Self-Growth

It is not your aptitude,

but your attitude,

that determines your altitude.

Zig Ziglar

The ultimate measure of a man is not where

he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,

but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is funny about life:

if you refuse to accept anything

but the very best

you will very often get it.

W. Somerset Maugham

Choices

A man and his dog were walking along a road.
The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years.
He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road.
It looked like fine marble.
At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'
'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.
'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.
'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.' The man gestured, and the gate began to open.
'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.
'I'm sorry; sir, but we don't accept pets.'
The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed.
There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'
'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'
'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.
'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, and then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.
'This is Heaven,' he answered.
'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said.
'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'
'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'
'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'
'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

Conscious Creation

The First Moments Of The Day

The moment during the day when we very first open our eyes and come into consciousness is a precious opportunity.
It sets the tone for all that comes after it, like the opening scene in a film or novel.
At this moment, our ability to create the day is at its most powerful, and we can offer ourselves fully to the creative process by filling this moment with whatever inspires us most.
It may be that we want to be more generous, or it may be that we want to be more open to beauty in our daily lives.
Whatever the case, if we bring this vision into our minds at this very fertile moment, we empower it to be the guiding principle of our day.

Sometimes we wake up with a mood already seemingly in place, and it’s important to give this feeling its due.
It can inform us and deepen our awareness to what’s going on inside us, as well as around us.
As long as we are conscious, we can honor this feeling and also introduce our new affirmation or vision, our conscious offering to the day.
We may want to decide before we go to sleep what we want to bring to the next day of our lives.
It could be that we simply want to be more open to whatever comes our way.
Or we may want to summon a particular quality such as confidence.
Then again, we may simply call up a feeling that perfectly captures the texture we want our day to have.

We can reaffirm our vision or affirmation as we shower and eat breakfast, as well as recalling it at various times throughout the day.
We can write it down and carry it with us on a little slip of paper if this helps.
Simply by being aware of those first moments, we set the stage for a more conscious, enlivened experience, and we become active participants in the creation of our lives.

DailyOM

On the Journey Towards Living Nonviolently

From HenriNouwen.org

written by MADELINE BURGHART

We live each day surrounded by images of the horrors of our world.
Each week brings stories of a world weary with violence.
How can we not feel powerless in this?
How can we remain committed to a life of nonviolence when so many of the world's ways seem to point in the other direction?

My husband and I were asked to reflect on this dilemma at a recent Christian Peacemaker Teams workshop.
Through preparing for this workshop, we realized that living nonviolently involves two separate yet interconnected practices: an outer, visible witness to a life of peace; and the more hidden, attentive work of being present to the small details of our lives.
The outer practice is more noticeable, and is often more gratifying-who doesn't feel better after participating in a peace march?
And yet, as I learn over and over again, the greatest impact I can have in my tiny world is the way I choose to be present to others and to the world around me.
If, daily, I can speak to my children with absolute patience and listen to them as deeply as I would wish that listening from someone else; if, daily, I refrain from the easier tack of speaking ill of someone in order to appear stronger myself; if, daily, I make choices that cause less damage to this beautiful planet-then I know my journey of nonviolence continues, despite the invisibility of its workings.

In a world so broken, I need to believe that living peacefully, both in the grander picture and in the smallness of my own life, will make some difference to the work of "creating something new in the skin of the old."

MADELINE BURGHART has been connected to L'Arche for twelve years and is presently a house leader with L'Arche Toronto. She lives in the Toronto Catholic Worker community with her husband and three sons.

Miracles

Don't give up before the miracle happens.

Life’s Journey

Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave

safely in a well preserved body.

But rather to skid in sideways,

totally worn out, shouting

“holy shit . . . what a ride!”

Asking And Receiving

Prayer And Meditation

Prayer and meditation are similar practices in that they both offer us a connection to the divine, but they also differ from one another in significant ways.
Put simply, prayer is when we ask the universe for something, and meditation is when we listen.
When we pray, we use language to express our innermost thoughts and feelings to a higher power.
Sometimes, we plumb the depths within ourselves and allow whatever comes to the surface to flow out in our prayer.
At other times, we pray words that were written by someone else but that express what we want to say.
Prayer is reaching out to the universe with questions, pleas for help, gratitude, and praise.

Meditation, on the other hand, has a silent quality that honors the art of receptivity.
When we meditate, we cease movement and allow the activity of our minds and hearts to go on without us in a sense.
Eventually, we fall into a deep silence, a place that underlies all the noise and fray of daily human existence. In this place, it becomes possible for us to hear the universe as it speaks for itself, responds to our questions, or sits with us in its silent way.

