Random Inspiration...

[Science Freak]

I don't know if this quote already has been giving, but I think it's one of the most amazing quotes ever.

'Fear can hold you prisoner; Hope can set you free'
It's from the shawshank redemption, the movie that gives me daily hope.



'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.'
Mohandas K Gandhi.


:angel:

 

[Sdeidjs]

I don't know if this quote already has been giving, but I think it's one of the most amazing quotes ever.

'Fear can hold you prisoner; Hope can set you free'
It's from the shawshank redemption, the movie that gives me daily hope.



'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.'
Mohandas K Gandhi.


:angel:

Impressive...unk:

 

[Poefiend]

^ are these like inspirational chain letters?

 

[Sdeidjs]

^ are these like inspirational chain letters?

No...

:angel:Inspirational Reflections of Thoughts~~~

 

[Sdeidjs]

"To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed." -- Bernard Edmonds

:angel:Knowledge Is Growth

 

[Sdeidjs]

It's Time to Wake Up!

Many people spend most of their lives asleep. I’m not referring to the kind of sleep we need every night. I’m talking about sleepwalking – the kind people do while they are wide awake. Most people spend their day on autopilot. They tend to do the same things, see the same people, perform the same duties, and drive the same roads every day. This kind of repetitive behavior can put you in a trance that locks you into a repetitive way of thinking and living. As a result, many of our long-term dreams and pursuits will get put on the back burner.

With that said, let me ask you a serious question: Is there something in your life you need to address? Going back to school, helping others in need, telling your parents you love them...

Whatever it is...

I think today is the perfect day to take your mind off autopilot and give your life and dreams a wake-up call!


Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare

:angel:Knowledge Is Growth

 

[Sdeidjs]

Want vs. Need


What one needs and what one wants in life are two totally different animals. I think one of the reasons that so many people struggle with finding happiness is that they don’t understand the basic differences between their wants and needs. Many of our desires are simply wants and aren’t truly necessary.

Abraham Maslow presented an entire theory on this subject in the mid 1950s with a concept known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. His theory suggests that people are basically motivated and driven by five unsatisfied needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization.

Wants, on the other hand, don’t hold the same urgency as needs. For example, wanting a better paying job is different than needing food to eat. You can live without a better paying job but you can’t live without food, which is a basic physiological need, according to Maslow’s theory. The point is this: The more you can distinguish between your actual needs and your life-enhancing wants, the less frustrating and unhappy your life will become. I believe we should try to get the most out of life, so I don’t mind if you seek those extra wants in life. However, your basic needs must be met before you can pursue those extras.



Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare


:angel:Knowledge Is Growth~~~

 

[Sdeidjs]

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up...

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
And get their answer when a little
Voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth
Is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, Because that is the doorway to her heart,
The place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she Shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Please send this to 5 Moms today.

If you don't, nothing bad will happen,

But if you do, something good

Will:
You'll boost a Mother's spirits.

:angel:Knowledge Is Growth~~~

 

[Sdeidjs]

Your Happy Song

I love music! For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed the sound of music, and I still find myself singing all the time. I learned to play guitar when I was young and I earned money during school by performing at dances and clubs. Music continues to this day to play a big role in my life; I still play my guitar nearly every day - it helps me relax and allows me a means of expression like nothing else on this planet. So with music as my launching pad, I have a question for you to ponder today.


Music is truly a magical thing. It can raise your spirit or it can make you cry. It seems to have a direct effect on our emotions, which is why we tend to associate and highlight emotional events with meaningful songs. So my question is simple: What song is it that you always turn to when you need that musical pick-me-up? What song lifts your spirit, gives you hope and moves you forward when times are tough? In short, what’s your happy song?



Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare

:angel:Knowledge Is Growth

 

[Sdeidjs]

7 Steps to Growing a Garden of Prayer

Design Your Garden

What do you hope to achieve from prayer? Comfort? Wisdom? Energy? Healing? Peace? Each of these, and other benefits, are possible through the quiet and focused attention you give to your prayer time. Before you begin, take a moment to collect your thoughts and design your garden of prayer around your deeply held hopes, dreams, and desires.

