There is always a way

Something to think about…

When you journey up a mountain path, you see many types of tree growth.  In the lower part of the mountain are small saplings just starting their growth, as well as towering trees.  Higher up, trees are smaller.  Some cling precariously to the side of the mountain, growing out of a small patch of earth between cracks in a rock.

Journey up the same path after a spring snowmelt and you may see a different view.  In the lower regions, once towering trees have been felled by the power of raging water, and small saplings have been snapped at their base.  But up higher, small trees are still firmly in place, steadfast in their grip between the rocks.

The lesson in this is that the strongest can survive.  Like the trees, you are ever-exposed to the storms and difficulties of daily life.  Will you be overwhelmed by life’s adversities, easily felled by such things, or will you develop an inner strength and resiliency that will enable you to work through each difficulty?

Today recognize that challenges in life are inevitable.  Brace yourself for them, hold firm to your position, and never let them dislodge you.

Source (modified):  Morning Light | Amy E. Dean | Hazelden Meditations

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So, what’s new with you?

Cartoonist Leigh Rubin conveys a humorous look at boredom in his comic drawing of a goldfish in a bowl, entitled “Diary of a Fish.”  The diary runs from Sunday through Saturday and conveys the same entries about how the fish spent its day:  It swam.  It ate.  It slept.

Now, you may view your existence as one of dull routines, causing you to feel bored and disinterested in life.  When someone asks, “So, what’s new with you?” you may let out a sigh and mumble, “Same old, same old.”  But, your days can be transformed and refashioned to add freshness and richness to your life.  Being spontaneous can open you up to new experiences.  Taking a risk can offer learning and challenge.  Doing something out of the ordinary can provide an opportunity to grow.  Embracing unpredictability can strengthen your ability to flow with life’s challenges.

If you feel there is nothing special going on in your life, do something different from what you did yesterday.  Even simple changes can provide enough stimulation to make life more interesting and enjoyable.

Source (modified):  Morning Light | Amy E. Dean | Hazelden Meditations

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The outcome of purposeful living

Something to think about…

Think about all of the components that go into creating a glowing campfire.  There is the pit that must be dug in order to contain the fire.  There are the sticks of varying sizes that must be gathered together and organized in the pit.  And then there is the spark from a match that is needed to ignite the sticks.  From this creation of a campfire are many by-products: something that cooks food, something that warms the body, something that produces an exquisite aroma, and something that provides light in the darkness.

Happiness an be seen in much the same way.  It is a by-product of all of the positive and enjoyable things you gather together each day.  It is the effort you exert into seeking the treasures of life.  And it is the spark you add to your day-to-day existence.

Happiness is an outcome of the effort you put into life.  It exists in the harmonious relationships you create, in the sense of purpose that awakens you in the morning, and in the feeling of connection to all of life.

Remember that happiness is not something to strive for; rather, it is something you create.  It is the outcome of purposeful living.

Source (modified):  Morning Light | Amy E. Dean | Hazelden Meditations

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A little spark of kindness

A little spark of kindness can put a colossal burst of sunshine into someone’s day.

~ Author Unknown

Something to think about…

“One receives only that which is given.  The game of life is a game of boomerangs.  Our thoughts, deeds, and words, return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.”

~ Florence Scovel Shin

Each of us can attest to the truth of this passage.  During the difficult times, however, it is not uppermost in our minds that “what goes around, comes around.”  It feels all too easy to be justifiably resentful or to gossip or to ignore another’s presence.  And the repercussions are seldom immediate.  They will come, though.

Goodness is likewise repaid.  Giving love, attention, and respect to the individuals who share our lives and to the people who cross our paths by chance will smooth our own passage day by day.  The effects of our goodness will often be felt quickly.  A smile elicits a smile.  Kind thoughts bless us as well as the receiver.  Life events do come full circle.

With a bit of effort, I can smile at someone today, even though I’m frowning inside.  Both will be better for it.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Today flows from yesterday

The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday.

~ Steve Mariboli

Something to think about…

Today flows from yesterday, the day before, the day before that.  Tomorrow repeats the pattern.  What we are given on any one day will have its beginning in the past and its finale in the future.  No incident is isolated entirely; no issue is self-contained.

Maturity is being able to let go of outgrown attitudes, stifling opinions, no matter how good and right they were at one time.  Our egos often get too attached to some of our opinions, and new ideas can’t filter in.  Some will try to get our attention today.  We are ready for new growth.  The choice not to hamper it is ours to make.

The opinions we held certain yesterday may not be adequate to the problems of today.  They need not be.  They served us well.  They are not for naught.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Unique gifts and talents

The unique gifts and talents each of us contribute to the world add dimension and color to the rich tapestry we call life.

