The Menu is not the Meal

Cultivating mindfulness is not unlike the process of eating. It would be absurd to propose that someone else eat for you. And when you go to a restaurant, you don’t eat the menu, mistaking it for the meal, nor are you nourished by listening to the waiter describe the food. You have to actually eat the food for it to nourish you. In the same way, you have to actually practice mindfulness in order to reap its benefits and come to understand why it is so valuable.
-– John Kabat-Zinn, from Letting Everything Become Your Teacher

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The Belief Principle

You have been created for some specific work. Nobody else has been entrusted with your role in human history. If you do not play your part, your part will go unplayed.

Foster the belief that you were born for a reason...and with every passing day you will begin to see the reason unfolding before your eyes.

All you have to do is prepare yourself and cooperate by choosing the-best-version-of-yourself in the moments of each day.
-- Matthew Kelly, from The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose

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Trust the Body

The body is shaped, disciplined, honored, and in time, trusted.
-- Martha Graham

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Recognition

No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.
-- Thomas Mann

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Courage is Resistance to Fear

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.
-- Mark Twain

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Changing the Inner Attitudes

Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.
-- William James

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The Essence of Encouragement

Each person has an ideal, a hope, a dream which represents the soul. We must give to it the warmth of love, the light of understanding and the essence of encouragement.
-- Colby Dorr Dam

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Uncreative Moments

One must also accept that one has 'uncreative' moments. The more honestly one can accept that, the quicker these moments will pass.
-- Etty Hillesum

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Nothing is Really Work

Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
-- James M. Barrie

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Following Your Deepest Instinct

It is only by following your deepest instinct that you can lead a rich life, and if you let your fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct, then your life will be safe, expedient and thin.
-- Katharine Butler Hathaway

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Character

Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self respect springs.
-- Joan Didion

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Freedom Lies in Wildness

Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization.
-- Charles Lindbergh

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