 

[Sdeidjs]

Prepare the Soil

The more willing you are to sit in quiet contemplation, the more prepared you will be to raise focused prayer and be able to listen to the still, soft voice within. Prayer time is best enjoyed when it’s not in competition with other interests or distractions. Try to find time that can be devoted to prayer, entirely and whole-heartedly. Approach as you would having a conversation with a cherished friend.

 

[Sdeidjs]

Plant the Seeds

The deepest of prayers begins with one word, one position of supplication. Although it might seem almost impossible to find the time, focus, and quiet to spend a long time in prayer, in reality, all it takes is to start. Like planting seeds in the soil you have prepared, beginning to pray, however briefly, will enable you to establish a habit of prayer that will lead deeper and deeper the more time you give it.

 

[Sdeidjs]

Watch and Listen

Sometimes, farmers speak of the joy of “sitting back and hearing the crops grow.” Often when we pray, we don’t think anything is happening or that anyone else is listening. But, in reality, much is going on below the soil, nestled in our souls. Practicing prayer is partly about our words, but it is also about watching and listening for the responses that come to us, sometimes so subtly that we would miss them…if we weren’t paying attention.

 

[Sdeidjs]

Protect from Harm

Weeds. Hungry animals. Floods. These things and others can damage and sometimes destroy the most cherished of gardens. In prayer, we need to be vigilant about things that can tear us away from our inner lives and the value we place on prayer, quiet, and the desire to obtain wisdom from something other than the world outside the soul. Prayer is strongest when it is protected through faith, determination, and consistency.

 

[Sdeidjs]

Prune and Pamper

It is natural to lift up prayers for things we want. But what if the answer is, “No,” or, “Not yet?” Honesty in prayer, just as in any relationship, is a necessary virtue. In order to be able to hear clearly as we pray, we need to be ready to put aside our own desires for what is, truly, the answer to our prayers. This way, we will be ready to embrace new blessings, new challenges, and a new depth of soul that we, in our humanness, would never have imagined.

 

[Sdeidjs]

Reap the Benefits

Always be ready to lift up praiseful prayers! The seeds of peace, wisdom, healing, comfort, energy, and other blessings become, over time, beautiful qualities that sustain us and encourage us throughout life. These benefits of prayer, like the food and flowers grown at our hands in the garden, are reminders that our souls play a vital role in everything we do, say, believe and are. How wonderful are the fruits of prayer! How blessed are we who work in our gardens of prayer!

 

[LindaC781]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Fear of Failure
[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
Theodore Roosevelt[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Half of the failures in life come from pulling one's horse when he is leaping.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Thomas Hood[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Go back a little to leap further.
John Clarke[/FONT]​

​

 

[LindaC781]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Happiness Quotes [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]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 that has been opened for us.
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Helen Keller[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Aristotle
[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness resides not in posessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.
Democritus[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]People with many interests live, not only longest, but happiest.
George Matthew Allen[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Albert Schweitzer[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.
Aldous Huxley[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
David Burns, Intimate Connections[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions—the little soon-forgotten charities of a kiss, a smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment in the disguise of a playful raillery, and the countless other infinitessimals of pleasurable thought and genial feeling.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Men spend their lives in anticipations,[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]—[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]in determining to be vastly happy at some period when they have time. But the present time has one advantage over every other[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]—[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]it is our own. Past opportunities are gone, future have not come. We may lay in a stock of pleasures, as we would lay in a stock of wine; but if we defer the tasting of them too long, we shall find that both are soured by age.
Charles Caleb Colton[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The chances are that you have already come to believe that happiness is unattainable. But men have attained it. And they have attained it by realising that happiness does not spring from the procuring of physical or mental pleasure, but from the development of reason and the adjustment of conduct to principles.
from How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, by Arnold Bennett [/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness is not a matter of events, it depends upon the tides of the mind.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Alice Meynell[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Epictetus [/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Benjamin Franklin[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying things which are beyond the power of our will. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Epictetus[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than attempting to satisfy them.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
John Stuart Mills[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You're happiest while you're making the greatest contribution.
Robert F. Kennedy[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Action may not always bring happiness;
but there is no happiness without action.
Benjamin Disraeli[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Great effort from great motives is the best definition of a happy life.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
William Ellery Channing[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is more to life than increasing its speed.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Mahatma Ghandi[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The rays of happiness, like those of light, are colorless when unbroken.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Henry W. Longfellow[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens.
Douglas Jerrold[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness is where we find it, but rarely where we seek it.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
J. Petit Senn[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Albert Camus[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness depends upon ourselves.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Aristotle[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Try to be happy in this present moment, and put not off being so to a time to come,—as though that time should be of another make from this which has already come and is ours.
Thomas Fuller[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
George Santayana[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]No man is happy who does not think himself so.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Publilius Syrus[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Our minds are as different as our faces: we are all traveling to one destination; --happiness; but few are going by the same road.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Charles Caleb Colton [/FONT]

