Shift

 Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found."

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Thoughts: 

My thoughts are expressed by Benjamin Hoff in the Tao of Pooh (referring to Winnie the Pooh)

“Within each of us there is an Owl, a Rabbit, an Eeyore, and a Pooh. For too long, we have chosen the way of Owl and Rabbit. Now, like Eeyore, we complain about the results. But that accomplishes nothing. If we are smart, we will choose the way of Pooh. As if from far away, it calls to us with the voice of a child's mind. It may be hard to hear at times, but it is important just the same, because without it, we will never find our way through the forest.”
Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

“In order to take control of our lives and accomplish something of lasting value, sooner or later we need to learn to believe. We don't need to shift our responsibilities onto the shoulders of some deified spiritual superman or sit around and wait for fate to come knocking on our door. We simply need to believe in the power that's within us, and use it. When we do that, and stop imitating others and competing against them, things begin to work for us.”

 Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

You can do it!

 “What is a master but a master student? And if that's true, then there's a responsibility on you to keep getting better and to explore avenues of your profession.”

Neil Peart

Drummer and Lyricist for the rock band Rush

Thoughts: to keep learning and practicing, almost anything, is worthwhile for the reward feeling of accomplishment at each step. 

Knowing that as we never get all the way "there" there will always be something we can get better at!!

Loving the journey is what keeps life interesting

Clint Eastwood on Power

 "Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power."

Clint Eastwood

Thoughts: Self discipline comes from self respect and having faith that our self is worth our efforts. 

Sometimes the cart can come before the horse and faith in and respect for ourselves can be learned through the practice of self discipline... 

And it really doesn't matter how or why or when ... doesn't matter where we've been on our path or how often we stray... with self respect and self discipline we hold our own power regardless of our circumstance.

Spiritual exercises

 The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises."

Leo Buscaglia

“Il destino mischia le carte, ma siamo noi a giocare la partita. Destiny shuffles the cards, but we are the ones who must play the game.”
Wally Lamb, We Are Water

Thoughts:

At the risk of boring you all with my repetitious ponderings ...  how we play the game depends on what we practice (something I need continual reminding of) ... 

10,000

 "Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself."

Henry Ward Beecher

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
Bruce Lee

Thoughts: It is hard to be honest about ourselves and our efforts, and a continual battle to get ego and pride out of the way when results of our efforts aren't seen or acknowledged.

No one may ever recognize what we do and why we do it. 

That's okay!!!

Cheers
Jeanne

What matters

 “What matters isn’t what a person has or doesn’t have; it is what he or she is afraid of losing.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

Mosquitos

 “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”

Dalai Lama

Thoughts: Nothing is nothing but little things are something!

There's a lot of strength in doing little things and not giving up; look at the bee look at the ant ... good lessons if we can relate

Part of the whole

 “It is my great hope someday, to see science and decision makers rediscover what the ancients have always known. Namely that our highest currency is respect.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Thoughts: 

Imagine if every decision was made based on respect... respect for everyone and everything. 

That each deliberation, experiment and choice was framed with the recognition that we are part of the whole, that life is a gift, that we are blessed with and not owed either our opportunities or the use of earth's resources. 

This underlying knowledge was part  of Indigenous traditions. Gratitude for food and the use of resources is a fundamental aspect of many Indigenous traditions and emphasizes respect for the natural world and the cycle of life. 

 

Imagine if this we part of decision making for large corporations and governments.

Although it is only impossible if we don't practice gratitude ourselves.. 

Cheers

Jeanne

Empathy

 Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It's the impetus for creating change."

Max Carver

Thoughts:

Empathy is not something we either have or we don't. Empathy is something we can practice, anytime, anywhere. Maybe twice a day to start with to think of someone  or some group we disagree with or are angry with and look deeper until we find something they feel we can relate to .... No one is all bad ...  

Once we are accustomed to feeling empathy I think our feelings of helplessness and hopelessness start to dissipate, and it is from here we can build communities based on respect and create meaningful change

"Empathy is choosing to see ourselves in another despite our differences. It's recognizing that the same humanity - the same desire for meaning, fulfillment and security - exists in each of us, even if it's expressed uniquely"
Vivek Murthy

Cheers

Jeanne

Experience!

 "The only source of knowledge is experience."

Albert Einstein

Thoughts: There is no substitute learning other than practicing and doing... research (google) can show us a place to start and a direction to go in, but to know anything we need to experience it.

Many things I was told were true did not survive the challenge of experience. In life, in work, in parenting and painting most other things I've spent some time at. 