Both prayer and meditation are indispensable tools for navigating our relationship with the universe and with ourselves.
They are also natural complements to one another, and one makes way for the other just as the crest of a wave gives way to its hollow.
If we tend to do only one or the other, prayer or meditation, we may find that we are out of balance, and we might benefit from exploring the missing form of communication.
There are times when we need to reach out and express ourselves, fully exorcising our insides, and times when we are empty, ready to rest in quiet receiving.
When we allow ourselves to do both, we begin to have a true conversation with the universe.

DailyOM

Choice

If I had no choice about the age in which I was to live, I nevertheless have a choice about the attitude I take and about the way and the extent of my participation in its living ongoing events.
To choose the world is not then merely a pious admission that the world is acceptable because it comes from the hand of God.
It is first of all an acceptance of a task and a vocation in the world, in history and in time. In my time, which is the present.
To choose the world is to choose to do the work I am capable of doing, in collaboration with my brother and sister, to make the world better, more free, more just, more livable, more human.
And it has now become transparently obvious that mere automatic "rejection of the world" and "contempt for the world" is in fact not a choice but an evasion of choice.
The person, who pretends that he can turn his back on Auschwitz or Viet Nam and acts as if they were not there, is simply bluffing.
Thomas Merton

Courage

If I have the courage to begin,

I have the courage to succeed.

Whatever The Dream

There were many ways of breaking a heart.

Stories were full of hearts broken by love,

but what really broke a heart was taking away its dream -

whatever that dream might be.

Pearl S. Buck

Thoughts For The Week

Joy isn't the absence of pain –
it's the presence of God.

Each day is different and has a surprise in it,
like a Cracker Jack box.

--Alpha English

Remove the worry from your mind

Remove the anger from your heart

Give a lot

Expect little

Keep it simple.

Prayer is neither black magic nor

is it a form of demand note.
Prayer is a relationship.
--John Heuss

Modem-to-modem or face-to-face,
AA's speak the language of the heart.

Happiness is part of the journey,
not some distant destination.

Many people haven't even a nodding acquaintance

with humility as a way of life.

Pray to God but row to shore.

--Proverb

Choice of attention -

to pay attention to this and ignore that -

is to the inner life

what choice of action is to the outer.

In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice

and must accept the consequences.

--W. H. Auden

When You're Needed

Take care of yourself — you never know

when the world will need you.

Rabbi Hillel

Just Today

Happiness keeps you Sweet,

Trials keep you Strong,

Sorrows keep you Human,

Failures keep you Humble,

Success keeps you Glowing,

But Only God Keeps You Going!

Asking And Receiving

Prayer And Meditation

Prayer and meditation are similar practices in that they both offer us a connection to the divine, but they also differ from one another in significant ways.
Put simply, prayer is when we ask the universe for something, and meditation is when we listen.
When we pray, we use language to express our innermost thoughts and feelings to a higher power.
Sometimes, we plumb the depths within ourselves and allow whatever comes to the surface to flow out in our prayer.
At other times, we pray words that were written by someone else but that express what we want to say.
Prayer is reaching out to the universe with questions, pleas for help, gratitude, and praise.

Meditation, on the other hand, has a silent quality that honors the art of receptivity.
When we meditate, we cease movement and allow the activity of our minds and hearts to go on without us in a sense.
Eventually, we fall into a deep silence, a place that underlies all the noise and fray of daily human existence.
In this place, it becomes possible for us to hear the universe as it speaks for itself, responds to our questions, or sits with us in its silent way.

Both prayer and meditation are indispensable tools for navigating our relationship with the universe and with ourselves.
They are also natural complements to one another, and one makes way for the other just as the crest of a wave gives way to its hollow.
If we tend to do only one or the other, prayer or meditation, we may find that we are out of balance, and we might benefit from exploring the missing form of communication.
There are times when we need to reach out and express ourselves, fully exorcising our insides, and times when we are empty, ready to rest in quiet receiving.
When we allow ourselves to do both, we begin to have a true conversation with the universe.

Daily OM

Our Dispositions

I've learned from experience that

the greater part of our happiness or misery

depends on our dispositions and

not on our circumstances.
Martha Washington

The Gift Of Love

The more you love,

the more love you are

given to love with.

Lucien Price

I am deluded to think the love of others will complete me, so I strive for it; I long for it.

