in case you've been missing them, some really juicy nuggets to marinate in...enjoy! :-)
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When you lose touch with your inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself.
~ Eckhart Tolle
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Taking responsibility for your beliefs and judgments gives you the power to change them.
~ Byron Katie
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The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget yourself, and think of others.
~ Norman Vincent Peale
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I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.
~ Dawna Markova
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Quickie question: Why do you want lotsa money?
Your most-likely answer: So as to buy lotsa stuff – and be happy, dammit!
But does more money and more stuff really lead to more happiness?
“Standard of living has increased dramatically and happiness has increased not at all, and in some cases has diminished slightly,” says Professor Daniel Kahneman of the University of Princeton.
Interestingly… Bhutan, a remote Himalayan kingdom, has consistently remained one of the happier places in our world – even though it is not close to being one of the richest.
Their secret? Their government creates policies based on Gross National Happiness.
This includes:
1. Banning advertising – because the science of happiness shows advertising is a major cause of unhappiness – creating envy by making people feel “less well-off.”
2. Pushing for more exercise and healthier eating. In fact the Bhutan government actually discourages junk food – along with cigarettes and alcohol – recognizing the healthier the body, the happier the mind!
The idea that politics should be about creating “the greatest happiness of the greatest number” is actually not new. It goes back to Jeremy Bentham, an 18th century philosopher, who tried to get politicians to create policies which upped citizen’s general happiness levels.
Recently Bentham’s ideas have been dusted off and revisited in Britain, where the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit held a “Life Satisfaction” seminar and considered the following concepts:
1. creating a happiness index
2. teaching people about happiness
3. encouraging more support for volunteering
4. creating a “more leisured work-life balance”
5. creating higher taxes for the rich – so there’d be less of a division between the very rich and very poor — and thereby less envy and its accompanying depression affects.
Britain’s Richard Layard, author of HAPPINESS: LESSONS FOR A NEW SCIENCE, is also actively pushing the government to immediately employ another 10,000 therapists – so as to increase the happiness of citizens!
With all this in mind, I want you to stop overly-focusing on how much money you’re making, and re-focus on how much happiness you’re making!
MY BETTER THAN CASH IN THE BANK LIST OF THINGS TO CASH IN ON:
1. Avoid poison envy. Consistently studies show comparison kills happiness. Consciously re-focus on what you have. Try to end your day with “A 3 Blessings List” – recognizing three things which went well – and why!
2. Spend loving time with friends and family – for both more happiness and more health! Get this: Studies show friendship wards off germs! Just as stress triggers ill health, the greater your friendships, the greater the protective effect against ill health!
3. Live a life with meaning and purpose. How? Appreciate how what you do in your job, and contribute to your friends, family and community — all matters! Look for new ways to give back to the people around you. Altruism is actually an act of self-interest. Studies consistently show that people who are involved with volunteerism are a happier group.
4. Keep trying to use your “signature strength” in new ways. It will increase your self esteem – which increases happiness. Plus you’ll be tapping into 3 other big happiness boosters: newness, challenge, consistent growth!
~ Karen Salmansohn
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The First Moments of the Day
Conscious Creation
Each morning when we awake, we have an opportunity to create our day with what inspires us the most.
The moment during the day when we very first open our eyes and come into consciousness is a precious opportunity. It sets the tone for all that comes after it, like the opening scene in a film or novel. At this moment, our ability to create the day is at its most powerful, and we can offer ourselves fully to the creative process by filling this moment with whatever inspires us most. It may be that we want to be more generous, or it may be that we want to be more open to beauty in our daily lives. Whatever the case, if we bring this vision into our minds at this very fertile moment, we empower it to be the guiding principle of our day.
Sometimes we wake up with a mood already seemingly in place, and it's important to give this feeling its due. It can inform us and deepen our awareness to what's going on inside us, as well as around us. As long as we are conscious, we can honor this feeling and also introduce our new affirmation or vision, our conscious offering to the day. We may want to decide before we go to sleep what we want to bring to the next day of our lives. It could be that we simply want to be more open to whatever comes our way. Or we may want to summon a particular quality such as confidence. Then again, we may simply call up a feeling that perfectly captures the texture we want our day to have.
We can reaffirm our vision or affirmation as we shower and eat breakfast, as well as recalling it at various times throughout the day. We can write it down and carry it with us on a little slip of paper if this helps. Simply by being aware of those first moments, we set the stage for a more conscious, enlivened experience, and we become active participants in the creation of our lives.
~ Daily Om
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when we feel we have lost our way or a little off course on our path, there is usually an urge to clean house, go through stuff & purge, cleanse, detox, empty, meditate, study, basically {eventually} wipe the slate clean and go back to the drawing board.
"....to the ordinary human personality, love is confused with obtaining one's desires and, as such, it appears as an elusive experience based on external acquisitions. to the ordinary spiritual aspirant, love is confused with obtaining some psychic or spiritual experience, such as a vision. love then appears to be something that must to sought and therefore, it remains an elusive experience based on externals.
the bhakti yogi, however, realizes that he is not seeking love, but that it is love that is seeking him. his task is not to make himself into something special, whereby he can acquire love; his task is to make himself into nothing, a vessel empty of selfish individuality. when the vessel is empty, then god can fill it with divine love. this emptying of the sense of egoic personality is referred to as 'the great disappearing act'. the ego disappears and love appears...."
~ tho yoga of spiritual devotion by prem prakash
empty the vessel. get shiny and clean. your real self. the same as everyone else.
heed the advice of others, but always listen to the compass inside...
~ Sangeeta Vallabhan
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Notes from the Universe
Generally, typically, and most of the time, it's those who consider themselves to be the least spiritually mature who are the most, and vice versa.