~ Janet S. Dickens

All of us have unique talents and gifts.  Believing this fully is difficult at times; for some of us, most of the time.  But it is true.  What each of us can contribute to the world is unlike every other contribution.  Each talent is slightly different from every other talent.  And they are all needed.  We are all needed.

Creativity — any kind — writing, photography, cooking, child care, weaving, managing, woodworking — nourishes the self that feels isolated and worthless.  And as the self is nourished, it grows; it recovers.

Recovery means changing our lifestyle.  It means reaching out to others and being there for one another.  It means rejoining the human race by giving of ourselves.  Our talents are the gifts the human race awaits — needs, in fact.  Do we know our talents?

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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To understand and be understood

The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.

~ Ralph G. Nichols

Something to think about…

Our experiences educate us to help show each other the way.  Others’ experiences, likewise, will help still others.  We need to share our histories.  There is no greater honor we can give one another than rapt attention.  We each want to be heard, to be special, to be acknowledged.  And recognition may well be the balm that will heal someone’s hurt today.

A new day faces us, a day filled with opportunities to really listen to someone who needs to be heard.  And the surprise is that we will hear a message just right for us, where we are now.  A message that may well point us in a new, better direction.  Guidance is always at hand, if only we listen for it.  But when we are trapped in our own narrow world of problems and confusion, we scramble whatever messages are trying to reach us.  And we miss the many opportunities to make another person feel special and necessary to our lives.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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15 Things to Give Up

The thief of time

Never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.

~ Charles Dickens

Something to think about…

Procrastination is habitual.  It’s perhaps a habit we’ve struggled with over the years, and not one that can be willed away.  It eats at us, no doubt.  How many times have we gone to bed at night depressed, discouraged, angry with ourselves for not finishing a job we promised ourselves, or someone else, we’d do?  Sometimes it feels hopeless.  The tasks awaiting our attention pile up, seem impossible to complete.  But there is hope.

We have only this day to concern ourselves with.  We can break the spell of procrastination, lethargy, immobility, if we choose.  We can pick a task that needs attention, any task, preferably a small one for today.  Maybe it’s writing a letter, or fixing a hem, or making an appointment to see a doctor.  Deciding to do something, and then doing it, breaks through the barriers that have caged us.  Immediately, we will sense the surge of freedom.  In this moment, we can always act.  and any act will free us.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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The art of listening

The reality of the other person lies not in what he reveals to you, but what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says, but rather to what he does not say.

~ Khalil Gibran

Something to think about…

When we don’t listen fully to each other, when we don’t revere the spirit within others that’s trying to talk to us, we destroy the connection that wants to be made between our spirits.  Our inner selves have messages to give and messages to receive for the good of all.  Our ego selves often keep us from hearing the very words that would unravel a problem in our lives.

How hard it is, how often, to be still and to fully listen to the words, rather than the person.  How much more familiar it is to filter the message with our own ongoing inner dialogue — our own ongoing continual assessment of another’s personhood at the very time our higher power is trying to reach us through them.

There really are no wasted words.  Messages are everywhere.  We can learn to listen.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Moments you can’t put into words

Live for the moments you can’t put into words.

~ Author Unknown

Something to think about…

Being selective in choosing activities, in choosing friends, in choosing material possessions fosters unexpected appreciation.  Too much of any one thing negates whatever specialness might have been realized.  If we surround ourselves with acquaintances, we never fully share in knowing a few people well.  If we surround ourselves with “toys,” we never learn how we really want to spend our time.

When we don’t take life slowly, piece by piece (one shell at a time), we avoid the greatest discovery of all, the person within.  When our attention to persons, places, things is deliberate and steady, the beauty within the object of our focus shines forth, and we, too, are made more beautiful in the process.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Life’s realities

Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.

~ Marc Chernoff

Something to think about…

Being dissatisfied — discontented with the experiences life gives us — forever hampers our growth.  Reality is not our bane but our gift.  The particular reality perceived by any one of us is of special significance because in that reality are our lessons — the very lessons that will awaken us to the awareness that what life offers is just rich and rewarding.

It’s our interpretation of life’s realities that is at fault.  But as we grow spiritually, the clouds will disappear.  We’ll come to understand the interplay betweeen our realities.  And we’ll willingly move ahead, fulfilling our part in life’s bigger picture.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Happiness is a form of courage

Happiness is a form of courage.

~ George Holbrook Jackson

Something to think about…

We are as happy as we make up our minds to be, so goes the saying.  But happiness is the result of right actions.  We prepare for it daily.  We chart our course.  Many of us have to first determine where we want to go before we can decide on the chart.  We have perhaps passively floated along for years.  But now the time is right to navigate, to move toward a goal.

