Happiness now in honor of Sharon

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vickim

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“I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much.”
― Mother Teresa

“Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.”
― Albert Einstein

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
― Anonymous


“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“God has no religion.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“I have faith that God will show you the answer. But you have to understand that sometimes it takes a while to be able to recognize what God wants you to do. That's how it often is. God's voice is usually nothing more than a whisper, and you have to listen very carefully to hear it. But other times, in those rarest of moments, the answer is obvious and rings as loud as a church bell.”
― Nicholas Sparks
 
Vicki, thank you so much for starting this thread, I know that Sharon is smiling on it and
her vision continues! Love and faith were her mission everyday.

I always find a thread in these readings that I think about throughout my day and their wisdom
has taken root, and I am really grateful for that. I see often subtle changes in my thinking that
inspire me. I also have a deeper faith, and that is really sustaining.

I also catch it faster when I am really judging and harsh on myself, and a bit better able to switch to
self-acceptance and love and then faith. Making an investment in my happiness has become
a daily ritual by changing my self-talk and taking moments to just be...not think.

Yesterday I was aware that just being present with my daughter and listening was an act of love. Being
present with someone, in the moment, not thinking about what I want to say or my agenda. I believe
that my meditation has helped me with this.

Thank you so much again for this thread, these wise and loving words....so grateful!
 
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

“Hope is a waking dream.”
― Aristotle

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”
― Louisa May Alcott

“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”
― Lao Tzu

“Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.”
― Henry David Thoreau
 
What a beautiful collection of thoughts on holding on to your dreams...they just make
me happy reading them. I love the thought of being mindful of what you water your
dreams with! I know that I have, at times, I have watered mine with with worry, and
I love the visual of watering them with faith and love...I hadn't thought of it like that before.

This has made me define what my dreams are. They are mostly being a loving mother and
person, not allowing things/events/people to throw me into doubt, but rather living in faith.
My relationship to faith effects everything. I call this a dream, a goal since it feel like a long
journey at times.

"Following where they lead"...I love that line. And that they are a touchtone of character.
Happiness today are the simple moments of presence, alone or with others. I always feel
happy when I write these in my journal too. I saw a rainbow the other day and felt like it
was a message of faith.
 
Hearts that are nearest, hands that are dearest, greet you today.
Love that is sweetest, cares that are fleetest, be yours for aye.
Smiles that are truest, skies that are bluest, your path caress.
Hopes that are rarest, joys that are fairest, keep you and Bless.
S Cherwoyned (Wales 1910)

“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings.”
― Rumi

“Let others see their own greatness when looking in your eyes.”
― Mollie Marti

“Your greatest path of influence is love.”
― Mollie Marti

“Be in your own skin, as an act of self-loving.”
― H. Raven Rose
 
Always a fresh perspective, helping me see more truly. To be "in your own skin
as an act of self-loving" is so deeply well said and speaks of self-acceptance as
a path to love. Not comparing or coping others.

I feel like all of the readings speak of love and knowing yourself; knowing when to
expand and contract, to give and to rest, always in love for self and others. I feel
that knowing and honoring myself more, has led to a deeper awareness of my intuition
too.

It is a beautifully cool morning with sun shining in and it reminds me to stay in the
present moment. Sometimes that feels like a completely different world from where
I just was, thinking too much. Like entering a secret garden and finding that it is
still there.

I love the thought to let others see their greatness when they look in my eyes...I love
that thought. May I reflect that energy to myself too, deliberately and always.
 
Be present as the watcher of your mind -- of your thoughts and emotions as well as your reactions in various situations. Be at least as interested in your reactions as in the situation or person that causes you to react. Notice also how often your attention is in the past or future. Don't judge or analyze what you observe. Watch the thought, feel the emotion, observe the reaction. Don't make a personal problem out of them. You will then feel something more powerful than any of those things that you observe: the still, observing presence itself behind the content of your mind, the silent watcher.
Eckhart Tolle

As long as you are unable to access the power of the Now, every emotional pain that you experience leaves behind a residue of pain that lives on in you
Eckhart Tolle

When you walk through a forest that has not been tamed and interfered with by man, you will see not only abundant life all around you, but you will also encounter fallen trees and decaying trunks, rotting leaves and decomposing matter at every step. Wherever you look, you will find death as well as life.

