heal. Parents, spouses and children are here to help you see your own need for healing, and you are performing the same function in their lives.” Paul Ferrini
"The only way to have a friend is to be one."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Who you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Invite Your Audience Carefully. Not everyone is healthy enough to have front row seats in our lives. There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of, or at least minimize, your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not going anywhere relationships / friendships. Observe the relationships around you...PAY ATTENTION!!! Which ones lift and which ones lean? Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill? When you leave certain people do you feel better or worse? Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know, or appreciate you? The more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love, and truth around you, the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life. If you cannot change the people around you, change the people you're around."
Unknown
"If we are unhappy without a relationship, we'll probably be unhappy with one as well.
A relationship doesn't begin our life; a relationship doesn't become our life.
A relationship is a continuation of life."
Melody Beattie
"The people whom you find most difficult to deal with can also be your most valuable teachers. For your problems with them are not really due to how they are, but rather to how you respond to how they are.
Learn to deal successfully with difficult people, and you learn valuable lessons about yourself. Work to relate positively to difficult people and you develop skills that can serve you well in many other challenging situations.
People are the way they are. Get past the need to try to change them, past the need to judge or condemn, and look for the value they offer. Sometimes that value is deeply hidden, and when you find it you've found a real treasure, something few people take the time to uncover.
In every difficult person you encounter, make a point to look past the difficult part and focus your attention on the person part.
The other people with whom you interact are mirrors that help you to see things within yourself. With some people, that mirror can be difficult to view, yet when you
have the courage to do so, the rewards can be many and great."
Ralph Marston
“All the things in our lives, all the complicated structures we spent so much time and energy creating, are built on sand. Only our relationships to other people endure. Sooner or later, the wave will come along and knock down what we have worked so hard to build up. When that happens, only the person who
has somebody's hand to hold will be able to laugh.” Rabbi Harold Kushner
Every relationship we have is a reflection of the relationship we have with God. If we believe that God can love us, then we will believe that others can love us, and if we believe that we are not good enough for God to love, how will we be able to accept the love of others? Paula Sunray
R - Responsibility
"Follow the three Rs:
Respect for self
Respect for others and
Responsibility for all your actions."
Dalai Lama
"We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves.
If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in the future can be produced by our present actions.
So we have to know how to act."
Ralph S. Marston
"Know your limits.
Know when to say no.
There may be a few people who are offended by the limits that you set, but usually those are the ones trying to control or manipulate you. Some well-meaning colleagues may tell you that you're being selfish, but your ultimate responsibility is to yourself.
That responsibility includes knowing how and when to set limits."
Melody Beattie
"Removing blame means never assigning responsibility to anyone for what you're experiencing. It means that you're willing to say, "I may not understand why I feel this way, why I have this illness, why I've been victimized, or why I had this accident, but I am willing to say without any guilt or resentment that I own it. I live with, and I am responsible for, having it in my life." Why do this? If you take responsibility for having it, then at least you have a chance to also take responsibility for removing it or learning from it. If you're in some small (perhaps unknown) way responsible for that migraine headache or that depressed feeling, then you can go to work to remove it or discover what its message is for you. If, on the other hand, someone or something else is responsible in your mind, then of course you'll have to wait until they change for you to get better. And that is unlikely to occur."
Wayne Dyer
"You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help the small man by tearing down the big man.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they should be doing for themselves."
Abraham Lincoln
"When you’re a child you’re not asked to think about future generations. When you’re a child you’re not asked to take care of the earth. When you’re a child you’re not asked to take responsibility for the planet on which we live. As an adult you must. But what happens in our society too often is we don’t bother to ever tell people that from now on it’s your job to be responsible for future generations. From now on it’s your job to take care of the earth. From now on it’s your job to be responsible."
Marianne Williamson
"When we have a headache or suffer from indigestion, we are quick to look outside for the cause. While the external environment may be harsh and demanding, it can’t make us sick. It doesn’t determine our attitude. Taking responsibility for who we are is the most healing action we can take.”
Karen Casey
“The push to achieve comes from three of the most self-destructive words in our culture. You’ve heard them and used them thousands of times. Do your best! This is the cornerstone of the achievement neurosis. Do your best at everything you do. What’s wrong with taking a mediocre bicycle ride, or going for an average walk in the park?
You can paralyze yourself with perfectionistic do-your-best nonsense; Don’t let perfectionism keep you on the sidelines avoiding potentially pleasurable activities.
Try changing “Do your best” to simply “Do.” “
Wayne Dyer
“I ask you to take responsibility not just for what you do, but for what you think. I ask you to understand the power of your thoughts to create negative emotional states, for which ill-considered actions arise. See how the thought “Nobody loves me” leads to the state of feeling unlovable, disconnected, envious of others who seem to have love in their lives. See how the thought and the subsequent emotional state breed hostile actions, which push others away. The thought “Nobody loves me” becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. By thinking this thought, feeling unloved, and acting in a hostile way toward others, you separate yourself from the very love that you want. Next time the thought “Nobody loves me” comes into your mind, please be aware of it. If you find yourself becoming depressed, please be aware of it. If you speak or act in a way that separates you from others, please be aware of it. Don’t judge yourself or try to change anything. Just bring your awareness to the whole dramatic cycle from thought to action.”
Paul Ferrini
"In our way of life, with every decision we make, we always keep in mind the Seventh Generation of children to come. When we walk upon Mother Earth, we always plant our feet carefully, because we know that the faces of future generations
are looking up at us from beneath the ground. We never forget them."
Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of The Onondaga Nation
"We can delegate tasks, but we can't delegate responsibility, if the responsibility is really ours.
Sometimes, it's normal to delegate tasks to other people. We may hire people to do certain things for us. We may engage in contracts with a therapist or a healer to help us work through a certain issues. But the responsibility for which pieces of advice we follow, and the decisions we make in our lives, ultimately belongs to us. It's easy to get lazy. We can let a friend, an employee, or even a skilled therapist begin making our decisions for us. We can listen to what they say and blindly take their advice. Then we don't have to take responsibility for our lives. If the decision doesn't work out, we can say, "You were wrong. Look at the mess you've gotten me into. I'm a victim again."
Yes you are. But a victim of yourself.
We can listen to advice and let other people help us, but if they're helping us do something that is our responsibility, the ultimate responsibility for the decision still belongs to us.
Get help when you need it. Delegate tasks. But don't give away your power. Remember you can think, you can feel, you can take care of yourself, you can figure out your problems.
Don't get lazy. Don't give away responsibility for your life."
Melody Beattie
"We do not create every circumstance we experience, but we do create our experience of every circumstance we are in. We all have a response-ability."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"Some situations aren't ideal. Maybe we shouldn't be in them in the first place and maybe we should have known better. But the facts are what they are. Don't let shame stop you from taking care of yourself.
What are you going to do? Talk to other people. Get opinions. Read books.
But it's your life -- your relationship, your financial situation, your job, your home. It's up to you to decide what's best for you. You're the one who will ultimately live with the results of any decision you make. Assess the situation, and decide what's right for you.
Take responsibility for your decisions and for how best to live your life."
Melody Beattie
"Self-care means taking responsibility for ourselves. Taking responsibility for ourselves includes assuming our true responsibilities to others.
Sometimes, when we begin recovery, we're worn down from feeling responsible for so many other people. Learning that we need only take responsibility for ourselves may be such a great relief that, for a time, we disown our responsibilities to others. The goal in recovery is to find the balance: we take responsibility for ourselves, and we identify our true responsibilities to others.
This may take some sorting through, especially if we have functioned for years on distorted notions about our responsibilities to others. We may be responsible to one person, we're responsible as an employer or as a spouse.
With each person, we have certain responsibilities, we'll find balance in our life. We are also learning that while others aren't responsible for us, they are accountable to us in certain ways. We can learn to discern our true responsibilities for ourselves, and to others. We can allow others to be responsible for themselves and expect them to be appropriately responsible to us. We'll need to be gentle with ourselves while we learn."
Melody Beattie
"Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame."
Erica Jong
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best
at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."
Oprah Winfrey
R - River
"Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future."
Herman Hesse
I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.
John o’ Donohue
“There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.
And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.”
Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation
“We sit and talk quietly, with long lapses of silence, and I am aware of the stream that has no language, coursing beneath the quiet heaven of your eyes, which has no speech.”
William Carlos Williams
S – Self-Love
"If you had a friend who talked to you, like you sometimes talk to yourself,
would you continue to hang around with that person?"
Rob Bremner
"Self-care is not selfish or self-indulgent. We cannot nurture others from a dry well. We need to take care of our own needs first, then we can give from our surplus, our abundance."
Jennifer Louden
"If you do not know how to take care of yourself, and if you are not willing to do so, nobody else will take care of you.
Your lack of love and commitment to yourself attracts people with similar lessons into your vibrational field.
Then you will simply mirror back to each other that lack of self-understanding and self-commitment."
Paul Ferrini
"There is only one way that you will find genuine fulfillment in you life and that is to learn to love and accept yourself. With that as a foundation, relationships cease to be traumatic. Perhaps that is because one does not bring such intense expectations to them. When you know how to "be with" yourself it is not so difficult to "be with" another.
Paul Ferrini
"When Wayne's daughter Tracy came home in the second grade and said "Billy doesn't like me," Wayne responded, "Do you like you?" Tracy said, "Yes." Then Wayne replied, "Well that's all you've got." You see, even at 7 years of age, a person shouldn't get the idea that anyone else's reaction to you should in any way get you down."
Wayne Dyer
"You're always alone, but you're only lonely if you don't like the person you're alone with."
