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Posts from the ‘Quotes’ Category

Feb 28

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The Outcome

“To have striven, to have made the effort, to have been true to certain ideals – this alone is worth the struggle.” – William Osler

We often get to point B before ever leaving point A. Rushing to the conclusion, we forgo the journey. We play out conversations in our head, assuming we know exactly what will be said, bypassing the chance for a real exchange.

When we put more into the effort and less into predicting the outcome, we let go of what we have no control of to start with. Give your best and the outcome will take care of itself. What others think, popularity and people pleasing are fleeting. Without regard for reward or penalty, our thoughts, actions and words should be grounded in our ideals, our authentic self.

No hesitation, no bias, no assumptions, no predictions. Do, speak, think, feel and be who you are without consideration of the results, knowing the effort will pay off. With forethought based in kindness, let your presence leave behind more than what was there before you passed through.

“Living never wore one out so much as the effort not to live.” – Anais Nin

Feb 25

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The Waterline

“What goes on externally is only the tip of the iceberg in any situation. The lessons, the real changes, the opportunities to grow—these are things the body’s eyes can’t see. They remain beneath the spiritual water line, but they are there. And they represent a much more vast picture of the soul’s journey than what we can see from the perspective of our physical senses. Growth is not always about getting what we think we want. Always, it’s about becoming the men and women we have the potential to be. Loving, pure, honest, clear.” – Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love

“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau

“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.” – Jacques Yves Cousteau

Cast your net more deep than wide. Beneath the surface of assumptions and judgment lies compassion and kindness. The truth is below the waterline, waiting to free us to love deeper, stay longer and become who we are meant to be. Just beneath the waterline.

Feb 23

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Home

“Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You’ll find what you need to furnish it – memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey.” – Tad Williams

Home – our true north, our center.

I’ve been gone at conference for one of our clients since 3:45 am last Tuesday morning. 14 hour days. Wonderful people. Exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. I’ve been fortunate to work with nonprofit associations for 25 years this year. This conference was the culmination of what associations are all about – a professional home of friends and family gathering in community for a common purpose. A celebration.

It’s good be home, to the girls, to family, to the place that accepts us unconditionally with open arms and paws. We are called to move out into the world. To engage. To participate. To give our best, until we have no more to give.

Yet, as we journey out, we can carry home with us and offer that gift to others as we welcome them with enthusiasm, a hug and an authentic smile. And all that is good and right about home moves into the world.

Welcome home.

Feb 16

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With Love

“I think God’s going to come down and pull civilization over for speeding.” – Steven Wright

“Love knows how to form itself. God will do his work if we do ours. Our job is to prepare ourselves for love. When we do, love finds us every time.” – Marianne Williamson

“Love knows how to form itself. God will do his work if we do ours. Our job is to prepare ourselves for love. When we do, love finds us every time.” – Marianne Williamson

As I raced through a hectic last week to get ready for a very busy this week, I realized how much I rush through each day. To get through, to get by, to get to the next place, only to focus on the next. So instead of “preparing” for the worst, I am going to be present in each moment, trusting that I am where I am supposed to be. And instead of doing it with speed and velocity, I will embrace each encounter with enthusiasm and love.

Isn’t it awesome to be around people like that? We can be that for ourselves and others. We get what we give. Do this week with love.

Feb 8

4 Comments

Imagine

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.” – Dr. Seuss

Combine imagination with a pair of sunglasses and the six foot wave of snow in my front yard transforms into waves rolling in on the beach in Malibu, Kona, Monterey Bay, Cancun (insert your favorite beach here). Surfs up.

When we are not overcome by the trivial, each day becomes “show and tell.”  A simple shift and we’re laying on a beach, warm sun on our face, relaxing to the music of the ocean waves dancing on the beach. Imagine. Delight. Lighten Up.

