Light and Union - Deepak Chopra

The Source of Light and Union

 

posted by Deepak Chopra Feb 21, 2011 5:11 am

 

Separating illusion from reality doesn't usually happen all at once. What we experience as reality changes in different stages of consciousness. For those who decide to renounce the world completely, it's possible to leap directly toward the goal. But even then there is no guarantee that perception has actually shifted.

A person may enter a monastery because the Church deems that a holy life. But if old perceptions get dragged through the door, the monastery holds the same traps as the material world: Ego.

Jesus wanted his disciples to come into union with God. Any other life was steeped in illusion. Ego keeps that illusion strong because "I, me, and mine" is so rooted in worldly affairs. The most worthwhile life is spent discovering your spiritual core and building your existence on it. If you do that, you will be first in the eyes of God even if you are last in the eyes of the world.

If you can perceive the light within, you will gain its fullness. But if you are blind to it, you will have none. The reality you find yourself in depends on you. The light is God's reality, the dark is the absence of God.

Jesus wanted to share the unity he experienced with God, and therefore he often used the phrase abide in me. The parable of the grapevine elaborates on the point. Jesus declares that being cut off from God is sterile and fruitless. The sap that nourishes the vine and causes it to bear fruit is God, the source of life. By implication, the only life that escapes death is one that connects back to its ultimate source.

Adapted from The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2008).

 

 

 

 

 Is it Free Will?

posted by Deepak Chopra Feb 10, 2011 5:02 am

 

The question of free will versus determination is huge, of course. In the one reality, every pair of opposites is ultimately an illusion. We've already blurred the division between good and evil and life and death. Is free will going to turn out to be the same as determinism? A lot seems to ride on the answer. Free will is: Independence, Self-determination, Choice, Control over events, Future is open. Determinism is: Dependence on an outside will, Self determined by fate, No control over events, Choices made for you, Future is closed.

These phrases sketch in the common understanding of what's at stake. Everything in the free will list sounds attractive. We all want to be independent; we want to wake up with hope that the future is open and full of endless possibilities. On the other hand, nothing seems attractive in the determination list. Emotionally at least, the prospect of free will has already won the argument.

And at a certain level nobody has to delve any deeper. If you and I are marionettes operated by an invisible puppeteer–call him God, fate, or karma–then the strings he's pulling are also invisible. We have little proof that we aren't making free choices.

There is a reason to delve deeper, however, and it centers on the word Vasana. In Sanskrit, a Vasana is an unconscious cause. It's the software of the psyche, the driving force that makes you do something when you think you're doing it spontaneously.

Adapted from The Book of Secrets, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2004).

 

 

 

 

 The Spirit Of Romance
by Deepak Chopra


In our culture we are not taught to see falling in love as a spiritual event, yet for centuries that was the accepted interpretation.

When the question "Where does love come from?" was asked, the universal answer was God. The lives of saints of every religion have demonstrated love in its spiritual dimension; at the same time the humblest person who fell in love also realized he was treading on sacred ground. Over the centuries, particularly in the West, the divine connection was lost.

In spiritual terms falling in love is an opening, an opportunity to step into the timeless and stay there, to learn the ways of spirit and bring them down to earth.

All openings are temporary – this is not a limitation specific to falling in love. The real question is, What should we do with the opening? The highest spiritual qualities – those of truth, faith, trust, and compassion – grow from the tiniest seeds of daily experience. How can we tend this fragile opening of the heart, nurture it until it develops into more substantial stages of growth?

We must examine romance, the first stage in love's journey, as part of a timeless cycle that brings greater and greater knowledge of spiritual reality.

There are four distinct phases of romance: attraction, infatuation, courtship, and intimacy. Although not everyone can expect to experience them exactly the same way, all four naturally emerge once your feeling for someone else go beyond friendship to passionate attachment. These four phases of romance occur in a natural, linear sequence, but at the same time they come full circle.

Although it happens spontaneously, falling in love isn't accidental – there are no accidents in the spiritual life, only patterns we haven't yet recognized.

