Spirit Within

 

Heaven is within us, and we experience it
to the degree that we become conscious of it.
- Ernest Holmes

Heaven means to be one with God.
- Confucius

Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
- Henry David Thoreau

Affirmation:
I am one with Spirit. Spirit is within me.
Spirit permeates me and surrounds me.
Spirit is my comfort and my strength.
I am one with Spirit.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be at Peace

Attitude of Gratitude

Serving Others (pathway to Heaven)

Welcome to Our Family
   

Mystery, Wonder, and Understanding

 

As soon as man does not take his existence for granted,
but beholds it as something
unfathomably mysterious, thought begins.
- Albert Schweitzer

Be thankful that life is a mystery.
There is so much we can never know.
Breathe deeply and relax into the not-knowing.
There is much that we do not have to know in order to live joyfully.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Uncertainty that comes from knowledge
(knowing what you don't know)
is different from uncertainty coming from ignorance.
- Isaac Asimov

Mystery creates wonder,
and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand.
- Neil Armstrong

Further reading: Nothing is Certain

Cherish Mystery

Childlike Wonder

Magnificent Mystery
        

Take Action on Your Dreams

 

Success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.
- Thomas A. Edison

A dream doesn't become reality through magic;
it takes sweat, determination and hard work.
- Colin Powell

If you dream of something worth doing
and then simply go to work on it
and don't think anything of personalities,
or emotional conflicts, or of money,
or of family distractions;
it is amazing how quickly
you get through those 5,000 steps.
- Edwin Land

Vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vision just passes the time.
Vision with action can change the world.
- Joel A. Barker

To lead a great life:
Dream, Take Action, Repeat.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Some people dream of success
while others wake up and work hard at it.
- Anonymous

Further reading: You Are What You Do

Walking Your Path

Fulfilling Your Dreams

Action Beats Inaction
    

Oneness Thru Diversity

Try a new perspective on diversity.
Across the country and around the world,
we are all one.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity
are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

It is not our differences that divide us.
It is our inability to recognize, accept,
and celebrate those differences.
- Audre Lorde

In Republics, the great danger is that the majority
may not sufficiently respect the rights of the minority.
- James Madison

Further reading: Oneness

Empathy

Don't Categorize People

Apples and Oranges
     

Progress Demands Change

 

He who rejects change is the architect of decay.
- Harold Wilson

Scientific advancement should aim to affirm and to improve human life.
- Nathan Deal

Knowledge is power.
Information is liberating.
Education is the premise of progress,
in every society, in every family.
- Kofi Annan

Seeds of great discoveries are constantly floating around us,
but they only take root in minds well prepared to receive them.
- Joseph Henry

You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines,
whimpering and complaining.
You make progress by implementing ideas.
- Shirley Chisholm

If we all did the things we are capable of doing,
we would literally astound ourselves.
- Thomas Edison

Live out of your imagination, not your history.
- Stephen Covey

Change is the Inherent Nature of Progress.
 - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading:  Welcome Change

How to Move On and Let Go

Forward Together

Adapt to Change
         

Value Common Sense

 

Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are,
and doing things as they ought to be done.
- Josh Billings

Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius.
- An Wang

Common sense in an uncommon degree
is what the world calls wisdom.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,
or who said it, no matter if I have said it,
unless it agrees with your own reason
and your own common sense.
- The Buddha

A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.
- William James

I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal
to reason and is in conflict with morality.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Pause. Take the time to THINK before you act.

Further reading: Take Nothing On Authority

Trust Reason

Consciousness

See, Really See
        

We Have the Power to Transform Our Lives

 

If you begin to understand what you are
without trying to change it,
then what you are undergoes a transformation.
- Jiddu Krishnamurti

Today's affirmation:
I am the master of my emotions -
I transform fear to love, anger to compassion,
pain to comfort, scarcity to abundance,
expectation to gratitude, and jealousy to generosity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

At all times and under all circumstances,
we have the power to transform the quality of our lives.
- Werner Erhard

Personal transformation can and does have global effects.
As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us.
The revolution that will save the world
is ultimately a personal one.
- Marianne Williamson

Revolution begins with the self, in the self.
- Toni Cade Bambara

Transformation in the world happens when people are
healed and start investing in other people.
- Michael W. Smith

Further reading: The Power of Transformation

Be an Instrument of Change

What is Transformation?

