He is a man ....................

He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has.

- Epictetus

Calm your thoughts

Have you ever noticed how much your own thinking can often interfere with your awareness? You've probably had the experience of failing to hear what someone is saying to you because you're busy thinking of how to answer them.

There is a time for thinking, for questioning and judgment, for analyzing and strategizing, and there is a time for opening yourself up to experience the world around you. You are well equipped to think, and you are also equipped to listen, to feel, to see, to experience.

Thoughts can be powerful. The absence of thoughts can be powerful as well. Many things are annoying, for example, simply because you think they're annoying. What grand and beautiful things might lie hidden underneath the relentless noise of your own thoughts?

Pursue your thoughts with vigor, and when the situation calls for it, let your thoughts be still. Strength and wisdom come not only from excitement and complexity, but also from a quiet and peaceful awareness of what is.

-- Ralph Marston

Without discipline, .........................

Without discipline, there is no life at all. - Katharine Hepburn

Love is not blind

The power of acceptance

Sometimes the best way to free yourself from a burden is to accept it. Much of the destructive essence of any burdensome situation comes from fighting against it. Once you stop fighting, you can start progressing.

Certainly if there is a threat you protect yourself against it. But there is no point in fighting against what already is. When you accept the situation, that is the starting point at which you begin to make the most of it. When you can go beyond acceptance into sincere gratitude, you take on a powerful positive momentum.

In short, accept what is, then find something positive about it. Even the most desperate situation has its positive aspects and possibilities. You'll uncover them only after you've accepted that the situation exists. Acceptance is not surrender. It is the recognition of reality. By clearly seeing what is, by acknowledging and even being grateful, you can move things forward toward the way you would like them to be.

-- Ralph Marston

I believe..............................................

I believe with all my heart that civilization has produced nothing finer than a man or woman who thinks and practices true tolerance.
- Frank Knox