All love is based on the search for spirit.

Adapted from The Path to Love, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 1997).

 

 

 

 

Seeking Your Own Essence

posted by Deepak Chopra Feb 16, 2011 5:01 am

 

The soul is the highest form of the self. It doesn't unfold biologically like a child's brain and behavior. But in other respects there's an undeniable similarity: The soul works beneath the surface, and when its work comes to fruition, consciousness shifts.

Children have to participate in their own development, taking an active interest in exploring the world and finding out their own potential. In spiritual terms, the same holds true. The seeker must take an active interest in the soul's unfolding, or the result will be inert.

That's why I find myself reluctant to use the word seeker, because it denies the spontaneity of inner growth while at the same time implying that the goal is outside the self. Seekers seem like hunters on a safari to capture the soul. The spiritual path isn't like that. The goal is within and ever present. Better to say that one is trying to uncover the true essence of the self.

We have all loved at times, felt compassion, and risen to acts of selflessness. We know the difference between being awake and asleep, at least vaguely, and being awake feels better. It produces a better life.

Despite all these glimpses of a higher existence, what we lack is continuity. Episodes come and go without taking us to a final, definitive change. The frog and the prince inhabit the same body. The only way to find consistency is to keep pursuing your own essence.

You must keep in mind that the real you is love, is truth, is God.

Even if you could manage the Herculean task of imitating Jesus every moment of your life, unless you find your essence, the end result would be unreal. Fortunately, imitation isn't necessary. By removing the obstacles and resistances that hide your essence, you reveal yourself to yourself.

Appearances are deceiving because invisible changes are occurring beneath the surface, and when they come to fruition, you will consciously know that something has happened.

Adapted from The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2008).

 

 

 

Spiritual Transformation posted by Deepak Chopra Feb 4, 2011 5:00 am   The choice is to be conscious or not, which brings us to the possibility for transformation. No one disputes the fact that life consists of change. But can a person, simply by altering his or her consciousness, actually bring about a deep transformation and not just another superficial change? Transformation and change are two different things. The key to true transformation is that nature doesn't move forward in step-by-step movements. It takes quantum leaps all the time, and when it does, old ingredients aren't simply recombined. Something new appears in creation for the first time, an emergent property. For example, if you examine hydrogen and oxygen, they are light, gaseous, invisible, and dry. It took a transformation for those two elements to combine and create water, and when that happened, an entirely new set of possibilities emerged with it, the most important from our point of view being life itself. Your body, which is bonding millions of molecules every second, depends on transformation. Breathing and digestion, to mention just two processes, harness transformation. Food and air aren't just shuffled around, but, rather, undergo the exact chemical bonding needed to keep you alive. The sugar extracted from an orange travels to the brain and fuels a thought. The emergent property in this case is the newness of the thought: No molecules in the history of the universe ever combined to produce that result. While still remaining who you are, you can bring about a quantum leap in your awareness, and the sign that the leap is real will be some emergent property you never experienced in the past. Adapted from The Book of Secrets, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2004).

