It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. ― Babe Ruth
Never. Never. Never Quit.
– Winston Churchill
life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “commitment”
love beyond reason. trust without borders
photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT
We develop grace as we learn with the guiding hand of the universe, life will unfold exactly the way it should.
The idea of trusting the universe is a popular one these days, but many of us don’t know what this really means and we often have a hard time doing it. This is partly because the story of humankind is most often presented as a story about struggle, control, and survival, instead of one of trust and collaboration with the universe. Yet, in truth, we need to adhere to both ideas in this life.
On the one hand, there is much to be said about exerting control over our environment. We created shelter to protect ourselves from the elements. We hunted for animals and invented agriculture to feed ourselves. We built social infrastructures to protect ourselves and create community. This is how we survive and grow as a civilization. However, it is also clear that there are plenty of things that we cannot control, no matter how hard we try, and we often receive support from an unseen force – a universe that provides us with what we cannot provide for ourselves.
It is a good idea to take responsibility for the things in life that we can control or create. We work so we can feed, clothe, and shelter our loved ones and ourselves. We manifest our dreams and visions in physical form with hard work and forethought. But at a certain point, when have done all that we can, we must let go and allow the universe to take over. This requires trust. It requires a trust that runs deeper than just expecting things to turn out the way we want them to. Sometimes they will, and sometimes they won’t. We develop equanimity and grace as we learn to trust that, with the guiding hand of the universe, life will unfold exactly the way it should. We are engaged in an ongoing relationship with a universe that responds to our thoughts and actions.
🌀
dailyom.com
by Madisyn Taylor
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always –
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)…
– T. S. Eliot
🌀
‘What if it were so much
simpler than that’
said the wiseman.
‘But …’ said the fool
🌀
But Said the Fool by Nic Askew
the very most grand adventurous perspectives
But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich.
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail
And say there is no sin but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be
To say there is no vice but beggary.
Since kings break faith upon commodity,
Gain, be my lord, for I will worship thee.
– Philip the Bastard from “King John” (2.1.592)
People don’t like love, they like that flittery flirty feeling. They don’t love love – love is sacrificial, love is ferocious, it’s not emotive. Our culture doesn’t love love, it loves the idea of love. It wants the emotion without paying anything for it.
– Matt Chandler
time wears down
as life takes its anguished toll
of strained shoulders and weary back
from the unyielding pressure of anger’s mighty weight
lash of black eyed look,
the demon,
lying in wait,
blame unleashed
words stripping tender heart skin
of the vulnerable
innocence unprepared for attack
leaving hope in shreds,
shame cocks its hat sideways
flames of passion freeze in place
ice, brittle, cutting
fills veins,
painful,
slicing to ribbons
destroying all goodness in its path
wounds with nothing to hide
nowhere to hide
Only you can change this –
you CAN change this!
I know for sure…
you can…
if you choose to…
God only knows
if you will
🔹
AL
3 spectacular wishes on this day…for every day
love
home
music
AL 5/13/15
Real riches are the riches possessed inside.
– B. C. Forbes
to each his own
18 years ago
I stood at the edge
of a great abyss
in life
a part of me,
not known until that time,
had awakened
now I had a choice to make,
to accept –
or deny –
this part of myself,
which was revealed
in such a wild,
drastic,
unexpected
and overwhelming manner
I knew this would be
what, ultimately,
saved,
or
destroyed,
me.
as I stood,
still in innocence,
not really knowing –
yet, somehow,
knowing in every way –
the costs,
the benefits,
the responsibility,
the awareness.
the long dark road ahead,
the excruciating valley years to come,
the sharp, rugged climb up the mountain.
18 years ago,
I struggled
with all of this
as I stood on a balcony
and made certain vows
concerning the choices
I would make through
my time of learning:
I would only follow love.
No matter how I failed,
I would remember it is not about how good I am.
I would try, to the best of my ability, to live the words of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount.
I would never make a choice
simply to benefit myself,
only to get money,
or to be comfortable.
I would learn to be truthful and fair
and be the person I wanted to be.
I would be honest with myself – always – especially when I was wrong, or made a mistake –
yet, I would not live in fear or hate myself if I made mistakes,
I would stay aware and learn –
so I would not make the same mistake twice.
I would make the best choice I could at any given moment,
and then move forward the best I could with no regret.
I would do my best and give my best.
I would look for good things every day.
And with these parameters firmly in place,
like Eve,
I bit that apple
and began…
for good…
for bad…
to make my choices.
from there I began to grow in wisdom, knowledge and self respect
from there I began the path to healing
from there I began to understand myself and realized each souls value, including my own
from there I have learned all I know about life and love
from there I began the long walk home
💞
AL
I must lie down where all the ladders start,
In the foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart.
– Yeats
choices…every day give thanks
God of Love,
in a world great with darkness
I drink your light.
In a world of violence
I soften my heart.
In a world of fear
I deepen my breath.
In a word of grief
I enlarge my embrace.
In a world of shouting
I open my roots.
In a world of fragments
I let myself belong.
In a world of walls
I go out into the streets:
I bear you to those
who are mad with hunger for you.
