Lighting the Path Less Taken

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Last edited by Sage/Debs on Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

"Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to
be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new
things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear
always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and
allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically,
make yourself a happier and more productive person."

-- Dr. David M. Burns

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Please understand my friend,
that where you find yourself tomorrow
is a function of the positive decisions
and actions you take today.

Akin A. Awolaja

"We should be careful to get out of an experience only the
wisdom that is in it -- and stop there; lest we be like the
cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down
on a hot stove lid again -- and that is well; but also she
will never sit down on a cold one anymore."

-- Mark Twain

"Responsibility is the one thing people dread most of all. Yet
it is the one thing in the world that develops us."

-- Frank Crane
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The dogmas of the quiet past
are inadequate to the stormy present.
The occasion is piled high with difficulty,
and we must rise with the occasion.
As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.
~ Abraham Lincoln

A Powerful Force
Love is a powerful force. It can take us to great heights and leave us feeling light and airy. Yet it has been the most abused and misused force. Many degraded things pass for love. True love is based on understanding, mutual trust and respect and not simply on transient emotions. Love is being in balance, that is, in harmony with the self, God and each other. Love dwells in the soul. We must allow this love to flow out and around us. Without love, all of life's treasures are locked away from our vision and experiences, for indeed 'love is the key.'
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"The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if
he knew he never would be found out."

-- Macaulay

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A Great Power
Gentleness is not a lack of strength
but a great power that doesn't force or disturb.

A room without books is like a body without a soul.
~ Cicero

Too Much Thinking
The biggest disease of the mind is over-thinking,
especially too much thinking about others.
Thinking too much is like eating too much.
The heaviness makes it impossible to remain light and flexible.

Each of us is alone in the world.
It takes great courage to meet
the full force of your aloneness. ...
When you face your aloneness,
something begins to happen.
Gradually, the sense of bleakness changes
into a sense of true belonging.
This is a slow and open-ended transition
but it is utterly vital
in order to come into rhythm
with your own individuality.
~ John O'Donohue (Eternal Echoes)

"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time
for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance."

-- Confucius

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Self Manage
There is a huge hole in the heart of all our educations. It is where the skills and abilities of self-management should be. No one teaches us how to manage our thoughts, feelings, attitudes and behaviour, so we find it hard to manage the four Rs – relationships, roles, responsibilities and resources. So let’s get started. Consciously choose the quality of your thoughts today – accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and clean up the waste. Everything, which means everything in your life, begins with your thoughts.

relax7.com
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Success is not counted by
how high you have climbed but
by how many you have brought with you.
~ Wil Rose

Surrender Gracefully
We are surrounded by graceful surrender. The geese surrender to the first autumn chills, and think of flying south. The flower surrenders to the night and shuts up shop as the setting sun surrenders to the horizon of another day. A mother surrenders to the needs of her baby, and the child surrenders to the wisdom of the father. These kinds of surrender are sweet and natural. They are graceful movements in a dance to the subtle symphony of life. While we may find moments to surrender to such grace and beauty, if we are not careful, we also tend to allow ourselves to surrender to our appetites, to envy, to greed and then to self centred lifestyles in which we serve only ourselves. No grace there - only the disgrace of self-inflicted slavery. Whatever we surrender our minds to, will eventually shape our character and define the quality of our life. Be careful what you surrender your mind to, even if it's only for a day, or an hour.
relax7.com
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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

Nelson Mandela
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"Things can fall apart, or threaten to, for many reasons, and
then there's got to be a leap of faith. Ultimately, when
you're at the edge, you have to go forward or backward; if you
go forward, you have to jump together."

-- Yo-Yo Ma

"Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of your
heart."

-- Mort Walker
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Oasis of Peace
Deep inside our consciousness is an oasis of peace. This is the molten core of the soul, but it is not hot, it is cool. Not passive, but a source of inner power to fuel our mind and intellect, so that we can create powerful thoughts and make accurate decisions. If you can learn to go to this centre, peace will be your companion, positivity your partner, and you will be able to chill out in one second, anywhere, anytime.
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The Soul will not entertain you.

It's not its job to create psychic phenomena.

Your job is to sit in silence and be open to the Soul and start the process of awakening to your knowing. As you awaken, the Soul can replace the ego and personality as the center of consciousness and energy, though it still uses the vehicles of the mind, the emotions, the imagination, and the body to function in the world.

- John-Roger with Paul Kaye
(From: What's It Like Being You?, p. 32)

As you attune to the blessings, be aware of what takes place inside of you.

When we experience disturbance or pain, we often are being shown places where we have closed ourselves off through some form of denial or judgment. The loving energy that is there for us as a blessing is then closed off and restricted, so we may feel hurt or disturbance.

Consider that when something hurts or presents disturbance, it asks and perhaps even requires that the unmanifest blessings be released. Your awareness and focus are keys to releasing the blessings.

- John Morton
(From: "You Are the Blessings," on the New Day Herald website: Click Here)
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"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night
the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."

-- William Shakespeare
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Daily Decisions
What I am experiencing at this moment is the result of choices and decisions made in the past; what I will experience in the future depends on choices and decisions I make now. Happiness is a daily decision.

"Minds are like flowers. If you let it sit there without
soaking anything up, it will dry up."

-- Ken Hill
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Spotting Qualities
A compassionate person develops an eye for spotting the qualities that make each person special. Even when others are at their lowest ebb, it is possible to help them restore their self-belief by keeping a firm, clear vision of their goodness and specialities. Taking a gently encouraging approach, I must never give up on anyone.
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"Accept that all of us can be hurt, that all of us can and
surely will at times fail. Other vulnerabilities, like being
embarrassed or risking love, can be terrifying, too. I think
we should follow a simple rule: if we can take the worst, take
the risk."

-- Joyce Brothers
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Faith
When I am continuously being battered by the storms of life,
and my very spirit is ebbing away,
then all I need to do is hang onto that gift called 'Faith',
that one support which will weather the storms.
Faith does not depend on a clever head,
only belief.
Belief in the self and the strength that lies within.
Faith is the seed of victory and the foundation of making the impossible possible.
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Don't ask what the world needs.
Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.
Because what the world needs
is people who have come alive.
~ Howard Thurman
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Only put off until tomorrow
what you are willing to die
having left undone.

Pablo Picasso
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Sweet Words
A bitter tongue makes life bitter,
a sweet tongue makes life better.
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There are many wonderful things
that will never be done
if you do not do them.
~ Charles D. Gill

Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow.

Alice Mackenzie Swaim
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