Purpose

When you're living your life from purpose, you're dwelling in love. When you're not dwelling in love, you're off purpose. This is true for individuals, institutions, business, and our governments as well. When a government gouges its citizens with excessive fees for any service, they're off purpose. When a government pursues violence as a means of resolving disputes, it's off purpose regardless of how it justifies its actions. When businesses overcharge, cheat, or manipulate in the name of profit-making, they're off purpose. When religions permit prejudice and hatred or mistreat their parishioners, they're off purpose. And it's true for you as well. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Power Of Intention, p. 161) 30 April 2013

Responsibility

People who are not willing to take responsibility for their lives would much rather hold on to their perceived limits. (Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today! 19 October) 29 April 2013

War & Peace

(Art by DJBoraP)

Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. (UNESCO Constitution in Pocket Positives, no page numbering) 28 April 2013

Inner Dialogue

Monitor your inner dialogue, and match your thoughts to what you want and intend to create.
(Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Power Of Intention, p. 64)
27 April 2013

What Can Be

Are you going to spend your time and energy on what should have been, or are you going to focus on what can be? (John C. Maxwell, Leadership, 11 February)
26 April 2013

Junk Rule

If you want one golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it. Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. (William Morris, 1834-1896, English Designer and Craftsman, in Pocket Positives, no page numbering) 25 April 2013

People

(Photo: Mr. Dickie)

Do not seek love in other people, and do not complain about the absence of their love for you. Some people love wrong, not right; therefore, try to please God, rather than people. (Leo Tolsoy, A Calendar Of Wisdom, 20 November)

There are always enemy forces who will work against you when you attempt to change the status quo. ... It is important to ferret out the motives of people who accuse you. What is their stake in your failure? What do they have to lose if you succeed? (Laurie Beth Jones, The Path, P. 118-19)

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. (Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American Writer, Pocket Positives, no page numbering)

Stop being surprised that ... [a resistant person] does not welcome the truth. (Cloud / Townsend, Boundaries Face To Face, p. 151)

Sooner or later, we'll be disappointed by every friend on earth; none are perfect. (David Jeremiah, Journey, 22 February)

24 April 2013

Creaks and Ailments

None of us gets to old age without a few creaks and ailments. That's just the way it is. (after Karen Casey, Keepers Of The Wisdom, 11 December ) 23 April 2013

Marriage

[Marriage] ... can mature you like few other experiences can, but the process is neither easy nor entirely pleasurable. (Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 148) 22 April 2013

Negative People

If negative people surround you, accept responsibility for attracting these friends into your life, or for agreeing to participate in the negative relationship. (Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, p. 97) 21 April 2013

Denial

Typically, people in denial are not good processors. They do not explore problems and issues; they have little curiosity about them. They state their denial and change the subject. (Cloud & Townsend, Boundaries Face To Face, p. 149) 20 April 2013

Credibility

The greatest missing ingredient in ... leaders today is credibility.

(John C. Maxwell, Leadership, 21 March)

19 April 2013

Leaders

The strength of any organization is a direct result of the strength of its leaders.

• Weak leaders = weak organizations.
• Strong leaders = strong organizations.

Everything rises and falls on leadership.

(John C. Maxwell, Leadership, 2 January)

18 April 2013

Words

It's not at all unusual for words to contradict the message that is given in every other way.

(Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 93)

17 April 2013

Cancer

So a cancer in my body 

and a 

cancer in society 

are 

essentially identical.

(Dr. Wayne W. Dyer 

in 

For The Love Of God 

by 

Shield and Carlson, p. 28)

16 April 2013

The End

At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, nor winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child or parent. (Barbara Bush, b. 1925, First Lady of the United States, in Pocket Positives, no page numbering) 15 April 2013

Ali vs. Foreman

Think about this scene [the boxing match in Zaire between Ali and Foreman] when you hit the ropes in midlife.

• How do you adapt when you're overpowered?
• How well prepared are you to change your game plan?
• How willing are you to try new tactics?
• Or to bide your time in a defensive stance before you see an opening to move forward again?

(Gail Sheehy, Understanding Men's Passages, p. 68)
14 April 2013

What's Your Message

How can I give a full response to this present moment unless I am alert to its message? (Brother David Steindl-Rast in For The Love Of God, by Shield and Carlson, p. 93) 13 April 2013

We Are Family

Mankind has become so much one family that we cannot ensure our own prosperity except by insuring that of everyone else. If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy ... (Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970, English Philosopher, Mathematician and Social Reformer, in Pocket Positives) 12 April 2013

Unbelievable!

When we say something is "unbelievable,"  it probably is.