Create Present Reality posted by Deepak Chopra Feb 2, 2011 5:03 am   We all have a deep psychological drive to keep pace with the impulse of creation. There are needs that can and should be satisfied in the present…Among these is every human being's central need to express himself – to show himself to the world as he really is – in word, in gesture, in behavior, in every genuine utterance from the baby's cry to the artist's creation. The key to this inspiring affirmation is that life needs to be satisfying in the present. It is not that easy to define "the present," however. From one perspective the present is the thinnest possible slice of time, the fleeting instant that allows the future to flip-flop into the past. From the opposite perspective, the present is eternal, because it is ever-renewing, like a river that is never the same twice. To create paradise could mean nothing more or less than living in the present, enjoying the happiness that is both now and forever – but who can manage that? The boundaries that the human mind lives within are invariably fashioned from the past. It is yesterday's hurt that I am defending against today, last year's glory I want to relive, a bygone love I want to find again. The boundary-maker who wields such enormous power over us is the intellect, the part of the mind that judges and categorizes our experiences. The number of questions that arise over the tiniest experience is awe inspiring. Once each decision is made, it gets filed away in memory, to serve as a reference point for future experience. By endless interpreting the world in bits and pieces, we are losing it at every instant, allowing it to slip through our fingers like sand. To have reality that is whole and thus truly real, one must rise above the intellect, discarding its neat slices of experience. Like day-old bread, they only go stale anyway. Adapted from Unconditional Life: Discovering the Power to Fulfill Your Dreams, by Deepak Chopra (A Bantam Book, 1991)           You Are In Two Places at Once posted by Deepak Chopra Feb 3, 2011 5:03 am   Because we are both physical and quantum, human beings live multidimensional lives. At this moment you are in two places at once. One is the visible, sensual world, where your body is subject to all the forces of nature "out there." The wind chaps your skin and the sun burns it; you will freeze to death in winter without shelter; and the assault of germs and viruses makes your cells sick. But you also occupy the quantum world, where all these things change. If you get into the bathtub, your consciousness doesn't get wet. The limitations of physical life count for much less in the quantum world, and often for nothing. The cold of winter doesn't freeze your memories; the heat of a July night doesn't make you sweat in your dreams. Put together all the quantum events in your cells and the sum total is your quantum mechanical body, which operates according to its own unseen physiology. Your quantum mechanical body is awareness in motion and is part of the eternal field of awareness that exists at the source of creation. The intelligence inside us radiates like light, crossing the border between the quantum world and the physical world, unifying the two in a constant subatomic dialogue. Your physical body and your quantum mechanical body can both be called home – they are like parallel universes that you travel between without even thinking about it. Physical Body: A frozen anatomical sculpture – "I" sees itself as made of cells, tissues, and organs; confined in time and space; driven by biochemical processes (eating, breathing, digestion, etc.) Quantum Mechanical Body: A river of intelligence constantly renewing itself – "I" sees itself as made of invisible impulses of intelligence; unbounded in time and space; driven by thoughts, feelings, wishes, memories, etc. Adapted from Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 1998).

Deepak Chopra - Harmony Books

Each Moment Contains Everything posted by Deepak Chopra Feb 9, 2011 5:01 am Spiritual people aspire to be in both places, timebound and timeless. In India this is sometimes expressed as "the lamp at the door" your soul is poised, as if on a threshold between the everyday events that occur in time and the background of the unchanging, infinite absolute. The reason this is important is that if you can live from the level of your soul, you are doing something very special. It doesn't really matter what actions you take. The important thing is how much consciousness you add to the whole of human existence, for that is how eternity expresses itself, like a lamp shining in through the window of eternity. A great soul like Buddha or Jesus wasn't just a lamp at the door; they were beacons. You and I may feel smaller than Buddha or Jesus, yet that is an opinion formed by our egos. Spiritually, all the light being expressed through a human being is equal, at least in terms of quality. Why? Because light is a metaphor for the power of consciousness. Everyone's consciousness draws from the same underlying reality. But it doesn't really matter if history will remember you as a great soul. At this moment you are expressing the entire universe through your consciousness. The cosmic plan, whether we call it divine or not, doesn't need you or me to reach its ultimate fulfillment. Yet the parts you and I play are unique. No one can duplicate them; we make our own cosmic history every second. So what is the world becoming and what are we becoming? I'd like to think that we are becoming a new humanity, but I may be wrong. My vote won't hasten that new humanity, nor will it retard it. What my vote will do is put consciousness into action. I am connected to everything in the world. This is the realization that takes me to the polls. I am essentially one strand in the web of consciousness, and when my little strand trembles, the universe notices. Adapted from: Peace Is the Way, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2005).

DailyOM - UptoDate

Universal Awakening
Rippling And Tipping

At this time of awakening, even small acts can become great forces in the world, like pebbles making ripples in a pond.