Wayne Dyer
"Stand in front of a mirror, look yourself straight in the eye and say out loud, "I love you, I value you, and I know there is much more to you than what I see staring back at me." Then close your eyes and repeat the same thing. You will find yourself going beyond the physical you and removing many of your inner intrusive thoughts about defending yourself and attempting to prove your worth. You are worthy by virtue of the fact that you have a divine eternal essence. Period. You need prove nothing. So any thoughts that you repeat which are contrary to that are keeping you from experiencing your loving presence."
Wayne Dyer
"How to love yourself:- (1) Stop all criticism.
Criticism never changes a thing. Refuse to criticize yourself. Accept yourself exactly as you are. Everybody changes. When you criticize yourself, your changes are negative. When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive.
Forgive yourself.
Let the past go. You did the best you could at the time with the understanding, awareness and knowledge that you had. Now you are growing and changing and you will live life differently.
Don't scare yourself.
Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. It's a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure (mine is yellow roses), and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought.
Be gentle and kind and patient.
Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved.
Be kind to your mind.
Self-hatred is only hating your own thoughts. Don't hate yourself for having the thoughts. Gently change your thoughts.
Praise yourself.
Criticism breaks down the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.
Support yourself.
Find ways to support yourself. Reach out to friends and allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it.
Be loving to your negatives.
Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs. So lovingly release the old negative patterns.
Take care of your body.
Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need to have optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercise. What kind of exercise can you enjoy?
Cherish and revere the temple you live in.
Mirror work.
Look into your eyes often. Express this growing sense of love you have for yourself.
Forgive yourself looking into the mirror. Talk to your parents looking into the mirror. Forgive them too. At least once a day say: "I love you, I really love you!" (11) Love yourself... do it now.
Don't wait until you get well, or lose the weight, or get the new job, or the new
relationship. Begin now - and do the best you can."
Louise Hay
"We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies."
Roderick Thorpe
"Love is based first of all on developing the love of one's life within. Rather than
looking for Mr. or Ms. Right out there, it's becoming Mr. or Ms. Right."
Harold Bloomfield
"Taking care of yourself is a natural growth of self-love. Have a quiet love affair with yourself."
Wayne Dyer
"If you don't love yourself, nobody else will. Not only that, you won't be good at loving anyone else. Loving starts with the self."
Wayne Dyer
"Deep at the centre of my being there is an infinite well of Love. I now allow this Love to flow to the surface. It fills my heart, my body, my mind, my consciousness, my very being and radiates out from me in all directions and returns to be multiplied. The more Love I use and give, the more I have to give: the supply is endless. The use of Love makes me feel good. It is an expression of my inner joy. I love myself therefore, I take loving care of my body. I lovingly feed it nourishing foods and beverages. I lovingly groom it and dress it, and my body responds to me with vibrant health and energy. I love myself and therefore, I provide for myself a comfortable home; one that fills all my needs and is a pleasure to be in. I fill the rooms with the vibration of Love so that all who enter, myself included, will feel this Love and be nourished by it.
I love myself, therefore, I work at a job that I truly enjoy doing, one that uses my creative talents and abilities, working with and for people that I love and that love me and earning a good income.
I love myself, therefore, I behave and think in a loving way to all people for I know that which I give out returns to me multiplied. I only attract loving people in my world for they are a mirror of what I am. I love myself and therefore, I forgive and totally release the past and all past experiences and I am free.
I love myself therefore, I love totally in the now, experiencing each moment as good and knowing that my future is bright and joyous and secure for I am a beloved child of the Universe and the Universe lovingly takes care of me and forever more."
Louise Hay
"Keep loving yourself, and taking care of yourself, no matter what - through the storms, the twists, the turns, and the blocks. Take a moment, breathe deep, restore yourself to that sacred place of self-love and self-responsibility. Feel all your feelings. Then let them go. Love yourself until you can hear your heart and what it tells you to do. Love yourself until you find the courage to act on that guidance. Loving yourself is a powerful tool, a powerful force for change. It can reconnect you to creativity, to universal love, to the best possible flow of events within your life. It can and will reconnect you to life's magic. There is a trustworthy road through
whatever life brings. Loving yourself will help you find it."
Melody Beattie
"If you think of yourself as an important person, you will not allow yourself to be overweight or suffer from any eating disorder."
Wayne Dyer
“What is commonly understood as self love is merely selfishness. My selfishness excludes you and isolates me. But real love for myself does not exclude you. It naturally reaches out to embrace you. Love always makes love. It never makes war.
If war is happening, if struggle and pain are happening, love has not entered yet. Selfishness has closed the door and locked love out. But love is always there, waiting
in the wings. As the door of the heart opens, love greets us.”
Paul Ferrini
"Its difficult to be around people who are trying to be perfect--perfectly healthy, perfectly polite, perfectly poised, perfectly controlled. Remember that being human means being imperfect, being flawed. Let yourself be. Let others be. Slouch in your chair. Eat with the wrong fork. Laugh out loud. Stand up and reveal who you are and know that your good enough.
Stop worrying that people will find out who you really are. Instead, hope that they do. Help them by openly sharing yourself and being not who you think you should be, but who you really are.
Freedom is just a small step away--a step into self-love and acceptance. When you take it, others will follow. And they'll be grateful you lead the way."
Melody Beattie
"You are always a valuable, worthwhile human being, not because anybody else says so, not because you're successful, not because you make a lot of money, but because you decide to know it."
Wayne Dyer
S - Service
“Think of the new vocabulary that would emerge if the world embraced an attitude of service and generosity of the heart, rather than work! When you perform that which has been given you to do with an attitude of work, you are actually in servitude to that work. You are a servant to your own burdensome false idea. Service, on the other hand, is freedom.”
Dr. Michael Beckwith
“Service at its very basic core is an inner choice to offer a helpful and healing attitude to others as well as to ourselves. . . .
Service is best thought of as a continual focus in your life rather than being limited to certain kinds of giving activities and the sharing in relationships. Service is a state of mind that expresses love rather than fear, and trust rather than distrust. It is focusing on meeting all others as equals with whom we share a spiritual identity. This inner attitude of love reveals itself in action.”
Wayne W. Dyer
“When we look to the life of Jesus, we see He lived his life in a way that provides a template for our own. Jesus took the task that was his to do, and he did it with Love. For Jesus, that task was teaching. Your task may be to deliver the mail or to run a corporation. But whatever your livelihood, be fully present, fully engaged. Honor those
at your workplace with your attention and support. Following Jesus, treat your work as a sacred art.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
Everyone can be great. Because everyone can serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Share your heart with the world. Share willingly, openly, joyfully what you have seen, what you have learned. Don't tell people how you think you should have handled things. That's shame. It teachers others to feel ashamed, too. Don't tell people how you wish you had handled things. That's needless regret that we pass on to others.
Share honestly and openly about yourself, the way you felt, the things you thought. Share how going through your experience changed you. Talk about your resistance, your pain, the imperfect way you did things, the way you handle things now. Sharing honestly and openly teaches people around us the most helpful truth - that the imperfect way we live our lives is right for us at the time. When we love and accept ourselves enough to honestly share who we are, it helps those we touch to believe that they're good enough too.
Sharing your heart with the world and you will bring healing to those you touch.”
Melody Beattie
“Live in love and do your work; make amends of your sorrows; for just as the jasmine releases and lets fall its withered flowers, let fall willfulness and hatred.”
The Dhammapada
“I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”
Mother Teresa
S – Shadow
“How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also If I am to be whole”
C.G. Jung
“The brightest flame casts the darkest shadow.”
George R.R. Martin
“There is strong shadow where there is much light.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“This explosive psychological 'sneaking' occurs when a woman suppresses large parts of self into the shadows of the psyche. In the view of analytical psychology, the repression of both negative and positive instincts, urges, and feelings into the unconscious causes them to inhabit a shadow realm. While the ego and superego attempt to continue to censor the shadow impulses, the very pressure that repression causes is rather like a bubble in the sidewall of a tire. Eventually, as the tire revolves and heats up, the pressure behind the bubble intensifies, causing it to explode outward, releasing all the inner content.
The shadow acts similarly. We find that by opening the door to the shadow realm a little, and letting out various elements a few at a time, relating to them, finding use for them, negotiating, we can reduce being surprised by shadow sneak attacks and unexpected explosions.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.”
C.G. Jung
“It's part of what we call the Shadow, all the dark parts of us we can't face. It's the thing that, if we don't deal with it, eventually poisons our lives.”
Michael Gruber
“The most reliable friend you have is your shadow.”
Matshona Dhliwayo
“But the shadow is merely somewhat inferior, primitive, unadapted, and awkward; not wholly bad. It even contains childish or primitive qualities which would in a way vitalize and embellish human existence, but convention forbids!”
C.G. Jung
“Get acquainted with your shadow, or find yourself surprised when a crisis emerges.”
M.B. Dallocchio
S – Spiritual
“We often talk about "wanting to be spiritual," but being spiritual and taking care of our everyday affairs are exactly the same thing. There is no difference. With clarity we become ordinary -- simply taking care of whatever comes before us. In this process, we develop trust that whatever shows up in our lives, we will meet it.”
Jacob Leiberman
“Along our spiritual journey, every one of us is thrust into the desert. We find ourselves in a relationship wasteland or financially barren. We feel lost and abandoned, but it is during this time in the desert that God grows our souls.”
Mary Manin Morrissey
“Spiritual Warriors manifest themselves through correct action, because their only true intention is spiritual growth, expansion, and revelation. Whatever else comes is a bonus, to be enjoyed, to participate in, but never to get caught up in.”