 

[Sdeidjs]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Happiness Quotes [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]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 that has been opened for us.
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Helen Keller[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Aristotle
[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness resides not in posessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul.
Democritus[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]People with many interests live, not only longest, but happiest.
George Matthew Allen[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Albert Schweitzer[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.
Aldous Huxley[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
David Burns, Intimate Connections[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions—the little soon-forgotten charities of a kiss, a smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment in the disguise of a playful raillery, and the countless other infinitessimals of pleasurable thought and genial feeling.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Men spend their lives in anticipations,[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]—[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]in determining to be vastly happy at some period when they have time. But the present time has one advantage over every other[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]—[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]it is our own. Past opportunities are gone, future have not come. We may lay in a stock of pleasures, as we would lay in a stock of wine; but if we defer the tasting of them too long, we shall find that both are soured by age.
Charles Caleb Colton[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The chances are that you have already come to believe that happiness is unattainable. But men have attained it. And they have attained it by realising that happiness does not spring from the procuring of physical or mental pleasure, but from the development of reason and the adjustment of conduct to principles.
from How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, by Arnold Bennett [/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness is not a matter of events, it depends upon the tides of the mind.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Alice Meynell[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Epictetus [/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Benjamin Franklin[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying things which are beyond the power of our will. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Epictetus[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than attempting to satisfy them.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
John Stuart Mills[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You're happiest while you're making the greatest contribution.
Robert F. Kennedy[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Action may not always bring happiness;
but there is no happiness without action.
Benjamin Disraeli[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Great effort from great motives is the best definition of a happy life.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
William Ellery Channing[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is more to life than increasing its speed.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Mahatma Ghandi[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The rays of happiness, like those of light, are colorless when unbroken.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Henry W. Longfellow[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers' gardens.
Douglas Jerrold[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness is where we find it, but rarely where we seek it.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
J. Petit Senn[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Albert Camus[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Happiness depends upon ourselves.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Aristotle[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Try to be happy in this present moment, and put not off being so to a time to come,—as though that time should be of another make from this which has already come and is ours.
Thomas Fuller[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
George Santayana[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]No man is happy who does not think himself so.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Publilius Syrus[/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Our minds are as different as our faces: we are all traveling to one destination; --happiness; but few are going by the same road.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Charles Caleb Colton [/FONT]

:angel:Be Still Our Hearts...

 

[Sdeidjs]

SUCCESS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT
by Brian Tracy

Success is not a miracle. Nor is it a matter of luck. Everything happens for a reason, good or bad, positive or negative.

This is referred to in the Bible as the Law of Sowing and Reaping which says that, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that also shall he reap."

:angel:Knowledge Is Growth~~~

 

[Sdeidjs]

Where True Identity Lies

Because I did not want to risk upsetting others, I nearly missed hearing the unique music in my soul.

BY: Sue Monk Kidd

When I was six years old someone asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” At that age, living in a small Georgia town in the 1950s, I could only think of four careers for women—they were the only stories I knew: teacher, nurse, secretary, and housewife. By some process of elimination, I picked nurse. From that moment on, I began to get little nurse kits for my birthdays. The librarian at school set aside the biography of Florence Nightingale for me. If someone cut their finger, I was called in as the designated bandager. At sixteen, my parents arranged for me to be a volunteer at the local hospital. Everyone expected me to be a nurse, and I was like wet cement taking on the expectations.

