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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
Saturday, January 30, 2010
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
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
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
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Quote Margaret Silf - "God Speaks in Whispers"
I'm intrigued by the notion that all the answers to all the questions we could possibly ask already exist; that as the question forms so too does the response. It's a bit of a quantum physics kind of an idea. Certainly there is a heck of a lot of information circulating the planet these days - apparently if you printed out all the information on the World Wide Web it would take a single person 59 million years to read it. Cute statistics, no?
I came across a quote the other day from Margaret Silf, a committed Catholic spiritualist, writer and speaker. It was, quite simply, "God speaks in whispers". A nice idea. I like the idea of "God" speaking to me, or the universe putting information infront of me as I need it. It also makes sense to me that the answer or insight may be obvious but because life can be so busy and confusing and noisy the information may not be heard... if "God" is whispering.
Except that sometimes God doesn't whisper. I've noticed that if you continue to pursue a path or line of thinking that is not right for you, sometimes the universe gets more insistent, louder. If you still don't pay attention then it starts to make things very very obvious... till even a sleep-walker has to waken and pay attention to their surroundings. A sudden change of job, a twisted ankle, a phone call out of the blue, a song on the radio just as you were thinking about something the song relates to, a flat tire... circumstance, co-incidence... that kind of chatter has all kinds of names.
Here's a challenge for you. Next time it happens to you, pay attention: maybe someone is trying to tell you something.
IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
Quote - Anthony Robbins - results
Crazy playful silly ways to feel instantly happier
I came across a quote the other day from Margaret Silf, a committed Catholic spiritualist, writer and speaker. It was, quite simply, "God speaks in whispers". A nice idea. I like the idea of "God" speaking to me, or the universe putting information infront of me as I need it. It also makes sense to me that the answer or insight may be obvious but because life can be so busy and confusing and noisy the information may not be heard... if "God" is whispering.
Except that sometimes God doesn't whisper. I've noticed that if you continue to pursue a path or line of thinking that is not right for you, sometimes the universe gets more insistent, louder. If you still don't pay attention then it starts to make things very very obvious... till even a sleep-walker has to waken and pay attention to their surroundings. A sudden change of job, a twisted ankle, a phone call out of the blue, a song on the radio just as you were thinking about something the song relates to, a flat tire... circumstance, co-incidence... that kind of chatter has all kinds of names.
Here's a challenge for you. Next time it happens to you, pay attention: maybe someone is trying to tell you something.
IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
Quote - Anthony Robbins - results
Crazy playful silly ways to feel instantly happier
Do you hear what people tell you?
Sometimes we only half listen, or listen but then filter the words, giving them a meaning that does not actually reflect the speaker's intention. Assuming your friends and acquaintenances speak the truth as they see it and are not deliberately distorting things for their own benefit, has it occurred to you that their observations of you and your situation may accurately identify some positive actions you could take? Or maybe just add a couple of items to the shopping list of possible actions you need to consider. Not the ones you THINK they mean... but what they literally SAID.
A friend of a friend regularly shares very personal reflections via group emails, Facebook status updates and notes. At times she seems rather down, morose, negative. Generally people write back warm encouraging comments saying how beautiful and thoughtful her poetry is, how insightful, how sensitive... 'cause they are nice people, and it is a gift of sorts to be part of such an intimate sharing.
Lately, though, I have noticed people starting to respond differently ...today one guy commented "Choose your own adventure, Claudia". I wonder if Claudia will hear him? I also wonder what Claudia will hear?
Stepping back a bit, when your friends offer you solutions or insights, what do you hear? "I write beautiful, clever poetry" or "I need to put more energy into creating joy not pain"?
IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
Practicing gratitude... a quick 'how to"!
Finding joy in each day
A friend of a friend regularly shares very personal reflections via group emails, Facebook status updates and notes. At times she seems rather down, morose, negative. Generally people write back warm encouraging comments saying how beautiful and thoughtful her poetry is, how insightful, how sensitive... 'cause they are nice people, and it is a gift of sorts to be part of such an intimate sharing.
Lately, though, I have noticed people starting to respond differently ...today one guy commented "Choose your own adventure, Claudia". I wonder if Claudia will hear him? I also wonder what Claudia will hear?
Stepping back a bit, when your friends offer you solutions or insights, what do you hear? "I write beautiful, clever poetry" or "I need to put more energy into creating joy not pain"?
IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
Practicing gratitude... a quick 'how to"!
Finding joy in each day
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Manifesting your dreams: Wouldn't it be nice if...
...we could eat chocolate for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner... without feeling sick, getting diabetes or putting on weight! Oh yes. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone you met in the street was already a friend and said hello to you... yes! Wouldn't it be nice if you made a million dollars this week? Scored a scholarship? If people in all the cities, towns, suburbs and villages of the world lived harmonously and happily together. Wouldn't it be nice if your girlfriend bought you your dream car today and gave you the keys tonight as a surprise? Yes.
What's your "wouldn't it be nice if"?
Can you feel already how playing the game of "wouldn't it be nice if" can change your mood? Make you feel happier? Perhaps even make it easier for good things to come to you.
When you are feeling good it's kind of easier to keep the good feeling building. Sometimes little games like "wouldn't it be nice if" can help kick start that "feeling good". And then we can let it gather momentum and before you know it we have more happy peaceful days than not!
But there's one trick - to start off, keep your day-dreams believable - so close to real you can see it clearly in your mind's eye - don't open up that can of worms called "longing". If you day-dream with longing - a pervading sense of lack - the power of "wouldn't it be nice if" can be lost. Keep it soft.
Here's an example. Driving home in the car during peak hour rather than saying "wouldn't it be nice if all these cars would just go away and I could be home in 10 minutes" (very unlikely to happen in that moment) try "wouldn't it be nice if I had a surprise parcel waiting at home for me when I get there" or "wouldn't it be nice if Sally and Bob could come with us on that next hiking trip".
Play with it. See if you can make it work for you... wouldn't it be nice if you could!
IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
Allowing yourself to feel good
Books about happiness
What's your "wouldn't it be nice if"?
Can you feel already how playing the game of "wouldn't it be nice if" can change your mood? Make you feel happier? Perhaps even make it easier for good things to come to you.
When you are feeling good it's kind of easier to keep the good feeling building. Sometimes little games like "wouldn't it be nice if" can help kick start that "feeling good". And then we can let it gather momentum and before you know it we have more happy peaceful days than not!
But there's one trick - to start off, keep your day-dreams believable - so close to real you can see it clearly in your mind's eye - don't open up that can of worms called "longing". If you day-dream with longing - a pervading sense of lack - the power of "wouldn't it be nice if" can be lost. Keep it soft.
Here's an example. Driving home in the car during peak hour rather than saying "wouldn't it be nice if all these cars would just go away and I could be home in 10 minutes" (very unlikely to happen in that moment) try "wouldn't it be nice if I had a surprise parcel waiting at home for me when I get there" or "wouldn't it be nice if Sally and Bob could come with us on that next hiking trip".
Play with it. See if you can make it work for you... wouldn't it be nice if you could!
IF YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ:
Allowing yourself to feel good
Books about happiness
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