John-Roger
S - Stillness
“When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you
lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.”
Eckhart Tolle
“At night, the general stillness is more impressive than any sound....”
Henry David Thoreau
“It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am, the more affection I have for them. Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say.”
Thomas Merton
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”
Henry David Thoreau
S - Success
"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Put your heart, mind, spirit and soul into even your smallest acts.
This is the secret of success."
Swami Sivananda
"The challenges are not there to pull you down.
Your challenges exist to move you forward.
True greatness comes from regularly and successfully dealing with a wide range of challenges."
Ralph Marston
"We must teach our children that the abundance in the world is infinite and available to everyone because it comes from within us. As we teach our kids to bless the world, celebrate the world, and embrace the world, we hand them the keys to success."
Marianne Williamson
"Our beliefs about ourselves are the single most telling factors in determining our success and happiness in life."
Wayne Dyer
"If you focus on results, you will never change.
If you focus on change, you will get results."
Jack Dixon
"Practice reinforcing hope rather than despair. Don't be an enabler of despair by commiserating with those who are feeling low. I once took a vow as a counsellor/therapist that I would always seek to have my clients put the emphasis on their successes rather than the things that brought about feelings of despair...I found that reinforcing negatives, talking about causes, rehashing hurt feelings and reliving painful emotions often served to reinforce a feeling of hopelessness in the present moment. As a counsellor/therapist I wanted to bring hope to despair, and in the process help to nullify despair for good."
Wayne Dyer
"Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
Make all your friends feel there is something special in them.
Look at the sunny side of everything.
Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.
Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
Give everyone a smile.
Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others.
Be too big for worry and too noble for anger."
Christian D. Larsen
"Try not to become a person of success, but rather a person of value."
Albert Einstein
"A successful person is not a person who makes a lot of money. A successful person brings success to everything that he or she does, and money is one of the payoffs."
Wayne Dyer
"When you do not know what to do, relax and tell yourself that other portions of yourself do know; they will take over. Give yourself some rest.
Remind yourself that in many ways you are a very successful person as you are. Success does not necessarily involve great intellect or great position or great wealth; it has to do with inner integrity. Remember that."
Seth Speaks
“The ultimate success of your career will not be determined by credentials, backing, or marketing techniques. It will be determined by your ability to access the spiritual gulf stream. Prayer makes that happen. Our prayer is that our excellence might come forth and serve the world.”
Marianne Williamson
"I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
Henry David Thoreau
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
Mahatma Gandhi
"The only one who can beat me is me."
Michael Johnson
"Pray that success will not come any faster than you are able to endure it."
Elbert Hubbard
"Don't try to be a great person, just try to be a good person. And if you can succeed
at being a good person, then you have found greatness."
Don Heitkamp
"You need not amount to anything in society. There! The whole world has fallen off your back. Frantic ambition aroused by the fear of being nobody is just what plunges society into its hell of hatred and heartache. You need not see yourself as successful, nor do you need admirers. You need only the true success of inner wholeness. That is all you need. Your work and play will be enjoyable. You will contribute sanity and decency to a desperate world."
Vernon Howard
"Success is not a secret. It is a choice that is made over and over again. Success is not something that can be denied to you. It is something that you can always choose to accept. How do you accept success? You accept success by making the effort instead of making excuses. You accept success by taking responsibility instead of counting on someone else to do it for you. You accept success by being truthful with others and, just as importantly, with yourself. You accept success when things get tough, by being positive and innovative instead of becoming despondent. You accept success by being who you are and by contributing what you can, rather than pretending to be someone else. Every day you can choose either to accept success or to just let it pass you by. With each thought, each
word, each action, choose to accept success."
Ralph Marston
"If you imagine that Popularity is the definition of success, you will spend your life seeking the approval of others. Some politicians fall into this category, as do some entertainers, who have given up their real thoughts about things, or their real
artistry, in order to create and hold their audience."
Neale Donald Walsch
"Live your life according to the Core Concepts of Holistic Living:
Awareness
Honesty
Responsibility
Be aware of what you choose to be, be honest about it and be responsible for it. Living this way is another definition of "success." Very often people who live this way also achieve greater productivity, popularity and possessions, but not because they are trying to do so."
Neale Donald Walsch
"The world defines success by acquisition, basing worth on the level of material good or fame acquired. But genuine success cannot be measured by a bank account or box office receipts. A life built on relationship with God breeds soul satisfaction that doesn't falter when the economy turns or the public's interest wanes. Relationship with God builds success that is eternal, filling us with purpose. How “successful” are you right now?"
Mary Manin Morrissey
"Living successfully isn't about making a lot of money. It is about embracing life, and responding to it honestly in each moment. This alone is the true source of our prosperity, because in this practice, we evolve from human doings to human beings." Jacob Liberman with Erik Liberman
"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
S - Silence
"In the sweet territory of silence we touch the mystery. It's the place of reflection and contemplation, and it's the place where we can connect with the deep knowing, to the deep wisdom way."
Angeles Arrien
"Don't look for meaning in the words. Listen to the silences."
Samuel Beckett
"Silence of the heart is necessary so you can hear God everywhere — in the closing of the door, in the person who needs you, in the birds that sing, in the flowers, in the animals."
Mother Teresa
""It's the space between the bars that holds the tiger," as they say in Zen, and it's
the silence between the notes that makes the music."
Wayne Dyer
"This world desperately needs silence. Most people are addicted to stress-producing stimuli. Mentally and emotionally, we need to fast, to clean out the system, to stop overloading it with mean and unnatural mental pollution. We are deeply afraid of the silence, the void, the emptiness. That is because a materialistic prejudice thinks that what cannot be touched does not exist, The void is not material; it is force."
Marianne WIlliamson
"Chattering to yourself. "Forget about all that meditation stuff. It will just put you in danger of being seduced by the evil spirits that are the real bedrock of your personality. Keep your mind busy. Think about as many things as possible. Keep those thoughts coming, even if the previous one had nothing to do with the one you are now thinking." This is the language of the ego, keeping your mind chattering away all day long, even disrupting your sleep. The more you chatter and keep your mind engaged, the less space you have for peace and harmony. Again, this is the job of the false self. The false self is busy convincing you that you are something that you are not. To keep this illusion working, it does not want you getting into anything even resembling silence and inner peace. Your ego constantly pushes you toward inner noise and disruption, in the hope of keeping you from knowing the
higher self, which thrives on harmony and silence."
Wayne Dyer
"The silence is there within us. What we have to do is to enter into it, to become silent, to become the silence. The purpose of meditation and the challenge of meditation is to allow ourselves to become silent enought to allow this interior
silence to emerge. Silence is the language of the spirit."
John Mains
"The more I listen, the more profound the silence becomes."
Wayne Dyer
"Solitude is very necessary for silences which go deep. You must make time to be alone. Aloneness is not the same as loneliness. The word 'alone' is derived from the Middle English phrase "all one". When you are alone, you are not simply away from others, but you are 'with yourself ', you are all one - you are at one with your own essence; you come back to wholeness with yourself. In this way, you are not aware of the lack of people from whom you've temporarily retreated - 'you are aware of the fullness of you.' And it is in your 'all oneness' that you can listen to your own inner voices, invite direction from your own guides, and recapture your own dreams."
Barbara DeAngelis
"Silence teaches you many things. It teaches you how to listen and how to hear. It teaches you how to feel and how to translate into words what you are feeling. When you can't translate what you are feeling, silence allows you to go deeper into yourself and find the peace that surpasses understanding. A peace that enables you to move forward, even when you don't understand."
Iyanla Vanzant
“What does it mean to be still? What are we trying to know? These are serious questions. Having minds that run nonstop seems the norm. It’s who we are, after all. Experiencing the quiet within feels like doing nothing. And we’ve been programmed to think we need to be doing something all the time. To stand still is to get left behind, we think.
Let’s pretend for a spell that it’s okay to be idle. Let’s take this as an opportunity for a new way of living. With every thought that comes, let it float away. With every desire to speak, let the moment pass. Every moment can be forfeited. Feel the freedom of doing nothing, saying nothing, thinking nothing, for even a few moments.
Peace does come. Peace at last.
We can’t be sure we’ll know anything specific in this quiet, but we will know what we need to. Within the quiet lie all answers.”
Karen Casey
"Silence is the sea, and speech is like the river.
The sea is seeking you: don't seek the river.
Don't turn your head away
from the signs offered by the sea."
Rumi
"We can make conscious contact with God, transcend the limitations of a dichotomous world, and regain the power that is only available to us when we're connected to the Source. This is what I call getting in the gap. It's where we create, manifest, heal, live, and perform at a miraculous level. The gap is the powerful silence we can access through meditation."
Wayne W. Dyer
"We need to find God and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is a friend of silence. The more we engage in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. The essential thing is not what we say but what God says to us and what
He says through us."
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
"Life is like a treasure hunt; one clue leads to the next. First find the clue and set about deciphering it. This may take time, patience and perseverance, but until it has been deciphered and understood you cannot go onto the next clue. It is necessary to be still and at peace in order to work out where you are going and what you are going to do. You cannot go through life rushing from one activity to another. You need time to consolidate your position and to be at peace. You will find that there are not many souls who really desire peace and stillness. They say that they do, but when they are alone with nothing to distract them, they are lost and do not know what to do with themselves. The very stillness and quietness frightens them. Is it any wonder that the world is in such a turmoil? People refuse to take time to know their true self, to develop within, but only if they do this can they reach the heights. Every moment spent in peace and solitude, in communion with Me, brings you nearer to the truth and opens up a new world, the world of Spirit. Live fully in the moment, taking time to be with Me. Together let us decipher the next clue and discover the greatest secret of the universe: that we are one."