But I receive love only when I am unselfishly offering it.

It is one of life's wonderful mysteries that I must first give love away if I hope to get it.

Loving another tests my patience, strength, and security.

Love spurned is dreaded and perhaps too familiar, but I must risk it once again if I am to find the love I deserve.

The gifts of love are many and

guaranteed when the act of love is

honest, unselfish, whole, and unconditionally offered.

Saint Conrad of Parzham

Saint Conrad of Parzham lived a life that attracted others because of a special quality, something Chesterton alluded to when he wrote, "The moment we have a fixed heart we have a free hand" (Orthodoxy, p. 71).

If we want to understand Conrad, we have to know where he fixed his heart.

Because he was united to God in prayer, everyone felt at ease in Conrad’s presence.

"It was God’s will that I should leave everything that was near and dear to me. I thank him for having called me to religious life where I have found such peace and joy as I could never have found in the world. My plan of life is chiefly this: to love and suffer, always meditating upon, adoring and admiring God’s unspeakable love for his lowliest creatures" (Letter of Saint Conrad).

More

The Average American

The Average American

A recent study conducted by Harvard University found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year.

Another study by the American Medical Association found that Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year.

This means, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon.

Kind Of Makes You Proud To Be An American.

Change

If I don't change, my sobriety date will.

Cheaper Than Gas

In 1961 . . . . . .

a six pack was just over a $1 (premium was $1.25) . . . . . .

gas was 28 cents a gallon . . . . .

We've come a long way? . . . . .

Meditations

Outwardly one's life may suffer every kind of limitation,

from bodily paralysis to miserable surroundings,

but inwardly it is free in meditation to reach out

to a sphere of light, beauty, truth, love, and power.

Paul Brunton

Meditations for People in Crisis

www.gratefulness.org

St. Benedict Joseph Labre

In a modern inner city, one local character kneels for hours on the sidewalk and prays.
Swathed in his entire wardrobe winter and summer, he greets passersby with a blessing.
Where he sleeps no one knows, but he is surely a direct spiritual descendant of St. Benedict Joseph Labre, the ragged man who slept in the ruins of Rome’s Colosseum.
These days we ascribe such behavior to mental illness; St. Benedict Joseph Labre’s contemporaries called him holy.
Holiness is always a bit mad by earthly standards.

More on St. Benedict Joseph Labre

The Open Door

When one door closes another door opens;

but we so often look so long and

so regretfully upon the closed door,

that we do not see the ones which open for us.

Alexander Graham Bell

Failure -- Our Teacher

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker.

Failure is delay, not defeat.

It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.

Failure is something we can avoid only by

saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.

Denis Waitley

On the Journey Towards Living Nonviolently

From Henri Nouwen Society -- Weekly Reflection

On the Journey Towards Living Nonviolently

written by DANIEL CHO

As a child I became deeply involved in the martial arts after watching the revolutionary 1973 film Enter the Dragon, starring Bruce Lee.
In fact, my first few years of training took place in the basement of our church, and I loved every minute of it.
Some called me obsessed with the martial arts; I couldn't disagree.

When, as a teenager, I began to get serious about the Christian faith, I had an opportunity to become a bit philosophical about reconciling a commitment to love, peace and "turning the other cheek" with an activity involving fighting and violence.
Of course, violence describes both our inner fancies and the pernicious aggression against others.

I have found that my experience in martial arts never steered me towards violence; rather it led me to realize that the more I was willing to be in touch with my own violence - its emotional energy, causes, insecurities - the more I was able to "tame" both its interior experience and its expression.
Violence's familiarity can breed its discipline and lead to a reclaiming of that dimension of one's spirit and character.

For me, the point of resonance with Jesus' temptations is that he faced the destructive potential of his power, yet learned to claim it for God.
Likewise, every day I face potential for violence in word, behaviour, design and thought, yet I can learn to claim it for more authentic spiritual living.

I'm still an unapologetic martial arts film fanatic.

- DANIEL CHO is minister of Rexdale Presbyterian Church in Toronto and serves the national church as convener of the Life & Mission Agency. His martial arts training includes hapkido and aikido, and he holds a black belt in tae kwon do.

Guilt

Guilt is really the reverse side of the coin of pride.

~~~@@~~~@@~~~

Guilt is in the past;

worry is the future.
Both are manifestations of ego.

