life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “confidence”
spring fling
In these early spring days
before their fullness
the trees have a light in their eyes,
the packed, swelling buds,
these delicate feathers and fingers,
(and the blossoms,
the crazy blossoms!)
and then the tiniest leaves,
little baby exclamation points,
raised eyebrows
freckling the changed woods.
To attain individuality
and courage and creativity
you don’t have to do some
outlandish thing.
Just let the beauty
of the Beloved
deep within
come out.
The birds
just can’t stop talking about it.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net
knowing freedom
When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person, there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom.
Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.
– Henri Nouwen
http://www.henrinouwen.org/
as You are
May I know You in intimacy
So that I walk only in Your love
May the stone of my heart
Melt like lemon drops
May the jagged edges of my soul
Become soft like the clouds of the spring sky
May the thorny barbs of my speech
Melt into honey as they touch the air
May the harsh judgements of my willful mind
Become mushy like the mud of the spring snow
preparing for the new growth and rebirth of love and hope in this
amazing watercolor world
May I be a part of new and abundant life
Melting and becoming everyday the hands, heart and soul of my savior
May I truly be
light and salt
in this hard, jagged, barren world
As You are
So let me be
AL 3/23/13
it’s your life! have an adventure!!!
Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars. Learn how to drive a stick shift. Go so far away that you stop being afraid of not coming back. Say no when you don’t want to do something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be liked or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important than
finding out what you’re doing here. Believe in kissing.
– Eve Ensler
make today the best day of your life!
Everything is My fault
by Derek Sivers
http://sivers.org/
I cut two chapters out of my book because they were too nasty.
T
hey vented all the awful details about how my terrible employees staged a mutiny to try to get rid of me, and corrupted the culture of the company into a festering pool of entitlement, focused only on their benefits instead of our clients.
Afterwards, I spent a few years still mad at those evil brats for what they did. So, like anyone feeling victimized and wronged, I needed to vent – to tell my side of the story. Or so I thought.
So do you want to know the real reason I cut those chapters?
I realized it was all my fault.
- I let the culture of the company get corrupted.
- I ignored problems instead of nipping them in the bud.
- I was aloof and away instead of managing or training managers.
- I confused everyone by sharing my daily thoughts before they had cemented into decisions.
- I announced decisions, then assumed they were being done, without following-up to ensure.
- I whimsically delegated to the wrong people, avoiding the mental work of choosing wisely.
- (I could list another 20 of these, but you get the idea.)
It felt so SO good to realize it was my fault!
This is way better than forgiving. When you forgive, you’re still playing the victim, and they’re still wrong, but you’re charitably pardoning their horrible deeds.
But to decide it’s your fault feels amazing! Now you weren’t wronged. They were just playing their part in the situation you created. They’re just delivering the punch-line to the joke you set up.
What power! Now you’re like a new super-hero, just discovering your strength. Now you’re the powerful person that made things happen, made a mistake, and can learn from it. Now you’re in control and there’s nothing to complain about.
This philosophy feels so good that I’ve playfully decided to apply this “EVERYTHING IS MY FAULT” rule to the rest of my life.
It’s one of those base rules like “people mean well” that’s more fun to believe, and have a few exceptions, than to not believe at all.
- The guy that stole $9000 from me? My fault. I should have verified his claims.
- The love of my life that dumped me out of the blue (by email!) after 6 years? My fault. I let our relationship plateau.
- Someone was rude to me today? My fault. I could have lightened their mood beforehand.
- Don’t like my government? My fault. I could get involved and change the world.
See what power it is?
Yes, the word “responsibility” is more accurate, but it’s such a serious 6-syllable word, whereas “everything’s my fault” is a fun rule-of-thumb, and gets me singing Nirvana’s “All Apologies”.
Try it on. Stand up, open the window, look out at the world and shout, “Everything is my fault!”
Think of every bad thing that happened to you, and say it again.
Cool, huh?
That power looks good on you.
a Psalm of David
Psalm 23
David declares, The Lord is my shepherd.
1 The Lord is my ashepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
______________________________________________________________________________
God’s grace covers us all~
Regardless of who we are and what we bring...He loves us.
In sickness, rebellion, fear, and abandonment…He loves us.
With all the stories we bring from our past…He loves us.
In our times of great joy and terrible despair…He loves us.
Do you ever question God’s love for you?
Words and Photo from by:
Junelle Jacobsen
blog~ http://www.yes-and-amen.com/
In August I did a Newsletter Issue featuring Junelle and her awesome inspiration over at
http://songsfromthevalley.com/August%2012%205.13%20Inspiration.pdf
life: acoustic & amplified 