A snowball at the top of a mountain has the potential to become huge, just by rolling down the mountain and gathering more snow. In a short time, this tiny snowball can become a force to be reckoned with. We humans are like this when it comes to exchanging energy and vision, and no matter how few people are involved at the beginning, there is the potential for massive change. As consciousness seekers, we are in the midst of this process, and it is amazing to see people we thought might never come around, waking up to their truth. Each time we see this, we can count ourselves blessed to be living at a time when the awareness of humanity seems to be at a tipping point, as more and more individuals open their minds and change their ways.

For some people, this revolves around an awareness of the environment, for others it is a spiritual awakening, and for many it is both. A great change in consciousness is sweeping through us all, as we recognize that things are not what they have seemed to be, that there is more to our lives than meets the eye. Many of us have the awareness and the energy at this time to break through old, outmoded ways of seeing things and to move into a new way of being in the world, and it is essential that we do so. The beauty of living at this time is that even small actions have a powerful ripple effect, and the reverberations of what we do have the power to reach and open many minds.

It is as if a scale is about to tip in favor of higher consciousness, and each one of us has the power to bring humanity closer to that point with the smallest of actions. Each time we move in the direction of our dreams and visions, we can visualize another small pebble dropping into the pond, or another gold weight on the scale, rippling and tipping our way to universal awakening.

 

 

 

 

Unconscious Communication
Chronic Lateness

Addressing chronic lateness helps us to better honor both others and ourselves.

Being late for an appointment or a date can seem like a small thing that really doesn't matter, but it communicates volumes, whether we mean it to or not. Being kept waiting is an experience that almost no one enjoys, because at best, it wastes their time, and at worst, it indicates a lack of regard. It's as if we're saying that our time is more important than their time, so we don't need to honor them by showing up when we said we would. When we are running late, it means a lot if we call and let the person know, especially if it's going to be more than ten minutes. However, if we are chronically late, it may take more than a phone call to properly address the issue.

If it's become a habit of ours not to be on time, we may want to look inside ourselves and see what's going on. It's easy enough to make excuses about our behavior, or to project responsibility on the other person, perceiving them to be uptight if they are irritated by our tardiness. What's more difficult, and more meaningful, is looking at ourselves and asking why it is that we always, or often, show up late. Sometimes this happens out of a lack of self-regard, as if we aren't really important anyway, so why will anyone care if we're late, or don't show up at all. Chronic lateness can also stem from being disorganized, or simply trying to do too much in one day. Another possible reason for being late to a particular appointment, or date, is that we don't really want to be there. We communicate our disinterest or boredom by not showing up on time.

Whatever our reasons, if we raise them to the conscious level, we have an opportunity to live a more conscious life. As we begin to understand the deeper reasons behind our inability to show up on time, we have the option to communicate clearly and consciously about how we really feel, rather than communicating unconsciously by being late.

 

 

 

 

 

Prioritizing Over Smokescreens
Giving Excuses

Honesty and taking responsibility for our choices and feelings helps us move beyond excuses to achieve our goals.

Excuses may seem like rational reasons for us not to do something, but if we're not careful we can allow them to keep us from reaching our goals. Too often we accept our excuses as reasons why we cannot accomplish what we set out to do, and instead of finding alternatives we give up. But if we can be honest with ourselves and take responsibility for our choices, we will begin to notice that we no longer give excuses. When we keep our minds focused on our goals, we will find that excuses fade away in the light of our priorities, and issues become challenges that can help us become wiser and stronger.

Sometimes we may give others excuses rather than be fully honest. We may think it is kind to tell someone we are willing to do something with them, whether work or play, but then keep putting them off. This diverts our energy into keeping the truth at a distance while continuing a falsehood. But when we can take responsibility for our feelings and express them honestly, but gently, the other person is free to find someone who is better suited to accompany them while we are free to pursue the things we like. When we can do this, our energy can be invested in building better lives and relationships.