~~~@@~~~@@~~~

The Good Shephard

Michael was about three and a half when he entered our Montessori school.
He had big blue eyes, a wonderful smile and a likeable personality.
He was already familiar with the school and the teacher since his older brother had attend it and Michael often accompanied him to school, and sometimes stayed to visit. . .

Michael's into the school was anything but smooth.
In fact, it was really stormy.
He was fine while his mother was at school during orientation, but as soon as Michael was expected to be in school on his own he has real problems.
He cried every day. . .

I recalled the Good Shepherd parable.
Was it too early to tell Michael?
Certainly three-year-olds don't recognize that they are the sheep.
But then, what did I have to lose?
I decided to present the parable and material to him.

The next day I told Michael I had something special I wanted to show him.
I took him all alone to one corner of the room and made the presentation to him.
It was unbelievable to see how involved Michael beccame and, much to my utter dismay, I realized Michael recognized that he was a sheep.
It was nothing I had done.

That day Michael did not cry at all.
It seemed like I was witnessing a miracle.
We were out in the playground when Michael's mother arrived to take him home.
I signaled to her that it had been a good day while Michael ran to his mother saying, "Mommy, Mommy! I didn't cry today!"
His mother looked at me questioningly and I just nodded my head to tell her Michael was telling the truth.

When Michael got in the car he said to his mother, "Well aren't you going to ask me why I didn't cry?"
She was a really good mother and knew children, and said, "Well Michael, if you want to tell me, yes I'd like to know."
(She later told me that she was dying to know why, but was almost afraid to ask.)
Michael then replied, "I don't ever have to be afraid agan, because I have the Good Shepherd to take care of me."

