life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “Respect”

Don’t get bogged down with all the details of how it’s going to come together. Just do the dishes. And watch the momentum build. – Brian J

Here are ten things to do even if others judge you for it:

1.Take care of yourself. – Your relationship with yourself is the closest and most important relationship you will ever have.  If you don’t take good care of yourself, then you can’t take good care of others either; which is why taking care of yourself is the best selfish thing you can do.  Read The Mastery of Love.

2.Do what you know is right, for YOU. – Don’t be scared to walk alone, and don’t be scared to like it.  Don’t let anyone’s ignorance, drama, or negativity stop you from being the best you can be.  Keep doing what you know in your heart is right, for you.  Because when you are totally at peace within yourself, nothing can shake you.

3.Follow your own unique path. – Every new day is a chance to change your life.  Work on making life all that you want it to be.  Work hard for what you believe, and keep your dreams big and your worries small.  You never need to carry more than you can hold; just take it one day at a time.  And while you’re out there making decisions instead of excuses, learning new things, and getting closer and closer to your goals, know that there are others out there, like me, who admire your efforts and are striving for greatness too.

4.Lock yourself away from the world and work on your goals. – Dream big dreams, but realize that short term, realistic goals are the key to success.  Success is directly connected with daily action.  The way we spend our time defines who we are.  Successful people keep moving, by doing small things every day that bring them a couple steps closer to their dream.  They make mistakes along the way, but they don’t quit – they learn and press on.  Read Getting Things Done.

5.Adjust your goals and dreams as life changes. – A great deal of pain in life comes from having a specific dream that you’ve fallen in love with, and when it doesn’t work out exactly as planned, you become angry that you now have to pursue a different path.  If you want to tame your inner demons and make the most of life, you must not become rigidly attached to just one specific dream, and remain open to there being an even better, equally as happy path ahead.  Life is unpredictable, but it provides plenty of opportunities to make dreams come true.  Just don’t forget that sometimes taking a positive step forward requires you to slightly adjust your dreams, or plan new ones – it’s OK to change your mind or have more than one dream.

6.Forgive those who have wronged you. – Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.  Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong and wise.  Forgiveness allows you to focus on the future without combating the past.  To understand the potential of everything going forward is to forgive everything already behind you.  Without forgiveness, wounds can never be healed, and moving on can never be accomplished.  What happened in the past is just one chapter.  Don’t close the book, just turn the page.

7.Show everyone your love and kindness. – If you are reserving your love only for those who you have decided are worthy of it – all strangers excluded – it may come as a surprise to learn that this is not love at all, it is called judgment.  Judgment is selective, love is all embracing.  Just as the sunlight and the wind do not discriminate, true love does not make any such distinctions either.  Love and kindness is a way of living.  Where there is love, there is no judgment.  Where there is judgment, there is no love.  Read The 5 Love Languages.

8.Stand up for others, even if it’s the unpopular thing to do. – Sometimes you will say something really small and simple, but it will fit right into an empty space in someone’s heart.  Dare to reach into the darkness, to pull someone else into the light.  Remember, strong people stand up for themselves, but stronger people stand up for others too, and lend a hand when they’re able.

9.Fight through your failures. – When you are feeling down or dealing with failure, don’t be ashamed.  There’s nothing to be ashamed of.  You are going through a difficult time, and you are still pushing forward.  That’s something to be proud of – that you are fighting through it and slowly rising above it.  Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.

10.Keep your head held high and keep on smiling. – Every day of your life is a page of your history.  The only time you run out of chances is when you stop taking them.  Don’t cry over the past, cry to get over the past.  Don’t smile to hide the pain, smile to heal the pain.  Don’t think of all the sadness in the world, think of all the beauty that still remains around you.

http://www.marcandangel.com/2012/08/01/10-things-to-do-even-if-they-judge-you/#more-493

…feel it deeply…but don’t get stuck…

Dealing with Disappointment
A Bridge to Acceptance
by Madisyn Taylor

The gift of disappointment is to bring us into reality so we don’t get stuck in the realm of how things might have been.

Whenever we do something in life with an expectation of how we’d like it to turn out, we risk experiencing disappointment. When things don’t go the way we had envisioned, we may feel a range of emotions from slightly let down to depressed or even angry. We might direct our feelings inward toward ourselves, or outward toward other people or the universe in general. Whether we feel disappointed by ourselves, a friend, or life in general, disappointment is always a tough feeling to experience. Still, it is a natural part of life, and there are many ways of dealing with it when we find ourselves in its presence.