I got my Bachelor’s degree in nursing and worked nine years—even taught nursing in a college—before I stopped and said to myself, “This is not who I am. I am not really a nurse inside. I’m a writer.” By that time, the cement had hardened and I had some jackhammer work to do, breaking up the old identity imbedded within and releasing a new self. I had continued with nursing, not because it is a noble profession that stirred my deep gladness, but because I did not want to risk upsetting others’—not to mention my own—ingrained notion of who I was. I wanted to please. I wanted to protect myself from the uncertainty of starting over. In such ways our consciousness becomes centered in the outer roles and masks we wear, rather than in the True Self within.
I have had to struggle to pull myself from the Collective They. At various times I have lived out of narrowly prescribed identities that I accepted and internalized from the Collective: dutiful and submissive wife, ever-sacrificing mother, armored career woman, perfectionist, pleaser, performer, good little girl who never colored outside the lines drawn for her. Sometimes I was so busy being tuned in to outside ideas, expectations, and demands, I failed to hear the unique music in my soul. I forfeited my ability to listen creatively to my deepest self, to my own God within. I was wearing the name “They.”
When I wear this name I am limited in my ability to relate to others in a genuinely compassionate way. I am separated from them by the masks that keep me from being real with them. Stuck in the Collective They, I am more apt to relate out of my ego needs, from the subtleties of my false selves and from mandates and demands placed on me from others, rather than love born in my own heart.

One day driving down the street, I asked myself, “Sue Monk Kidd, who are you?” Right away the obvious answers came. “You are Bob and Ann’s mother, Sandy’s wife, Leah and Ridley’s daughter, a writer, a member of Grace Episcopal Church.” All nice things. Then I asked myself. “So, if all those roles were stripped away, then who would you be?” The question jolted me. It brought me to stand before the bare mystery of my own being. Was there something deeper at the very core of me that was purely and truly my “I”?

I came to believe that my true identity goes beyond the outer roles I play. It transcends the ego. I came to understand that there is an Authentic “I” within—an “I Am,” or divine spark within the soul.

Here is where our real selfhood is rooted, in the divine spark or seed, in the image of God imprinted on the human soul. The True Self is not our creation, but God’s. It is the self we are in our depths. It is our capacity for divinity and transcendence.

Unraveling external selves and coming home to our real identity is the true meaning of soul work. I remember a time in my life when I actually thought the term “soul work” referred to the evangelistic effort of winning souls. That hints at how little attention I had paid to the soul as the seedbed of the divine life. I eventually found that the soul is more than an immortal commodity to win and save. It is the repository of the inner divine, the truest part of us.

A few years ago, struggling with false selves, wearing masks as if life were a masquerade party, I began to feel the suffocation that happens when we cut ourselves off from the True Self. I went away to a retreat center nestled among live oaks in the low country of South Carolina. I went to try and remember who I really was. I walked in the front door, and there tacked on the wall was a picture of the pregnant Madonna and these words:

This image represents each person who is trying to birth the Real Self, the Imago Dei that is taking shape within. For that conception to move to its fullness, we all need time to be quiet, to be reflective, to be centered in our deep places.

During that retreat, I walked beneath the trees alone with God, alone with my True Self, praying wordless prayers, touching the space of mystery, going to my center. That time produced the energy needed to shift my awareness to an Authentic I, which is the necessary prelude for real compassion.

Living out the Compassionate We means blending our tears with the world’s in a way that heals and creates community. The word compassion literally means com (with) passion (suffering). Compassion is not, therefore, having a sentimental feeling of pity; it is sharing the pain. It means a “suffering with” that flows from the life of God in the soul, not from ego motivations.

When compassion wakes up in us, we find ourselves more willing to become vulnerable, to take the risk of entering the pain of others. We open our lives to them in a genuine willingness to be known. We tell them our own story of suffering as a way of offering healing and hope. We feel their heart bleeding into ours; we catch their tears. We relieve their pain as much as we are able, and by relieving theirs, we relieve God’s.

