“If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present.”
―
peace
Today’s Inspiration ~ Have no Fear
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” ~ John 14:27
What if I slowed my pace of living by ten percent?
What if I slowed my pace of living by ten percent? That’s not a real big change. I’d find time to chat with friends. I wouldn’t speed up to get to the next light. The time wouldn’t control me. I’d feel the rhythm of the day and move with it. I believe I’ll sleep better, my disposition will improve, and I’ll find time to be grateful for the day’s gifts.
Something to Think About
One cannot rip the past out of his/her life. it’s stuff that happened to us and it’s stored at a cellular level in our memory. The best we can do is to make peace with the past. It’s not always easy to make peace with the past because lots of the characters in our personal drama are no longer in our lives (they’re either dead or no longer live near us). If we can find ways to forgive those who hurt us, we loosen the past’s grip on us. That’s easier said than done. Yet, it has to be done if one is to find peace and eventually happiness.
A Better Life ~ Seeing with the Heart
When we see with our heart, we no longer get caught in the trap of being for or against some issue. We can understand the value of opposing positions without being pulled into either side. We are free to make informed decisions guided by our intellect and not by our emotions. We’re not caught in turmoil, peace reigns in our hearts.
Something to Think About
There is a right and wrong. When we lose our capacity to understand there are appropriate ways to act in relationships and society, we disintegrate into dysfunctional relationships and a dysfunctional society. The great teachers from all traditions point the way by teaching us that love, kindness, and peace bring about a more just and harmonious society. When each of us works to create a loving relationship we add to the greater good of creating a just, loving and kind society.
Something to Think About
We all make plans for the future. It is prudent to do so. Yet, the future is guaranteed to no one. It’s a delicate balance to embrace and enjoy the present moment and simultaneously plan for the future. A part of us must be grounded in the present. Another part of us aspires for something better. This process is part of the human experience that remains with us throughout our lives. Those who master this balance discover the path to a peaceful and happy life.
Something to Think About
The past had its moment. It’s gone. Life is all about contributing to build a better future for ourselves, our families, and our communities. That sounds like an impossible task. It’s impossible until we break it down to it’s most essential pieces. It’s how we care about ourselves, families, neighbors, and colleagues. When we work collectively at our most fundamental level, our actions connect throughout the world to all others working at this fundamental level. We understand that great things can be accomplished when we work together, stop the insanity of war, and build a society that peacefully endures.
Today’s Poem ~ Love Song
Love Song
Rainer Maria Rilke
How can I keep my soul in me, so that
it doesn’t touch your soul? How can I raise
it high enough, past you, to other things?
I would like to shelter it, among remote
lost objects, in some dark and silent place
that doesn’t resonate when your depths resound.
Yet everything that touches us, me and you,
takes us together like a violin’s bow,
which draws one voice out of two seperate strings.
Upon what instrument are we two spanned?
And what musician holds us in his hand?
Oh sweetest song.
it doesn’t touch your soul? How can I raise
it high enough, past you, to other things?
I would like to shelter it, among remote
lost objects, in some dark and silent place
that doesn’t resonate when your depths resound.
Yet everything that touches us, me and you,
takes us together like a violin’s bow,
which draws one voice out of two seperate strings.
Upon what instrument are we two spanned?
And what musician holds us in his hand?
Oh sweetest song.
Today’s Poem ~ An Eternity
An Eternity
Archibald MacLeish
There is no dusk to be,
There is no dawn that was,
Only there’s now, and now,
And the wind in the grass.
There is no dawn that was,
Only there’s now, and now,
And the wind in the grass.
Days I remember of
Now in my heart, are now;
Days that I dream will bloom
White the peach bough.
Dying shall never be
Now in the windy grass;
Now under shooken leaves
Death never was.
