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"This very instant" is
all we have. We make plans for the future, we
invoke memories of the past,
but really, all we have to deal with and
to act in is the moment at hand. We
cannot stop its going; we cannot
hurry the next moment on its way. Like
everyone else in the world,
we're partners in the dull, humdrum, dazzling,
fabulous, totally
unpredictable moment.
And if we have a time that is
"our time," it's right now. It has to be,
because there isn't any other.
Maybe we've had times in the past that
were special for us; maybe the
future will hold precious moments.
But the only time that is truly
"our time" is this time, where we are,
right now. And what we do with this
time is ours to decide.
Each moment is mine, to make as beautiful or as
painful as I choose.
from the book
The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg
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Attitude
There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror,
and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.
"Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?"
So she did and she had a wonderful day.
The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror
and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?"
So she did and she had a grand day.
The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.
"Well," she said,
"today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and
she had a fun, fun day.
The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.
"YEA!" she exclaimed,
"I don't have to fix my hair today!"
Attitude is everything.
Be kinder than necessary,
for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply,
Love generously,
Care deeply,
Speak kindly.......
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain!
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Words of wisdom and I agree. Wolfy |
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Letting Go of Worry
What if we knew for certain that everything we're worried about today will work out fine?
What if . . . we had a guarantee that the problem bothering us would be worked out in the most perfect way, and at the best possible time? Furthermore, what if we knew that three years from now we'd be grateful for that problem, and its solution?
What if . . . we knew that even our worst fear would work out for the best?
What if . . . we had a guarantee that everything that's happening, and has happened, in our life was meant to be, planned just for us, and in our best interest?
What if . . . we had a guarantee that the people we love are experiencing exactly what they need in order to become who they're intended to become? Further, what if we had a guarantee that others can be responsible for themselves, and we don't have to control or take responsibility for them?
What if . . . we knew the future was going to be good, and we would have an abundance of resources and guidance to handle whatever comes our way?
What if . . . we knew everything was okay, and we didn't have to worry about a thing? What would we do then?
We'd be free to let go and enjoy life.
Today, I will know that I don't have to worry about anything. If I do worry, I will do it with the understanding that I am choosing to worry, and it is not necessary.
from the book:
The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie
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| Moments of happiness, like creative thoughts, pass before us all the time. If we want to enjoy them, it's up to us to reach out and take them when they appear. The opportunities are boundless, and they all come dressed up like other people. No one has ever been happy for long in isolation. We are not, by nature, solitary creatures.
If there's anybody around, I won't have to look far for happiness today.
from the book
In God's Care by Karen Casey
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I've made mistakes and will continue to make mistakes.
Everybody makes mistakes.
The difference now is that I can see them more clearly afterward,
and I am not living in denial about them.
If I become too critical of myself when I do make a mistake,
I can remind myself that it's part of being human.
I can remind myself that it's a learning experience and a mistake
I won't make so easily in the future. Mistakes are not made intentionally,
but they are errors caused by a lack of information or lack of attention.
Today I pay attention more than ever before and have more information
than I ever have had. Mistakes will still happen, but they were in my past.
I can allow myself to make mistakes,
understanding that when I give myself this freedom,
I am accepting myself for who I am and loving myself unconditionally.
from the book:
Time to Fly Free by Judith R. Smith
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Many people spend their days in anger and aren't aware of it.
The conditions of work and life make many of us angry;
we feel powerless to change them, and our frustration angers us more.
The Serenity Prayer asks for "the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference."
If we examine our lives fearlessly, we may find many things that are in our power to change.
Since we cannot change, or do not choose to change some things,
we'd do well to accept them, instead of spinning our wheels in
unproductive anger or turning the anger in, against ourselves.
And when we summon the courage to change the things we can, our lives will bless us.
Today I'll look at anger as something I've chosen,
instead of something inevitable.
Is it covering fear?
How can I resolve it?
from the book:
The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg
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Letting someone else's behavior determine how we feel
at every turn is irresponsible. Our emotions should be
determined by us, not by someone else.
But no doubt we have spent years confusing the boundaries that
separate us from other people.
Whether at work or at home, we have too often let
someone else's "insanity" affect how we behave and how we feel.
At first, it may seem insensitive not to react to others' problems
or negative behavior.
We may fear they'll think we simply don't care about them.
Learning that it is far more caring to let other people handle
their own lives takes time and patience. But with practice, it will begin to feel comfortable.
In fact, in time it will feel freeing and wonderful.
I will work on detachment today, knowing that in time the rewards will come.
from the book:
A Life of My Own by Karen Casey
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With love comes promises of
sentiment as rapturous as
fall's splendor of color and
as delicate as a crystal of snow.
Love empowers us to handle
the struggles that bind us, the struggles
that stretch us to grow.
The familiar sights and
muffled sounds of each moment
vibrate with greater
intensity when we're giving and receiving love.
We're deluded to think
the love of others will complete us, so we strive for it;
we long for it. But we
receive love only when we're unselfishly offering it.
It is one of life's wonderful
mysteries that we must first give love away if we hope to get it.
Loving
another tests our patience, strength, and security.
Love spurned is dreaded and
perhaps too familiar,
but we must risk it once
again if we are to find the love we deserve.
The gifts of love are many
and guaranteed when the act of love is honest,
unselfish, whole, and
unconditionally offered.
from the book
Worthy
of Love by Karen Casey |
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The child
within each of us is fragile,
but very
much alive, and she interprets our experiences
before we
are even conscious of them. It is our child
who may fear
new places, unfamiliar people, and strange situations.
