New Year

"Affirming the Good

Fun becomes fun, love becomes love, life becomes worth living. And we become grateful.

Wait, and expect good things—for yourself and your loved ones.
When you wonder what is coming, tell yourself the best is coming, the very best life and love have to offer, the best God and His universe have to send. Then open your hands to receive it. Claim it, and it is yours.
See the best in your mind; envision what it will look like, what it will feel like. Focus, until you can see it clearly. Let your whole being, body and soul, enter into and hold onto the image for a moment.
Then, let it go. Come back into today, the present moment. Do not obsess. Do not become fearful. Become excited. Live today fully, expressing gratitude for all you have been, all you are, and all you will become.
Wait, and expect good things.
Today, when I think about the year ahead, I will focus on the good that is coming."

~Melody Beattie~

The Dark Side

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
– Yoda

Peace

"Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.  We can love and care for others but we cannot possess our children, lovers, family, or friends.  We can assist them, pray for them, and wish them well, yet in the end their happiness and suffering depend on their thoughts and actions, not on our wishes."

~Jack Kornfield~

Indifference

"Indifference pretends to create peace, but it is based on not caring, a silent resignation.  It is a movement away, a separation fed by a subtle fear of the heart.  We pull back, believing that what happens to others is not our concern.  Our courage leaves us.  Indifference is a misguided way of defending ourselves."
~Jack Kornfield~

John Gato

"Think of the things that are killing us as a nation: drugs, brainless competition, recreational sex, the pornography of violence, gambling, alcohol, and the worst pornography of all - lives devoted to buying things, accumulation as a religion."

Health & Healing

"To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear." ~Buddha~

"The wish for healing has always been half of health." ~Lucius Annaeus Seneca~

"Every time you eat or drink you are either fighting disease or feeding it." ~Heather Morgan~

Pablo Picasso

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."

J. Krishnamurti

"If you look into your mind, you will see it's like thousands of butterflies whirling about!  You can hardly trace a single idea in this complexity.  A way to bring clarity to the mind is to write down your immediate thoughts and feelings in response to the events of the day, and then ponder them.  If you emphasize one particular problem in this writing, it will gradually lead to all others."

Stevenson

"Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."