being understanding - Chinese Proverb
Showing posts with label Thought for the Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thought for the Day. Show all posts
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Thought for the Day: 5/7/11
Anger is just a demand for change, a passionate wish for things to be different.
Rachel Naomi Remen
Anger is a great force. If you control it, it can be transmuted into a power which can move the whole world.
Sri Swami Sivananda
Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.
James Thurber
Do not go gentle into that good nightRage, rage against the dying of the light
Dylan Thomas
Rachel Naomi Remen
Anger is a great force. If you control it, it can be transmuted into a power which can move the whole world.
Sri Swami Sivananda
Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.
James Thurber
Do not go gentle into that good nightRage, rage against the dying of the light
Dylan Thomas
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thought for the Day (09/24/2010)
from Today's Daily Om:
Letting the Curves Take You
control
Trying to maintain control in this life is a bit like trying to maintain control on a roller coaster. The ride has its own logic and is going to go its own way, regardless of how tightly you grip the bar. There is a thrill and a power in simply surrendering to the ride and fully feeling the ups and downs of it, letting the curves take you rather than fighting them. When you fight the ride, resisting what’s happening at every turn, your whole being becomes tense and anxiety is your close companion. When you go with the ride, accepting what you cannot control, freedom and joy will inevitably arise.
As with so many seemingly simple things in life, it is not always easy to let go, even of the things we know we can’t control. Most of us feel a great discomfort with the givens of this life, one of which is the fact that much of the time we have no control over what happens. Sometimes this awareness comes only when we have a stark encounter with this fact, and all our attempts to be in control are revealed to be unnecessary burdens. We can also cultivate this awareness in ourselves gently, by simply making surrender a daily practice. At the end of our meditation, we might bow, saying, “I surrender to this life.” This simple mantra can be repeated as necessary throughout the day, when we find ourselves metaphorically gripping the safety bar.
We can give in to our fear and anxiety, or we can surrender to this great mystery with courage. When we see people on a roller coaster, we see that there are those with their faces tight with fear and then there are those that smile broadly, with their hands in the air, carried through the ride on a wave of freedom and joy. This powerful image reminds us that often the only control we have is choosing how we are going to respond to the ride.
Letting the Curves Take You
control
Trying to maintain control in this life is a bit like trying to maintain control on a roller coaster. The ride has its own logic and is going to go its own way, regardless of how tightly you grip the bar. There is a thrill and a power in simply surrendering to the ride and fully feeling the ups and downs of it, letting the curves take you rather than fighting them. When you fight the ride, resisting what’s happening at every turn, your whole being becomes tense and anxiety is your close companion. When you go with the ride, accepting what you cannot control, freedom and joy will inevitably arise.
As with so many seemingly simple things in life, it is not always easy to let go, even of the things we know we can’t control. Most of us feel a great discomfort with the givens of this life, one of which is the fact that much of the time we have no control over what happens. Sometimes this awareness comes only when we have a stark encounter with this fact, and all our attempts to be in control are revealed to be unnecessary burdens. We can also cultivate this awareness in ourselves gently, by simply making surrender a daily practice. At the end of our meditation, we might bow, saying, “I surrender to this life.” This simple mantra can be repeated as necessary throughout the day, when we find ourselves metaphorically gripping the safety bar.
We can give in to our fear and anxiety, or we can surrender to this great mystery with courage. When we see people on a roller coaster, we see that there are those with their faces tight with fear and then there are those that smile broadly, with their hands in the air, carried through the ride on a wave of freedom and joy. This powerful image reminds us that often the only control we have is choosing how we are going to respond to the ride.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Words to live by...
I found this in my friend Marti's blog today.
I will not die an unlived life
I will not die an unlived life
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.
- Dawna Markova
I will not die an unlived life
I will not die an unlived life
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.
- Dawna Markova
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Thought for the day (08/10/10)
I'm newly returned from a wonderful yoga retreat and have lots I want to say, but I also need to get some things taken care of around the house so I can return to work (I guess technically my contract starts today, but I have no obligations until later this week).
Meanwhile, this spoke to me this morning:
"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew."
---Saint Francis de Sales
Meanwhile, this spoke to me this morning:
"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew."
---Saint Francis de Sales
Friday, August 6, 2010
Thought for the day (08/06/10)
“We’re so busy watching out for what’s just ahead of us that we don’t take time to enjoy where we are.”
― Bill Watterson
― Bill Watterson
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thought for the day (07/22/10)
"You can throw in the towel or you can use it to wipe the sweat from your face"
--freely paraphrased from a Gatorade ad
--freely paraphrased from a Gatorade ad
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Thought for the day (07/14/10)
Once you shift your focus from yourself to others and extend your concern to others, this will have the immediate effect of opening up your life and helping you to reach out. The practice of cultivating altruism has a beneficial effect not only from a religious point of view but also from a mundane point of view; not only for long-term spiritual development but even in terms of immediate rewards.
---Dalai Lama
---Dalai Lama
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Thought for the day (06/19/10)
In keeping with my Helen Keller theme of recent, and because my house is cluttered and when my house is cluttered my mind is cluttered, which leaves me incapable of composing anything meaningful, I leave you with the following quote by Helen Keller for you to contemplate:
I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Helen Keller
I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Helen Keller
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