May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Breathe in Eternal Peace
Breathe deeply and slowly.
Let yourself become centered - shutting out distractions.
Breathe in eternal peace; let your body fill with unconditional love.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
At the center of your being you have the answer;
you know who you are and you know what you want.
- Lao Tzu
A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others,
is stronger than any physical force in the universe.
- Wayne Dyer
When you become centered, suddenly there is great freedom
because you know you are not the mind and you are not the body.
- Osho
Further reading: Five 30-Second Emotional Releases to De-Stress at Work
Friday, February 14, 2025
Believe In Peace; Believe In Mercy
When we are no longer able to change a situation -
we are challenged to change ourselves.
- Viktor E. Frankl (Nazi concentration camp survivor)
Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared
believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.
- Bruce Barton
I don't think of all the misery
but of the beauty that still remains.
- Anne Frank
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.
I just wish he didn't trust me so much.
- Mother Teresa
I Believe In Peace; I Believe In Mercy.
- Malala Yousafzai (shot by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating education for girls)
Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.
- Anne Frank (died in Nazi concentration camp)
Today's affirmation:
I believe in the goodness of people.
I believe in my own inner strength.
Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world.
For, indeed, that's all who ever have.
- Margaret Mead
Further reading: Mother Teresa prayer
Not A Victim
Anne Frank
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Study the Past
Those who cannot remember the past
are condemned to repeat it.
- George Santayana
Who has fully realized that history
is not contained in thick books
but lives in our very blood?
- Carl Jung
There are recurring cycles, ups and downs,
but the course of events is essentially the same, with small variations.
It has been said that history repeats itself.
This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes.
- Theodor Reik (sometimes falsely attributed to Mark Twain)
Study the past, if you would divine the future.
- Confucius
The importance of history is in its
educational value for our lives today,
not in regret, resentment, or revenge.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Change is the Law of Life
To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier
state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.
- George Santayana
There are good and bad times,
but our mood changes
more often than our fortune.
- Thomas Carlyle
In times of change, learners inherit the earth;
while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped
to deal with a world that no longer exists.
- Eric Hoffer
Change is the law of life.
And those who look only to the past or present
are certain to miss the future.
- John F. Kennedy
Further reading: Renewal and Rebirth - The Great Cycle
Another Wave Comes, Another Wave Goes
Endings and New Beginnings
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Declare Today to be a New Beginning
What's done is done.
- William Shakespeare
Release your attachment to the way things have been,
and wend your way joyfully
through life's unfolding majesty.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
There's a trick to the Graceful Exit.
It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage,
a relationship is over - and to let go.
It means leaving what's over without denying its value.
- Ellen Goodman
Stop holding on to the past.
1) Release your regrets about whatever you may have done or failed to do that turned out poorly.
2) Forgive others for whatever they may have done or failed to do that caused you harm.
3) Declare today to be a new beginning.
Let go of the past and move on with creating a joyful new future for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Before moving on, you have to clear away your cherished beliefs.
- Dick Raymond
Further reading: Let Go of Your Attachment to Your Plans
Illusions Lost
A Better Plan
Don Miguel Ruiz: The Four Agreements - The Wisdom of the Ages in Four Sound-Bites
Monday, February 10, 2025
Gratitude Brings Out the Bright Colors of Life
With gratitude, all life appears as a blessing -
without gratitude, all of life
is perceived as a burden.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
When you arise in the morning,
give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself.
- Tecumseh
We tend to forget that happiness doesn't
come as a result of getting something we don't have,
but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
- Frederick Koenig
Gratitude Brings Out the Bright Colors of Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Further reading: Giving Thanks for Our Food
What do you take for granted?
Celebrating the Small Miracles of Our Lives
My Glass of Life
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Never Stop Moving Forward
True courage is taking another small step each day
toward achieving your vision.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
You make a mistake, you keep going.
- Linda Gray
Keep moving. Don't stop. But don't rush.
Don't race around.
Sure and steady gets you there every time.
- Neale Donald Walsch
Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.
- Albert Einstein
Achievement seems to be connected with action.
Successful men and women keep moving.
They make mistakes, but they don't quit.
- Conrad Hilton
Further reading: You Can Do It
One More Mile
Be Unstoppable
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Goodness Transcends Adversity
Believe in the goodness of life.
Believe in the power of time to heal and to renew.
Believe in the power of forgiveness and gratitude.
Believe in the gift of rainbows and butterflies.
Believe in the laughter of children.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Being part of the natural world reminds me
that innocence isn't ever lost completely;
we just need to maintain our goodness to regain it.
- Jewel
Believe in love.
Believe in magic.
Believe in others.
Believe in yourself.
Believe in your dreams.
If you don't, who will?
- Jon Bon Jovi
Be open to the goodness of life -
even in the midst of apparent adversity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Further reading: Natural Goodness
Our Opportunity
Renewing Yourself
Believe in Humanity
Friday, February 7, 2025
Live Mindfully
To the mind that is still,
the whole universe surrenders.