Eileen Caddy
“In the midst of suffering, make a conscious effort to see the blessing. This is a powerful tool for eliminating despair. When you feel most distressed and things seem to be going from bad to worse, try stopping for an instant and asking yourself how you are going to grow from this experience. Then listen to your inner voice and stay open to something good appearing as the drama of despair continues to unfold. Tuning into your silence gives you the energy to get through the despair and grow in the process. When you let go of the despairing thoughts your bring in the higher/faster energy, which ultimately displaces the illusion of your despair.”
Wayne Dyer
"People who need people are threatened by people who don't. The idea of seeking contentment alone is heretical, for society steadfastly decrees that our completeness lies in others. To point out these facts is not to suggest we should abandon all our close ties. But we need to befriend and enjoy ourselves as well.
They are the men and women who have found nobility in turning to themselves first when facing life's challenges -- and not blaming anyone else if they fail.
Who find silence eloquent rather than empty.
Who have discovered that being alone can impose a startling clarity in their lives, achieved through the personal reflection we seem to allow ourselves only in times of severe loss and intense grief.
Who trust their aloneness, using it to embrace and nurture their individuality, to celebrate themselves in their own special ways.
It is all right to be alone, to want to be alone, to be alone and not lonely -- even to be lonely at times -- because the rewards of solitude are worth the deprivations.
Above all, we must hail the silence."
Lionel Fisher
T - Teacher
"I feel no great responsibility for any of your beings. [If I did] then I would be denying you your own power, and therefore seemingly building my own.
“I am here because I enjoy it. I am a teacher, and because I am a teacher, I love to teach. A person who loves to teach needs people who love to learn. A true teacher allows you to learn from yourself." Seth
T - Thought
To him whose elastic and vigorous thought keeps
pace with the sun, the day is a perpetual morning
Henry David Thoreau
"The only thing that is keeping most people from getting what they want in life is that they haven't yet figured out that 1) whatever results you get in life flow from how you think and act, and 2) to change your results you MUST change how you do
these two things."
Bill Harris
"No lions are ever caught in mousetraps.
To catch lions, you must think in terms of lions, not in terms of mice. Your mind is always creating traps of one kind or another, and what you catch depends on the thinking you do.
It is your thinking that attracts to you what you receive."
Thomas Dreier
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
The mind is everything. What we think, we become."
Buddha
"A lot of people have bumper stickers that say, "This is the first day of the rest of your life." I prefer to think, "This is the last day of my life, and I am going to live it as if I don't have any more.""
Wayne Dyer
"The only boundaries we have are in form. There are no obstacles in thought."
Wayne Dyer
"We become what we think about all day long. The question is, "What do you think about?"
Wayne Dyer
"I cannot always control what goes on outside, but I can always control what goes on inside."
Wayne Dyer
"One must not always think so much about what one should do, but rather what one should be. Our works do not ennoble us; but we must ennoble our works." Meister Eckhart
"The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking." Robert H. Schuller
"A man's mind may be likened to a garden,
which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it,
then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein,
and will continue to produce their kind."
James J. Allen
"Wanting what we can't have is a universal dilemma. It's so easy to conjure up fantasies about how delicious it would be if we could only have that, even though we know we never could. Then we don't have to deal with what we have. And we
don't have to face issues like intimacy, commitment and love."
Melody Beattie
“Society says: “only the physical action is reprehensible. Verbal attacks are unfortunate, but inevitable. And no one would be foolish enough to try to hold another accountable for his thoughts.” And so you are outraged by the act of murder, but the thought of murder is acceptable. You have all had it. You are outraged by the act of rape or sexual abuse, yet you are not greatly disturbed by the thought of it. I ask you to remember that everything that you think about, say or do to another person reflects back to you what you think about yourself. A negative thought about someone else demonstrates how you see yourself. Gossip about another or verbal abuse indicate your own feelings of shame and emotional rejection.
And physical violence toward another indicates your own suicidal impulse.”
Paul Ferrini
"Most of us wouldn't think of beginning our day without washing the accumulated dirt from the day before off our bodies. Yet far too often we go out into the day without similarly cleansing our minds. And our minds carry more pollution than our bodies, for they carry not only our own toxicity but that of the entire world. We carry the fear, anxiety, stress, and pain not just of our own lives, but of our families, our nation, and millions all over the planet."
Marianne Williamson
"Psychologists tell us that every one of us thinks an average of between 65,000 and 70,000 thoughts a day and 90 to 95% of those thoughts are repetitive. They're the same thoughts we've always thought and they become the patterns of our thinking. Thought patterns create the experiences of our lives.
Listen to your thoughts today. Are they negative, self-limiting, self-diminishing? Or are they radiant with joy and life and creativity?
We can change our thinking, and we can change the pattern of our lives.
Herein lies the secret to authentic power."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"You see the glass half empty, or you can see it half full. You can focus on what's wrong in your life, or you can focus on what's right. But whatever you focus on, you're going to get more of. Creation is an extension of thought. Think lack, and you get lack. Think abundance, and you get more."
Marianne Williamson
"Every problem you have you experience in your mind. The solution to the problem is in the same place."
Wayne Dyer
"Once you know that what you think about expands you start getting real careful about what you think about."
Wayne Dyer
"We attract into our lives that which we focus upon with the strongest intent. Unfortunately, most of us do not monitor our thoughts, and therefore have no idea
of what we are thinking about most of the time."
Iyanla Vanzant
"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
Albert Einstein
"One thought does not mean much, but thoughts that we think over and over are like drops of water - at first there are just a few, and then after a while you've created a pool, and then a lake, and then an ocean. If our thinking is negative, we can drown in a sea of negativity; if its positive, we can float on the ocean of life." Louise L. Hay
"Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own furtive of opportunity and circumstance. Good thoughts bear good fruit; bad thought, bad fruit."
James Allen
"Or is that too much work, to think before you speak? For some people, it is. It's a lot of work. For all of you who want to walk a spiritual path, I suggest you stop and take a look at all the things you think and all the assumptions that you make... before you speak. Try some discipline and see if you can, for a whole week, just watch your thoughts."
Hinono
"You have the power to become anything that you want to. Set your expectations for yourself, and know that you will become whatever you think about."
Wayne Dyer
"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make our world."
Buddha
"Are you sure you can bear the consequences of what you are thinking?"
Ernest Holmes
"It has been estimated that the average person has sixty thousand separate thoughts each and every day. The problem with this is that we have the same sixty thousand thoughts that we had yesterday, and we'll repeat them again tomorrow.
Our minds are filled with the same chatter day in and day out."
Wayne Dyer
"You cannot always control what goes on outside.
But you can always control what goes on inside."
Wayne Dyer
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead
"As you think so shall you be."
Proverbs
"If I use my mental energy to see myself doing what I truly love and I keep that
thought always in my mind, that will eventually expand for me."
Wayne Dyer
"A man is what he thinks about all day long."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Whatever your beliefs may be about yourself and the world, remember that they're only thoughts, and thoughts can be changed. You may not agree with some of the ideas that I'm about to explore. Some of them may be unfamiliar and frightening.
Don't worry. Only those ideas that are right for you will become part of you."
Louise L. Hay
"All that we're dealing with is a thought, and a thought can be changed. No matter what the problem is, your experiences are outer effects of inner thoughts. Even selfhatred is only a thought you have about yourself. This thought produces a feeling, and you buy into that feeling. However, if you don't have the thought, you won't have the feeling. Thoughts can be changed. Change the thought, and the feeling must go."
Louise L. Hay
“You cannot bring home a container of depression to examine, clean up, and eliminate from your life. There is no depression per se, there are only people thinking depressing thoughts."
Wayne Dyer
"We are what we think. All that we think arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. Speak or act with an impure mind and trouble will follow you as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart. We are what we think. All that we think arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. Speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow you as your shadow, unshakable. How can a troubled mind understand the way? Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded. But once mastered, no one can help you as much, not even your own father or mother."
Dhammapada
"I have come to the frightening conclusion, that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or deescalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized.
If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming."
J.W.Goethe
"Albert Einstein said that the significant problems we face can never be solved at the level of thinking that created them. What level are you thinking at when your problems arise? How might you practice thinking at a deeper level?"
Mary Manin Morrissey
"I say 'Out!' to every negative thought that comes to my mind. No person, place or thing has any power over me, for I am the only thinker in my mind. I create my own reality and everyone in it."
Louise Hay
"Imagine that you're standing on the platform of a train station when a train pulls up. There's a flashing light reading, “I am one of your thoughts. Get aboard. Think me.” And the train takes you where that thought goes. The moment you reject that thought, the train returns to the station. Another locomotive pulls up with the same message. This time, you stay with the thought and go further. Every time we board the train of thought, it will take us where that thought goes. All of the cars hooked to that thought go with us. So choose your thoughts carefully. What is the journey you would choose to take?"
Mary Manin Morrissey
"A moment of danger can bring about a temporary cessation of the stream of thinking and thus give you a taste of what it means to be present, alert, aware."
Eckhart Tolle
“You can see the glass half empty, or you can see it half full. You can focus on what's wrong in your life, or you can focus on what’s right. But whatever you focus on, you’re going to get more of. Creation is an extension of thought. Think lack, and you get lack. Think abundance, and you get more.”
Marianne Williamson
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how things are in themselves. The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it."
Carl Gustav Jung
"What you think about expands."
Wayne Dyer
"There is nothing good or bad, thinking makes it so."
