HOW TO FIND YOUR
PURPOSE
God calls you
to the place where your deepest gladness meets the
world's greatest hunger."
~ Frederic Buechner,
Theologian
I have come to know that God
can dream a bigger dream for you than you can dream for
yourself. And that the whole role for your life on Earth
is to attach yourself to that force which is divine and
let yourself be released to that.
~ Oprah Winfrey
Every single one of us is called to be a king, a queen,
a hero in our ordinary lives. We don't build statues to
worship the exceptional life, we build them to remind
ourselves what is possible in our own.
~ Timberland Boots copywriter
Think
of life as a terminal illness because if you do you will
live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived.
~ Anna Quindlen
It is a perverse truism, I believe, but we have to
experience the downs in life to appreciate the ups. The
sour to recognize the sweet. The dark to appreciate the
light. And life's hard knocks do have an end beyond
making bruises...Now use that newly discovered strength
to find out the reason that you endured what you have.
~Deborah Norville
GIVE THANKS
"In everyone's
life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then
burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.
We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the
inner spirit.
~ Albert Schweitzer
GIVE THE GIFT OF
BELIEF
"What
you need is to forget how worried and confused you are, and
remember how wonderful you are.
Does that surprise you? It
certainly goes against the traditional prayer attitude that
you are a miserable sinner.
It is interesting that the
root word from which prayer is derived is 'pal-al,' from the
ancient Sanskrit, which literally means 'judging oneself to
be wondrously made.' A new horizon opens to those who begin
to think of prayer as knowing how wonderful they are, how
creative, how at one with the divine flow."
~ Eric Butterworth, The
Universe is Calling
We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals
that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to,
worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we
believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder,
spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the
human spirit.
~ e.e. cummings, Poet
The deepest
craving of the human spirit is to be appreciated.
~ William James, Psychologist
FEELING
UNHAPPY? COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
One cannot be grateful and unhappy at the same time.
~ Anonymous
If the only prayer you said in
your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice.
~ M. Eckhart, Philosopher
JOY
I slept, and I dreamt that life was all joy.
I woke, and saw that life was but service.
I served, and discovered that service was joy.
~ Rabindranath Tagore
BREATHE
Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile.
Breathing in, I notice this moment.
Breathing out, I enjoy this moment.
~Thich Nhat Hanh
DO GOOD NOW
I expect to
pass through this world but once. Any good therefore
that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any
fellow being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or
neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
~ William Penn
WHAT WE EMPHASIZE
DETERMINES OUR LIFE
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly
romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is
a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion,
sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to
emphasize in this complex history will determine our
lives.
If we see only the worst, it destroys our
capacity to do something. If we remember those times and
places -- and there are so many -- where people have
behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act,
and at least the possibility of sending this spinning
top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do
act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for
some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite
succession of presents, and to live now as we think
human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad
around us, is itself, a marvelous victory.”
~ Howard Zinn (You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving
Train: A personal history of our times, p. 208)
ENVIOUS? PRACTICE
GENEROSITY
When I can't seem to get over my envy or draw a lesson
from it, I reach for my best defense: generosity. I
remind myself that part of living in a community is
being big enough to say 'Good job' or 'Congratulations.'
And when I can't get those words out, I go the
tough-love route and remind myself that I can either be
a baby about my envy or I can peel it down to a layer of
admiration and act accordingly.
There's a theory about
smiling that says that even a fake smile brightens your
mood. A similar phenomenon happens with envy: It's great
when I can let it go and better when I can learn a
lesson from it. But even if I can only act in a gracious
manner, then the act elevates my own envy, no matter how
difficult, takes me closer to the kind of person I want
to be.
~Veronica Chambers
INSPIRE YOURSELF
How do you stay inspired? Simple. Start here:
Who do you appreciate? Tell them!
What are you grateful for? Tell yourself!
What are you passionate about? Tell the world!
~ Mary Marcdante
THE VALUE OF A SMILE
~ Author Unknown
A smile cost nothing, but gives much. It enriches those
who receive, without making poorer those who give. It takes
but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.
None is so rich or mighty that he can get along without it,
and none is so poor but that he can be made rich by it.
A smile creates happiness in the home, fosters good will
in business, and is the countersign of friendship. It brings
rest to the weary, cheer to the discouraged, sunshine to the
sad, and is nature's best antidote for trouble. Yet it
cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is
something that is of no value to anyone until it is given
away.
Some people are too tired to give you a smile. Give them
one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no
more to give. |