An excerpt from The Good Shepherd & The Child, A Joyful Journey

~~~@@~~~@@~~~@@~~~@@~~~

Life could not exist in the primal waters of chaos.

My Good Shepherd leads me to the water of life to drink my fill of his peace.

He leads me into the sheepfold, not to imprison me within walls of law but to set me free from captivity to the fear of all those predators, seen and unseen, who threaten me with the distress, darkness, and gloom.

You are Lord of wind and sea:
-- stretch out your saving hand to those who are drowning in confusion and sin.

You set limits that the water might not pass:
-- protect all those who are overwhelmed by the chaos of lives driven by need.

You water the earth and bring forth food:
--teach us to use the tools devoted to works of death to give and protect live.

Pride

Swallowing my pride will not get me drunk.

A Love Affair

From Gerry Straub Blog:

A Love Affair

Solace In Service

Doing For Others

When we feel bad, often our first instinct is to isolate ourselves and focus on what’s upsetting us.
Sometimes we really do need some downtime, but many times the best way to get out of the blues quickly is to turn our attention to other people.
In being of service to others, paradoxically, we often find answers to our own questions and solutions to our own problems.
We also end up feeling more connected to the people around us, as well as empowered by the experience of helping someone.

When we reach out to people we can help, we confirm that we are not alone in our own need for support and inspiration, and we also remind ourselves that we are powerful and capable in certain ways.
Even as our own problems or moods get the better of us sometimes, there is always someone else who can use our particular gifts and energy to help them out.
They, in turn, remind us that we are not the only people in the world with difficulties or issues.
We all struggle with the problems of life, and we all feel overwhelmed from time to time, but we can almost always find solace in service.

In the most ideal situation, the person we are helping sheds light on our own dilemma, sometimes with a direct piece of advice, and sometimes without saying anything at all.
Sometimes just the act of getting our minds out of the obsessive mode of trying to figure out what to do about our own life does the trick.
Many great inventors and artists have found that the inspiration they need to get to the next level in their work comes not when they’re working but when they’re walking around the block or doing dishes.
We do ourselves and everyone else a great service when we take a break from our sorrows and extend ourselves to someone in need.

DailyOM

Forgiving

One forgives to the degree that one loves.

La Rochefoucauld

This is what forgiveness is:
(1) loving ourselves enough to stand up for ourselves,
(2) loving others enough to point out their behavior, and
(3) letting go.

Self-pity

The only time I get depressed is when I'm thinking about myself.

God's Fidelity

If you are young, look foward to God's fidelity to you thoughout your life;
if you are older, look back on God's fidelity to you through all that is past.
Whatever your age, know that God's love is the foundation upon which all hope stands firm.
His guarantee is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a deed deep, high, and unsearchable that exceeds all our praise.

From Magnificat, April 2008

Fluid Like a River -- Living Like Water

The journey of water as it flows upon the earth can be a mirror of our own paths through life.
Water begins its residence on Earth as it falls from the sky or melts from ice and cascades down a mountain into a tributary or stream.
In the same way, we come into the world and begin our lives on Earth. Like a river that flows within the confines of its banks, we are born with certain defining characteristics that govern our identity.
We are born in a particular time and place, into a specific family, and with certain gifts and challenges.
Within these parameters, we move through life, encountering many twists, turns, and obstacles along the way—just as a river flows.


Water is a great teacher that shows us how to move through the world with grace, ease, determination, and humility.
When a river breaks at a waterfall, it gains energy and moves on.
As we encounter our own waterfalls, we may fall hard, but we always keep going.
Water can inspire us not to become rigid with fear or hold fast to what is familiar.
Water is brave and does not waste time clinging to its past but flows onward without looking back.
At the same time, when there is a hole to be filled, water does not flee from it, fearful of the dark; instead, it humbly and bravely fills the empty space.
In the same way, we can face the dark moments of our life rather than running away from them.


Eventually, a river will empty into the sea.
Water does not hold back from joining with a larger body, nor does it fear a loss of identity or control.
It gracefully and humbly tumbles into the vastness by contributing its energy and merging without resistance.
Each time we move beyond our individual egos to become part of something bigger, we can try our best to follow the lead of the river.

Today's DailyOM

Imperfection

There would be no music if high C were the only note, no art if spectrum red were the only color, no joy in pleasure if pleasure were the only feeling -- and paradoxically, there would be no perfection without imperfection.

What does that mean to me?

Well, it means that I don't have to be perfect.

All I have to do is grow at a pace natural to me --and that is all I have a right to expect of others.

If I can remember these truths, then love -- real love, as opposed to drunken sentimentality -- is finally within reach.

It is not stupid to accept myself and others complete with our imperfections.

It would be stupid not to.

The Best Of The Grapevine [Vol. 1], pp. 60-61

Give me the courage to be imperfect.

Intercessions

Hear us, O God our Savior!

For those who are powerless,
-- that they may experience your power employed on their behalf.

For those who have abandoned hope,
-- that they may know your mercy.

For those who fail to see you in mystery,
-- that they may come to feel your gentle love.

In land torn by war,
-- bring a new life through peace.

To families and communities wounded by division,
-- bring a new life through peace.

To the dying and the bereaved suffering under the threat of death,
-- bring a new life through peace.

May the Lord deliver us from all evil and bring us to life everlasting.
Amen.

Excerpted from Magificat, April 2008

To Be Fearless

Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers

but to be fearless when facing them.

Rabindranath Tagore

www.gratefulness.org

Honesty

If I am troubled, worried, exasperated or frustrated, do I tend to rationalize the situation and lay the blame on someone else?
When I am in such a state, is my conversation punctuated with, "He did." "She said." "They did."?
Or can I honestly admit that perhaps I'm at fault.

My peace of mind depends on overcoming my negative attitudes and tendency toward rationalization.

Will I try, day by day, to be rigorously honest with myself?

Honesty is the only policy.

Excerpts from: A Day at a Time, by Anonymous

Insoluble Problems

Eighty per cent of the solution is a well-defined problem.

Thought For Today . . .

Life at work is like a tree full of monkeys all on different limbs at different levels.

Some monkeys are climbing up, some down.

The monkeys on top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces.

The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but assholes.

Wholeness

From Country Contemplative

http://countrycontemplative.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/wholeness/

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

Now, said the professor as the laughter subsided, I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, y our friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.
The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first, he continued, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for t he things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Spend time with your children.
Spend time with your parents.
Visit with grandparents.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your spouse out to dinner.
Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.
Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled and said, I'm glad you asked.

The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

A Keeper

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused.
Their best friends lived barely a wave away.
I can see them now, Dad in trousers, work shirt and a hat; and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other.
It was the time for fixing things: a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress.
Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy.
All that re-fixing, re-heating leftovers, renewing; I wanted just once to be wasteful.
Waste meant affluence.
Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But when my mother died, and I was standing in that clear morning light in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away . . . never to return.
So while we have it, it's best we love it . . .
And care for it . . .
And fix it when it's broken . . .
And heal it when it's sick.

This is true:
For marriage . . .
And old cars . . .
And children with bad report cards . . .
Dogs and cats with bad hips . . .
And aging parents . . .
And grandparents.
We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.
Some things we keep, like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special . . . And so, we keep them close!



Good friends are like stars . . . You don't always see them, but you know they are always there!

Awareness, Acceptance, Action

Dear God,
Slow me down when all I do is try to
fix and control things and people.
Help me to first accept situations,
as they are when I become aware of them.
Slow me down in your stillness.
Mark my awareness with unselfishness,
my acceptance with humility,
and my actions with usefulness to me and others.



The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D.

The Art of Receiving

Receiving is an art.
It means allowing the other to become part of our lives.
It means daring to become dependent on the other.
It asks for the inner freedom to say: "Without you I wouldn't be who I am."
Receiving with the heart is therefore a gesture of humility and love.
So many people have been deeply hurt because their gifts were not well received.
Let us be good receivers.

Henri Nouwen

Spiritual Program

Talking about the spiritual part of the program
is like talking about the wet part of the ocean.

Come Alive

Don’t ask what the world needs.

Ask what makes you come alive

and go out and do it.

Because what the world needs

is people who have come alive.

Howard Thurman

www.gratefulness.org

A Sparse Diet Of Promises

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back.
From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed?
Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?"
She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, it looks like rain."
And my personal favorite: "It's Monday."
She died a few years ago.
We never did have lunch together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.
We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get the kid toilet-trained.
We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet.
We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older.
The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer.
One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips.
She keeps an open mind on new ideas.
Her enthusiasm for life is contagious.
You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years.
I love ice cream.
It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process.
The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker.
If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now . . . go on and have a nice day.
Do something you WANT to . . . not something on your SHOULD DO list.
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say?

And why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask, "how are you?"
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head?
Ever told your child, "we'll do it tomorrow."
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch?
Let a good friendship die?
Just call to say "hi"?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift . . . Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Take it slower.
Hear the music before the song is over.

"Life may not be the party we hoped for . . . but while we are here we might as well dance!"

A Sparse Diet Of Promises

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back.
From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed?
Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?"
She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, it looks like rain."
And my personal favorite: "It's Monday."
She died a few years ago.
We never did have lunch together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.
We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get the kid toilet-trained.
We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet.
We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older.
The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer.
One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips.
She keeps an open mind on new ideas.
Her enthusiasm for life is contagious.
You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years.
I love ice cream.
It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process.
The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker.
If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now . . . go on and have a nice day.
Do something you WANT to . . . not something on your SHOULD DO list.
If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say?

And why are you waiting?

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask, "how are you?"
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head?
Ever told your child, "we'll do it tomorrow."
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch?
Let a good friendship die?
Just call to say "hi"?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift . . . Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Take it slower.
Hear the music before the song is over.

"Life may not be the party we hoped for . . . but while we are here we might as well dance!"

Right Thinking & Acting

We can act ourselves into right thinking easier

than we can think ourselves into right acting.

Anonymous

Open Arms

I have reached a point in my life

where I understand the pain and the challenges;

and my attitude is one of standing up

with open arms to meet them all.

Myrlie Evers

www.gratefulness.org

Unmanageable

When I drink, my past becomes my future.

S I T = Stay In Today.

To Be Alive Is To Be Hungry

Our appetite for life is good.
It keeps us reaching, growing, enjoying, and yearning to fulfill our potential.
When our basic needs are satisfied, our hunger propels us to search for more elaborate gratification.

Here is where we often run into trouble.
Instead of progressing through the hierarchy of needs to the spiritual level, we get stuck in an attempt to make quantity - more things, more people, and more activity - substitute for quality.
And quantity alone is never enough.

It's good that we're hungry.
Our appetite motivates us to feed our body in a healthy way and also to feed our mind, heart, and spirit.
Our needs pyramid, and our hunger leads us beyond quantity to the quality experiences that fill our emptiness.
We read, we share, we love, we pray, we listen, we accomplish, we dance, and we feast on the fullness of life.

Today, I will direct my appetite to quality experiences.

Inner Harvest by Elisabeth L.

Saint Isidore of Seville

Our country can well use St. Isidore's spirit of combining learning and holiness.
Loving, understanding knowledge can heal and bring a broken people back together.
We are not barbarians like the invaders of Isidore's Spain.
But people who are swamped by riches and overwhelmed by scientific and technological advances can lose much of their understanding love for one another.

The Flame Within

At times our own light goes out and

is rekindled by a spark from another person.

Each of us has cause to think with

deep gratitude of those who have

lighted the flame within us.

Albert Schweitzer

Changed

C H A N G E D =

Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Each Day.

Honesty

Honesty isn't an event . . . it's a process.