While reading Elie Weisel’s book, Night, which is the chronicle of his suffering in a Nazi concentration camp, I came upon a story that spread before me a metaphoric picture of what it means to live in the Compassionate We as a community.

Nazi soldiers herded the Jews out of their barracks before dawn into thickly falling snow in order to wait for a train that would transport them to another camp. Having been without food and drink for three days, the Jews stood in the snow till evening, forbidden to sit or even bend over. The snow formed a layer on their shoulders. One thirsty man took out his spoon and began to eat the snow that had accumulated on the shoulders of the person in front of him. The act spread through the line until that collection of separate individuals, each of whom had been struggling alone with their pain, became a community sharing their suffering together.

The image burned into my mind, and I knew that in some way this is how we would survive as a human family, by becoming a place of nourishment for our brothers and sisters, by quietly shouldering their pain and their healing. We would survive as we became a We Community, sharing our sufferings in a great and holy act of compassion.

:angel:

 

[Sdeidjs]

FAITH
by Jeffery Combs

So much of our ordinary thinking lapses into habitual pattern with little variation from one day to the next. Our lives mirror this and fall into serial monotony, interrupted by episodes of trouble, panic, and loss. Our lives are consumed by fear and lack of prosperity consciousness, and we get to a place where life has become a struggle. We become conditioned to living in fear!

The opposite of fear is faith. Faith is a whole “science of mind” that takes seriously the dictum of being recreated through a complete renewing of our minds, and not only our minds, but our bodies and souls as well. The opportunity to experience true abundance lies within us, but for this to occur we must agree to attune and orchestrate our thoughts and emotions towards higher purposes and creative ends. We are limited only by our own thought processes. We have been programmed by thoughts of our grandparents, parents, peers, society as a whole, the media, our government (who is in the business of teaching us a job mentality), and most of all ourselves.

Having total faith in ourselves and our outcomes gives us the passion for a whole new probability, along with precise and clear directions for building a new consciousness that states, “I love myself. I deserve to have it all.” Having faith allows you the opportunity to be active and creative whereas most people in society “tiptoe quietly through life, arriving safely at their graves” without ever playing the game for fear of being a failure.

It amazes me how many people I personally know, and how many of my clients that I have consulted with, are paralyzed by the four-letter-word f-e-a-r. You have heard the clichés: f-e-a-r stands for ‘False Evidence Appearing Real’ or ‘Fear will always be the thief of your dreams.’ Fear is the main reason for the paralyses that stops many women and men from ever getting up off the couch. I hear so often: “If only, I’d like to, next week, next month, next year, or how about next lifetime? I’m not smart enough, old enough, well-off enough,” and on and on. Excuses are what these intellectualizations are, a reason not to succeed. Fear causes people to make up excuses, validate reasons why not, and to ask questions that really mean why, not how. Fear causes people not to take action for fear they will be ridiculed, laughed at, and embarrassed. Many people fear success and the responsibilities that they perceive it will bring. A large portion of society has worked itself into a comfort zone and for many it’s the “miserable comfort zone.”

It takes just as much energy to be fearful as it does to have total faith; probably even more. Look back on the amount of time and effort you have put into situations that were blown out of proportion. I call this “majoring in minor things.” I spent the first forty years of my life stressing, projecting, and worrying about the what-ifs of life. In the past few years,

“This too shall pass,” is an affirmation that I have begun to use almost daily. Look at how many times we have overreacted and blown situations out of proportion. These are only a few examples of fear overriding faith.

There is no margin for fear when 100% faith is required to become successful in whatever job, business, or enterprise you partake. If you fear you will fail then you are absolutely correct. If you are going to try, give it a shot, interested, or curious then don’t even get started. Success is a process not a payoff, and you have to take action to become successful. Taking action requires risk. You will meet challenges and have trying moments. You will not be able to change some of the challenges, but you can definitely change how you view situations in the future, and turn fear into faith. Fear and fate do not mix because ‘1% doubt does not equal 100% faith.’ You can’t have a little doubt and a lot of faith at the same time. You are either in fear or in faith and it is your option!

