reflection

Hope ~ Poem by Czeslaw Milosz

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Hope

Hope is with you when you believe
The earth is not a dream but living flesh,
that sight, touch, and hearing do not lie,
That all thing you have ever seen here
Are like a garden looked at from a gate.

You cannot enter. But you’re sure it’s there.
Could we but look more clearly and wisely
We might discover somewhere in the garden
A strange new flower and an unnamed star.

Some people say that we should not trust our eyes,
That there is nothing, just a seeming,
There are the ones who have no hope.
They think the moment we turn away,
The world, behind our backs, ceases to exist,
As if snatched up by the hand of thieves.

 Czeslaw Milosz

Something To Think About

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Within everyone there is light and shadow, good and evil, love and hate. In order to be truthful, you must embrace your total being. A person who exhibits both positive and negative qualities, strengths and weaknesses is not flawed, but complete.

Rumi

Each of us is a combination of light and shadow. We have a dark side as well as a light side. When we recognize our dark side, it is a humbling experience. It is also a liberating experience. We are liberated from thinking we are perfect. We become one with the rest of humanity.

Have you met your dark side?

If so, are you more aware when your dark side surfaces?

How have you experienced the struggle between light and shadow within your being?

Today’s Quote on New Ways of Thinking

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In order to grow we must be open to new ideas…new ways of doing things… new ways of thinking.

George Raveling

Something to Think About

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To change one’s life is not to change outer circumstances: it is to change one’s reactions.

Maurice Nicoll

 

How I respond to life’s circumstances creates the life I live. I think of something as simple as listening to someone say something I do not like. My immediate reactions are anger, defensiveness, counter attack, or retreat into my silent kingdom where only I am allowed entrance. Sound familiar?

There is a different way. I can choose to enter into constructive dialogue.

I can choose to seek to understand the other.

I can choose to listen and to respond in a way that furthers the relationship.

Have you found yourself in situations where you chose to set aside your initial ‘gut reaction’ and respond constructively? What was happening? Did it help to forge a more deeper dialogue?

Something to Think About

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Before I take my last breath, before my last flower withers, I wish to live, I wish to make love, I wish to be in this world close to those who need me, those who I need, in order to learn, comprehend and rediscover that I can be and I want to be better at every moment.

Ahmad Shamloo

Unsubduded ~ Poem by S. E. Kizer

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I have hoped, I have planned, I have striven,
    To the will I have added the deed;
  The best that was in me I’ve given,
    I have prayed, but the gods would not heed.

  I have dared and reached only disaster,
    I have battled and broken my lance;
  I am bruised by a pitiless master
    That the weak and the timid call Chance.

  I am old, I am bent, I am cheated
    Of all that Youth urged me to win;
  But name me not with the defeated,
    To-morrow again, I begin.

S.E. Kiser

Excerpt From
It Can Be Done / Poems of Inspiration

Today’s Quote on Success

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“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.”

George A. Sheehan

Something to Think About

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One common mistake is to think that one reality is the reality. You must always be prepared to leave one reality for a greater one.

Mother Meera

 

I spent much of my professional life as qualitative researcher. My students and collected stories and tried to make sense out of the collective stories to assist those we worked with to recognize the legitmacy of a different reality.

I’ve fallen many times into the trap of believing my way of seeing was the only way of seeing. Seldom did this kind of thinking produce any benificial results for me or anyone else.

Growth for me occurred when I recognized each of us has a limited view of reality. We need each other to piece our views of reality together to create a beautiful mosaic of differing perspectives.

Have you experienced an aha moment when you understood your view of reality was microcosmic?

Was it humbling? Did it inspire you to learn more about other viewpoints?

Something to Think About

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Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart.

Louise Erdrich

 

Life has taught me love is the answer. Love shines a light in the darkness. It is the songbird in my live oak tree. It is a neighbor waving at me as I drive off. It is the welcoming smile of people at my gym or church or market. I’ve discovered love surrounds me. And, it has made all the difference in my life.

Have you had similar experiences?

Has love pulled you through the dark, painful times?

Have you discovered love in its myriad expressions?

Something to Think About

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“Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once.”

—Paulo Coelho

When I read this quote by Paulo Coelho, I thought the famous auther must be reading my emails. I work hard, focus, and nothing happens. I get close, but it seems what I want is always just out of reach. All of sudden, I’m juggling so many balls, I don’t dare look away.

My experience teaches me life is unpredictable. Life isn’t fair. It’s the only life I have, so shake it off, accept what is and keep moving.

What is your experience? Is it similar to mine? How do you deal with life’s way of testing you?

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