(Mr. Dickie, 17 August 2012)

11 April 2013

Patriotic

In fact, the decision to be patriotic or not is a choice, and no one ought to be condemned for disagreeing vehemently with the conduct of his countries leaders. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky's The Limit, p. 148)
10 April 2013

Civilized Man

Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions of life for all men are recognized and accepted as a common obligation of all men ... Shall we ... be able to speak of mankind as civilized.
(Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German born American Physicist, in Pocket Positives, no page numbering)
9 April 2013

The Alphabet

The invisible manifests itself in the visible. I think of the alphabet, of letters literally -- A, B, C, D, E, F, G, all twenty-six of them. I think of how poetry, history, the wisdom of the sages and the holiness of the saints, all of this invisible comes down to us dressed out in their visible, alphabetic garb. (Frederick Buechner, Listening To Your Life, p. 82) 8 April 2013

Five Quotes

I finished reading the book, Pocket Positives - For Our Times. The last five quotes were so good I'm going to post all of them today.

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the things you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962, First Lady of the United States of America.

When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life or the life of another.  Helen Keller, 1880-1968, American Writer and Lecturer.

You know by the time you've reached my age you've made plenty of mistakes if you've lived your life properly. Ronald Reagan, b. 1911, President of the United States. 

I think these difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way and that so many things that one goes around worrying about are of not importance whatsoever. Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), 1885-1962, Danish Writer. 

If there were nothing wrong in the world, there wouldn't be anything for us to do. George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish Dramatist, Writer and Critic. 

7 April 2013

Words

What a privilege it is to speak words of life, to bless those we love. There are so many ways we can show our gratitude for them and for God, who made them part of our lives. One of those ways is to speak gracious words at appropriate times.

What words of blessing would God have you say ... [today]?
(Harry & Emily Griffith, This Love We Share, 6 April) 6 April 2013

Words

I have always loved words. It all started with the magical stories my father read to me from big, colorful storybooks when I was a child. The words on the page seemed to contain great mysteries awaiting discovery and great knowledge awaiting learning. All a person needed was the tool, the ability to decipher words, and new worlds could be experienced. Words are instructive, powerful, and enjoyable. (Tamara Elizabeth Lewis in The Upper Room Disciplines - 2008, 4 November) 5 April 2013

I Didn't Sleep A Wink Last Night

The television is a bad friend for wee hours and is best avoided.

(Amy Carmichael, in Journey by David Jeremiah, 30 March)

4 April 2013

Do You Have A Program?

The bottom line is that authoritarians have no room in their internal circuitry for middle positions, for operating in the gray areas where almost all human activity occurs. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky's The Limit, p. 66)

"Rigidity of thought" has many meanings, but for authoritarians it generally implies an unwillingness to entertain any thoughts that conflict with their own preconceived ideas. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky's The Limit, p. 67)

Dissolving your ideas, your habits, and your images is a way to cleanse and purify. All the many assumptions that keep your life fixed break apart as you take time to reflect and have serious talks with friends and maybe a therapist. (Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 62)

One of the reasons for so much contemporary depression and ennui is the inability to see ourselves connected to something greater and more important than our own puny egos. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Power Of Intention, p. 123)

The particular means one uses does not matter, but to have a method, a plan, a specific spiritual program is very helpful. Simply begin with your heart, look deeply into it, and trust what you feel. Practice knowing and you will know. (Hugh Prather, in For The Love Of God, by Shield and Carlson, p. 176)

... smart men make an effort to simplify their lives, streamline logistics, and most especially, to weed out of their datebooks, as much as possible, people who are pains in the neck. (Gail Sheehy, Understanding Men's Passages, p. 163)

You have the right to say, "no" to time-robbing people and situations. (Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, p. 127)

Refuse to accept negative ideas about what you can't accomplish or what's impossible. Don't even talk to negative people while your dreams are still in the fragile incubation stage! (Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, p. 28)

I'll follow a daily program of reading which will help me to understand my problems and improve my outlook on life. (after One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 23 January)

3 April 2013

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Let us make up our minds that yesterday is gone.

Tomorrow has not yet arrived.

But today can be filled with wonder 

if we know that we stand on the threshold 

of that which is wonderful and new.

(Ernest Holmes, author of "The Science of Mind," in I'd Change My Life If I Had More Time, by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., p. 129)
2 April 2013

Confrontation

Reluctance to confront the issue of having a confrontation with another person concerning a problem in a relationship always results in a continuation or escalation in the behavior and a further deterioration in the relationship. (Richard E. Henthorn (Mr. Dickie), thoughts while reading, Boundaries Face To Face by Cloud and Townsend, 18 March 2013) 1 April 2013