As with any feeling, disappointment has come to us for a reason, and we don’t need to fear acknowledging it or feeling it. The more we are able to accept how we are feeling and process it, the sooner we will move into new emotional territory. As we sit down to allow ourselves to feel our disappointment, we might want to write about the experience of being disappointed—the situation that preceded it, what we were hoping would happen, and what did happen. The gift of disappointment is its ability to bring us into alignment with reality so that we don’t get stuck for too long in the realm of how things might have been.

As we consider other disappointments in our life and how we have moved past them, we may even see that in some cases what happened was actually better in the long run than what we had wanted to happen. Disappointment often leaves us feeling deflated with its message that things don’t always turn out the way we want. The beauty of disappointment, though, is that it provides us a bridge to its other side where the acceptance of reality, wisdom, and the energy to begin again can be found.

www.dailyom.com

have no fear…they are all God’s Particles

GOD PARTICLE

Last week they found the Higgs boson!  For all you non-calculator-carrying mystical meditating un-geek poetry-reading hippie types, this is a really big deal.

When scientists came up with the math that explains how the physical universe holds together, they had a perfect equation, except for one thing.  It explained a universe in which nothing had any mass—there was no substance.  In order for things to have mass, there had to be one more factor, that they called the Higgs field, named for the guy who did the math.  It’s a dimension of the physical universe that gives things mass when they interact with it. If it’s there, the math says, then there should be a tiny particle, called the Higgs boson.  If they found that particle, it would prove almost everything. Trouble is, for 48 years, since it was predicted in 1964, nobody’s been able to find it. It’s been humorously called the “God particle”—not by scientists, but the popular media.  In fact some scientists have suggested calling it—pardon the scientific jargon here—the Goddamn particle, for its elusiveness and the trouble and expense it has caused among those trying to find it.  Until last week.

(Higgs Boson walks into a Catholic church.  Priest says, “How dare you call yourself the God particle!  Blasphemer!  Get out!”  Higgs Boson says: “Well, OK—but without me, you can’t have mass!”)

One thing I love about this whole thing is the “faith in something not seen” they had.  Another is the sense of wonder.  And another is the Higgs field.  Present in all the universe, it gives things mass when they interact with it.  Isn’t that sort of like God?  God is present in all the universe, and when you interact with God, you are given substance. Nothing else gives you substance, not what happens to you, not what you do, not what others think of you.  It’s God’s interaction with you.  You aren’t responsible for the substance of your existence: it’s a gift from God. In a way youare a God particle, a tiny manifestation of the holy mystery that holds everything together.

So celebrate with the particle physicists.  Like the Higgs boson, it turns out you’re more than just a figment of the world’s imagination. You’re proof of the existence of God.

 

__________________  

Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

 

the truth about living in love

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Love ALWAYS wants us to be our highest and best self. Love does not seek to control any part of us, but watches with delight when we find our truth.

When we fly, love soars in response, laughs in delight and gives us encouragement to go higher still.
Love does not ask us to be less than all God created us to be, or not express ourselves, or to bear abuse. That is not love at all – do not believe it if someone offers you ‘love’ that ‘costs’ you in these painful ways.

True love is not about need, but about joy – as it flows from you and to you it fills the air, and your soul, with light! True love allows us to give the same love in return and so it grows and we grow.

Real love is about letting go of expectation and delighting in the unexpected and the imperfection of ourselves. This kind of love is about being free, to create, to be excellent…just to be who you are. God’s beloved!

1 Corinthians 13 is the definition of love. This starts with ourselves, every relationship flows from our heart and comes from how we view ourselves. As we read the characteristics of love we realize we have shortchanged ourselves for a long time. Don’t settle for less than this love for yourself. Let all of your living be based in this love, and then our world will begin to change.

it’s all about love

We are celebrating freedom today. What is freedom about? It’s all about love.

For many years I struggled with my desire to know about God. Who was this God? How could I grasp Him at all? One day I was brought to realized – God is love – that’s the root definition of God. I still remember that moment in 2009! Everything else springs from this fact. Every other belief and doctrine is based on this truth. God doesn’t just want us to need Him, God wants us to love Him. We do not obey because of fear of breaking the rules and punishment. We give love freely because we are in love with the love with Him, and we give ourselves freely as we express this passion and love inside of us. This is our most important relationship, but is what we base all of our human relationship from.

