Growth

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.

Remove the worry from your mind

Remove the anger from your heart

Give a lot

Expect little

Keep it simple.

Evidence Of Life

Growth is the only evidence of life.

John, Cardinal Newman

 

The important thing is to accept the struggles as a part of the beauty of life, not as blemishes on it.

 

All beauty of this world is wet with the dew of tears.

Theodor Haecker

 

Two Minuses A Plus

Sometimes two minuses make a plus.

Edith Shannon

 

What appears to be a problem sometimes turns out to be a most beneficial circumstance.

I live only in the present, and it generally takes the perspective of hindsight to get the full meaning of an event.

Over the years, I have learned that some of our best lessons actually caused me pain while I was in their clutches.

What a relief to be able to see, now, that they had their silver lining.

This principle still holds true.

 

I can't let a setback set me back today. 

I am evolving right on schedule.

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

Unifier Of Opposites -- The Color Green

Unifier Of Opposites

The Color Green

Green is a combination of the colors yellow and blue, each of which brings its own unique energy to the overall feeling of the color green.
Blue exudes calm and peace, while yellow radiates liveliness and high levels of energy.
As a marriage between these two very different colors, green is a unifier of opposites, offering both the excitement of yellow and the tranquility of blue.
It energizes blue’s passivity and soothes yellow’s intensity, inspiring us to be both active and peaceful at the same time.
It is a mainstay of the seasons of spring and summer, thus symbolizing birth and growth.

Green is one of the reasons that spring instigates so much excitement and activity.
As a visual harbinger of the end of winter, green stems and leaves shoot up and out from the dark branches of trees and the muddy ground, letting us know that it’s safe for us to come out, too.
In this way, green invites us to shed our layers and open ourselves to the outside world, not in a frantic way, but with an easygoing excitement that draws us outside just to sniff the spring air.
Unlike almost any other color, green seems to have its own smell, an intoxicating combination of sun and sky—earthy, bright, and clean.
In the best-case scenario, it stops us in our tracks and reminds us to appreciate the great experience of simply being alive.

Green balances our energy so that, in looking at it, we feel confident that growth is inevitable.
It also gives us the energy to contribute to the process of growth, to nurture ourselves appropriately, without becoming overly attached to our part in the process.
Green reminds us to let go and let nature do her work, while at the same time giving us the energy to do our own.

Today's DailyOM

Ego

Someone once defined the ego as "the sum total of false ideas about myself."
Persistent reworking of the Twelve Steps enables me to gradually strip away my false ideas about myself.
This permits nearly imperceptible but steady growth in my understanding of the truth about myself.
And this, in turn, leads to a growing understanding of God and other human beings.
Do I strive for self-honesty, promptly admitting when I'm wrong?

Life Shatters You

Life does not accommodate you;
it shatters you.
Every seed destroys its container,
or else there would be no fruition.
Florida Scott-Maxwell

Protective Structure

We are not unlike a particularly hardy crustacean. ...

With each passage from one stage of human growth to the next,
we, too, must shed a protective structure.

--Gail Sheehy

Elder's Meditation -- Growth

There are no short cuts.
Every tree must grow according to the growth plan of the Creator.
Every flower must grow according to the plan of God.
The moon must make its trip around the earth according to God's plan.
Every human being must grow according to the plan of the Creator.
Sometimes we look at ourselves and we think we are not growing but we are always growing.
Because we cannot see it with our mind does not mean it is not happening.
We must be patient with ourselves and let the Creator direct our growth.

My Creator, let me be patient.

Let me realize that You are in charge of all things.

Let me realize that I must grow my roots a little at a time to become strong.