:angel:Knowledge IS Growth​

 

[Sdeidjs]

Sheena Fanuncial

"Many people will walk in and out of your life,
but only true FRIENDS will leave footprints in your heart."
-Eleanor Roosevelt





Mental Feng Shui

This is without a doubt one of the nicest good luck forwards I have received. Hope it works for you -- and me!



Lotus Touts: You have 6 minutes



There's some mighty fine advice in these words, even if you're not superstitious. This Lotus Touts has been sent to you for good luck from the Anthony Robbins organization. It has been sent around the world ten times so far.



Do not keep this message.



The Lotus Touts mus t leave your hands in 6 MINUTES. Otherwise you will get a very unpleasant surprise. This is true, even if you are not superstitious, agnostic, or otherwise faith impaired.



ONE.Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.



TWO.Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, t heir conversational skills will be as important as any other.



THREE.Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.



FOUR.When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.



FIVE.When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.



SIX.Be engaged at least six months before you get married.



SEVEN.Believe in love at first sight.



EIGHT.Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.



NINE.Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.



TEN..In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.



ELEVEN.Don't judge people by their relatives.



TWELVE.Talk slowly but think quickly.< SPAN>



THIRTEEN! ....When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'



FOURTEEN.Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.



FIFTEEN.Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.



SIXTEEN.When you lose, don't lose the lesson.



SEVENTEEN.Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.



EIGHTEEN.Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.


NINETEEN.When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.



TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.



TWENTY- ONE.Spend some time alone.



Now, here's the FUN part!

Send this to at least 5 people and your life will improve. 1-4 people: Your life will improve slightly.

5-9 people: Your life will improve to your liking.

9-14 people: You will have at least 5 surprises in the next 3 weeks



15 and above: Your life will improve drastically and everything you ever dreamed of will begin to take shape.



A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.Do not keep this message.






:angel:

 

[Sdeidjs]

How Do You Define 'Honor'?

Daily Inspiration


By John H. Sklare, Ed.D, Lifescript Personal Coach Published August 19, 2009


The word honor denotes respect, admiration and principled living. I’ve always reserved its use for people who live the kind of life and perform deeds that deserve praise.

Even though we all consider different people heroes, there’s one trait that defines all true heroes... honor.

People of honor are all around us, but like the word hero, the media often uses this word too frequently and without merit.

It reminds me of what Mark Twain said, “It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.” I couldn’t agree more!

That’s why I only bestow that word on those who come upon it the old-fashioned way… they earn it! So how do you define honor?

Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare


:angel:We Are The World...Heal The World...Education IS The Key~~~

 

[myfavouritewintercoat]

This is a great thread

The part about decoding life's messages is so true! My friend and I were just on the phone talking about what life is teaching you when you are stuck in a rut and then I read this on here after...

5. Notice That Life Rhymes
Mark Twain said that history may not repeat itself, but it rhymes. This is also true of our personal history. When a name or a theme comes up again and again, it may be telling us that we need to get the message.

 

[myfavouritewintercoat]

Possibly one of my favourite lyrics:

'There is a crack in everything, thats how the light gets in' - Leonard Cohen

 

[myfavouritewintercoat]

"Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them" - John Updike

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."
- Elbert Hubbard

"If the logical world brings us war and disharmony and pain, then live in an unusual way for a bit of a laugh." - Russell Brand

 

[Sdeidjs]

Truth,
Love your thoughts...keep sharing...

:angel:We Are The World...Heal The World...Education IS The Key~~~

 

[Sdeidjs]

DARE TO DREAM

Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it. Because the dream is within you, no one can take it away.

Tom Clancy

:angel:We Are The World...Heal The World...Education IS The Key~~~

 

[Sdeidjs]

SUCCESS

The traditional version tells us that there are two things you need to succeed: talent and hunger, or drive. I have added a third thing, and that is optimism. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't believe you can overcome failure, if you do not mentally rehearse success, then your talent and drive will come to nothing once you have been knocked down.

Martin Seligman


:angel:We Are The World...Heal The World...Education IS The Key~~~