Strength and Will

Strength doesn't come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.
-- Mahatma Gandhi

In the Time of Your Life, Live

“In the time of your life, live . . . seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding-place and let it be free and unashamed. . . Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart. Be the inferior of no man nor of any man be the superior. . . In the time of your life, live – so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”
-- William Saroyan, playwright’s note appended to “The Time of Your Life”

Inner Appreciation

See, that's all you're thinking about, is winning. You're confirming your sense of self- worth through outward reward instead of through inner appreciation.
-- Barbara Hall, Northern Exposure, Gran Prix, 1994

This quote sums up the Yogic concept of Santosa: Contentment and the Embrace of Life. Many of us are entering a new year with typical Western "resolutions" to fix something about ourselves, reach a milestone or some external goal. While these ambitions are often noble, be aware that they can sometimes generate discontent.

We sometimes motivate ourselves through such assertions as, "I'll finally be happy whenever I have.." -- and fill in the blank. Maybe we think we'll be happy when we loose that weight, meet that special someone, or stop smoking. The motivation in all of these is very similar: I am broken, and I must do something to fix myself, or I am incomplete and need to add something to my life.

Such thinking plants the seed of the undoing of your goals. If you recognize your own mind in these thoughts, then refocus and re-center. Find your Inner Appreciation first, and set your goals with a mind towards Growth. This is nature's way. Always remember that life is a process of growth, and all experience and circumstance -- the fun and the frustrating alike -- becomes something that we can practice and learn from.

When the Sun Rises You Had Better Be Running

Every morning in Africa a gazelle awakens knowing it must today run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning a lion awakens knowing it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It matters not whether you are a gazelle or a lion, when the sun rises you had better be running.
-- African Proverb

Take the Attitude of a Student

Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new.
-- Og Mandino (1923 - 1996)

Finding Within

Obtain from yourself all that makes complaining useless. No longer implore from others what you yourself can obtain.
-- Andre Gide (1869 - 1951)

Merry Christmas

God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith; the warmth of Christmas, which is love; the radiance of Christmas, which is purity; the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice; the belief in Christmas, which is truth; the all of Christmas, which is Christ.
-- Wilda English

In the Passage from the Cradle to the Grave

Life at length is frail
I seek again the river's source
through time's dark shadowed veil.

In the fast fading century
we spin through the years
I pray that our failing vision
clears -- our vision clears.

And in the passage
From the cradle to the grave
We are born, madly dancing
Rushing headlong through the
crashing of the days
We run on and on
Without a backwards glance
We run on and on
Without a backwards glance.

"In the Passage"
--Dan Fogelberg

Dan died this morning, December 16th, 2007, after battling prostate cancer for several years. Thank you for the many years of music, poetry and inspiration. You'll be missed.

Destination Unknown

One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.
-- Henry Miller (1891 - 1980)

Curiosity, Wonder, Spontaneous Delight

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.
-- e e cummings

The Impact of Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.
-- Charles Swindoll

Global Cooling

The culture we live in will often sabotage us. That is because we are in the midst of a "global cooling." Human relations are becoming colder. Communications are becoming more hurried and impersonal. Values such as profit and efficiency are taking on greater importance at the expense of human warmth and genuine presence.
-- Piero Ferrucci, The Power of Kindness

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For well you know that it's a fool
Who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
-- The Beatles, Hey Jude