What stands the test is following my heart, believing in kindness above all, common sense and a conversation with myself of 'what's the worst that can happen' when I get nervous.

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
George Bernard Shaw

"Just try new things. Don't be afraid. Step out of your comfort zones and soar, all right?"
Michelle Obama

Cheers
Jeanne

Nothing to say

 "To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say."

Will Durant

Thoughts: 

What a relief!! 

The less I say,

the more I hear.

and the more the bird songs and tree whispers reach my conscious,

It's not about me,

What a relief!!

Sailing around the world

 "Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive."

Dalai Lama

“You can’t get to where you want to be in one day,” he says, “just like you don’t sail around the world in a day. You just look at the horizon and say, ‘I can sail that far.’ Sailing around the world is just sailing to the horizon, over and over again."
Hugh Howey

Thoughts: A little love, a little compassion, a little kindness where, perhaps, we don't feel it... can start a change that can travel around the world. Every kindness is never too late or too little to be of value.

Your Citadel

 "Why would we let someone else’s darkness cast a shadow on our own life?

When Marcus Aurelius spoke of getting revenge by “not being like that,” this was partly what he was referencing. How do you defy the depressing times you live in? By not letting them depress you. How do you strike back against a cruel and deranged leader, how do you undermine a morally bankrupt regime? By being good and feeling good. By loving your children. By loving literature and art. By smiling to your neighbor. By helping a sick animal you find on the side of the road. By laughing—at the absurdities of the regime and at the absurdities of life.

Don’t let them touch your inner-citadel. No one can steal your happiness. No one can take your joy. This is ours to keep…or give up. Guard it fiercely, nurture it daily, and never surrender it to forces beyond your control."

Ryan Holiday

dailystoic.com

Where are we going

  "The Law-of-Destination is straightforward and simple: It is not possible to arrive where we never take the time to go."

Heather K. O'Hara

 AXIS, The Song in the Center of the Soul

Thoughts: TAKE THE TIME EVERYDAY to choose where our mind takes us. It is not necessary to go far off course at the whim of every gust that comes along. 

The wind is not in our control but we can make the world better by being steadfast in our values and staying kind in the face of storms.

"You know what matters?

Hope, Kindness.

You know how that spreads?

Through you.

You are hope for others

You are kindness too.

Share that today.

Rachel Marie Martin

Terrible is??

 “Everything terrible is something that needs our love.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

Thoughts: Hate and fear don't seem to be working 

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
Albert Einstein

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Albert Einstein

Opportunities

 "Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them."

Ann Landers

"You have to really be courageous about your instincts and your ideas. Otherwise you'll just knuckle under, and things that might have been memorable will be lost."
Francis Ford Coppola

Thoughts: A little courage and some hard work go a long way to make life interesting

Imagination

 

"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."

Mark Twain

Thoughts:

People tell me this is this and that is that, but what about everything in between? What about that is this and this is that? 

The way I see it is there is no point to staying stuck in one view point, the longer we're in one place the more we see confirmations of that view. 

Generally I'm not seeing this passive mode of thinking make us more productive or happy or motivated to change the world or any other action ... 

We don't need to be right or wrong to exercise our imagination, we don't need it to take us to a conclusion. We just need it to become a little more free, to become a little more alive, to take a few risks which open us up to a place in between the absolutes of this and that.

"The man who has no imagination has no wings."
Muhammad Ali

"Every day we have plenty of opportunities to get angry, stressed or offended. But what you're doing when you indulge these negative emotions is giving something outside yourself power over your happiness. You can choose to not let little things upset you."
Joel Osteen

Huh

 “We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path.”

 Paulo Coelho

“Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”
Paulo Coelho, Brida

Thoughts: 

If I believe passionately that there is one direction we should be going and you believe passionately in another direction ... the opportunities for real dialogue and real questions and real listening abound...

Is it human nature to ignore these opportunities and entrench ourselves more deeply into our own perspective?  I wonder what it is inside that feels threatened by ideas that are different than ours?

who sees the choices? Feb 6th

 "People only see the decisions you made and not the choices you had"

Itachi Uchiha - Naruto Shippuuden

Thoughts: After reflecting on this quote I've come to think that I have restricted myself to see only limited choices for my own decisions. And having mulled this over it is now my challenge to broaden my range of choices and look for my underlying assumptions. Then maybe there will be possible decisions and options I'm missing. 

“so. tell me where should I go? to the left where nothing is right. or to the right where nothing is left.”

 Itachi Uchiha - Naruto Shippuuden

Freedom is not free!

 "Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."

Pope John Paul II

Thoughts: Freedom is not Free!!!