Upon closer scrutiny, however, you will discover that the decomposing tree trunk and rotting leaves not only give birth to new life, but are full of life themselves. Microorganisms are at work. Molecules are rearranging themselves. So death isn't to be found anywhere. There is only the metamorphosis of life forms. What can you learn from this?

Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is birth. Life is eternal.
Eckhart Tolle
 
I just love the readings today from Eckhart Tolle and need the reminders of being in
the Now! I have listened to him in the past and reading these remind me of the great
wisdom of cultivating the "silent watcher" part of ourselves. The true freedom and
ease of being nonreactive in the now.

I really love his thoughts on life and life having no opposite. I really believe that and have
had experiences that really confirm it too. He was a deeply troubled man until he had this
awakening, he teaches from a deep place. He inspired me to get to know the present as
a place of freedom, and his experience kept expanding.

I find that when I deliberately express Gratitude, on purpose, that I am much more aware of
the present...it is a key. I feel so inspired to really active this! It really is like being in another
reality I have found, and I do have the key. I really appreciate these wonderful words....thank you!
 
There is a life-force within your soul, seek that life.
There is a gem in the mountain of your body, seek that mine.
O traveler, if you are in search of That
Don't look outside, look inside yourself and seek That

Rumi

The Grasp Of Your Hand

Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved, but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
Grant me that I may not be a coward, feeling Your mercy in my success alone; but let me find the grasp of Your hand in my failure.

Rabindranath Tagore

A beggar had been sitting by the side of the road for thirty years.
One day a stranger walked by.
"Spare some change?" mumbled the beggar.
"I have nothing to give you," said the stranger. Then he asked: "What's that you're sitting on?"
"Nothing, " replied the beggar. "Just an old box. I've been sitting on it for as long as I can remember.
"Ever look inside?," asked the stranger.
"No," said the beggar. "What's the point, there's nothing in there."
"Have a look inside," insisted the stranger. The beggar, reluctantly, managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.
I am that stranger who has nothing to give you and who is telling you to look inside.
Not inside any box, as in the parable, but somewhere even closer: inside yourself.

Eckhart Tolle
 
Vicki, you combine such powerfully inspiring writings that really go together and today's, on
finding our strength and sources from within are incredibly helpful and meaningful. Rumi,
Tagore and Tolle...all my favorites. I feel that when I read them that they have been through
a very powerful journey themselves and speak from real experience and truth!

When I read them I believe that they speak a truth that I have been seeking forever. This thread
also was started with the belief in finding happiness from within. Having spent years looking outside,
what a relief and shift to even consider that the way is inward.

The last line in Tagore's prayer, about feeling God's hand in what feels like failure, really touches me.
I want to be aware of that presence always too. I found yesterday that I was very aware of how I
thought and actively chose thoughts of self-empowerment when I felt doubt. To activate the gold
within; believe in it and affirm its presence. These readings are pure gems to me!

My thought for the day is to seek and be in the gold of my inner heart's wisdom. Just remembering that
truth is freeing. I am so inspired to read more of these wise ones, what a wonderful way to start the day!
 
“you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”
― Stephen King

If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

“In your own life it's important to know how spectacular you are.”
― Steve Maraboli

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.”
― Kahlil Gibran

“Only you can take inner freedom away from yourself, or give it to yourself. Nobody else can.”
― Michael A. Singer

“Always be true to yourself regardless of the consequences. I assure you not doing so has even greater consequences.”
― Thorin
 
I got such a good laugh from the T. Roosevelt line about kicking oneself in the pants...so true!
Again, all of these reading really and beautifully speak to being true to yourself and the power of
our thinking.