William Shakespeare
"Every thought you think counts, so don't waste your precious thoughts. Every positive thought brings good into your life. Every negative thought pushes good away; it keeps it just out of your reach. How many times in your life have you almost gotten something good and it seemed to be snatched away at the last moment? Choose new thoughts to think about yourself, and choose new words to tell yourself how magnificent you are and that you deserve all the good that Life has to offer. You Can Do It!"
Louise L. Hay
"You'll find when you get right down to the nitty-gritty of life, no one is going to take care of you but yourself. You're placed on the planet with everything you need already inside of you. Everything is already there. You can't be upset unless you allow it. You can't be controlled unless you allow it. You can't go crazy and lose your mind unless you allow it. You can't be possessed by a disincarnate entity unless you allow it. This puts you in a very unique position. You are a creator. You can create harmony or discord, happiness or despair, joy or depression, productiveness or lack."
John-Roger
“You are the universe. It is not something outside you. You are the force which is in everything, even the things that have previously failed to show up in your life. Remember, as you think, so shall you be. If you think you can’t, you are right, and that is precisely what you will see showing up in your life. The results of “I can’t lead to the next conditioned response: “I have tried before and it has never worked for me.”
Wayne Dyer
"Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right."
Henry Ford
T - Time
“Don't waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.”
Paulo Coelho
“Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. ”
Coco Chanel
“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
Andy Warhol
“Here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why.”
Kurt Vonnegut
“Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to.”
Lao Tzu
“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”
Alan W. Watts
T - Trust
"First, put things right in your own mind. Learn to forgive the past and honour yourself here and now. Learn to trust your gifts. When you are fully expressing who you are joyfully, your work will naturally extend to those who will benefit from it or from your personal example. This is God's work. It requires no marketing. It has an agenda of its own. Having found your lifework, the greatest obstacle to its fulfillment lies in your attempt to "direct" it. You cannot make your spiritual work happen. If you try, you will fail. You will see the loftiest work be tainted by spiritual pride and undermined by your ego expectations."
Paul Ferrini
"If it is a quiet day, trust the stillness.
If it is a day of action, trust the activity.
If it is time to wait, trust the pause.
If it is time to receive that which we have been waiting for, trust that it will happen clearly
and with power, and receive the gift of joy."
Melody Beattie
"Today, I will trust my truth, my instincts, and my ability to ground myself in reality. I will not allow myself to be swayed by bullying, manipulating, games, dishonesty, or people with particular agendas."
Melody Beattie
“There is timeless wisdom in this old idea of trust. Any person can sense that problems are within, but the spiritually trusting person realizes that the solution is also within. When you trust yourself, you are not looking for solutions to your life problems in someone or something outside yourself. Instead, you remain in a state of trusting. Then, in a trustworthy manner, you can proceed to attract the energy to you that provides the solution.”
Wayne Dyer
"Everyone wants to be able to trust their relationships. We want to trust our partners, children, friends - those we're close to. But the funny thing about trust is that even a small breach can cause separation between family members, friends or business partners, that often lasts for years - or forever.
Trust is loaded when we put others in a box made of our expectations. It sets up for disappointment and hurt. Trust is really an inside job. As we build trust in our own heart we become secure in ourselves. Then we can enjoy people without being so desperate about trusting them."
Doc Childre
"The universe works on many principles that are beyond our control. They work independent of our opinion of them and work even if we do not understand them."
Wayne Dyer
"Remember that whatever you want to know or accomplish in your life is possible if you are truly ready to trust in your divine powers to manifest it. You will find that the appropriate teachers will appear for you, and that you will be guided in the right direction."
Wayne Dyer
"Sometimes, doors close in our lives. No matter how badly we want something, no matter how hard we've tried, no matter how much we want to pursue a particular course in our lives, the universe says no.
Many years ago, I wanted passionately and desperately to write a book on codependency. All twenty publishers I queried said the same thing: No. Some said it politely. Some said it by refusing to respond at all. That door just wouldn't open up, no matter how hard I pushed.
One publisher came back with a counteroffer. "We don't want the book on codependency," the editor said. "But how about writing something for us on denial - why people do it, what part it plays in their lives, and how they can become more aware and accepting of reality."
I accepted the offer. I needed the work. But I wasn't thrilled.
I diligently did my research and wrote the manuscript. About a year later, that same publisher came back to me and asked me to write the book on codependency. I pulled out all my notes and research, including a large notebook in which I had jotted down all my ideas and questions on the subject. As I went through this notebook, I noticed a question written in such large letters it took up the entire page: "What about denial -what part does this play in codependency?" I had written on the next page:
"Why do people do it; how can they stop? Help me understand," I had written, almost as a prayer. I reused the denial concepts in my codependency book. I had long forgotten about my question to the universe. But God hadn't.
Sometimes when door shut, it's because we're not ready to walk through the one we want. Maybe the door that's open in your life is the one you need to walk through. Go ahead, step in. Look around. It might not appear to be as exciting as the one you'd hoped would open, but maybe it's exactly where you need to be.
Are you trying to push through a door that's closed in your life? Make life easier on yourself. If you've diligently tried to open a door and it's not budging, look around.
Push on a few other doors. See which one opens.
Then walk through that one."
Melody Beattie
"Many of us have trust issues. Some of us tried long and hard to trust untrustworthy people. Over and again, we believed lies and promises never to be kept. Some of us tried to trust people for the impossible; for instance, trusting a practicing alcoholic not to drink again.
Some of us trusted our Higher Power inappropriately. We trusted God to make other people do what we wanted, then felt betrayed when that didn't work out. Some of us were taught that life couldn't be trusted, that we had to control and manipulate our way through. Most of us were taught, inappropriately, that we couldn't trust ourselves.
As we become conscious, we're healing from our trust issues. We're learning to trust again. The first lesson in trust is this; We can learn to trust ourselves. We can be trusted. If others have taught us we cannot trust ourselves, they were lying. We can learn to appropriately trust our Higher Power -- not to make people do what we want them to, but to help us take care of ourselves, and to bring about the best possible circumstances, at the best possible times, in our life.
We can trust the process. We do not have to control, obsess, or become hypervigilant. We may not always understand where we are going, or what's being worked out in us, but we can trust that something good is happening.
When we learn to do this, we are ready to learn to trust other people. When we trust our Higher Power and when we trust ourselves, we will know who to trust and what to trust that person for. Perhaps we always did. We just didn't listen closely enough to ourselves or trust what we heard."
Melody Beattie
"Don't worry, be happy!” This statement really needs no further explanation. The past is over, there is nothing you can do about it. And worrying about what might happen in the future does not get you very far either. Let go of the past and future worries. You are not the victim of the world you see, but of your own thoughts. Let go of control and trust that there is a higher intelligence working in perfect order. Allow it to be. By be1ieving and trusting that all is well in your world, you create peace and harmony. Only doubt and fear will stop you from being happy."
Gudrun Kretschman
"You are being guided. You are being led. I say that a lot because I need to hear that a lot. The more I hear it, the more I believe it. The more I believe it, the more I see it. There are times when life flows along, when it's easy and natural to believe we're being guided. But there comes a point in any journey, in even the most magical of trips, when we look around and say, I don't know where I'm going. We have no plan, we're short on ideas, and we're plumb out of vision. We've gone as far as we could see.
Now is the time to practice what you know. Trust. Let go. Stay as peaceful as you can. Stay right here in the present moment. Sharpen your tools, your intuition, your inner voice, your consciousness, and your awareness. Do the little things, the small actions that appear right, the things that are right before you. Feel your feelings.
Move through the fear. Wrap up in self-love.
Then let the journey unfold. Trust that you are being guided and led."
Melody Beattie
"In the face of all difficulties, doubts and objections, trust in Him, He will not let you down. If God does not grant the means, that shows He does not want you to do that particular work. If He wants it done, He will give you the means. Therefore do not worry."
Mother Teresa
"There are two aspects of trust - your own trust in others and their trust in you. People will naturally start trusting you when they see you overcoming problems in a reliable and constant way."
Dadi Janki
"Trust is an art which can be cultivated as follows: never listen to gossip and never foster it yourself; form neither judgments nor opinions; rather, be spiritual and clean in your feelings. Learn to develop good wishes for others. This will be the ultimate measure of your ability to trust."
Dadi Janki
“Learning to trust may be difficult in the beginning. It will be an exercise in futility if you rely upon your mind to create trust. This is because the mind works on material problems by interpreting sensory data. When turned toward spiritual matters the mind attempts to come up with intellectual answers by using proofs, logic and theoretical reasoning. It demands assurance and proof to establish tangible results. In contrast, the method of the heart, focused on spiritual understanding, is an intuitive recognition of the value of love. Whereas the mind attempts to know the spirit by setting up conditions that must be met logically for there to be a release of love, the heart employs intuitive love as its way. It is not a conclusion of reasoning. It is the way of spontaneity, not the result of bargaining with the intellect. The heart trusts the inner wisdom that it feels and spontaneously knows, whereas the mind demands scientific evidence before it will trust.”
Wayne Dyer
"When a bird looks for food, it makes an implicit assumption that it will find the worm and all will be okay. It does not get up and start thinking "What if I can't find food? What will happen to me?" It does not anticipate that there will be a problem. There is an ease with which it moves through its day, an underlying instinct that is minutely in keeping with life's basic nature. It does not think anything. Its being trusts that all will be provided for, and it does not question how."