A Great Future
  

Be a Maker of Peace

 

No one can find inner peace except by working,
not in a self-centered way, but for the whole human family.
- Peace Pilgrim

Let there be peace on earth.
And let it begin with me.
- Jill Jackson Miller

Stop! Breathe deeply.
Begin bringing peace to the outer world
by regaining your own inner peace.
Choose love, choose gratitude,
choose forgiveness, choose peace.
Begin with your own inner peace.
Then use that inner peace
as a platform from which
to approach the outer world
with perspective, understanding, and patience.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Further reading: Peace IS the Way

Do God's Work

End Hatred

No War
      

Focus your energies on living Today

 

The past is important only as a lesson. Never allow yourself regret.
Planning for the future is essential, but that planning must occur in the present.
Worrying about the future serves no purpose.
Focus all your energies on living Today.
 - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Yesterday is ashes.
Tomorrow is green wood.
Only today does the fire burn brightly.
- Inuit Saying

Do not dwell in the past,
do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind on the present moment.
- The Buddha

There is only one time that is important - NOW!
It is the most important time because
it is the only time that we have any power.
- Leo Tolstoy

I have realized that the past and future are real illusions,
that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.
- Alan Watts

If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present.
- Lao Tzu

Further reading: The Futility of Regret

Gratitude for THIS Moment

Don't Wait - Begin Today

Cherish This Moment
      

Intentional Action

 

Life is a balance between rest and movement.
- Osho

Find your balance and stand with it.
Find your song and sing it out.
Find your cadence and let it appear like a dance.
Find the questions that only you know how to ask and
The answers that you are content to not know.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Balance activity with serenity,
wealth with simplicity,
persistence with innovation,
community with solitude,
familiarity with adventure,
constancy with change,
leading with following.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
 
He who knows that enough is enough
will always have enough.
- Lao Tzu

Balance happens when I invite it to happen
with my intentional actions and my guided perspective.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Further reading: Balance Service with Play

Tips for Stress-Free Living

Living in Harmony 

Finding Balance in Life

A Balanced Life
       

Beauty And Bread

 

Healing does not mean going back to the way things were before,
but rather allowing what is now to move us closer to God.
- Ram Dass

Healing yourself is connected with healing others.
- Yoko Ono

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and cheer
and give strength to the body and soul.
- John Muir

Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels,
simply by pouring out love.
Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy.
- Sai Baba

Further reading: Allow Healing

Create Forgiveness

A Tool for Healing Your Troubles
     

To deny the facts would be illogical

 

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

Expect Nothing

 

When you expect nothing,
you can receive everything as a marvelous gift.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Expect nothing.
Live frugally on surprise.
- Alice Walker

Expectation is the root of all heartache.
- William Shakespeare

It is important to expect nothing,
to take every experience,
including the negative ones,
as merely steps on the path,
and to proceed.
- Ram Dass

Mostly, it is human to dislike surprises -
often with great intensity.
Be open to new ways;
sometimes newness just knocks on our door;
welcome it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Choose Joy Anyway

Know the Difference

Cheer for Endings
     

It's About Attitude

 

We cannot choose our external circumstances,
but we can always choose how to respond to them.
- Epictetus

It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are,
or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy.
It is what you think about.
- Dale Carnegie

Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
- Charles R. Swindoll

Could we change our attitude,
we should not only see life differently,
but life itself would be different.
- Katherine Mansfield

We can always choose to perceive things differently.
You can focus on what's wrong in your life,
or you can focus on what's right.
- Marianne Williamson

Today's affirmation:
I choose to create joy in my life.
Whatever my external circumstances,
I choose to see all of life through joyful eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Your attitude determines the quality of your life

You are the Window

Look Beyond the Cloud 
         

Breathe In, Breathe Out

 

Fully experience THIS moment -
breathe in, breathe out - nothing more.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious
privilege it is to be alive -
to breathe,
to think, to enjoy, to love.
- Marcus Aurelius