- Lao Tzu
Being wakeful in each and every moment of your life is meditation.
The simplest definition of meditation is:
when seeing, just see; when hearing, just hear.
- Josh Baran
Walking is Zen, sitting is Zen.
Then what will be the quality?
Watchfully alert, joyously unmotivated,
centered, loving, flowing, one walks.
And the walking is sauntering.
Loving, alert, watchful, one sits, unmotivated -
not sitting for anything in particular,
just enjoying how beautiful
just sitting doing nothing is,
how relaxing, how restful.
- Osho
To manage your mind,
know that there is nothing,
and then relinquish all attachment to nothingness.
- Lao Tzu
"Beginner Mind" is a Zen Buddhist term
that describes moving past our assumptions
of the nature of our life,
and really SEEING our surroundings -
especially the people we interact with -
with new eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Further reading: Managing Your Wayward Mind
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Opening Your Mind
The World is a Paradox
Stay Adaptable
Thursday, February 6, 2025
The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple
When a thing is funny, search it for a hidden truth.
- George Bernard Shaw
Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living.
- Soren Kierkegaard
The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.
- Oscar Wilde
By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.
- George Carlin
Can you let go of words and ideas,
attitudes and expectations?
If so, then the Tao will loom into view.
- Lao Tzu
Further reading: Life is a Riddle
Accept that Life is Complex and Contradictory
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Stop Feeling Sorry for Yourself
A hero is an ordinary individual
who finds the strength to persevere
and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve
If we don't see a failure as a challenge to modify our approach,
but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect,
we will immediately feel overwhelmed.
- Anthony Robbins
Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie
Improve what you can
and accept all the rest of life
just as it comes.
Know that fear is your worst enemy -
perhaps your only enemy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
When you feel overwhelmed...
1. Ask yourself, "What is the smallest list of tasks that I MUST accomplish TODAY?"
2. Work on that short list right now. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
3. Don't worry about anything not on the short list. Read How to Stop Worrying if you need help with this.
4. Don't blame yourself for feeling overwhelmed, for having gotten yourself into this situation, or for anything else. If you have failed at some task, that does not make you-the-person a failure. If you need help getting in touch with your own worthiness read How to Feel Good About Yourself.
Further reading: How to Cope with Loneliness
All Life is a Risk
How to Feel Better About Yourself
Don't Borrow Trouble
How to Gain Self Confidence
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Force always attracts men of low morality
Money and success don’t change people;
they merely amplify what is already there.
- Will Smith
Nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
- attributed to Abraham Lincoln
People do not seem to realize that
their opinion of the world
is also a confession of character.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Force always attracts men of low morality.
- Albert Einstein
Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
- Lao Tzu
Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment
and the other by acts of love. Power based on love
is a thousand times more effective and permanent
then the one derived from fear of punishment.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi
You can easily judge the character of others
by how they treat those who can
do nothing for them or to them.
- Malcolm S. Forbes
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation.
- John Wooden
Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Further reading: Your Most Important Values
Who You Are
A Place for Honor
Do What You Know Is Right
Taking Action About Things That Matter
Monday, February 3, 2025
Begin with the FACTS
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley
Everyone has a right to his own opinion, but no one has a right to be wrong in his facts.
- Bernard M. Baruch
Approach each new problem not with a view of finding what you hope will be there,
but to get the truth, the realities that must be grappled with.
You may not like what you find. In that case you are entitled to try to change it.
But do not deceive yourself as to what you do find to be the facts of the situation.
- Bernard M. Baruch
We want the facts to fit the preconceptions.
When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts
than to change the preconceptions.
- Jessamyn West
Get the facts first.
You can distort them later.
- Mark Twain
Further reading: Begin with the FACTS
The Fun-House Mirrors Of Our Own Point Of View
Re-examine all that you have been told
Never Stop Learning
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous
than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking.
There is an almost universal quest
for easy answers and half-baked solutions.
Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive.
He who is devoid of the power to forgive
is devoid of the power to love.
There is some good in the worst of us
and some evil in the best of us.
When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular;
but one must take it BECAUSE it is right.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Further reading: Gain Peace Through Peace
The First Step in Faith
Serve Others
Hate Returns Upon Itself
Saturday, February 1, 2025
We Can Never Understand Our World, But We Can Still Find Joy In It
As soon as man does not take his existence for granted,
but beholds it as something unfathomably mysterious,
thought begins.
- Albert Schweitzer
God is not what you imagine,
or what you think you understand.
If you understand you have failed.
- Saint Augustine
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.
We Can Never Understand Our World, But We Can Still Enjoy It.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
The world is incomprehensible.
We won't ever understand it;
we won't ever unravel its secrets.
Thus we must treat the world as it is:
a sheer mystery.
- Carlos Castaneda
Uncertainty that comes from knowledge
(knowing what you don't know)
is different from uncertainty coming from ignorance.
- Isaac Asimov
Further reading: Wonder and Mystery
Pause to Wonder
Cherish Mystery
Life: Mystery and Riddle