Chandra Alexander
T - Truth
"The knowledge of Truth comes through the heart by living it. You must let the Truth
inhabit you to know it, and you must inhabit the Truth to understand it." H.B. Jeffrey
“No matter how elaborately it is disguised, the truth always reveals itself in the end. Why not tell the truth now, and face our fears head on, instead of burying the truth and living in perpetual fear of every little tremor we feel underfoot. It takes courage to be authentic. It take courage to spill the beans when we know the other person hates beans. But if beans are all you have, why pretend they are grapes?”
Paul Ferrini
"When you practice deception of any kind, you invite a contaminant into your system. You cloud up the light and invite movement toward the darkness. Others may complain that you do not tell them what they want to hear, nevertheless be full of resolve when it comes to what you bring to anyone else's darkness. When others know that you will not sugar coat your responses in times of difficulty they will want to hear from you."
Wayne Dyer
"When you are unsure about whether to tell the truth or distort because you feel that the truth will be more painful than it is worth, then do and say nothing. You are not obligated to anyone to reveal every detail of your life. You have the right to remain silent and learn your lesson in silence. In this way you strive to bring the truth that you want to embrace back from the silence."
Wayne Dyer
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall - Think of it, ALWAYS."
Mahatma Gandhi
"The truth of who you are is much more beautiful and valuable than any deception you could construct. The more honest you are with yourself and with others, the more you'll tap into the real and lasting value in your life.
When you tell a lie or hide the truth, it brings you down. When you deceive or exaggerate to make yourself look better, you're sending a negative, destructive message to yourself. Consider the damage to your own confidence that occurs when you attempt to appear as someone you're not, just to win the approval of others. The person you pretend to be can never even come close to being as valuable as the person you really are.
Live in truth and let the real person you are shine brightly. Respect and value what is true, rather than what is convenient for the moment. When seeking to be the best you can be, nothing is more important than living truthfully. Be who you are, tell it
like it is, and enjoy the real and lasting freedom of the truth."
Ralph Marston
"Being vulnerable doesn't have to be threatening. Just have the courage to be sincere, open and honest. This opens the door to deeper communication all around. It creates self-empowerment and the kind of connections with others we all want in life. Speaking from the heart frees us from the secrets that burden us. These secrets are what make us sick or fearful. Speaking truth helps you get clarity on your real heart directives."
Sara Paddison
“Standing up for truth is a forceful act, but it is not a violent one. One who stands for truth must do so in a loving way or it is not truth s/he stands for. There will be times when you must stand up for yourself and for others who are being mistreated. You cannot live your life in a state of fear, cowering in a corner while others make decisions for you. You must stand up and be counted. But please do so lovingly, compassionately, respectfully. Do it knowing that there is no enemy out there. Each brother or sister, no matter how angry, fearful or distraught, deserves your support and your respect. And how you act means as much, if not more, than what you do or what you say.”
Paul Ferrini
"Truth in friendship is more than the absence of lying. And it is more than the revealing of a dark secret or present hurt. Truth is the ability to open up without fear. Truth is our courage to express what a difference another person has made in our lives. Truth is about expressing gratitude. Do your friends know that you are grateful for their contribution to your life?"
Mary Manin Morrissey
"There are true promises that take the heart grateful; there are false promises, fraught with disquiet.
The promise of the noble is sterling; the promise of the unworthy breeds anguish of the soul."
Rumi
"Truth never damages a cause that is just."
Mahatma Gandhi
"One grain of what is true will eradicate a million grains of what is not true."
Iyanla Vanzant
"I learned that telling the truth was a big part of loving yourself."
Iyanla Vanzant
"Tell the impeccable truth about your feelings in every situation. When someone asks you which restaurant you would like to go to, be honest about the choice that would make you happiest. When someone asks you for a date and the thought of going doesn't feel attractive, say no. (If thinking about something doesn't feel good, doing it won't feel better!) When you feel drawn to a movie in the video store, take it home. If you're watching a video that feels emotionally debilitating, turn it off. Trust the messages your feelings are giving you as feedback on how well your current choice matches your well-being. Living from joy is like building a muscle; the more you trust and act on your intuition, the louder, stronger, and more real it becomes. If you don't live from your truth, your ability to access it will atrophy, and you will not know who you are, what you want, or what you are doing here. Live from the truth and you will be set free."
Alan Cohen
"If you want money more than anything, You'll be bought and sold.
If you have a greed for food, You'll be a loaf of bread.
This is a subtle truth:
Whatever you love, you are."
Rumi
"If you are indecisive, the way of truth is always the perfect path leading to peace and joy, not confusion. Pay attention with your heart, listen to the unspoken words, for all of these are ways to your inner truth. Truth is healing and it frees you from guilt and anger. Truth is an agent of love wanting to be expressed and followed. Spoken from your heart, it cannot cause conflict or hurt others. On the contrary, it will solve problems and affect the way people look at themselves, Find out what is true for yourself; it may not always be what is true for others. Make truth your daily guide and you will not go astray."
Gudrun Kretschman
"You are the Truth from foot to brow. Now what else would you like to know? " Rumi
"To thine own self be true, and it must follow as the the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
William Shakespeare
"If you want to do something in order to please another person or group, and if the doing of it does not please you but you are thinking of doing it anyway, don't do it. When you please another at the cost of your own integrity, you please no one. For not even the "other" - if they really love you - would want you to do something that made you go against yourself only to please them.
If they knew you were going against yourself to please them, what you did would have exactly the opposite effect. It would not please them, but, rather, it would make them uncomfortable."
Neale Donald Walsch
“Your ego tells you this is your kingdom, your true identity, and therefore you must do whatever it takes to make this story turn out to be a good one for you! There is a divine whisper within you that this is not your ultimate home and that the things this life offers are unfulfilling to a part of you. You sense that the real you does not value appearance, possessions, achievements, physical strength, talent or intellect because all these things eventually atrophy and disappear. You know that there is an eternal aspect of you beneath the surface and that for this part of you, only the truth will suffice.”
Wayne Dyer
"I have faith in the truth, in its ability to find us.... If the truth often seems elusive when we seek it directly, perhaps it is some consolation that it also relentlessly reveals itself to us in our lives, our dreams, and the stories we tell one another."
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
U – Unconditional Love
"Love is caring for another human being and allowing them to be who they are and make their own choices
without any demand that they meet yours."
Vickie Dishner
"If someone you love fails to return the way you would like it returned, that is the
other person's choice. It doesn't at all detract from your love."
Wayne Dyer
"Very few of us were taught that we're essentially good. Very few of us were given a sense of unconditional approval, a feeling that we're precious because of what we are, not what we do."
Marianne Williamson
"Enlightened people don't have anything we don't have. They have perfect love inside, and so do we. The difference is that they don't have anything else. Enlightened beings - 'Jesus and others - exist in a state that is only potential in the rest of us.' The Christ-mind is merely the perspective of unconditional love. You and I have the Christ-mind in us as much as Jesus does. The difference between him and us is that we are tempted to deny it. He's beyond that. His every thought and action stems from love. The unconditional love, or Christ within him, is 'the truth that sets us free,' because it's the perspective that saves us from our own fearful thoughts."
Marianne Williamson
"True love begins when nothing is looked for in return."
Antoine De Saint-Exupery
"Unconditional love ...is the acknowledgement and acceptance of the presence of
God. Selfless giving. Openness to receiving."
Iyanla Vanzant
"This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. This often misunderstood and misinterpreted concept has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love, I am speaking of that force which all the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the First Epistle of Saint John:
"Let us love one another: for love is of God: and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love... . If we love
one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.""
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
“The desire to communicate with me is essential to opening the door to my presence. I will not force myself upon anyone. The relationship with me is voluntary and must be initiated by each person when s/he is ready. I am as close to you as you would have me be. That is because I am already a thought within your mind. And everything that I am proceeds from that thought, just as everything which is not I proceeds from a different thought. This you must learn through experience. Some claim that I speak through them, yet it is neither my voice that they hear nor my thoughts that they speak. I never condemn or make fearful. My intention is only to bless and uplift.”
Paul Ferrini
"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything."
Katherine Hepburn
"It's particularly interesting that we think we have to fight to get love and fight to keep love. Fighting is painful! Loving is not, or at least it shouldn't be. Love is gentle, kind, sensitive and supportive. It is the conditions that we place on loving and being loved that make it a rough, tough show. It's what we do, not what love is, that makes us believe that love is painful. The corresponding belief is that the more I love, the more painful it will be. In order to avoid the pain, we believe we must fight to keep from getting hurt in love. It makes absolutely no sense! We must give up the fight in relationships if we want to be healed on our journey through love's house.
Some people jump into the relationship arena, pass go, collect the two hundred bucks, and are never seen or heard from again. Then there are those of us who have been engaged eighteen times and never made it to the altar. There are also those of us who have done our spiritual work, who have created a meaningful life, those who have waded through the stuff, cleaned it up, and still cannot find or maintain a loving, committed relationship. There are no guarantees!
There is no guarantee that at the end of the day, after all of the work you have done, you are either going to get a partner, have a relationship, or save the relationship you are in. The thing about the third floor is that those concerns are no longer critical for you. Having a relationship or being in love is no longer a critical or key aspect of living. This does not mean you do not want a relationship. It means you will not lose sleep over not having one. What's critical for you on the third floor is healing yourself in order to serve and support as many people as you can, in any way that you can.
You have shifted out of the basement's physical attraction, needy, clingy, I got to have you, ooh, baby, baby stuff into love is here all the time. Love is what I am. Love is what I give. Love is what I receive. You see everything as Love. You see money as Love. You see compliments as Love. You see people as Love. On the third floor, what you are working toward is how to deal with every situation that comes up, until you really find that one partnership that makes you more than you already are.
