A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles. ~William Hazlitt
Every smile makes you a day younger. ~Chinese Proverb
Put your thoughts to sleep, do not let them cast a shadow over the moon of your heart. Let go of thinking. ~Rumi
No, life isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty darn good. You just have to…
1. Embrace your humanness. – Do not endlessly search of sanctity, sacredness, and purity – these things are found after this life, not in it. But in this life you can search to be human – to feel, to give, to take, to laugh, to dance, to get lost, to be found, to love and to lust… to be so unapologetically and beautifully human in every imaginable way.
2. Realize your greatness. – Contrary to what others may say, you do not need to rise to the top, or be the cream of the crop, before you can feel great about yourself. For you are not a failure because you’re not perfect, got rejected or laid off, struggle to make ends meet, or have a family with issues. You are great because, despite your circumstances, you keep loving, you keep getting back up after every fall, and, above all, the little steps you keep taking, you take with grace.
3. Exercise your inner power. – This life is yours, and yours alone. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it genuinely. Take the power to walk in nature and be a part of it. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.
4. Choose differently. – A big part of your life is a result of the little choices you make every day. If you don’t like some part of your life, it’s time to start tweaking things and making better choices, right now, right where you are.
5. Accept yourself just the way you are. – Too many days are wasted comparing ourselves to others and wishing to be something we aren’t. Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses, and it is only when you accept everything you are, and aren’t, that you will truly find happiness and success.
6. Stop looking for external validation. – You don’t have control over what others think about you, but you do have control over how you decide to internalize their opinions. Leave them to their own judgments. Don’t feel threatened and don’t conform just to please them. Let others love you for who you are, and not for who they want you to be. Continue reading
Concentration is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice. Your mindfulness will only be as robust as the capacity of your mind to be calm and stable. Without calmness, the mirror of mindfulness will have an agitated and choppy surface and will not be able to reflect things with any accuracy. ~Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now. ~Jon Kabat-Zinn
If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
The world is like a mirror; frown at it, and it frowns at you. Smile and it smiles, too. ~ Herbert Samuels
Whatever we possess becomes of double value when we have the opportunity of sharing it with others. ~Jean-Nicolas Bouilly
The value of relationship is not that how much you feel happy with someone… but it is that how much someone feels lonely without you. ~sms2everyone
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future. ~Lewis B. Smedes