There's another way in which excuses rob us of energy—and that is in the power of our thoughts and words. If we find ourselves in a situation, for example, where we are being asked for a financial contribution but we use the excuse that we can't afford it, we create and attract lack and limitation into our lives. The same goes for seemingly simple things like pretending to not feel well or any other false statement. We may think that excuses make things easier, but they complicate matters with smokescreens. When we can commit to our priorities, take responsibility for our choices, and communicate them honestly to others, there will be no need to make excuses, and we will have much more energy to dedicate to all the things we love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone Has A Story
Interesting People Everywhere

Each and every one of us has a story to tell and they are all important.

It's easy to forget sometimes that everyone has a story to tell if we take the time to listen. We are so accustomed to hearing the stories of people in the news that we sometimes lose track of the fact that the random stranger on the bus also has a fascinating story about where they came from and how they got to be where they are. The sheer variety of paths taken in this world, from farmers to CEOs to homeless people to world travelers, is indicative of how much we can learn from each individual. Sometimes the shy, quiet person at work has the most amazing life story and the biggest dreams, it is up to us to take the time to find out.

Some people travel a path of wealth and privilege, while others struggle with only themselves to rely on, and both have great stories to tell. Each person learns lessons, makes choices, and develops a unique perspective, which only they can claim and share. Even two people who have had very similar lives will have slightly different experiences, leading them to a different point of view, so each person remains a treasure trove waiting to be explored. When we take the time to ask questions and listen, we find that every person has a fascinating story to tell and an utterly unique perspective from which to tell it.

Bearing this in mind, we have the opportunity to approach the world around us in a new way. There is never any reason to be bored at a party, or on the bus, or in a conversation with a stranger. When we retain the spark of curiosity and the warmth required to open someone up, we always have in front of us the makings of a great story. All we have to do is ask.

 

 

 

 

Life Transitions
The Death And Rebirth Of Self

Sometimes a part of us must die before another part can come to life.

Sometimes a part of us must die before another part can come to life. Even though this is a natural and necessary part of our growth, it is often painful or, if we don't realize what's happening, confusing and disorienting. In fact, confusion and disorientation are often the messengers that tell us a shift is taking place within us. These shifts happen throughout the lives of all humans, as we move from infancy to childhood to adolescence and beyond. With each transition from one phase to another, we find ourselves saying good-bye to an old friend, the identity that we formed in order to move through that particular time.

Sometimes we form these identities in relationships or jobs, and when we shift those areas of our life become unsettled. Usually, if we take the time to look into the changing surface of things, we will find that a shift is taking place within us. For example, we may go through one whole chapter of our lives creating a protective shell around ourselves because we need it in order to heal from some early trauma. One day, though, we may find ourselves feeling confined and restless, wanting to move outside the shelter we needed for so long; the new part of ourselves cannot be born within the confines of the shell our old self needed to survive.

We may feel a strange mixture of exhilaration and sadness as we say good-bye to a part of ourselves that is dying and make way for a whole new identity to emerge in its place. We may find inspiration in working with the image of an animal who molts or sheds in order to make way for new skin, fur, or feathers to emerge. For example, keeping a duck feather, or some other symbol of transformation, can remind us that death and rebirth are simply nature's way of evolving. We can surrender to this process, letting go of our past self with great love and gratitude, and welcoming the new with an open mind and heart, ready for our next phase of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At The Feet Of The Divine
Laying Our Burdens Down

We weren't meant to carry such heavy burden alone; visualize yourself laying down your burden and feel the lightness.

We all know the feeling of walking through life as if we are carrying the huge burden of our worries and stresses on our backs and shoulders, struggling to keep moving forward. There is no real way to move freely and fluidly in such a situation, and we are all longing to lay our burdens down. Just imagining that it would be possible to do such a thing can be enough to elicit a sigh of relief and a feeling of lightness.

The human imagination is a powerful tool, and we can use it to take journeys to faraway places without ever leaving our home. Because of this, we too can lay our burdens down at the feet of a divine being such as the great Mother, Buddha or a mountain. Releasing ourselves from that which we can't handle on our own. No matter how smart we are, how capable we are, or how hard we work, no one can single-handedly cope with all the worries that we tend to take on in the course of our lives. And, we aren't designed to do so. Our wellbeing depends upon our ability to hand over that which we can no longer carry by ourselves.