Here is a major mistake we sometimes make. We think we can pray and meditate so long and so hard that God will send somebody to love us. You cannot move toward finding yourself, loving yourself, just for the sake of finding and loving someone else. You must do it for the sake of doing it. You must love, honour, and respect you for the sake of it - no strings attached. This would have made absolutely no sense to you anywhere but on the third floor. At the lower levels, you were still dealing with too much stuff.
Now you are ready. Ready to make the shift from conditional love to unconditional love. You are now ready to be with yourself rather than by yourself. You have been through a "meantime" process in which you have become self-aware and selfreflective in order to make the necessary changes or shifts that will result in spiritual transformation. You are no longer in search of physical, emotional or sexual satisfaction only. You want the true, full experience of love. If this is what you are going for, this is what you will get."
Iyanla Vanzant
“The experience of unconditional love begins in your heart, not in someone else’s.
Don’t make your ability to love yourself conditional on someone’s ability to love you. Your attempt to find love outside yourself always fails, because you cannot receive from another something you haven’t given to yourself.”
Paul Ferrini
“We go through so many stages of want. We begin wanting better toys, then clothes, then friends, then parents. Later we crave better jobs, houses, and spouses. What we have always wanted, however, is unconditional love. We think that if we have all the other things, we’ll be guaranteed love too. What we hear now is that we can only be assured of it if we give it away. Giving away love is a mind-set. It never means giving what we own, or earn, or dream for. It’s an attitude we foster. It’s an expression we wear on our faces. It’s the tone we use when we talk with others. It’s who we can be with a little effort.”
Karen Casey
“When I speak of love emanating from your soul and from the divine consciousness of God, I speak of something that the lower self or the ego cannot grasp. I am not speaking about “feeling good” towards others, romantic love, showering everyone with affection or “touchy-feeling” behavior. This unconditional love that I write of here is an experience of the harmony of life. It is simply too deep and too profound for our ordinary selves to activate.”
Wayne Dyer
"Unconditional love does not mean that you accept or condone mistreatment. It does not mean you excuse people their faults and frailties. It does mean you see them, accept them, and love them, despite the things you may not like about them."
Iyanla Vanzant
“Know the connection between manifesting your heart’s desire and unconditional love. Unconditional love is the energy of the universe, it is what God is, and, therefore, what you are as well. Without your connection to this love, you lose your connection to the creative process. You cannot attract to yourself that which you are already connected to if you have short-circuited the connection. The presence of unconditional love is in all things that you wish to attract as well as in you. Keep it honestly, and you keep your ability to “know that ye are a god.” Lose it, and you lose your godliness. It is that simple.”
Wayne Dyer
"Seek goodness in others. Love more persons, more impersonally, more unselfishly, without thought of return. The return, never fear, will take care of itself."
Henry Drummond
“You do not need to fool yourself with unconditional love. If you do not love the personality of another, be open and honest about it, but you can still love the essence, the truth of everyone on this planet and beyond. See the unfolding in everyone, even if their behavior conflicts with what you know to be divine and holy. Know that their egos have gotten a stranglehold on them and twisted their divine essence right out of their behavior, but still send love to the essence that is behind that action. The more you are able to see past the personality and the individual behavior, the more you will be a beacon of light for the entire planet. It is through a change in consciousness that our world is going to be transformed, and that new consciousness is one in which love is going to triumph over the passions of the ego. Send love out past the appearance with which you are in disagreement and it may shift right before your eyes.”
Wayne Dyer
V - Victimization
"We have two options for interpreting every experience in our lives. We can perceive ourselves as victims of innumerable forms of continual attack or we can see only expressions of love. The latter thought system is generally the more difficult. Being the brunt of a friend's angry outbursts or the employee who gets laid off, make perceiving only love challenging. And our struggle is heightened because the ego is so invested in "this world," even though we are told this world we see isn't the Real World, it is our classroom. It does exist in the sense that we are here to learn how to live unencumbered by this material realm.
There will be times when we choose to feel pity for ourselves. We may strike back at others, victimizing them for revenge. This negative, narrow, hateful thought system wins us over too often. But as long as we occasionally experience the fruits of expressing only love, we'll cultivate the desire to return again to this thought system. Our lives will reflect the difference."
Karen Casey
"If you find yourself being treated in a way you resent or which turns you into a victim, ask yourself this question: "What have I done to teach this person that this behavior is something I'm willing to tolerate?"
Wayne Dyer
"If you practice maintaining your composure, and remember that someone else's behavior belongs to that person and cannot upset you unless you allow it to do so, then you will not become an unwilling target."
Wayne Dyer
"I was thirty-five years old the first time I spoke up to my mother and refused to buy into her games and manipulation. I was terribly frightened and almost couldn't believe I was doing this. I found I didn't have to be mean, but I could say what I wanted and needed to say to take care of myself. I learned I could love and honour myself, and still care about my mother - the way I wanted to - not the way she wanted me to."
Anonymous
"We can take care of ourselves with family members without feeling guilty. We can learn to be assertive with family members without being aggressive. We can set the boundaries we need and want to set with family members without being disloyal to the family.
We can learn to love our family without forfeiting love and respect for ourselves."
Melody Beattie
"You don't get abused because there are a lot of abusers out there. You get abused because you send out signals that say, "Abuse me, I'll take that."
Wayne Dyer
"Once people know you are intimidated by their anger, they will use it to victimise you whenever it will work."
Wayne Dyer
"Don't play at being a victim. It is a game of mirrors, in which the one who trespasses on you is but a reflection of your own lack of self-worth, as you are a
reflection of his. Holding grievances against him will not help you."
Paul Ferrini
“You are being victimized whenever you find yourself out of control of your life. The key word is CONTROL.
Victims are first of all people who run their live according to the dictates of others. They find themselves doing things they really would rather not do, or being manipulated into activities loaded with unnecessary personal sacrifice that breed hidden resentment. To be victimized means to be governed and checked by forces outside yourself. YOU CAN RARELY BE VICTIMISED UNLESS YOU ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN; people victimize themselves in numerous ways, throughout the everyday business of running their lives.
Victims almost always operate from weakness. They let themselves be dominated, pushed around, because they often feel they are not smart enough or strong enough to be in charge of their lives. So they hand their own strings over to someone
“smarter” or “stronger.”
Wayne Dyer
“Generally speaking, you will become what you expect to become, and you will become a non-victim only when you stop expecting to be victimized. To do this you must begin to develop an attitude of expecting to be happy, healthy, fully functioning, and not abused, based on real capabilities, and not on some ideal of your potential foisted on you by victimizing people or institutions; four broad and critical areas in which you may have been taught to underestimate your capabilities. YOUR PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES “If you as an adult with good judgment can truly expect to be able to accomplish something with or through your body, virtually nothing can stand in your way; and in extreme situations, your body may reveal capabilities that verge on the “superhuman".
YOUR MENTAL CAPABILITIES “If you are told you are dumb and let yourself believe it, you will perform accordingly. You will be victimized through your own low expectations, and if you convince others as well, then you are in double jeopardy. YOUR EMOTIONAL CAPABILITIES “You have just as much of an inherent capacity for emotional genius as you do for physical and mental excellence. Once again, it all depends on what kind of expectations you have for yourself. If you expect to be depressed, anxious, afraid, angry, guilty, worried, etc, then you will make these conditions regular parts of your life. You will justify them with self-sentences such as, “It’s only natural to be depressed,” or, “It’s only human to get angry!” You are what you choose for yourself, and if you stop expecting emotional upset and instability, you will begin to take on the characteristics of a fully functioning person. YOUR SOCIAL CAPABILITIES “Your expectations for how you’ll function in your social structure will largely determine what your life will be like” Don’t be discouraged by a few initial letdowns; simply see them as learning experiences, and get on with living. The worst thing that can happen to you for having a new set of social expectations is that you’ll stay where you “are” and if you’re there already, why not expect to be someplace better?”
Wayne Dyer
“Being a non-victim starts with the principle of saying and believing that you are valuable, but it is put into practice when you begin behaving as if you are worthwhile. This is the essence of strength, and of course, of not being a victim.”
Wayne Dyer
“Overeating and dieting of course furnish more prime examples of how over-thinking can victimize you. Your body knows how to find its normal weight. If you are overweight, it is almost certainly because of your mind, not because of any bodily deficiencies. If you stop idolizing food, and make up your mind just to stop eating when your body is no longer hungry, you don’t even have to think in terms of dieting. Your body will usually be satisfied with only a few bites of food. The physical pangs of hunger dissipate. But you keep on eating because you have an active, foodoriented mind.
One of the most helpful ways of losing weight is to put just one spoonful of food on your plate at a time. After each bite, ask your body whether it is still hungry. If not, then stop right there, and don’t eat another bit until your body wants to. Feed it only enough to satisfy it. Bodies dislike being stuffed, paunchy and bloated; it is painful to overeat, and if you quiet your gluttonous mind and tune in to the many signals your body sends out to try and stop your over eating behavior, you will come to a truce with it, and it will reward you by adjusting to its optimal weight. All of those tight, crampy feeling, that heavy breathing when you walk up stairs, those gas pains, etc., are signals from your body that it wants to be left alone to eat just what it needs in order to function.”
