When I trust and respect myself enough to be myself honestly, others respond with trust and respect.
We can greet all situations today with ease if we have committed ourselves to lives of integrity. Having made the decision to be fully honest at all times eliminates our uncertainty in responding to others, and thus we don't cloud issues and confuse our contemporaries with inconsistencies.
Without fail we recognize others' integrity as ours is recognized. It goes without saying that each of us is more at ease with those we trust.
Honesty invites honesty. Self-respect encourages respectful behaviour toward others, and like a boomerang, it returns to the initiator.
We teach others how to treat us.
With every action we take, every word we speak, we are informing others of our personhood.
I will set the tone for my day by my behaviour toward self and others. Over this I am all-powerful.
Monday, 23 March 2009
Monday, 16 March 2009
Dreams
Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities.
Our dreams invite us to broaden our horizons to reach beyond our present goals.
They are much more than whims.
They are probably calling us to those opportunities for which our talents have been readied. Most of us need this encouragement to attempt new ventures.
We've each been invited to this present moment by design. Our lives are joined like the tiles of a mosaic; none of us contributes the whole of the picture but each of us is necessary for its completion. More importantly, the deph, the richness of the picture in its entirety, is enhanced by our fulfilled dreams.
With joy and excitment we can anticipate our frequent aspirations, recognizing them as the guideposts offering directions for our daily travels.
Today I will welcome my dreams. They indicate tomorrow's sucessful ventures.
Our dreams invite us to broaden our horizons to reach beyond our present goals.
They are much more than whims.
They are probably calling us to those opportunities for which our talents have been readied. Most of us need this encouragement to attempt new ventures.
We've each been invited to this present moment by design. Our lives are joined like the tiles of a mosaic; none of us contributes the whole of the picture but each of us is necessary for its completion. More importantly, the deph, the richness of the picture in its entirety, is enhanced by our fulfilled dreams.
With joy and excitment we can anticipate our frequent aspirations, recognizing them as the guideposts offering directions for our daily travels.
Today I will welcome my dreams. They indicate tomorrow's sucessful ventures.
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Love
Love is mutually feeding each other, not one living on another like a ghoul.
Real love is compromise. It's sharing and taking turns. It's putting someone else's best interests first.
Love wears many expressions and is demonstrated by many gestures.
Offering love to someone, when the offer is genuine, benefits the giver as much as the receiver.
Our calloused souls are softened by the gentle nature of our love.
No one of us develops mentally and emotionally to our full stature if we cultivate isolation rather than intimacy.
We learn who we are through our involvement with others.
We come to terms with our defects and have opportunities to enhance our assets while experiencing the strenghts and shortcomings of others.
What time and patience teach is that love is generally slow to develop but will result when there is a mutual decision to live and grow in one another's company.
Each person we genuinely love makes our own survival easier.
My love is best expressed when I help someone else live life more comfortably.
Real love is compromise. It's sharing and taking turns. It's putting someone else's best interests first.
Love wears many expressions and is demonstrated by many gestures.
Offering love to someone, when the offer is genuine, benefits the giver as much as the receiver.
Our calloused souls are softened by the gentle nature of our love.
No one of us develops mentally and emotionally to our full stature if we cultivate isolation rather than intimacy.
We learn who we are through our involvement with others.
We come to terms with our defects and have opportunities to enhance our assets while experiencing the strenghts and shortcomings of others.
What time and patience teach is that love is generally slow to develop but will result when there is a mutual decision to live and grow in one another's company.
Each person we genuinely love makes our own survival easier.
My love is best expressed when I help someone else live life more comfortably.
My reflection of the day
I've begun to better understand myself since I've recovered from GAD (General Anxiety Disorder).
One of the most important things I've learned is that opinions aren't facts.
Just because I feel that a thing is so doesn't necessary make it so.
"Men are not worried by things," wrote the Greek Philosopher Epictetus, "but by their ideas about things. When we meet with difficulties, become anxious or troubled, let us not blame others, but rather ourselves.
That is: our ideas about things."
Do I believe that I can never entirely lose what I have learned during my recovery?
Today I pray:
May I learn to sort out realities from my ideas about those realities.
May I understand that situations, things, - even people - take on the colors and dimensions of my attitudes about them.
Today I will remember:
To sort the real from the unreal.
One of the most important things I've learned is that opinions aren't facts.
Just because I feel that a thing is so doesn't necessary make it so.
"Men are not worried by things," wrote the Greek Philosopher Epictetus, "but by their ideas about things. When we meet with difficulties, become anxious or troubled, let us not blame others, but rather ourselves.
That is: our ideas about things."
Do I believe that I can never entirely lose what I have learned during my recovery?
Today I pray:
May I learn to sort out realities from my ideas about those realities.
May I understand that situations, things, - even people - take on the colors and dimensions of my attitudes about them.
Today I will remember:
To sort the real from the unreal.
Monday, 2 March 2009
Self-control
One's mind may be given readily and it may be given with zest.
Not all control is oppression.
Sometimes it is release.
Our most dangerous delusion is that we can control others.
The hard-won truth is that we can control only ourselves - and it may take us a lifetime to learn this.