Visualizing yourself carrying your burdens to the feet of someone or something much bigger than you can be a powerful daily practice. To begin, sit with your eyes closed and envision an all powerful, supremely comforting being in what ever form that takes for you, standing at the end of a road. See yourself carrying a large sack, box, or other container, imagining that all your worries are inside it. Watch as you make your way to the being of your choice, and lay your baggage down at their feet. Allow yourself to feel the lightness and relief of this action, express your gratitude, and surrender. You will be amazed by how this simple meditation can liberate you from a burden you were never meant to carry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spiritual Being--Physical Experience
Physical Bodies on Earth

We are on this earth in bodies because our souls have things to learn that we could not learn in any other way.

We are on this earth, in our physical bodies, because our souls have things to learn that we could not learn in any other way. It is through our physical body and the physical world that we can experience life. Purely spiritual beings are just that – they are in a state of being rather than doing – in a place that is beyond the limitations of time and space. But when we incarnate on the physical plane, we are automatically subject to the laws of physics and the world of dualities. In this place, we know what happiness is because we have experienced sadness, and we understand the value and power of light because we have known darkness. Knowing this, we have the opportunity to let ourselves be spiritual beings having a physical experience.

There is no pain in the spiritual realm, because we know we are one with the limitless source of the universe. But here, in the material realm, our sense of limitation and separation allows us to feel our emotions and to learn about love, forgiveness, and compassion. We go from a spiritual state of oneness to learning how to be in relationship with people who are different and distinct individuals. We learn to understand ourselves through our relationships with the world around us—its seasons and landscapes, challenges and opportunities. And through our journey to find our place among so many others, we begin to recognize our own glimmer of light in a constellation of stars.

Once we remember that we are spiritual beings, we can revel in the experience of being human while knowing we are all connected. We can live from the place of oneness while truly appreciating the beauty of diversity, the bittersweet feel of love and loss, and the elation of triumph over challenges and adversity. It is through these opposites that we experience life itself, and we can ride through the dark times with the understanding that it will help us to appreciate the light of life and love and spirit more fully. We are here now because we made the choice to experience an earth life, so now we can choose to enjoy the journey as completely as possible.

 

 

 

Poetry in Motion
Moving Our Body

Movement is a vital celebration of life. It is a way to proclaim your own existence and relish in the joy of being alive.

Our bodies love movement. When we stretch or dance, our bodies adjust, realign and start to become fluid with the rhythm of life. Our mood lifts and we feel more connected with the world around us. If you are feeling stuck, ready to release old energy, or eager to feel more alive, try moving your body. By giving your muscles a chance to do what they were created for, you may find that all areas of your body and your life benefit as well.

Many times we can be so busy that we forget moving our body is even an option. Some of us remain seated at our computer for hours every day or rush from task to task with robotic precision. When we are caught up in crossing items off our to-do lists, we tend to neglect all the opportunities there are to enjoy our bodies in the process of living. If this is true for you, begin looking for opportunities to move. You might try dancing or moving about freely as you clean your home, tend your garden or care for your children. If you are able to devote a set amount of time to self-care, practices such as yoga, dance, tai chi and walking are all great ways to keep your body in motion.

Imagine how freeing it would feel to trust your body's movements completely, knowing it has a perfect strength and rhythm of its own. See if you can sense your bones providing graceful support, your muscles and tendons expanding and contracting in just the right measure, your lungs changing pace to fill deeply with fresh air. Movement is a vital celebration of life. It is a way to proclaim your own existence and relish in the joy of being alive. Today, and into the future, give yourself the gift of your body in motion.

 

 

 

Ending The Cycle
Start Today

Today we can make the choice to end a cycle or way of being that is not in alignment with our soul's desire.

