thoughts

"It's sad that your God is so small." --Jan P.

"I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs."
--Theodore Roethke

"The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision." --Lynn Lavner

"Drawing on my fine command of the language, I said nothing."
--Robert Benchley

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."
--Margaret Thatcher

"When you listen generously to people they can hear the truth in themselves, often for the first time."
--Rachel Naomi Remen

Everytime I thought my life was falling apart, when I looked back after making it through it, I saw it was falling together.
-- Pattie O. (paraphrased)

"That's what I consider true generosity. You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing."
--Simone de Beauvoir

John Butts, who has spent a great deal of time at hospice talking with dying people, told me yesterday, "Every single one of those people talked about what they had not done in their life. Don't hold back; do the things you want to do. If you're going to fail, fail for trying, not from playing it safe."

"The quickest route to an empty life is to live only for yourself." --Ralph Marston

Man, like the bridge, was designed to carry the load of the moment, not the combined weight of a year at once. --William A. Ward

"Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these." -- Susan B. Anthony

"Serendipity is a sign that we're letting the universe organize the events that lead to answered questions and fulfilled dreams."
-- Karen Casanova

"Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."
--The Talmud

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
- Aristotle

"The source of a true smile is an awakened mind. Smiling helps you approach the day with gentleness and understanding."
-- Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace Is Every Step

All material things, the universe, the world, even our bodies, may be Eternal Thought expressed in time and space. The more the physicists and astronomers reduce matter, the more it becomes a mathematical formula, which is thought. In the final analysis, matter is thought. When Eternal Thought expresses it self within the framework of space and time, it becomes matter. Our thoughts, within the box of space and time, cannot know anything firsthand, except material things. But we can deduce that outside the box of space and time is Eternal Thought, which we can call God.

"Waiting time is not wasted time. Something is being worked out - in us, in someone else, in the Universe."
-- The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

Substitution of something missing? That thing is still missing.

I am powerless over my first thought but powerful in my second.

Confusion is good. It means you're thinking.

Seek to know more of a person than his or her past. To know what someone has done is simple and can be misleading. Intentions and aspirations can show who they are or are attempting to be. The worst failures can be invaluable lessons, provided the person has grown and continues to do so.

Before reacting to a problem you have with someone, talk with him or her to find out if there really is a problem. Chances are that there really is no problem, just misunderstanding or difference in perception.

The difference between "childproof" and "inner childproof" is the target age of those be deterred.

Think of just how lucky you are... Every year you get a free ride around the sun!

Some things just take time and you have to give time time.

To worship God is nothing other than to serve the people.
It does not need rosaries, prayer carpets, or robes.
All people are members of the same body, created from one essence.
If fate brings suffering to one member, the others cannot stay at rest.
--Saadi (1184-1291)

Doing something I absolutely detest sucks. Helping my friend do something I absolutely detest is helping my friend.

I found this years ago. It struck a chord in me and still does.


Five Apes

•In a cage there are five apes.
•In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it.
•Before long, one ape will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana, but as soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the apes with ice cold water.
•After a while, another ape makes an attempt with the same result -- all the apes are sprayed with cold water. Turn off the cold water.
•If, later, an ape tries to climb the stairs, the other apes will try to prevent it even though no water sprays them.
•Now, remove one ape from the cage and replace it with a new one.
•The new ape sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs.
•To his horror, all of the other apes attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
•Next, remove another one of the original five apes and replace it with a new one.
•The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.
•Replace another original ape with a new one.
•The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four apes that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest ape.
•After replacing the fourth and fifth original apes, all the apes which have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no ape ever again approaches the stairs.

Why not?

"Because that's the way it's always been around here."

Last night, I listened to a friend give a speech. One of the things he relayed was how a simple phrase he uses has immensely helped him keep from taking on others' problems. "I'm so sorry to hear that. How are you going to take care of it?"

These are inspired by "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and It's All Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life" by Richard Carlson, Ph.D.

As I read each chapter, I wrote a simple sentence (or three) summing up what it meant to me.

-- Greet strangers.
-- On the way home, park the car for 1-2 minutes of quiet.
-- Seek first to understand what someone is saying, then, if appropriate, formulate your reply.
-- Listen without interrupting.
-- Slow down your response time in conversations.
-- Choose battles wisely.
-- Recognize when you are feeling defensive, angry, frustrated, stressed, depressed, etc. Realize it will pass.
-- Remember life is a test. What can you learn from any given instance?
-- Approval and disapproval are about 50/50. Accept them and move on.
-- Do commit random, even anonymous, acts of kindness.
-- Don't brag.
-- Don't keep score.
-- Acknowledge people's idiosyncrasies. Don't try to fix them.
-- Each morning, think of someone you love and remember them periodically throughout your day. Consider contacting them.
-- Avoid judging others.
-- Expect others to see things differently from you. Try seeing from their perspective.
-- Don't expect things to go wrong.
-- Everything has God's fingerprints on it.
-- Don't be critical.
-- Agree when being criticized.
-- Find truth in others' opinions.
-- See things as already broken. When things do break, your anger about the loss will be minimal.
-- Wherever you go, there you are. You cannot change yourself by going somewhere else, because you're still there.
-- Take a deep breath before you speak.
-- Become a less aggressive driver. That one weaving through traffic is going to get there maybe a minute before you do. What's a minute?
-- When everything around you starts getting crazy, realize that your soap opera has started.
-- Be the eye of the storm.
-- Do one thing at a time.
-- Periodically, throughout the day, breathe in to the count of 10 and then out to 10.
-- Meditate a few minutes, daily.
-- Allow changes to plans.
-- Focus on what you have, not what you want. Be content.
-- Ignore negative thoughts. Accept them as a natural occurrence and don't dwell on them.
-- Ask others, "What are my blind spots?" What am I doing that I'm so used to, I can't even see that I'm doing it?
-- If you can't be happy now, when can you?
-- What you practice, you will become. Good or bad.
-- Be of service.
-- Accept the totality of your being.
-- Accept setbacks and try again.
-- Stop blaming others for anything and everything.
-- Get up earlier in the morning.
-- Ask, "Why?"
-- Listen to feelings, yours and others.
-- Don't catch the ball. Someone throwing something to you does not mean you have to catch it.
-- All things, good and bad, begin and end.
-- Negative thoughts produce negative feelings.
-- What is really important to you?
-- Accept what is.
-- Mind your own business.
-- Make ordinary acts/things, extraordinary.
-- Schedule "inner peace" time.