Posts

Wisdom

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." ~William James

Stillness Speaks, by Eckhart Tolle

What a great book.  I need to read this again and again.  Here's an excerpt that I really liked. "Complaining & reactivity are favorite mind patterns through which the ego strengthens itself.  For many people, a large part of their mental-emotional activity consists of complaining and reacting against this or that.  By doing this, you make others or a situation 'wrong' and yourself 'right'.  Through being 'right', you feel superior, and through feeling superior, you strengthen your sense of self.  In reality, of course, you are only strengthening the illusion of ego."

Emotional Intelligence

Quotes from the book "Raising your emotional intelligence" by Jeanne Segal. If you haven't read this book, I recommend that you do. "We are told to value the head and devalue the heart; instinctively, we value the  heart and feel wrong for doing so.  We are not wrong." "EQ's domain is personal and interpersonal relationships; it is responsible for your self-esteem, self awareness, social sensitivity, and social adaptability." "Growing emotionally is a lifelong process, a beautiful part of our human potential.  You can always learn to become aware of your feelings, to accept them, and to use the information they offer to the advantage of yourself and others."

Stories

From the book: Don't Just Do Something, Sit There. A Mindfulness Retreat with Sylvia Boorstein. "Mindfulness, seeing clearly, means awakening to the happiness of the uncomplicated moment. We complicate moments. Hardly anything happens without the mind spinning it up into an elaborate production. It's the elaboration that makes life more difficult than it needs to be." "I discovered my habit of transforming neutral fact into painful opinion many years ago when I phoned a monastery to arrange to do a private retreat. The person I spoke with said, "You need to talk to Robert, the retreat master." I left a message for Robert and was assured he would call me back. The following day I had a message on my answering machine from Robert saying he was returning my call. The day after that, I phoned and was told, once again, that Robert wasn't there. I explained that I had called Robert and Robert had called me and here I was, now, calling Robert again. I adde...

Choose your thoughts wisely.

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." — William James, philosopher and psychologist

I love this!

I found this listed as " An unforgettable quote about intimacy " on GoodMenProject.com and I feel in love with it instantly.  I'm certain I've read it at least a hundred times.  Enjoy! Something changes the moment you decide you’ve found a person you are ready to reveal parts of your soul to. Something stands out and makes the moment unique. A profound multidimensional clarity resembling a piece of carefully gathered stardust; As if you are whispering “finally” and your eyes fill with light and spontaneity. As if you do not care whether your heart will melt or crumble in the process because your brief courage undoes your tremendous fear of disbelief. You live for these moments; For you are, maybe for one second or more, sweetly forced to surrender yourself to unconditional intimacy. A moment of psychological reward smashing all self-imposed disciplines founded on terror. This is all you need. ~ Anais Nin - See more at: http://goodmenproject.com/featured-con...

To love....

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”  C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Relationships

“…but she never wanted to be in a relationship again. Because relationships were the worst. So many obligations. So many compromises. So many arguments. Someone always got destroyed in the end. Sometimes everyone got destroyed in the end.”  —  Jami Attenberg, The Middlesteins

KathyHowe on being approachable:

You aren't approachable if you don't reach out to others. It's a two way street. Why don't you go first?

Create your day.

“I'm taking this time to create my day and I'm infecting the quantum field. Now if (it) is in fact the observer's watching me the whole time that I'm doing this and there is a spiritual aspect to myself, then show me a sign today that you paid attention to any one of these things that I created, and bring them in a way that I won't expect, so I'm as surprised at my ability to be able to experience these things. And make it so that I have no doubt that it's come from you,' and so I live my life, in a sense, all day long thinking about being a genius or thinking about being the glory and the power of God or thinking about being unconditional love.”   -Joe Dispenza, What The Bleep

Don't blame the lettuce.

"When you plant lettuce and i t does not grow well , you don't blame the let t uce. You l ook for reasons it is not do i ng we l l. It may need fertilizer, or more water , or l ess sun.   You never blame the l ettuce.  Yet , if we ha v e prob l ems with our friends or fam i ly (or s t udents or co - workers), w e blame  the other person . But, if we know how t o take ca r e of them, they will grow we ll , li ke the lettuce.  B l aming has no pos iti ve effect at all , nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument . I f you understand, and you show that you understand, the si t ua t ion w i l l cha n ge ." - Thich Nhat Hanh

Where is your schedule?

"What’s talked about is a dream. What’s envisioned is exciting. What’s planned becomes possible. What’s scheduled is real." ~Tony Robbins

Act now!

"Isn't it time to put away the frustration & fear & just take massive action? All change happens in a moment...a moment of decision! Act now!" - Tony Robbins

Talking

"Practice asking yourself W.A.I.T= Why Am I Talking?" - Anne Lamott

People

“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”  ― Epictetus

Blessed be your longing

This is one of the most breathtaking things I've read in a long time.  Written by Jeanette LeBlanc. blessed-be-your-longing

Future

"By each crime & every kindness, we birth our future." -David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Sally Owens

" Can love really travel back in time and heal a broken heart? Was it our joined hands that finally lifted Maria's curse? I'd like to think so. But there are some things I know for certain: always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck, and fall in love whenever you can."  ~Practical Magic 

Our lives our not our own...

“Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past & present, & by each crime & every kindness, we birth our future.”  ~Cloud Atlas

Thank you, Anne Lamott.

"You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should've behaved better" Anne Lamott