In a world of fissures
I return to you,
always to you.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
Wanna build a new life?
It happens one day…one choice… at a time. You CAN do hard things. You can make the right choices for yourself.
Take responsibility. Gain your whole world. Self respect comes only this way. It’s so worth it!!! xo
a graceful feeling
Anything that you learn becomes your wealth, a wealth that cannot be taken away from you; whether you learn it in a building called school or in the school of life. To learn something new is a timeless pleasure and a valuable treasure. And not all things that you learn are taught to you, but many things that you learn you realize you have taught yourself.
― C. JoyBell
I spent my weekend with my amazing friends, Kitt, Mike, Rebecca and Christian Haberman, in Louisville.
I sum this powerful time of connection and sharing with this:
I learned things. Lots of beautiful things. Things I will have with me always. (Happy Sigh) I am so grateful for all of the great people I have in my life.
I stayed in the room below (Lesley Haberman being all grown up and off in college) and got ready with these messages before me, reminding me, filling my heart. Messages written by a beautiful, teenage girl to remind herself….remember…remember..
💞
Thank you, Lesley, thank you Haberman Family. Love is so very good to us!
What a beautiful world…
what we choose lives on
For everyone you touch, you also reach everyone they will ever know… and everyone they will ever know… and everyone they will ever know… So for the rest of all time, your kindness will be felt, in waves that will spread, long after you move on.
#notesfromtheuniverse http://www.tut.com/Inspiration/nftu
create new pathways
And here’s what made it happen…
They tell me –
Not to…
Don’t…
Forget the writer,
leave her be,
Focus on some other things,
words need not be free
They say no need to share adventures..
Stuff the stories,
hide your truths
Don’t capture the experience, it’s really of no use
They say
other things need my attention, my energy,
For God’s sake, earn a wage –
I’ll tell you what that does for me –
…finally, finally…finally –
sends me to the page
And all the walls and stops crash-tumble-trickle down
I sit furious-
typing –
damn punctuation, tense, pronoun
Does it really matter if they she he we agree?
It’s time to tell my story – for once, for now – for ME
💜
– Robin OK
http://www.creativecollaborativeretreats.com
And then there comes a moment
when all you have suffered
all you have learned
all you have lost and found
rise up and become
and suddenly you are
here
you are
who you dreamed of being
so many years ago
suddenly you have arrived
at what you caught glimpses of
for so many years
and the search,
the free fall of broken dreams,
broken hearts
broken everything
tumbling down rabbit holes
stumbling over the feet
of your own lack of knowledge
is over
you find yourself on solid ground
stable
steady
raising your Ebenezer
those tributes to God
for all the mighty stones of help
building this foundation on the solid rocks
you know so well
and though the pilgrimage may continue
though the journey is definitely not over
though life is fragile
and security an illusion
there is a new sureness to your step
a trusting unshakable
a calm in it all
a new assurance of provision
a new traveling song to be sung as you walk forward
always forward
always pilgrim ready for new adventures
forgetting the names of what lay behind
you press on to your calling
the prize set before
reveling in the mercies ever new
for each new day
there is no stopping now
you have found something
which cannot ever be taken
you have arrived here by your own determination
reached a place
both spiritual and physical
a place of such magnitude
the light shines from every angle
it has sealed up the oldest sores
bound up the deepest wounds
satisfied the deepest longings
changed everything
settled old scores with finality
no longer will you settle for less than you deserve
no more will you tolerate anything less than your best and highest offerings
you must be all you can be
gratitude fills you for this place
a place so lovely
it can bear up
even under the weight
of our hearts wildest desires
with just this simple name
it resounds inside our souls like a bell –
home
yes, beloved,
you are home.
right where you belong.
❤️
AL
da da da dada
I’m not asking for permission
tho I thank you for your good intentions in the giving
I surrender to
life
voice
purpose
passion
healing
love
music
breath
spirit
joy
peace
you do what you want
with, or without, permission,
I won’t mind
just remember:
I won’t go down without a fight
da da da dada
da da da dada
da da da dada da da da da…
just play your funky music
and keep on dancing
💞
AL
(with a little inspiration from my friends)
Listen to Serenity Fisher sing Rose Red
what sacrifice?
how can you call it a sacrifice when you do it willingly because you believe in it? – Aung San Suu Kyi
I am this morning meadow
into which you pour yourself.
I am the still air
in which you rise, a mountain, huge.
I am this city street
which you walk, a crowd
with your stories, your nations.
I am this bird
and you are flight, and song.
I am the ocean
and you are my water.
I am the desert
and you are my stillness.
I am this heart
and you are my beating.
You are this day
into which you pour me,
breath by breath.
Together,
we are this life.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
there is no cage
love must be stepped into
freely.
there is no withholding
love gives it all away.
there is no have to’s
love must be given and received willingly.
there is no selfish motive
love always wants the highest and best for the other person.
there are no ‘no’s’
love always says yes.
love takes commitment.
it is not an easy job,
both parties –
equal and
100 percent in it.
you must choose what you want,
along with the consequences of those choices.
Just know, for sure,
love will always set you free
there is no fear in love
AL
life: acoustic & amplified 
