“I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”
― Oliver Sacks
Gratitude
The Convenience of Being Overwhelmed
“We can not retreat to the convenience of being overwhelmed.”
— Ruth Messinger
Small Mistakes | Big Mistakes
Small mistakes:
1. Messing up school exams.
2. Not finishing college.
3. Failing at your first business.
4. Failing at your second.Big Mistakes:
1. Not listening to your gut.
2. Not keeping your word.
3. Not looking after yourself.
4. Not looking for the good in people.
Intention
“Think of intention
As the sail of a boatWithout it
There is no movement,
nor directionSet intentions,
Relax and trust that
The wind will carry you
In the direction you choose.”
Believe
“Speak to your children as if they are the wisest, kindest, most beautiful and magical humans on earth, for what they believe is what they will become.”
(via)
Gratitude
“My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved. I have been given much and I have given something in return. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”
— Oliver Sacks
If I had my life to live over again
If I had my life to live over again,
I’d dare to make more mistakes next time.
I’d relax.
I’d limber up.
I’d be sillier than I’ve been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances,
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would, perhaps, have more actual troubles but fewer imaginary ones.
you see, I’m one of those people who was sensible and sane,
hour after hour,
day after day.
Oh, I’ve had my moments.
If I had to do it over again,
I’d have more of them.
In fact, I’d try to have nothing else- just moments,
one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.
I’ve been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute.
If I could do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.
If I had to live my life over,
I would start barefoot earlier in the spring
and stay that way later in the fall.
I would go to more dances,
I would ride more merry-go-rounds,
I would pick more daisies.
– Nadine Stair, Louisville at 85 years of age
(via)
Complaints Have No Magic
Thank you for these magical words, Cleo Wade. This was one of my biggest energetic shifts, when moving to New York City, 20 years ago, realizing people don’t really complain here much. Complaining is draining. It truly has no magic. Hence my personal rule: “When I catch myself complaining about something repeatedly, I have two options: Do something about it or let it go.”
Find The Others
“Admit it. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes.
But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the “normal people” as they go about their automatic existences. For every time you say club passwords like “Have a nice day” and “Weather’s awful today, eh?”, you yearn inside to say forbidden things like “Tell me something that makes you cry” or “What do you think deja vu is for?”Face it, you even want to talk to that girl in the elevator. But what if that girl in the elevator (and the balding man who walks past your cubicle at work) are thinking the same thing?
Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others…”
— Timothy Leary
(via Clay)
Morning Routines
“Don’t check your social media or email until after your 3 hours of deep work. Your morning time should be spent on output, not input.”
Interesting read on morning routines.
There
“Wherever you are, make sure you’re there.”
— Dan Sullivan
Stillness Within You
“Awaken the stillness within you.”
— Asad Meah
Life
“Life is a long lesson in humility.”
— James M. Barrie
Workism
“What is workism? It is the belief that work is not only necessary to economic production, but also the centerpiece of one’s identity and life’s purpose; and the belief that any policy to promote human welfare must always encourage more work.”
Workism is making Americans miserable, by Derek Thompson
(via Hurry Slowly)
The Universe Surrenders
“To the mind that is still,
the whole universe surrenders.”
— Lao Tzu
You Can’t Stop The Waves
“You can’t stop the waves,
but you can learn to surf.”
— John Kabat-Zinn
Joy
“What if joy is my only metric for success?”
– Sarah Jones
The hidden Life of Trees
“When you know that trees experience pain and have memories and that tree parents live together with their children, then you can no longer just chop them down and disrupt their lives with large machines.”
― Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees
Work That Has No End
This quote, mentioned during Scott Harrison’s talk today at CreativeMornings/NYC, really made me think.
Think, Feel, Imagine
What you think,
you become.
what you feel,
you attract.
What you imagine,
you create.
— Buddha
Go Far
“If you want to go quickly, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.”
— African Proverb
Serious Leisure
“A hobby is an activity undertaken purely for its own sake, but technology attempts to monetize it. A friend used to make beautiful earrings occasionally. Almost ritualistically, she would buy the beads, and carefully craft the small, colored jewels in a quiet workspace. Then came Etsy. Now she makes beautiful earrings and sells them, ships them and manages this business along with a full-time job and a family. What was leisure became labor.”
(via Jocelyn)
There is No Time for Anything Else
“None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an after-thought. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Jump in the ocean. Say the truth that you’re carrying in your heart like hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There’s no time for anything else.”
—Keanu ReevesNanea Hoffman