We may have fears about moving ahead.  We can be courageous, however.  Strength is at hand, always, if we but ask for it.  We can make a small beginning today.  And every day, we can do at least one thing we need to do to bring us closer to our goal.  Acomplishment, however small, nurtures good feelilngs.  Happiness is the by-product.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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The serenity prayer…with a twist

God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me.

~ Author Unknown

Something to think about…

The more we are in concert with God, the greater will be our pleasures in life.  Recognizing our partnership with our higher power makes every decision easier, facilitates the completion of every task, and removes all uncertainty about our value to this world, particularly to those persons around us.

Knowledge that we are never alone, that in every circumstance our best interests are being cared for, softens whatever blow we encounter.  The blows teach us; they are the lessons the inner self has requested, and let us never forget we have a ready tutor to see us through every assignment.

The more we rely on God to see us through the mundane activities as well as the troubling experiences, the greater will be our certainty that all is well, our lives are on course, and a plan is unfolding little by little that has our best interests at its center.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Time and pressure

God changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls, and coal into diamonds using time and pressure. He’s working on you, too.

~ Rick Warren

Something to think about…

Change is not easy, but it’s absolutely unavoidable.  Doors will close.  Barriers will surface.  Frustrations will mount.  Nothing stays the same forever, and it’s such folly to wish otherwise.  Growth accompanies positive change; determining to risk the outcome resuting from a changed behavior or attitude will enhance our self-perceptions.  We will have moved forward; in every instance, our lives will be influenced by making a change that only each of us can make.

We have all dreaded the changes we knew we had to make.  Perhaps even now we fear some impending changes.  Where might they take us?  It’s difficult accepting that the outcome is not ours to control.  Only the effort is ours.  The solace is that positive changes, which we know are right for us and other people in our lives, are never going to take us astray.  In fact, they are necessary for the smooth path just beyond this stumbling block.

When we are troubled by circumstances in our lives, a change is called for, a change that we must initiate.  When we reflect on our recent as well as distant past, we will remember that the changes we most dreaded again and again have positively influenced our lives in untold ways.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Morning coffee prayer

via Pinterest

A quiet mind

Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.

~ Hans Margolius

Something to think about…

Perhaps it’s the human condition never to be satisfied and yet always to think, “If only…”  However, the more we look within for wholeness, the greater will be our acceptance of all things, at all times.

So frequently we hear that happiness is within.  But what does that mean when we may have just lost the job that supported us and our children?  Or when the car won’t start and funds are low?  Or when we are feeling really scared and don’t know whom to talk to or where to go?  “Happiness is within” is such a grand platitude at those times.

Nevertheless, our security in any situation is within, if we but know how to tap it.  It is within because that is where the strength we are blessed with resides, the strength given us from the power greater than ourselves.  “Going within” first takes a decision.  Next, it takes stillness, and then, patience.  But peace will come.

We will quit wanting when we have learned how to turn to our inner strength.  We will find serenity rather than suffering.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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The struggle you’re in today

The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.

~ Robert Tew

Something to think about…

To be alive means to experience difficulties, conflicts, challenges from many different directions.  What we do with adverse conditions both determines and is determined by who we are.  Resistance, most of us have learned, heightens the adversity.  Acceptance of the condition, trusting all the while the lesson it offers us is for our benefit, ensures that we’ll come out on top.

Difficulties are opportunities for advancement, for increased self-awareness, for self-fufillment.  So often we hear and remind one another that we grow through pain.  We can face any situation knowing we have the strength of our faith to shore us up.  Strangely, we need challenges in order to grow; without growth we wither.  Happiness is the bounty for facing the momentarily unhappy conditions.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Our attitude is crucial

It’s up to you to find the beauty in the ugliest of days.

~ Author Unknown

Something to think about…

Rough times may be pouring in on us at the moment, and they may seem unending.  Difficulties appear to attract more difficulties, problems with loved ones, problems at work, problems with our appearance.  A negative attitude, something that we all struggle with at times (some of us more than others), is the culprit.

When the good times come, as they always do, they are accompanied by a positive attitude.  We do find what we look for.

Our attitude is crucial.  It determines our experiences.  A trying situation can be tolerated with relative ease when we have a positive, trusting attitude.  We forget, generally, that we have an inner source of strength to meet every situation.  We forget the simple truth — all is well, at this moment, and at every moment.  When the moments feel good, our presence is light, cheery.  When the moments are heavy, so are we.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Our attitudes shape our world

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

~ Buddist Proverb

Something to think about…

Meeting life head-on, with a smile, attracts people and situations to us.  Our attitudes shape our world — which is not to deny that problems do occur.  However, problems can be viewed as special opportunities for personal growth — as gifts, more or less, that we are ready to receive.  When the student is ready, the teacher appears.  the stumbling blocks we encounter push us beyond our present awareness.  They teach us that we are stronger and more creative than we’d thought.  Problem solving is esteem-building.

