I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach
me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening.

-- Larry King

Janruary 5

This day I shall concentrate on the inner meaning of the Commandment "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self". I will accept myself, for that is the primary condition under which the good in me can grow. Unless I am at peace with the child of God I am, I cannot love & help my neighbor. Regrets are vain. They interfere with the good I could do today, the making of the better person I want to be tomorrow.

Condemning ourselves for mistakes we have made is just as bad as condemning others for theirs. We are really not equiped to make judgements, not even of ourselves.

Thomas A'Kempis said: "All perfection in this life is attended by some imperfection and all our farseeing is without obscurity."

When things look blackest, it is within my power to brighten them with the light of understanding and gratitude. I realize how much depends on my point of view; my own wrong habits of thinking and acting must be corrected and only I can do that.

Janurary 7

Someone said something unkind about me. Are my feelings hurt? Yes. Should they be? No. How do I overcome my hurt? By detatching myself , "turning it off", until I can figure out what lies behind it. If it was retaliation for an unkindness I did, let me correct my fault. If not, I have no responsibility in the matter. Should I ignore or challange? No, I will let it go, least said, soonest mended. Nothing can hurt me unless I allow it to. When I am pained outside of myself, it is not that thing which hurts me, but the way I think and feel about it.

Janurary 8

In pursuit of pleasures and escapes during our active addictions, we created a bubble of unreality around ourselves. Stepping into the bubble was exciting, it carried us off into gambling, erotic and romantic pursuits, or shopping, or drugs and alcohol. or the codependant thrill of scooping pther people out of their troubles. We used a whole system of half-truths and self-deceit to allow the bubble to exist. It led us to be more self-centered and more grandiose as we tried to force the unreal world to exist in reality.

Now, as we live in freedom from our addictive and co-dependant behaviors, we continue to peal back the layers of unreality. We no longer fight with unreality as it is, or try to shape and mold it to fit our desires. We see more clearly by living more honestly. One of the benefits of a new life is we feel more clearheaded. Life seems simpler now, and we feel a peace of mind that we could not have imagined in the past.

Lead us from the unreal to the real world. ~Hindu invocation

How often I look outside myself for approval! The project at work is successful, but my good feelings depend on having that success acknowledged. The meal I fix at home is not as tasty when no one compliments the cook. I resent the favors I do for my children when they neglect to thank me.

We all need an occassional pat on the back, But when the applause of others becomes the reason for my behavior and neccessary for me to feel satisfied, then I have given them power over me.

People may forget to notice the terrific things that I have done or may not be comfortable praising me. I don't have to take it personally. Self-pity and resentment are not my only options. If I learn to evaluate my own actions and behavior and to value my own judgement, then the approval of others will be enjoyable, but no longer essential for my serenity.


Your vision willbecome clear only when you look into your own heart. ~Carl Jung

Ohh how true this is your journal each day is inspiring to another. For one must look within and love what is there first before they can love another completely.

Praise from another does bring us a joy from within just at times the thoughts that what we made a decision to do or something we did for another did not go unrecognized. It gives us at times within those reasons to move on for what we did or said was beneficial to another. Yes maybe it is like a pat on the back and makes our heart sing to know we have done something that was appreciated by another.

But now if that is the only reason we do the things we do then yes at times we must look back within ourselves. For it is much better to do those things because we want to and they are performed without a doubt. Not having to think what we shall get in return just the feeling within you know you did it cause you wanted to. Once it feels as if you must then it becomes a chore or job and no longer are the same pleasures of the heart within ones self.


Again I commend you for your writes for it does make me as well take the time to read and ponder. It gives me pleasure as well to see the thoughts of another upon these pages as well.

Our minds are a Beautiful thing and should be keep thinking at all times.

Hell, I am lucky to remember to change my boxer shorts every day!!

Please do not commend me on "my" writes my dear lady. They are not mine to own, they are shared with me daily from a meditation I choose to read and I am simply passing them along. Possibly another wonderful human being will learn from them just as I have..

(((hugs)))

Well regardless where they come from my friend I have still enjoyed them as I'm sure others have also. So thank you for taking the time to post them for others to read.

Hello you,,, Most awesome words,,,,,,
Hugs to you,,,,

Hello to you you young lady...

((((((((((((((((((BIG HUG))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Janurary 10

I suspect that if I reclaimed all the minutes, hours and days I've sacrificed to worry and fear, I'd add years to my life. When I succumb to worry, I open a Pandora's box of terrifying pictures, paranoid voices, and relentless self-critisism. The more attention I pay to this mental static, the more I lose my foothold in reality. Then nothing useful can be accomplished.

To break the cycle of worry and fear, I'm learniong to focus all my attention on this very moment. I can turn away from destructive thoughts and concentrate instead on the sights and sounds around me: light and shadows, the earth beneath my feet, the pulse of everyday living--all pieces of the here and now.. These bits of reality help rescue me from "what-if's" and "should-have's" by anchoring me in the present. As I shut out the noise, I am more receptive to my Higher Power's will, and therefore much more able to work my way through difficult times.


This day is all I have to work with, and it's all I need. If I am tempted to wirry about tomorrow's concerns, I will gently bring my mind back to today.

"The past has flown away. The coming month and year do not exist. Ours is the present's tiny point." ~Mahmud Shabistari

Ohhh so true live for today and within the moment in order to make for a better tomorrow.

Your focus is amazing as is your soul,,,, I have so enjoyed our time together,, seeing inside you soul is so amazing,,,
Love & Light to you my friend,,,,,
Hugs

Shshshshsh should have known I would find you here (((Buttercup))) heheheheh

((((( Puddin Cup )))))))

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm when did i get so damn predictable,,, Hello beautiful,,,, Hugs to you

Better tommorows are in my future.

There is no question life is hard at times. None of us escapes trials and challenges. And some of us truely have more of them than others. So what are we to do whith that realization? We cannot control what happens to us. We can only control how we respond to it. No two paths are the same. Selp-pity is the responce of someone who hasn't learned to deal with adult life. Feeling sorry for ourselves is like having a bucket with a hole in itthat allows our spirit and our strength to drain away.

INstead of reacting with self-pity, we remind ourselves that all things change and the difficulty we face today will also change. What is hard for us today will be easier tomorrow. We will have times of peace and satisfaction. Best of all, when we play a bad hand well, we have peace of mind, our inner strength grows, and we have something more to put in our bank of knowledge.


When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard", I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?" ~Sydney Harris

Above is for Janurary 11


SIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!