★˚ Your Chosen Quotations

˚state of wonderful  

Posted on 10/10/2011. Last edited on 05/02/2019.

Answered Prayer
I asked for strength, that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn humility.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy,
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of others,
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life,
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I had hoped for
but everything I had hoped for.

Almost, despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am… most richly blessed.
_Unknown

————————————
Simply gratitude….is what I love about this. While the experience of getting less than what I want in any given moment is hardly something I’d ask for or desire to repeat… I do remain ever grateful for experiences that have assisted with a growing perspective …to appreciate more and more …

————————————

I saw the following 5 steps on dharmadude’s wonderful website/blog in an area entitled Compassion. He said he saw this in a magazine and recites this “with mindfulness, after sitting silently for ten minutes, hold in mind not only those you love, but those who appear to be adversarial”

I think it is absolutely perfect. Here it is:

1. “Just like me, this person is seeking happiness in his/her life.” 2. “Just like me, this person is trying to avoid suffering in his/her life.” 3. “Just like me, this person has known sadness, loneliness and despair.” 4. “Just like me, this person is seeking to fill his/her needs.” 5. “Just like me, this person is learning about life.”

• _____________________
  _{Quotes from The Secret of Letting Go by Guy Finley:}

˚ Uncovering what is wrong must always precede the discovery of what is right
˚ Letting go takes no strength-only a willingness to see the need for it.
˚ Letting go is the natural release which always follows the realization that holding on hurts.
˚ Unhappiness does not come at you. It comes from you.
˚ Real freedom is the absence of the self that feels trapped, not the trappings that self acquires to make it feel free.

• • _____________________
    A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honourable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. _{George Bernard Shaw}

“Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. the arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”—-Kurt Vonnegut

I am fond of this quote because it gives me permission to be creative and release my most inner thoughts and feelings,

Wow, Laurie. Here’s a coincidence. My daily email from Guy Finley:

The seed of any painful resentment could never take hold, let alone flower, were it not for our refusal to see just how similar is our own character to the one we judge in another.

This is from an old post of mine. I remember the book I had read that inspired this post was one of the books by Guy Roger, it may have been Live 101 or Do It!. Can’t remember which. AC’s Guy Finley post reminded me of it.

The Mirror

This is a very important concept. I hope you will spend some time thinking about it.

When we evaluate anything, what we are REALLY doing is looking into a mirror that reflects back to us information about ourselves. Take a minute and really think about what I just said.

When we evaluate anything, what we are REALLY doing is looking into a mirror that reflects back to us information about ourselves. Repeat that to yourself a thousand times until it really sinks in.

This is a remarkably powerful and useful tool, and one that should not be overlooked. It is INCREDIBLY powerful for self-examination; I think it is particularly useful for highly charged emotional stuff. The things that really push your button. (Good and bad things.)

Why is it so powerful? Because, until you look in the mirror and accept all that you see about yourself, you won’t be able to make the changes in your life that you would like.

Think about this: when someone makes you angry, how much good does it do you to blame that person? What do we learn? Using the mirror we see that what we are REALLY doing is judging or blaming ourselves. This can be a hard concept to get your head around. Sometimes it is hard for us to see what we are actually judging or blaming ourselves for. Sometimes we might have to adjust our focus a bit to find the answer. If we see someone act harshly to a child for example, what is it that we see in that act that we can apply to ourselves? What is it that that WE act harshly about; what is it that we see that we don’t like about ourselves or our behavior? Do you see what I’m saying? There are other people’s actions, and then there are the judgements that WE PLACE ON those actions.

This is important, so I’m gonna write it out again, as much for myself as for you.

There are other peoples actions, and then there are the judgements we place ON those actions. If we move from the action we are judging, and look instead at the JUDGEMENT, we usually find a similar judgement we make about ourselves.

Now, how does know this help you? Well, it gives you a lot of useful information to help you with the very important concept of ACCEPTANCE. Can you accept everything you already know about yourself, and everything you are learning about yourself by looking in “The Mirror” of other people’s behavior? Remember this, THE HARSHEST JUDGEMENTS YOU MAKE OF OTHERS are the VERY ONES YOU MUST ACCEPT ABOUT YOURSELF!!!!!

Really let this roll around up there and soak in. There are peoples actions, and then there are the judgements WE place ON those actions. If we move FROM THE ACTION WE JUDGE, and look AT THE JUDGEMENT, we usually find a SIMILAR judgement we make about OURSELVES.

For Contemplation
Consider the mirror when you are hurt of feel someone is not supporting you or giving you what you want or need. Consider your judgement of their actions. Consider your JUDGEMENT of their lack of support. What is the cause of the hurt. Is the mirror telling you something about YOURSELF? How are you not supporting someone or something? How are YOU hurting something or someone?

Now let’s carry this even further.
If you are hurting in some way, can you improve your own life by doing more or giving more? What I’m saying is, for example, if you feel unloved, you can help yourself to feel more loved by loving more.

Sorry for the long post, but I consider this to be very valuable information and I wanted to try to explain it the best that I could.

I found this one tonight.

“Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. And to say that the season for studying philosophy has not yet come, or that it is past and gone, is like saying that the season for happiness is not yet or that it is now no more. Therefore, both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom, the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come. So we must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed towards attaining it.” —Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus