Not till your thoughts cease all
their branching here and there,
Not till you abandon all thoughts
of seeking for something,
Not till your mind is motionless
as wood or stone, will you be
on the right road to the Gate.
Huang Po, died 850, influential Chinese Chan master
Give yourself permission not to be not good at something.
Quietly and softly carve out a life on your own terms. Stop apologizing.
Forgive that sometimes things take a while.
Forgive the low-level, near-constant fear.
Celebrate the small successes.
Perhaps joy is its own body of water, wade out into it.
From the blog of Meg Fee, Author of Places I stopped on the Way Home
(Photo from Bray Head, Valentia Island with Skellig Island on the horizon)
Don’t push the river,
it flows by itself.
Chinese Proverb
Who ever becomes a good rider by talking about horses?
If you wish to embody the Tao,
stop chattering and start practicing.
The Huahujing, attributed to Lao Tzu.
You have to start seeing yourself as your truthful friends see you.
As long as you remain blind to your own truth, you keep putting yourself down and referring to everyone else as better, holier, and more loved than you are. You look up to everyone in whom you see goodness, beauty, and love because you do not see any of these qualities in yourself. As a result, you begin leaning on others without realizing that you have everything you need to stand on your own feet.
Henri Nouwen, Inner Voice of Love
In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control.
Where will I find good and bad?
In me, in my choices.
Epictetus, Greek Stoic philosopher, 55 – 135
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