Negatively confronting the day is sure to complicate any experiences.  A simple misunderstanding can be exaggerated into a grave situation, requiring the energy of many people to handle it.  On the other hand, a patient, trusting, loving attitude can turn a grave situation into a positive learning experience for all affected.

We can beautify the day by smiling throughout all the experiences it offers us.  The epression of love to everyone we meet guarantees to make us more lovable in return.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

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Changing the situation

Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.

~ Proverbs 20:30

Something to think about…

Being used to a situation, even a painful one, carries with it a level of comfort.  Moving away from the pain, changing the situation, be it job, home, or marriage, takes courage and support from other persons.  But, even more, it takes faith that the change will benefit us.  For most of us, the pain will need to worsen.

In retrospect, we wonder why it took us so long.  We forget, from one instance to the next, that a new door cannot open until we’ve closed one behind us.  The more important fact is that a new one will always open, without fail.  The pain of the old experience is trying to push us to new challenges, new opportunities, new growth.  We can handle the challenges, new opportunities, new growth.  We can handle the change; we can handle the growth.  We are never given more than we can handle, and we are always given just what we need.

Experience can’t prepare us for the ramifications of a new change.  But our trust in friends, and our faith in the spiritual process of life, can and will see us through whatever comes.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

There is wonder in the moment

Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.

~ Author Unknown

There is wonder in the moment, if we but look for it, let it touch us, believe in it.  And with the recognition and celebration of the wonder comes the joy we desire and await.

Being wholly in tune with the present moment is how we’ll come to know the spiritual essence that connects all of life.  We search for peace, happiness, and contentment outside of ourselves.  We need instead to discover it within us, now and always, in whatever we are experiencing.

We can let our experiences wash over us.  Longing for a different time, a distant place, a new situation breeds discontent.  It prevents us from the thrill, the gifts offered in this present moment.  But they are there.

We can practice feeling joyful in the present, be thrilled with the realization that, right now, all is well.  All is always well.  Life is full of mystery and wonder, and each moment of our awareness adds to the wonder.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

A change of heart

Sometimes God doesn’t change your situation because He’s trying to change your heart.

~ Author Unknown

Self-doubt fosters possessiveness.  When we lack confidence in our own capabilities, when we fear we don’t measure up as women, men, mothers, fathers, lovers, employees, we cling to old behavior, maybe to unhealthy habits, perhaps to another person.  We can’t find our completion in another person because that person changes and moves away from our center.  Then we feel lost once again.

Completion of the self accompanies our spiritual progress.  As our awareness of the reality of our higher power’s caring role is heightened, we find peace.  We trust that we are becoming all that we need to be.  We need only have faith in our connection to that higher power.  We can let that faith possess us, and we’ll never need to possess someone else.

God’s love is ours, every moment.  Recognition is all that’s asked of us.  Acceptance of this ever-present love will make us whole, and self-doubt will diminish.  Clinging to other people traps us as much as them, and all growth is hampered, ours and theirs.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations

Blame, Responsibility, and Care

Excerpt:  One of the core milestones on the path of consciousness transformation is the moment when we can fully integrate the radical awareness that our emotional responses to the world and to things that happen to us are never caused by another person. This awareness stands in stark contrast to our habitual speech, which states that we feel what we feel because of what someone else did. Instead, we learn, if we apply ourselves deeply to this practice, that our emotions are only caused by the meaning we assign to what someone did, and that meaning is generated from within us, not by the actions. (Click through to read more)

via Blame, Responsibility, and Care | Psychology Today.

An Answered Prayer

Something to think about…

Patience is a quality that frequently eludes us.  We want what we want when we want it.  Fortunately, we don’t get it until the time is right, but the waiting convinces us our prayers aren’t heard.  We must believe that the answer always comes in its own special time and place.  The frustration is that our timetable is seldom like God’s.

When we look back over the past few weeks, months, or even years, we can recall past prayers.  Had they all been answered at the time of request, how different our lives would be.  We are each on a path unique to us, offering special lessons to be learned.  Just as a child must crawl before walking, so must we move slowly, taking the steps in our growth in sequence.

Our prayers will be answered, sometime, somewhere.  Of that, we can be sure.  They will be answered to our greater good.  And they will be answered at the right time the right place, in the right way.

Source (modified):  Each Day a New Beginning | Hazelden Meditations