Tag: heart

The energy in nature : a blessed unrest

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There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. … . [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a … blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

Martha Graham

Sunday quote: What to aim for

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Try not to become a person of success.

Rather become a person of value.

Einstein

The past is gone…

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Without a doubt, the past is gone. Unfortunately, when we carry it with us every day, our hurt feelings, judgments and anger keep recycling within us. We try to put a stop to it through pronouncements about the future, declaring, “I will never let _____ happen again!” These efforts at controlling our life are largely wishful thinking. So, unless you feel totally at peace with yourself, make it a daily or weekly routine to ask yourself these questions:

  • What unresolved pieces of my past am I carrying with me today?
  • Why am I still carrying that?
  • What do I need to do to let it go?

Make it a priority in your life to lighten the load you carry by letting go of what has happened in the past.

Judith Johnston, The problem with the Past and the Future

Our mistakes are precious

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Frequently, in the journey of the soul, the most precious moments are the mistakes. They have brought you to a place which you would otherwise have always avoided. You should bring a compassionate mindfulness to your mistakes and wounds. If you visit this configuration in your heart, it will fall into place itself. When you forgive yourself your inner wounds begin to heal. You come in, out of the exile of hurt into the joy of inner belonging.

John O Donohue, Anamchara

Its not in the future, but here today

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Mindfulness encourages us to pay attention and rest in what is happening in the present moment.  However, we often prefer to be elsewhere, or that the present moment be other than what it actually is. What we learn through our practice is the key to finding contentment is to be fully present with whatever we are doing, no matter how ordinary. This realization that the fulness of our lives is right in front of us, and not to be found in the future, is an insight found in all wisdom traditions and leads to true contentment .

The everyday tedium of our lives is the desert we wander, looking for the Promised Land. Our relationships, our work, and all the little necessary tasks we don’t want to do are all the gift. We have to brush our teeth, we have to buy groceries. we have to do the laundry, we have to balance our checkbook. This tedium — this wandering in the desert — is in fact the face of God. Our struggles, the partner who drives us crazy, the report we don’t want to write — these are the Promised Land.

Charlotte Joko Beck

Moving on into insecurity

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As time passes, we are continually called to move out of our comfort zones and take on new challenges. Or  we need to shake ourselves up and leave behind what has become too familiar and comfortable.  At other times, growth may be painful, but we know deep down  that we need to make choices which will lead us in new directions. In every case it is the same, an ongoing, organic process  that has been in place since we were little: we move from an established secure base, stepping out to explore new worlds.  To do this we need to let go of what is certain. It has always been that way. We often sense it deep down. Where do I feel stuck at this moment? What do I need to move on from?

To be human is to create sufficient order so that we can move on into insecurity and seeming disorder. In this way we discover the new.

Jean Vanier