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Posts from the ‘Quotes’ Category

Oct 14

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Jump Start

I wasn’t feeling it this morning, so I was going to put off posting until tonight. Putting it off is the recipe for not doing it. Stop procrastinating and start right where you are now. Change your attitude and perspective.

When you don’t feel it inside, go outside for some inspiration, motivation and optimism. Day 14 – 30 day positive thinking habit. Make it a GREAT day!

Here’s 5 Positive Quotes to Jump Start Your Day!:

  1. “Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.” – Norman Vincent Peale
  2. “Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.” – Henri Nouwen
  3. “Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough.” – Richard M. DeVos
  4. “A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.” – Patricia Neal
  5. “It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.” – Robert H. Schuller

May 5

Granted

“Most people fill their schedules with work, and leisure only happens when there’s time left over. But it’s impossible to live a rich and full life without doing things that give you joy. Forget about productivity once in a while and give yourself permission to goof off.” – Amy Morin

Standing in the coffee shop waiting for a cup of coffee after a fun run and conversation with Jeanne and thinking about the list for the rest of my day, the coffee carrier right in front of me popped out at me and got my attention with this quote on permission. I went to get my phone to take a picture for this post.

“Become slower in your journey through life. Practice yoga and meditation if you suffer from 'hurry sickness.' Become more introspective by visiting quiet places such as churches, museums, mountains and lakes. Give yourself permission to read at least one novel a month for pleasure.” – Wayne Dyer

“Become slower in your journey through life. Practice yoga and meditation if you suffer from ‘hurry sickness.’ Become more introspective by visiting quiet places such as churches, museums, mountains and lakes. Give yourself permission to read at least one novel a month for pleasure.” – Wayne Dyer

What a simple and brilliant reminder that we are the only ones who can grant ourselves permission to make our day, to explore our environment, to choose our path. We wait for permission from others to live our own life, to choose the activities of the day.

So if you are waiting for permission, stop and grant it to yourself. Sign off and send yourself on the way to explore the possibility in today. It only takes one decision in your own mind to give yourself permission and responsibility to enjoy your day. The coffee carrier and I are happy to remind you and me that it’s time to explore and stop asking permission. It’s yours to give and to grant. It belongs to no one else. Granted.

Mar 8

It Adds Up

The steps that you take today add up. What they add up to is up to you. Fulfillment and fruition require effort and time. Short cuts are detours that take us off the path we are intended to take.

Do today’s work, allow time to do its work and be gratefully present in this day. Be positive, kind, hopeful, generous and lighten up. Laugh, sing and dance along the way too. We are a work in progress, called to daily joy, growing in preparation to bloom in due time.

Jan 18

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Hope Pulls Us Forward

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver

I started this week at a funeral of a 36 years old colleague and friend. When I met her Mom, she was stunned that I had flown out for the funeral. I knew I had to be there to honor her too short life. Seeing her tribe, the ones who knew her the very best, I could see where she derived her joy, grit, work-ethic, resilience and get-it-done with a smile attitude. On my second hug with her Mom, I told her how sorry I was for her loss and she said she was sorry for mine. What a generous loving response.

Many tears, laughs, sweet conversations and honoring a wonderful person who will be deeply missed. In addition to the conversations with family and friends, the words that remain are from the priest as he concluded with a profound insight and reminder – “hope pulls us forward.”

So no matter what is going on in your life right now, hope does pull us forward and holds us when we can’t hold ourselves. Cling to that, knowing that in the fullness of time, it will be more than alright. And when we stop asking the “unanswerable in this moment” why, we can go deeply in moments of struggle and loss to find hope, gratitude and meaning.

Be grateful, generous and kind today. It will make a difference for others and yourself. It’s a win-win proposition, one that you will never regret.

“Said the river: imagine everything you can imagine, then keep on going.” – Mary Oliver

Aug 2

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A Big Band

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” – Aldous Huxley

A big band as the sun prepares to rest can only make for a bit of delight. Music, art and nature sustain and fill our very soul. A light step, a twirl and a smile and the moment is so much more than enough.

Lily and me escaped to Como Lake tonight. To walk, not run. To saunter, not speed. Embracing the gift of a warm summer evening with a slight breeze at just the right time. When we sat down to enjoy the music, an older couple got up to show us how to lighten up and dance like no one was watching.

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”- Plato

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.”- Plato

Escaping all that binds us need not be complicated or planned too far in advance. Spontaneous and special, and required of us daily.

Turn up the music and get out on the dance floor.

Jul 29

Reach

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?” – Robert Browning

It is in the effort and action of reaching that we are simultaneously pulled and pushed. Motion transforms to momentum. Dreams released to unfold. The effort soon becomes effortless and the action natural.

“But for each of us, isn't life about determining your own finish line?” – Diana Nyad

“But for each of us, isn’t life about determining your own finish line?” – Diana Nyad

Change is our friend not foe. Growth is our calling. And reaching our potential is not only for oneself but is the gift that the world needs from each one of us. Our purpose is to leave this world with no regrets or doubts that we became our best and most sacred self. And the world is better for it.

Reach, and keep reaching.

Mar 29

Ripple

“I have begun to think of life as a series of ripples widening out from an original center.” – Seamus Heaney

“I have begun to think of life as a series of ripples widening out from an original center.” – Seamus Heaney

“To be attuned to the mysteries at work in our lives is to behold the spirit or the sacred in our otherwise secular experiences. And that perception of the sacred transforms life, raises it to a new level. It makes us alive rather than dead and causes the world to resurrect.” – Thomas Moore, A Religion of One’s Own

Each day becomes sacred when we find the holy in ordinary moments. Slices of time that show us a glimpse of something higher, deeper and renders speech silent so the vastness of it all can be taken in, but for a moment.

See the ripple in the clouds, search for patterns, embrace the embrace longer, smile wide and hold it until people wonder what’s right with you. We become whole an experience and encounter at a time. There are no detours and delays that are not meant to be. Each step, each motion forward make us stronger, more aware, more equipped for what’s next, for what’s expected of us.

Behold and grasp the sheer beauty and awe. Behold.

Jul 26

2 Comments

Available Now

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“God changes appearances every second. Blessed is the one who can recognize God in all God’s disguises. One moment God is a glass of fresh water, the next, your son bouncing on your knees, or an enchanting woman or perhaps merely a morning walk.” – Nikos Kazantzakis

May you see the depth, beauty and dimension of each moment today and in the gift of each day that follows. Grace and gratitude.

Feb 1

6 Comments

This Moment

“To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.” – Eckhart Tolle

“To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is never not now.” – Eckhart Tolle

Imagine ahead to the sun setting on this day. As you lay your head down to sleep, what will you have done with this day? How we enter each moment, aware or on auto-pilot, makes up our life. Be present this day, in your life and all that is right now.

“It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.” – Eckhart Tolle

Sep 3

17 Comments

To Be Found

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.” – Thomas Merton

Every once in a while, Lily or Molly quietly disappear from the living room. When I go look, I always find them lying on the bed waiting to be found. When I sit next to them and snuggle in, they always perk up – mission accomplished. That’s all they want. They just want to be found. A simple yet profound reminder that all of us just want to be found, to be missed, to be sought, to be seen, to be heard.

“Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.” – Eric Hoffer

“Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.” – Eric Hoffer

When we get out of our own head long enough and use our heart to find others with a smile, a compliment, a moment of attention, our world expands and grows richer.

And when we search and find others, we actually find ourselves, our best self. Shine a light, feel the warmth.

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