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Feb 6

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Begin Again

“Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.” – Seneca

We often let the circumstances of the day define us. By the end of yesterday, the day “won.” Each day gives us the gift to begin again. To start anew. When I set the tone in the quiet of the morning, I make a conscious decision to “make” my day. A few lines from one of Marianne Williamson’s prayers in Illuminata wacked me in the head this morning – “Thank You for my chance to begin again. Free me from the limitations of yesterday.”

Today need not be a prediction or repetition of yesterday. It is its own. Begin again and win the day.

Feb 4

4 Comments

Get Up

“Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.” – Anais Nin

We don’t fail when we fail. We fail when we stop getting up, when we give up. Everyone’s story is one of wins and losses, joys and sorrows. The losses give us the most valuable lessons – resilience, grace, faith, strength, fortitude, hope. The wins show us the world of possibilities.

Aim higher, push forward and never quit growing. Go easy on yourself and others, honoring the strength and frailty of the human spirit. We aren’t made for perfection. Only God is perfect. We are made for love, for excellence, for so much more than we allow ourselves to accept, believe, to welcome in.

Move swiftly into the world to risk, to engage, to participate fully. Expect more and work for it. Get into the flow of living instead of always fighting the current. Observe well and be on watch for the next steps will reveal themselves when we’re ready.

We don’t have to figure everything out. Contentment is found in the mystery of our story unfolding, of lessons learned and of moments together in laughter and tears. Be awestruck by the bigness of life and the depth of each moment.

Jan 28

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Even Then

“Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.” – e. e. cummings

Even in our coldest days when the wind is blowing, the sun remains.
Even in the starkness of winter, the blue skies look down.
Even in the depths of gloom, hope waits patiently, to be found and embraced.

Even then.

“God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.” – Laurence Sterne

“God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.” – Laurence Sterne

Jan 25

6 Comments

Be Still

“Watch out for the joy-stealers: gossip, criticism, complaining, faultfinding, and a negative, judgmental attitude.” – Joyce Meyer

It seems innocent enough. A little complaining, talking about someone else, thinking everyone has it better than us – they’re “lucky.” Feeling justified, we think that letting it out again and again somehow will make it better. And it doesn’t, it makes it worse. What we focus on is what we become, who we are. These seemingly little things chip away at our capacity for joy. These joy-stealers are contagious if we don’t keep our guard up. Complaining is one of my triggers. I’ve been hearing a lot of it lately and instead of letting others chirp and let it go, I complain about their complaining. I fall into these traps when I’m tired, working too many hours and when I don’t get to run outside due to the “polar vortex” winter with 20 below temps.

We need to be still and look for the good in others without question or delay. Naïve? Maybe, but what and who will we miss by jumping to conclusions, judgments and criticism? Are we willing to risk joy and delight in exchange for “being right” in our own mind, whether we are or not. And we not only need to remove the joy-stealers, we need to replace them with gratitude, appreciation and awe for the many blessings to be found when we take off our blinders and filters. The light shines in replacing the dark. Be still and cast light.

“So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.” – T. S. Eliot

“So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.” – T. S. Eliot

Jan 22

4 Comments

Alignment

“The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience.” – Leo Tolstoy

Bouncing from one thing to the next in a hurry and hustle, we get distracted, fragmented, out of alignment. Going through the motions, we become both numb and uncomfortable.  And if wise enough to heed the message of discomfort, we can thoughtfully and carefully consider our choices and make good decisions based on what’s right, not on the emotion of the minute. The mistake is to ever think we are stuck without options.

We can stay where we are knowing it’s where we are meant to be right now or we can move on because it’s the next step in our journey. We are not made to coast, just getting by, good enough. We are made for more, to be larger, to give our best wherever we are, especially when we don’t feel like it.

And through the laughter, tears, frustrations and celebrations, we discover the ever present richness and depth of a life lived well day by day, present in the moment. When we align our beliefs with our actions, we are our most authentic self, in sync, moving with natural ease and flow.

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