Don’t put the key to your happiness in someone else’s pocket.
– Swami Chinmayananda

…finding a spiritual solution to every problem involves doing the only
thing I can do with my life. That is, giving it away and being
simultaneously grateful for the opportunity to do so.
– Wayne Dyer, There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem

Kindness if the touch of God. If God is love, kindness is the key to
happiness, freedom, and true success. And if God is one, it is
impossible that the practice of love would mean choosing between myself
and another. I am being dishonest when I say that I must put myself
first. I must put love first. Today I will use the most powerful and
transformative of all spiritual practices: I will be kind. I will be
kind to myself, to everyone I encounter, and to everyone who crosses my
mind.
– Hugh Prather, Morning Notes

If we want to be rid of darkness, we must turn on a light. Similarly,
if we want to be rid of fear, we cannot fight it but must replace it
with love.
– Marianne Williamson

Notice the acts of kindness other people do rather than their
wrongdoing. This is how God views you. We are all good, decent, loving
souls who occasionally get lost.
– Wayne Dyer

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.
– Thich Nhat Hanh

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
– Marcel Proust

Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.
– Albert Einstein

Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those
voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face
the truth.
– Katherine Mansfield

It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.
– Thomas Jefferson

Man made “God” in his own image. The eternal, the infinite, and
unnameable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and
worship as ‘my god’ or ‘our god’.
– Eckhart Tolle

…a growing number of followers of traditional religions are able to
let go of identification with form, dogma, and rigid belief systems and
discover the original depth that is hidden within their own spiritual
tradition at the same time as they discover the depth within
themselves. They realize that how ‘spiriitual’ you are has nothing to
do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of
consciousness.
– Eckhart Tolle

Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
– Henry Van Dyke

So how do you know what to commit to? When something resonates in your
heart, when it sings to you, when it affects you deeply, then you know
to commit wholeheartedly to it. It is important not to submit our time
andenergy to things that do not mean anything to us as those things
drain our energy. It is important to clarify whether the motivation to
do something comes from the heart or from the mind… is it a desire or
is it an obligation? If you are committing to something because it
truly appeals to you, then it will bring you pleasure, health,
satisfaction, and abundance.
– Marie T. Russell

If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think another negative thought.
– Peace Pilgrim

The distance doesn’t matter; only the first step is difficult.
– Mme. du Deffand

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“Unforgiveness makes us sick.”

For many of us it’s hard to understand that a dear friend suffering
from a terminal illness has been made sick by her unforgiveness. She
may not even seem angry or resentful, perhaps. Yet the Course tells us
that hanging on to the past hurts and hinders our present health. Could
her acknowledgment of this and willingness to forgive make her well?

Forgiveness might not erase the physical ailment, but her mental state
would reflect a more loving attitude, which is where one’s actual
“wellness” lies. The body embraces what the mind projects. Fully
understanding this principle gives us the capacity to create miraculous
lives.

When we have a headache or suffer from indigestion, we are quick to
look outside for the cause. While the external environment may be harsh
and demanding, it can’t make us sick. It doesn’t determine our
attitude. Taking responsibility for who we are is the most healing
action we can take.

“Am I hanging on to an old hurt?  The condition of my body may give me a clue today.”

– Karen Casey, Daily Meditations for Practicing The Course

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“Mistakes are merely teaching and learning opportunities.”

When the shame and guilt we cultivate because of our errors create more
mistakes they gain momentum. Instead of growing from our mistakes, we
let them diminish us. And so our relationships with others are likewise
diminished.

We can instantly halt the momentum, however. That’s the promise Jesus
has made us. But how do we do it? The decision to look upon every
circumstance through the loving eyes of the inner Spirit helps resist
the knee-jerk response we’ve grown accustomed to making. Until we
experiment with this change, we can’t imagine the results.

The holy Inner Voice has only soft, understanding words to offer in
even the most difficult of times. Being soothed through the minefield
makes us appreciate the opportunities we have for listening anew.

“I will look upon my struggles today as opportunities to hear the Holy Spirit’s message.”

– Karen Casey, Daily Meditations for Practicing The Course

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Some of us may have made a decision that no one was ever going to hurt
us again. We may automatically go on “feelings freeze mode” when faced
with emotional pain. Or, we may terminate a relationship the first time
we feel hurt. Hurt feelings are a part of life. It is understandable
that we don’t want to feel any more pain. Many of us have had more than
our share, in fact, at some time in our life, we may have been
overwhelmed, crushed, or stopped in our tracks by the amount of pain we
felt. We may not have had the resources to cope with our pain or take
care of ourselves.

That was yesterday. Today, we don’t have to be so frightened of pain.
It does not have to overwhelm us. We are becoming strong enough to deal
with hurt feelings. And we don’t have to become martyrs, claiming that
hurt feelings and suffering are all there is to life. We need only
allow ourselves to feel vulnerable enough to feel hurt, when that’s
appropriate, and take responsibility for our feelings, behaviors, and
what we need to do to take care of ourselves. We don’t have to analyze
or justify our feelings. We need to feel them, and try not to let them
control our behavior.

Maybe our pain is showing us we need to set a boundary; maybe it’s
showing us we’re going in a wrong direction; maybe it’s triggering a
deep healing process.

It’s okay to feel hurt; it’s okay to cry; it’s okay to heal; it’s okay
to move on to the next feeling, when it’s time. Our willingness and
capacity to feel joy will eventually match our willingness and capacity
to feel hurt. Being conscious does not mean immunity from pain; it
means learning to take loving care of ourselves when we are in pain.

“Today, I will not strike out at those
who cause me pain. I will feel my emotions and take responsibility for
them. I will accept hurt feelings as part of being in relationships. l
am willing to surrender to the pain as well as the joy in life.”

– Melody Beattie