One of the hardest things in life is feeling stuck in a situation that we don't like and want to change. We may have exhausted ourselves trying to figure out how to make change, and we may even have given up. However, each day offers us an opportunity to renew our resolve and to declare to the universe that we are ready for change. We may even say out loud that we have tried and struggled and have not found a way, but that we are open to help, and that we intend to keep working to create change for ourselves. Making this declaration to the universe, and to ourselves, may be just the remedy for the stagnation we are experiencing. And, it can be done today, right now.

It is difficult to understand, even with hindsight, how the choices we have made have added up to our current situation, but it is a good idea to examine the story we tell ourselves. If we tend to regard ourselves as having failed, this will block our ability to allow ourselves to succeed. We have the power to change the story we tell ourselves by acknowledging that in the past, we did our best, and we exhibited many positive qualities, and had many fine moments on our path to the present moment. We can also recognize that we have learned from our experiences, and that this will help us with our current choices.

When we do this kind of work on how we view our past self, we make it possible for the future to be based on a positive self-assessment. This inner shift may allow us to get out of the cycle we've been in that's been keeping us stuck. Now we can declare our intentions to the universe, knowing that we have done the inner work necessary to allow our lives to change. Allow today to be the day to end cycles and enter into a new way of being.

 

 

 

Quotations

PASSION

You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you're doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle." -- George Lucas

"Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, 'This is the real me,' and when you have found that attitude, follow it." -- William James

"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions." -- Alfred Lord Tennyson

"Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

 

 

 

 

*An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
- Benjamin Franklin



 More Quotations by Franklin

-2

I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

- Michael Jordan

3

Life is a big boomerang. Whatever you put out there, you get back.

- A. Drayton Boylston, tweeter February, 19, 2011

4

An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.

- Henry David Thoreau (1817-62), author and naturalist

5

Journalism is nothing but the effort to get as close to Truth as possible. Attention to detail and a respect for facts are hallmarks of good journalism. But the public, including bloggers, have a responsibility to pay attention too. Read accurately, analyze carefully and don't jump to conclusions.

- Jim Reed, see Memories

6

Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.

- Will Rogers

7

The centre [of the supermarket] is for boxed, frozen, processed, made-to-sit-on-your-shelf-for-months food. You have to ask yourself, "If this food is designed to sit in a box for month and months, what is it doing inside my body?" Nothing good, that's for sure.

-  Morgan Spurlock (Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America)

8

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks.  Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.

- Linda Hogan

9

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. 

- Judy Garland

10

God in His wisdom made the fly

And then forgot to tell us why.

- Ogden Nash

 

 

 

 

 

*OVERCOMING FAILURE

"All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail. That is the talisman, the formula, the command of right-about-face which turns us from failure towards success." -- Dorothea Brande

"The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself." -- Wang Yang-Ming

"Failure is only postponed success as long as courage "coaches" ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory." -- Herbert Kaufman

"When we can begin to take our failures seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves." -- Katherine Mansfield

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPPORTUNITIES

"Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat." -- Napoleon Hill

"Effective people are not problem-minded; they're opportunity-minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems." -- Stephen Covey

"If opportunity doesn't knock build a door." -- Milton Berle

"The more you seek security, the less of it you have. But the more you seek opportunity, the more likely it is that you will achieve the security that you desire." -- Brian Tracy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NETWORKING

"Networking is simply the cultivating of mutually beneficial, give and take, win-win relationships. It works best, however, when emphasizing the 'give' part." -- Bob Burg

"Network continually -- 85 percent of all jobs are filled through contacts and personal references." -- Brian Tracy

"Make a list of 200 prestigious, influential, and powerful people with whom you want to work, play, grow and do business." -- Mark Victor Hansen

"It's not who you know. It's how well you maintain your Rolodex(R)." -- Patricia Fripp

 

 

 

 

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*Faith in oneself is the best and safest course..
- Michelangelo 

 - 2
When I am angry it is because I want control over something that I have no control over.
- Paul V Harris, blog January 30, 2011