Our child
needs nurturing, the kind she may not have received in
the past. We
can take her hand, coax her along, let her know
she won't be
abandoned.
No new
place, unfamiliar person, or strange situation need overwhelm her.
It's
quite amazing the strength that comes to us when we nurture ourselves,
when we
acknowledge the scared child within and hold her,
making her
secure. We face nothing alone. Together, we can face anything.
I will
take care of my child today and won't abandon her to
face, alone,
any of the experiences the day may bring.
from the
book
Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey |
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Where would we be without the dreamers of the world -
the ones who took the time to balance on the edge of wonder?
Amazing connections, powerful images, and
creative ideas come to us in daydreams.
They creep in when we least expect them,
like sleek cats, and then make their presence known to us
with a gentle pounce.
When we give ourselves
permission to daydream -
to sit for a while and do nothing but be quiet with our
thoughts,
we give ourselves a precious gift.
And who knows, we just might be giving the world a priceless
gift, too!
Out of the seeds of some of our dreams, great ideas will
blossom.
What first step can I take today to make a dream come
true?
from the book:
Today's Gift
It may be those who do most, dream most.
--Stephen
Leacock
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God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot
change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the
difference.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
Some things I cannot change: my
age, who my relatives are,
my eye
color, my height, my childhood experiences,
my
inborn talents, my nature, someone else's abuse of alcohol or other drugs,
whether the sun will shine, my job history,
what I
will inherit, how my parents feel, yesterday's lost opportunities,
how
long I will live, who forgives me, how my parents treated me,
how
much I am loved, the past.
Some things I can change: the youthfulness of
my spirit,
who my
friends are, my hair color, my weight, my adult experiences,
my
achievements, my character, my reaction to someone else's
use of
alcohol or other drugs, whether my eyes will shine, my job possibilities,
what I
will bequeath, how I feel, my ability to act on today's
opportunities, how well I will live, whom I forgive,
how I
treat my own children, how much I love, the future.
I thank God for my
growing ability to choose.
from
the book:
Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen
Hegarty |
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Claude Gellee painted
lovely pictures of the English countryside.
Europeans loved his
landscapes, with their blue hues and mild distortions.
But when the people
went for the carriage rides in the country, they were
disappointed because it
didn't look the way Gellee had painted it.
Then someone discovered
that if you held blue glass up to your eyes and
looked through it, the
trees and hills and sky looked just like a
Gellee painting! Soon
everyone was looking through "Claude glasses" when they travelled.
We
often let others do our seeing for us.
We get lazy and rely on
the images of television and movies, instead of really seeing with our own eyes.
Our world becomes
distorted and we lose sight of the natural beauty that surrounds us.
Each
of us carries reality inside ourselves, and as we grow stronger within,
we discover that we can
see clearest when we trust our own eyes.
There is a glorious
world, full and rich, just waiting for us to
Will I see the world through
my own eyes today?
from the book: Today's Gift
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Most of us make
trouble for ourselves by over-reacting to what others say or do.
We have conditioned
ourselves to see everyone else as "the enemy"
rather than look
within ourselves for the real cause of our distress.
If we can pause long
enough to uncover our own hidden discomfort
and distorted
attitudes before we react with harsh criticism or vindictive silence,
we can change our
destructive first impulses into a loving interchange between individuals.
Today let me not be quick to criticize or condemn another.
I will look at others
as friends, not as foes, on my journey toward self-discovery.
from the
book:
The Reflecting Pond by Liane Cordes |
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There comes a point in
your life when you realize
who matters,
who never did,
who won't
anymore...
and who always will.
So, don't worry about people
from your past,
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your
future.
'Be kinder than necessary
because everyone you meet
is fighting some kind of battle.'
A sharp tongue can cut my own throat.
Of all the things I wear, my expression is the most important.
The best vitamin for making friends..... B1.
The happiness of my
life depends on the quality of my thoughts.
The heaviest thing I can
carry is a grudge.
One thing I can give and still keep...is my word.
I lie the loudest when I lie to myself.
If I lack the courage to
start, I have already finished.
One thing I can't recycle is wasted time.
The pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime!
It is never too late
to become what I might have been.
Friends are like balloons; once
you let them go,
you might not get them back.
Sometimes we get so busy
with our own lives
and problems that we
may not even notice
That we've let them fly away.
Sometimes we are so
caught up in who's right
and who's wrong that
we forget what's right and wrong.
Sometimes we just don't realize
what
real friendship means until it is too late.
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A
trickle of water that drains down the side of a hill poses no problem
to the
hill, its vegetation, or the people living in the valley. But if that
trickle grows into a stream, the water will erode a path, carrying along
plants, rocks, and soil, endangering the lives and property of the people
in the valley.
When a worry nags us, it is like that trickle. It
poses little threat to us
and can be stopped at any time because it is so
small. But if we let more
worrisome thoughts feed into the stream, we will
allow it to grow until
all of our thoughts and energy are focused on one
worry that has attained great power.
We all have things we worry about.
But we don't have to give these
worries more than passing acknowledgment.
The trickles that run
through our minds are okay to have. But to keep them
at that size, we
need to remember what is important to us at this very
moment. We
don't need to let the worries grow.
I have worries just
like everyone else. However, I don't have to dwell
upon my worries or make
them any bigger than what they are.
from
the book
Night Light by Amy E. Dean |
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