Self-control means release, however; release from the bondage of uncontrolled and thoughtless behaviour.
When we recognize that our only legitimate power is over ourselves, we become free to grow spiritually and to increase that power.
Lack of control is not freedom; it is chaos. Conflicting impulses squander energies instead of controlling them and directing them towards growth.
We can't subdue our unruly selves by fighting them: accept them, love them as part of our human imperfections, our superb and jagged individuality.
As we come to recognize the benefits of self-control, we'll choose it more and more often.
We'll become more fully in control of our lives, better able to direct our energies and do what we want to do.
Only by choosing self-control will I achieve freedom.
Not all control is oppression.
Sometimes it is release.
Our most dangerous delusion is that we can control others.
The hard-won truth is that we can control only ourselves - and it may take us a lifetime to learn this.
Self-control means release, however; release from the bondage of uncontrolled and thoughtless behaviour.
When we recognize that our only legitimate power is over ourselves, we become free to grow spiritually and to increase that power.
Lack of control is not freedom; it is chaos. Conflicting impulses squander energies instead of controlling them and directing them towards growth.
We can't subdue our unruly selves by fighting them: accept them, love them as part of our human imperfections, our superb and jagged individuality.
As we come to recognize the benefits of self-control, we'll choose it more and more often.
We'll become more fully in control of our lives, better able to direct our energies and do what we want to do.
Only by choosing self-control will I achieve freedom.
My reflection of the day
Why don't I spend part of today thinking about my assets, rather than my liabilities?
Why not think about victories, instead of defeats - about the ways in which I am gentle and kind?
It's always been my tendency to fall into a sort of cynical self-hypnosis, putting derogatory labels on practically everything I've done, said or felt.
Just for today, I'll spend a quiet half hour trying to gain a more positive perspective on my life.
Do I have the courage to change the things I can?
Today I pray:
Through quietness and a reassessment of myself, may I develop a more positive attitude.
If I am a child of God, created in His image, there must be goodness in me.
I will think about that goodness, and the ways it manifests itself.
I will stop putting myself down, even in my secret thoughts.
I will respect what is God's.
I will respect myself.
Today I will remember:
Self-respect is respect for God.
Why not think about victories, instead of defeats - about the ways in which I am gentle and kind?
It's always been my tendency to fall into a sort of cynical self-hypnosis, putting derogatory labels on practically everything I've done, said or felt.
Just for today, I'll spend a quiet half hour trying to gain a more positive perspective on my life.
Do I have the courage to change the things I can?
Today I pray:
Through quietness and a reassessment of myself, may I develop a more positive attitude.
If I am a child of God, created in His image, there must be goodness in me.
I will think about that goodness, and the ways it manifests itself.
I will stop putting myself down, even in my secret thoughts.
I will respect what is God's.
I will respect myself.
Today I will remember:
Self-respect is respect for God.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Water
It is time to show the strenght of water and flow away.
...To stand is to be crushed, but to flow out is to gather new strenght.
Water is one of the strongest elements on earth: it can't be broken; it can assume many shapes; it joins easily with itself.
When it reaches a certain mass, moving water presents an irresistible force.
We might do well to learn to acquire the strenght of water temporarily; to be able to lose ourselves for a time, in concert with others, and then to reclaim our identities.
We needn't fear their loss. We are unique personalities, and our selfhood is intact.
How sucessful I would be if I could use the strenght of water when I need it; the purity of air, the solidity of earth, and the appetite of fire.
...To stand is to be crushed, but to flow out is to gather new strenght.
Water is one of the strongest elements on earth: it can't be broken; it can assume many shapes; it joins easily with itself.
When it reaches a certain mass, moving water presents an irresistible force.
We might do well to learn to acquire the strenght of water temporarily; to be able to lose ourselves for a time, in concert with others, and then to reclaim our identities.
We needn't fear their loss. We are unique personalities, and our selfhood is intact.
How sucessful I would be if I could use the strenght of water when I need it; the purity of air, the solidity of earth, and the appetite of fire.
My reflection of the day
Just for today, I'll not be afraid of anything.
If my mind is clouded with nameless fears, I'll track them down and expose their unreality.
I'll remind myself that God is in charge of me and my life, and that all I have to do is accept His protection and guidance.
What happened yesterday need not trouble me today.
Do I accept the fact that it's in my power to make today a good one just by the way I think about it and what I do about it?
Today I pray:
May I make today a good day.
May I know that it is up to me to assign to it qualities of goodness, through a positive attitude towards what the present is providing.
May I be untroubled by vestiges of yesterday.
Please, God, remain close to me all through this day.
Today I will remember:
To make it good
If my mind is clouded with nameless fears, I'll track them down and expose their unreality.
I'll remind myself that God is in charge of me and my life, and that all I have to do is accept His protection and guidance.
What happened yesterday need not trouble me today.
Do I accept the fact that it's in my power to make today a good one just by the way I think about it and what I do about it?
Today I pray:
May I make today a good day.
May I know that it is up to me to assign to it qualities of goodness, through a positive attitude towards what the present is providing.
May I be untroubled by vestiges of yesterday.
Please, God, remain close to me all through this day.
Today I will remember:
To make it good
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