That sounds simple, right? Don’t we all talk about love and know about love? I thought I did, but as I began to read, think and live from this new knowledge of God, I began to realize how little I knew about love. It has been the most challenging and mind-blowing concept I have ever found. It challenges me every minute of everyday to try to live this way. This is not about head knowledge – this is about true intimacy. This is how we change the world. Each of us are responsible to live this way and show others this unconditional, and unconventional, love. God gives us true freedom. He will never make us do anything. He offers this love freely and all He wants is for us to receive it and allow it to seep into every aspect of our life and living. He allows us to make the choices on how we live out our lives. It is never coerced. Never manipulated. Will we choose this narrow way? It is not an easy way to live, yet it leads to life, and life abundantly.

It calls for so much more than religion, more than being ‘right’, or following the ‘big-ten’. It is not about figuring everything out, but about letting it all go. Abandoning myself for a love I cannot understand in my human experience, but I do experience it – in spirit and in truth – and so I KNOW it’s true. I have found it, I have lived it, I cannot deny it. God is love is my truth. Now I must live that truth. It is a life which is challenging in every way. It brings us to messy, dangerous and uncomfortable places. Yet, when we really understand it – it is the only way to live. I have found obedience is the least I can do for this gift – it is truly my reasonable service, and the more I live this way and find intimacy with this great and amazing love, the less I want anything else. Nothing else can satisfy.

The truth of the words, God so loved the world, MUST change us. He gave his only son, the value of my soul, of each created soul, is found in that. We are each Beloved – just as we are. This is love and it is good!

Freedom is not cheap. The cost of our country’s freedom has been great. The cost of my personal freedom has been great. The cost of our soul’s freedom has been greater still. How I express my gratitude matters. I am so blessed and so grateful. What can this poor girl give in return? All I have are love songs – and that is why I sing my love songs, as loud as possible.

Spiritual Courage

Courage is connected with taking risks.  Jumping the Grand Canyon on a motorbike, coming over Niagara Falls in a barrel, or crossing the ocean in a rowboat are called courageous acts because people risk their lives by doing these things.  But none of these daredevil acts comes from the centre of our being.  They all come from the desire to test our physical limits and to become famous and popular.

Spiritual courage is something completely different.  It is following the deepest desires of our hearts at the risk of losing fame and popularity.  It asks of us the willingness to lose our temporal lives in order to gain eternal life.

– Henri Nouwen
http://www.henrinouwen.org/

 

striving for excellence

Work Well

Work is only work if you prefer to be somewhere else. Work tends to be a negative perception of a task which we reluctantly approach. Work is only labour when we forget to see our life as it truly is – an opportunity to be creative, enrich others and be enriched ourselves. When we are able to see work in this way, we find something called enthusiasm inside. When we are enthusiastic we work well and we are valued. We are used as a role model. When we work well it is much easier to say no when we need to, for we know our own value, and we are not dependent on others’ approval to feel good about ourselves. When we put love and enthusiasm into what we do, it rebounds in the form of opportunities and blessings, two of the most important ingredients of a truly wealthy life.

– unknown

living from the heart of christ

How does the Spirit of God manifest itself through us?  Often we think that to witness means to speak up in defense of God.  This idea can make us very self-conscious.  We wonder where and how we can make God the topic of our conversations and how to convince our families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues of God’s presence in their lives.  But this explicit missionary endeavour often comes from an insecure heart and, therefore, easily creates divisions.

The way God’s Spirit manifests itself most convincingly is through its fruits:  “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22).  These fruits speak for themselves.  It is therefore always better to raise the question “How can I grow in the Spirit?”  than the question  “How can I make others believe in the Spirit?”

– Henri Nouwen
http://www.henrinouwen.org/

 

be the change you wish to see in the world – Gahandi

The difference between who you are and who you want to be..is what you do!    – unknown

an encouraging 10

Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.

Thou shalt not cross bridges before you get to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.

Thou shalt face each problem as it comes. You can handle only one at a time anyway.

Thou shalt not take problems to bed with you, for they make poor bedfellow.

Thou shalt not borrow other people’s problems. They can take better care of them than you can.

Thou shalt not try to relive yesterday; for good or ill, it is gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life today.

Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.

Thou shalt be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own.

Thou shalt not become bogged down by frustration, for 90 percent of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action.

BlueRose on Thoughts for the Day Blog
http://thoughtsaday.blogspot.com/

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