Holy cow,
The Universe
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One of the most stringent conditions all angels must meet, other than double-advanced harp playing and skydiving abilities (not necessarily at the same time), is that they must not allow themselves to feel hurt or rejected by the choices made by others, no matter how much they've done for them nor how great their love.
Yeah, WOW.
The Universe
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Life's magic is a lot like a swift flowing river. No matter how long you've overlooked it or unwittingly swam against it, the instant you stop struggling you're back in the flow, hat down low, coolest cat on the block.
In other words, your so-called "baggage," ain't no thang.
Coolio -
The Universe
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In a slightly different world, if dogs believed in "soul mates" when it came to choosing their owners... can you imagine how lonesome most would be?
Oh, there's definitely room for "picky", but there's also room for "surprise me."
Surprise me,
The Universe
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I have to admit, when we thought of adding the dimension of "time" to space, it was not wildly popular.
True, it would make possible evolution, reunions, and cute before-and-after photos. But it would add to the illusion of separation... "horror of horrors!" Spontaneous manifestations would spontaneously cease... "eee-gad!" And the only way anyone could get anything done, would be if they held onto and moved with their vision in thought, word, and deed, even when present circumstances appeared ABSOLUTELY unchanged for their efforts... yeah, "SIGN ME UP!!!!"
Thinking of you beaming with childlike joy -
The Universe
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'The Teachings of Abraham' by Esther and Jerry Hicks
Is it reality, or is it not reality? All things are reality. Even if only one is imagining it, it is a reality in that the thought has been offered and someone, who has the ability to translate that vibration, will perceive it. It must be fair to say that anything that can be perceived must be reality. Because, as creators, your reality depends upon what you are willing to imagine and allow.
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There is a Life Stream that flows to you, and this is a Stream of clarity, a Stream of wellness, a Stream of abundance... and in any moment, you are allowing it or not. What someone else does with the Stream, or not, does not have anything to do with how much of it will be left for you. This Stream is as abundant as your ideas allow it to be.
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In your action, you lose sight of the vision, you lose sight of your trust in the process, and you just bang around in a sense of futility. Hold the vision and trust that the Universe will acclimate to your vision. Hold the vision and trust the process.
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Nobody else knows your reason for being. You do. Your bliss guides you to it. When you follow your bliss, when you follow your path to joy, your conversation is of joy, your feelings are of joy — you're right on the path of that which you intended when you came forth into this physical body
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Discipline means doing within, not doing without. Discipline means using all those inner conversations we have with ourselves and using them to move ourselves towards our goals. Discipline starts deep inside us and translates into the actions we need to accomplish what we want. Use thoughts to move yourself ahead, not behind and take action to carry out those thoughts, once you have them going where you want them to go.
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Daily Motivator by Edward W. Smith
You can change your future, if you change your goals. You are not stuck where you are now, forever. You can change your future, if you decide that you want something different. If you are not happy with where you are now, give careful thought to where you would like to be, and then start planning what it takes to get what is needed to get there. Then, most importantly, start to implement the plan.
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While you are getting ready, someone else is already doing it. Stop putting things off, don't be such a perfectionist, give it your best shot and do it. Procrastination affects all of us to some degree or another, and many of us have a hard time seeing it in ourselves. So assume that you are a procrastinator, even if you think you are not, and start doing things quicker and move on with your life.
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Create a Board of Directors for yourself. Create an imaginary group of advisors to help you make decisions. Make up a list of the top experts in the field you are making a decision in, and ask yourself, what each of those people would probably tell you to do. Read their books, check their websites, etc. and get an insight into their thinking, then bring it back to your decision. You will be amazed how just asking yourself how an expert you have in mind, would handle it, will improve your decision making.
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Give your ideas wings. You have a number of great ideas every day, but most of us let them go by without taking any action. Take the next great idea you have, and start the steps needed to make it happen, as soon as you have the idea. Don't let the great ideas fade away without action; use the momentum you have when you are excited about the idea, to propel you into implementing it.
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Daily Teaching from The Power by Rhonda Byrne
Love Is Behind Every Miracle
All miracles are the force of love at work. Miracles are created by turning away from negativity and focusing on only love. Even if you have been a pessimist all your life, it is never too late.
A pessimist is exactly how one man described himself. When this man received the surprise news from his wife that they were expecting their third child, his every thought was of how negative the impact of a third child would be in their lives. But what he didn't realize was exactly how these negative thoughts and feelings would play out for him.
At just over the halfway point of his wife's pregnancy, she had to be rushed to the hospital and an emergency C-section had to be performed. Three separate specialists said that at 23 weeks weeks' gestation, the baby had a zero percent chance of survival. The man was brought to his knees. He had never expected to lose a child.
After the C-section, the father was taken to the side of the room to see his son, the smallest baby he had ever seen. His son was born 10 inches in length and weighed only 12 ounces. The medical staff tried to inflate the baby's lungs with a ventilator, but his heart rate was decreasing. The specialist said there was nothing they would be able to do. The father screamed out in his mind, "Please!" At that exact moment, the ventilator inflated his son's lungs and his heart rate began to climb.
Days passed. All the physicians in the hospital kept saying that the baby would not make it. But this man who had been a pessimist all of his life began to imagine what he wanted. Every night when he went to bed, he imagined the light of love shining on his son. When he woke in the morning, he would give thanks to God that his son had survived through the night.
Each day his son made progress, and he overcame every obstacle that was thrown at him. After four grueling months in intensive care, he and his wife were able to take their baby - who had been given a zero percent chance of survival - home.
Love is behind every miracle.
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