Wayne Dyer
“Before you deny any allegation that you might be one of those people, consider the evidence; that almost everyone uses words, sentences and phrases every day which are judgments on reality, as though they were reflections of reality itself. For example, people often say, “It’s really a lousy (or nice) day today.” While this may seem like a harmless little sentence, it in fact is not “reality-based.” The day is only “lousy” or “nice” depending upon the judgments you decide to attach to it. If you conduct your life according to the belief that judgments and reality are the same thing, you are in for a warehouse full of self-imposed woes. The conflict originates when you expect the world to be the way you want it to be and you find yourself upset because things aren’t going the way you want them to go, or as they used to go, or even worse, as you insist they go. And the conflict resolves itself when you see reality for precisely what it is and stop hurting yourself just because the world revolves the way it does.”
Wayne Dyer
“If you are ready to give “operating from strength” a serious go, you will have to stop placing other people above yourself in value and worth. Whenever you give another person more prestige than you give yourself, you have set yourself up to be victimized.”
Wayne Dyer
“The most obvious thing about which you can do nothing now is your past behavior. Everything that you ever did is simply over, and while you can almost always learn from it, and sometimes change effects that are continuing into the present, you cannot undo what you have done. Therefore, any time you find yourself quarreling about how you should or shouldn’t have done something, instead of discussing how you can grow from your past errors or what can be done now, you are a victim in a no-escape pitfall! Since you only live in the present moment, it is preposterous and
self-negating to let yourself be hurt about what used to be.”
Wayne Dyer
“Whenever anyone tells you, "You should-have look out for victimization. A “shouldhave” will not change a thing you’ve done, but it can be used to get you to admit that you were wrong, and to avoid dealing with you about what can be done now. As long as a potential victimizer can keep conversation focused on your past behavior, you can be certain you will get what you are looking for now.”
Wayne Dyer
“If you happen to end up doing things the way a lot of other people are doing them, there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But if you have to look to the other people to decide what you should be doing, then you are definitely caught in the selfcomparison victim trap.”
Wayne Dyer
“Your hurts come not from what others do to you, but from what you choose to do with their actions. If you change your attitudes and expectations about being hurt, then you’ll soon find the abuse terminating, and your victim status eliminated.”
Wayne Dyer
“You get treated the way you teach people to treat you.”
Wayne Dyer
“If you send out the message that you simply won’t tolerate abuse, and back it up with effective behavior, your abusers will not receive the payoff they are looking for, which is to see you immobilized so they can manipulate you. But if you just take their string-pulling, or register mild objections and then go right on being controlled, you are teaching them to continue using you as a dumping ground.”
Wayne Dyer
“Many people assume that being assertive means being unpleasant or deliberately offensive, but it doesn’t. It means making bold, confident declarations in defense of your rights, or your non-victim position.”
Wayne Dyer
W - Water
“If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat”
John Ortberg
W - Wish
“When you are an instrument of thy peace, you are not seeking anything, you are a peace provider. You do not seek peace by looking into the lives of others and wishing that they would change so that you could become more peaceful. Rather, you bring your own sense of calm to everyone you encounter. You do not go about viewing every circumstance of your life in terms of whether it meets with your standard for peace. Rather, you bring your peaceful countenance to the chaos you encounter and your presence soothes the outer turmoil."
Wayne Dyer
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Dare to dream! If you did not have the capability to make your wildest wishes come true, your mind would not have the capacity to conjure such ideas in the first place. There is no limitation on what you can potentially achieve, except for the limitation you choose to impose on your own imagination. What you believe to be possible will always come to pass - to the extent that you deem it possible. It really is as simple as that.”
Anthon St. Maarten
W - Work
"There are hundreds, if not thousands of ways, in which you can cheat yourself and work out of sacrifice or duty. There are just as many ways in which you can cheat others and work out of impatience and greed. Be aware of the many subtle ways in which you can betray yourself and/or others. Do not settle for the rewards the world would give you. Material wealth, name and fame will not bring you happiness. Only work that is joyful will bring you happiness. Only work that is joyful will bring happiness to others. Do not think that happiness can come from sacrifice or struggle. The means must be consistent with the ends. The goal unfolds through the process itself. Be wary of work motivated by guilt or spiritual pride. Do not try to save yourself by helping others. Do not try to save others when it is yourself who needs to be saved."
Paul Ferrini
"If you refuse to change your job (if you don't like it), the only sensible thing you can do is practice loving it every day."
Wayne Dyer
"Work has to include our deepest values and passions and feelings and commitments, or it's not work, it's just a job. A job is something to pay our bills with. Work is something that touches our heart and expresses our being. That joy is the key to spirit."
Matthew Fox
"One of the secrets of happiness is to take time to accomplish what you have to do, then make time to achieve what you want to do.
Remember that life is short. Its golden moments need hopes and memories and dreams. When it seems like those things are lost in the shuffle, you owe it to yourself to find them again. The days are too precious to let them slip away. If you're working too hard, make sure it's because it's a sacrifice for a time when you're going to pay yourself back with something, more important than money could ever be. If you're losing the battle, do what it takes to win the war over who is in control of your destiny.
Find time, make time, take time...to love, to smile to do something rewarding and deeply personal and completely worthwhile. Time is your fortune, and you can spend it to bring more joy to yourself and to others your whole life through. Time is your treasure, and instead of working so hard for it, do what it takes to make it work......for you..."
J.M.Colter
"Work is love made visible."
Wayne Dyer
"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer; since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose your power of judgment. Go some distance away because the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and a lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen."
Leonardo Da Vinci
“Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.”
Dale Carnegie
"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die - for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
George Bernard Shaw
"Each one of you has been called. Every individual soul has work to do. None can do the work of another. Each must do his or her own work. Therefore, we say, accept it, my child: accept the task laid before you and pray to the Great Spirit that you may not fail."
White Eagle
"The biggest mistake we could ever make in our lives is to think we work for anybody but ourselves."
Brian Tracy
"If we just worry about the big picture, we are powerless. So my secret is to start right away doing whatever little work I can do. I try to give joy to one person in the morning, and remove the suffering of one person in the afternoon. . . . That is the secret. Start right now."
Sister Chan Khong
"Teach children that their work is their love made manifest. Let them know that there are a lot of ways to demonstrate love. They can't always be hugging and kissing everyone to show their love. Teach them that things like doing their homework and helping around the house are also demonstrations of their love. Teach them to go within to their inner kingdom of heaven and awaken their inner
strength -- then to take that strength into the world to accomplish."
John-Roger
"God does not judge us by the multitude of works we perform, but how well we do the work that is ours to do. The happiness of too many days is often destroyed by trying to accomplish too much in one day. We would do well to follow a common
rule for our daily lives -- DO LESS, AND DO IT BETTER."
Dale Turner
"So, contrary to what some may believe, simplifying is not about retreating to a cabin in the woods and leading a dull, inactive existence. Rather, cutting back your hectic work pace gives you the opportunity to make sure that you're doing work you love. If you're not, you can change what you do. Simplifying will also help you create the balance you're seeking in your work life, your family life, and your personal life.
Out of that balance you'll have more clarity and enthusiasm to meet your goals. You'll learn how to achieve the success you want without stress and overwork. And simplifying will give you the time to develop a rich and rewarding inner life. Having that inner connection will make it so much easier to move beyond society's demands and expectations about work."
Elaine St. James
"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as
Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and
say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“If I am considering a job change, I ask, “God, where would You have me serve?” Whether I am thinking about a new career or desiring greater satisfaction through my current job, I listen for the guidance of God emanating from my soul. I know that I am being shown the way to higher fulfillment through my work.
God leads me to ways I can be more compassionate in my work. I approach my job as a way to give back to God by blessing the creations of God. By being thoughtful of and compassionate to others, I create a point of light in the world.
I can make the world a better place no matter what my job is. Whether I am making a product, delivering a service, or handling information, I am doing a spiritual work when I include love and kindness.”
Melody Beattie
"There should be less talk; a preaching point is not a meeting point. What do you do then? Take a broom and clean someone's house. That says enough."
Mother Teresa
"Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Today, we celebrate Labor Day, a day set aside to honor work well done.
This is an ideal time to consider how well we do rest. Today, let us not consume ourselves with chores and errands, but take time to quiet our minds and communicate with God."
Mary Manin Morrissey
"When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. To love life through labor is to be intimate with life's inmost secret.
All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible."
Kahlil Gibran
"How you do your smallest task, the care and mindfulness with which you act, is part of the overall energy you put forth in your life.
Work with care. Work with mindfulness. Work with love."
Cara Lumen
"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it."
Margaret Thatcher
X – X-Ray
“The theatre is a spiritual and social X-ray of its time.”
Stella Adler
“Mozart's music is like an X-ray of your soul - it shows what is there, and what isn't.”
Isaac Stern
“When you come right down to it all you have is yourself. The sun is a thousand rays in your belly. All the rest is nothing.”
Pablo Picasso
“The human understanding is like a false mirror, which, receiving rays irregularly, distorts and discolors the nature of things by mingling its own nature with it”
Francis Bacon, Sr
“God is the Sun and when His rays fall upon your heart, not impeded by the clouds
of egoism, the lotus blooms and the petals unfold.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Y – Youth
“The secret of eternal youth is arrested development.”
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
“Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing.”
Aristotle
“Keep true to the dreams of thy youth.”
Friedrich von Schiller
“Praise youth and it will prosper.”
Irish Proverb
“I'm youth, I'm joy, I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg.”
James M. Barrie
“In case you're worried about what's going to become of the younger generation, it's
going to grow up and start worrying about the younger generation.”
Roger Allen
Z – Zeal
“Zeal is a volcano, the peak of which the grass of indecisiveness does not grow.”
Kahlil Gibran
“Experience shows that success is due less to ability that to zeal. The winner is he who gives himself to his work, body and soul.”
Charles Buxton
“I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm and spring forth with a mighty faith to do the things that ought to be done by me.”
Charles Fillmore
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