Be Here Now
- Ram Dass

He who can give thanks for little
will always find he has enough.
- Anonymous

Further reading: Nurture Yourself Today

Give Thanks

Gratitude and Life

Be Fully Present in TODAY
     

Heartbeat

 

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt,
head in the sun, heart with nature.
To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body,
but the soul.
- Alfred Austin

The goal of life is
to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe,
to match your nature with Nature.
- Joseph Campbell

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.
- Standing Bear

Keep close to Nature's heart...
and break clear away, once in awhile,
and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.
Wash your spirit clean.
- John Muir

Further reading: Renew Yourself

Set Your Rhythm

All Life

Nature's Messengers

Our Children's Earth
   

Inner Smile

Although it is always better to live with conviction and enthusiasm,
some days it is better just to go through the motions than to do nothing.
Smile even when you feel grumpy.
Meditate or Pray even when you have nothing to say to God.
Cook a healthy meal even when you are tired.
Walk or exercise even when the thought doesn't excite you.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Act the way you'd like to be
and soon you'll be the way you act.
- Leonard Cohen

Repeat anything often enough
and it will start to become you.
- Tom Hopkins

A smile that begins as an effort and a pretense
quickly grows to become genuine,
and given time, a habit of happiness.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
but sometimes your smile
can be the source of your joy.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Inner Smile Exercise:
1. Close your eyes.
2. Breath slowly, deeply, and consciously.
3. Set the corners of your mouth in just the slightest smile.
4. Visualize your smile growing larger and larger, and your happiness increasing.

Further reading: Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Grin your smile; giggle your laugh; unfurl your joy

Practice makes perfect - sometimes 

Tending the Garden of Our Lives

Overcome Being Negative
     

Conscious Breathing

 

Move to your heart, Breathe.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply - slowly -
fill your lungs with love and gratitude -
exhale each and every trouble -
again and again - gratitude in, troubles out.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Inhale, and God approaches you.
Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you.
Exhale, and you approach God.
Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God.
- Krishnamacharya

The moment you start seeing life
as non-serious, a playfulness,
all the burden on your heart disappears.
All the fear of death, of life,
of love - everything disappears.
- Osho

Breath by breath, let go of fear, expectation, anger,
regret, cravings, frustration, fatigue.
Let go of the need for approval.
- Lama Surya Das

Today's affirmation:
Slowly and Deeply, I Inhale a Calming Breath.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Breathe In, Breathe Out

Breathe deeply and rejoice

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Conscious Breathing to Relieve Stress
   

Preparation

 

Those who have succeeded at anything
and don't mention luck
are kidding themselves.
- Larry King

Luck is preparation meeting opportunity.
- Seneca

I find that the harder I work,
the more luck I seem to have.
- Thomas Jefferson

Remember that not getting what you want
is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.
- Harry Golden

Further reading: Aging With Grace

Maybe So, Maybe Not

Get Un-Stuck
       

Our Responsibility to Future Generations

 

Let us be protectors of creation,
protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature,
protectors of one another, and of the environment.
- Pope Francis

The true meaning of life is to plant trees,
under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
- Nelson Henderson

We need to think of the future and the planet we are
going to leave to our children and their children.
- Kofi Annan

Consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.
- Wilma Mankiller

To cherish what remains of the Earth
and to foster its renewal
is our only legitimate hope of survival.
- Wendell Berry

Further reading: Our Grandchildren's Planet

For Future Generations

Your Legacy - Making a Difference

Reverence

For Our Children
     

Forgiveness, Not Judgement

 

Give yourself the gift of forgiving others,
not because THEY deserve it,
but because YOU deserve the serenity and joy
that comes from releasing resentment and anger.
Unconditional forgiveness is the path to your own inner peace.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today, I say yes to forgiving.
I commit to being for-giving love and for-giving compassion in all areas of my life.
– Sheri Rosenthal

A wise man will make haste to forgive,
because he knows the true value of time,
and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain.
- Samuel Johnson

I can have peace of mind only when I forgive rather than judge.
- Gerald Jampolsky

Further reading: Forgive Others for Your Own Sake

Forgiveness is our gift to ourselves

Stop Anger Before it Stops You

Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now