Saturday, January 30, 2010

A Page Of Decent Quotations About Love

I came across this web page about love the other day. It has a long list of quotations about love and being in love. Some of them I agree with, some are funny, some are just interesting. So often quotes about love are just tacky and sugary sweet. Yet love - for self, others, the world, your work - is such a powerful emotion. Its impact can be so much bigger than roses and chocolates. I hope you enjoy these!

Love Quotes

A number of those quotes resonate with me but this is one that stood out for some reason:

"There’s nothing in the world like being young and in love. It gives you the power to do things you would never have had the courage to do otherwise. It inspires you to make yourself vulnerable, put your heart on the line. To give more than you can give. To speak heart-felt sentiments you thought only existed in old books and flowery poetry. And it can make you forget everything except love itself. That one thing that makes life worth living, the object of your affection. Inspired by love, we can move mountains, make great changes, do great things. But we can also become so blinded by it that we forget everything … everyone … even ourselves."

~ Everwood

IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:

Quotation - Anthony Robbins: Moments of Decision
Quotation - Alex Noble: Spirit of the Journey 
Quotation - Margaret Silf: God Speaks in Whispers 

Keeping Promises

How often have you said to someone "Love to catch up! Let's go for a coffee" (drink, walk etc) but failed to follow up? You were full of good intentions at the time, the sentiment was sincere, but for whatever reason you just never did anything about it. Have you thought about the impact that has had on you?

Firstly, it kind of makes you look like a lier. A sweet, well-intentioned one perhaps... but ultimately false.

Secondly, on some level, you must be aware of your lack of follow through. Some people may shrug it off with any number of reasons, including "I was busy", and think nothing much of it. Others may carry the teeny-tiniest hint of guilt for not being of their word. Either way, you are still, on some level, aware that you didn't do what you said you would.

So what's going on here? Perhaps you are simply very generous with words - you have plenty of them and are happy to throw a few spares away in careless conversation. Perhaps you wish to be generous in spirit and demonstrate friendship and warmth by expressing a desire to continue the conversation or connection, somewhere sometime. Perhaps you're not very good at saying no to the wrong things and yes to the right things and so have a whole heap of "busy-ness" stealing time from those things you really want to do (like have the coffee). Or perhaps you are just flaky?

As a kind of game, try this. For just one day don't take on, suggest, or committ to anything unless you are 100% prepared to follow through. Then, the same day, complete the task or put the wheels in motion, and keep them in motion, till the deed is done. Another way of saying it is - for just one day don't make any promises you will not keep. By the end of the day you'll notice some curious benefits.

One benefit is that you will feel less stretched, less obligated; another is improved self esteem (we derive self esteem from action) and confidence. Each time you keep a promise you have made, even if the other person has no idea what's going on, you'll feel an increasing sense of ability. After practicing for a while you may find yourself taking on much bigger challenges - because by then you'll know you can trust yourself to "be your word".

This is not about the other person. This is about you. Yes, you are doing what you told someone you would do - burn that CD, email that photo, share that recipe, arrange that dinner - and they will see and experience that. So it does kind of look like you keeping your "promise" to them... but on another level, first and foremost, you are keeping a promise you made to yourself... and that feels good!


IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
New year's resolution
Silly but funny video
One path to peacefulness

Friday, January 29, 2010

Quotation - Love & Happiness - The Heart Knows...

The heart always knows - when you have the courage to hear your heart and choose the things that make you feel good... you are always in the right place

Monday, January 11, 2010

Allowing Love In Your Life

Have you ever had such an intense desire for love that you almost felt your bones would shatter for the lack of it? Perhaps you were going through a divorce, a nasty break up, facing the death of a loved one. At these critical times, our need can be so profound we fear we may not even survive it. At other times, as we go about our day, a feeling of lack or absence or loneliness may walk beside us. It may be a vague feeling we can't quite name, a niggling sense that all is not quite what we hoped, or more extreme, if loneliness has a firm grip over us.

It is hard at these times to accept that love is all around us, waiting for a signal from us so it can flood into our lives, and also hard to "be" the love you so desperately seek in order to "attract it in". Self-help books can be wonderful but sometimes we stand so far from where we want to be it can seem like an impossible dream to even dredge up a smile! Let alone manifest a whole universe of happy happy joy joy.

I've been thinking a lot about "attraction" in the Ester and Jerry Hicks, "The Secret", sense of the word. It kind of puts YOU in the centre of things - where you can create the enviroment needed to have a magical life evolve from where you are here and now. The theory goes that when you are a vibrational match for whatever it is you desire that is what appears.

I have great respect for Ester and Jerry Hicks. I get their daily quotes and find they often speak to me in ways that so many others do not. But for me, what I've observed is that at a certain point it's no longer about attracting, it's about allowing...

Humans. Crazy creatures. Here we are desperately desiring this, that and the other, and then, when it comes knocking at our door, we bolt like a scared rabbit in the other direction. New job: "I'm not ready to move just yet"; Gorgeous date: "she's too good for me" / "he was too nice"; Business opporunity: "I want to do my Masters next year, sounded too full on"....

So here's a challenge for you: imagine for a moment that it's safe to love.

We're assuming you have done the work and are capable of giving and sharing the kind of love you dream of. What if, now, you simply say "yes" when the opportunity for friendship, companionship, a friendly chat, any kind of warm and generous human exchange comes your way? And bigger still, what if the unexpected turns up one day and instead of running you simply allow love to in? Tired of waiting? Shift focus from "attracting" and invest more effort in "allowing".

Loving and being loved may be easier than you think.


IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
God speaks in whispers
Good books about happiness
Crazy happy silly ways to make yourself instantly happier