I love reading Kahil Gibran's words, they always make me cry in their truth. My spiritual journey
was initiated through so much pain; I am glad that I chose to seek truth and God. Being true to
myself, not copying others, trusting God and guidance and self-loving thoughts.

The words "inner freedom" are so beautiful and to remember that I am in charge. At times it doesn't
feel possible, but I believe that it is, especially with God's guidance and light. Those moments of
presence, not thinking, are where I lately have found peace and happiness and rich detail. Sitting
under my tree, I have become better at not thinking.

I so appreciate these writings and always feel inspired by their wisdom and guidance. I will remember
the words 'inner freedom" today as a bell....thank you.
 
“Life is too short to waste any amount of time on wondering what other people think about you. In the first place, if they had better things going on in their lives, they wouldn't have the time to sit around and talk about you. What's important to me is not others' opinions of me, but what's important to me is my opinion of myself.”
― C. JoyBell C

“When a woman becomes her own best friend life is easier.”
― Diane Von Furstenberg

“I feel keeping a promise to yourself is a direct reflection of the love you have for yourself. I used to make promises to myself and find them easy to break. Today, I love myself enough to not only make a promise to myself, but I love myself enough to keep that promise”
― Steve Maraboli

Make a pledge to yourself right now, to declare that you are worth your time and energy.”
― Deborah Day

The most adventurous journey to embark on; is the journey to yourself, the most exciting thing to discover; is who you really are, the most treasured pieces that you can find; are all the pieces of you, the most special portrait you can recognize; is the portrait of your soul.”
― C. JoyBell C
 
I love these writings. Being loving has to include myself; being true to myself and
making that commitment everyday. I love the reminder to keep my own promises!
I am so good about that with others.

The journey to myself is the most courageous and adventurous. To even know that and
to value it is a huge shift. Being my own best friend, these words are so what I need today.

I feel this commitment when I write in my journal and reflect; asking questions to my soul
and feeling the answer emerge. A best friend sees deeply your beauty and worth, and holds
a light to those qualities. A best friend honors the unique soul that you are and values it. I
feel happy today to know that I am a least willing to do those things for myself.

This thought will stay with me...being my own best friends....listening to my soul and honoring
its messages. I really feel the truth in these words; the message is transformative. Today, I
recommit to myself and in doing so I include being loving to others...giving from my source.
I really appreciate the messages!
 
Song of the Foot Track



COME away, come away from the straightness of the road;
I will lead you into delicate recesses
Where peals of ripples ring through the maidenhair’s abode
In the heart of little water wildernesses.

I will show you pleasant places; tawny hills the sun has kissed,
Where the giant trees the wind is always swinging
Rise from clouds of pearly saplings tipped with rose and amethyst,—
Fairy boughs where fairy butterflies are clinging.

Come away from the road; I will lead through shade and sheen,
Changing brightly as the year of colour passes
Through each tint the opal knows, from the flaming winter green
To the summer gold and silver of the grasses.

Here is riot of leaf and blossom, ferny mosses in the glade
Pressing round the wattle’s stem of dappled splendour;
Even the pathway that you tread smiles with daisies unafraid,—
Laden branches lean to breathe a welcome tender.

Come away from the road; let wild petals cool your eyes
Dim and hardened with the arid light of duty;
Lose awhile your weary purpose, leave the highway of the wise
For the little reckless of joy and beauty.

I am fairer still to follow where the Bush is lonelier grown
And the purple vines fling tendrils out to bind me;
For the secret of my lure is the call of the Unknown,
Hidden Loveliness that laughs: ‘Come and find me!’

Follow on, ah, come with me! Though the way is fainter shown
Where the restless waves of green have splashed and crossed me;
In the temple of the trees you have met delight alone;
Winning happiness, what matter though you lost me?

In this dreamy fane of sunshine, where wood-violets are rife,
Though I leave you,—path and bracken surges blended,—
Would you say I led you vainly? I have sung the joy of life,
I have set you in the way; my song is ended.


Elsie Cole
 
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