- 3
Within 25 years, our goal is to give 80% of Americans access to high-speed rail, which could allow you go places in half the time it takes to travel by car. For some trips, it will be faster than flying - without the pat-down.
- Obama, State of the Union -  January 25, 2011



- 4
They are choices that we've made as a society that are important and the right choices, so our perspective is that we're at the right place.
- Jean Charest, Quebec premier



- 5
One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.
Henry Ford



- 6
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it.
- Mark Twain



- 7
Nature doesn't make long speeches.
- Lao Tzu



- 8
Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can't measure something, you can't understand it. If you can't understand it, you can't control it. If you can't control it, you can't improve it.
- H. James Harrington



- 9
The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.
- George Bernard Shaw


- 10

I'm often amazed at how many times something has to happen to me before I figure it out...On the flip side - but no less comforting - we often do many things right and then fail to repeat them. We rarely take the time to pause, breathe, and think about what's working and what's not. There's just too much to do and no time to reflect... [Learning] only takes a few minutes. About five actually. A brief pause at the end of the day to consider what worked and what didn't.
- Peter Bregman, a leadership consultant and Harvard Business Review contributor

 

 

 

 

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*Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.
- Walt Disney
 
 

 

- 2
I would say that anything of which 75 per cent sits idly and expensively in bank vaults is, as a measure of value, only one step up from the Polynesian islands that attached value to certain well-known large rocks that were traded.
- Jeremy Grantham, the widely followed chairman of GMO LLC, the global asset management firm. Addressing the long-term outlook for gold /in The Globe and Mail, December 11, 2010

- 3

To have a good friend is one of the greatest delights of life.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


- 4
The one thing children wear out faster than shoes parents.
- John J. Plomp


- 5
Age is mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
- Mark Twain

- 6

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.
- Walter Winchell

- 7

We must learn to differentiate between fears and anxieties. Fears are states of apprehension which focus on isolated and recognizable dangers so that they may be judiciously appraised and realistically countered. Anxieties are diffuse states of tension (caused by a loss of mutual regulation and a consequent upset in libidinal and aggressive controls) which magnify and even cause the illusion of an outer danger, without pointing to appropriate avenues of defense or mastery. These two forms of apprehension obviously often occur together, and we can insist on a strict separation only for the sake of the present argument. If, in an economic depression, a man is afraid that he may lose his money, his fear may be justified. But if the idea of having to live on an income only ten times, instead of twenty-five times as large as that of his average fellow-citizen causes him to lose his nerve and to commit suicide, then we must consult our clinical formulas.
- Erik H. Erikson (1902-1994), U.S. psychologist. Childhood and Society, ch. 11, Norton (1950).

- 8

Young people of high school age can actually feel themselves changing. Progress is almost tangible. It's exciting. It stimulates more progress. Nevertheless, growth is not constant and smooth. Erik Erikson quotes an aphorism to describe the formless forming of it. "I ain't what I ought to be. I ain't what I'm going to be, but I'm not what I was."
- Stella Chess, 1914 - died March 14, 2007 in Manhattan. She was 93, child psychiatrist - Article

- 9

The problem with putting it all on the line... is that it might not work out.
The problem with not putting it all on the line is that it will never (ever) change things for the better.
Not much of a choice, I think. No risk, no art. No art, no reward.
- Seth Godin, blog September 26, 2010

- 10

As for accomplishments, I just did what I had to do as things came along.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

 

 

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MODELING BEHAVIOR

"Act the way you'd like to be and soon you'll be the way you act." -- George W. Crane

"You can't think your way into acting positively, but you can act your way into thinking positively." -- Nido Qubein

"If you envy successful people, you create a negative force field of attraction that repels you from ever doing the things that you need to do to be successful.  If you admire successful people, you create a positive force field of attraction that draws you toward becoming more and more like the kinds of people that you want to be like." -- Brian Tracy

"Imitate until you emulate; match and surpass those who launched you.  It's the highest form of thankfulness." -- Mark Victor Hansen