A noble lord once visited the monk Ryōkan in search of rare wisdom. Ryōkan said nothing. Instead, he took up his brush and composed a haiku. The lord read it, bowed in understanding, and quietly returned to his castle.
The wind gives me
Enough fallen leaves
To make a fire.
Ryōkan Taigu, 1758–1831
When stumped by a life choice, choose “enlargement” over happiness.
I’m indebted to the Jungian therapist James Hollis for the insight that major personal decisions should be made not by asking, “Will this make me happy?”, but “Will this choice enlarge me or diminish me?”
Oliver Burkeman
Give up defining yourself – to yourself or to others. You won’t die. You will come to life.
And don’t be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it’s their problem.
Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence.
You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.
Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
I find hope in the darkest of days
and focus in the brightest.
I do not judge the universe.
The Dalai Lama
To keep on filling
is not as good as stopping.
Oversharpen a blade,
and the edge will soon lose its keenness.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to lasting calm.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 9
We do not think ourselves into new ways of living.
We live ourselves into new ways of thinking.
In the second half of life, you are not making choices as much as you are being guided, taught, and led.
Richard Rohr, Falling Upward
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