Category Archives: Quotes – 2011

Why We Must Jump In…

Only the spoon knows what is stirring in the pot.Sicilian Proverb

step in

The reality of the pudding can only be found in tasting it. The best way to live a conscious spiritual life (the reason for this blog) is by stepping into the river that flows eternally…

what’s stirring?

Big changes are astir. When we pay attention we’ll notice that the current stream of events are changing our planet forever. We can be bystanders or we can be active participants. Because everything springs from a spiritual underpinning, we must apply ourselves spiritually. Let’s strive to understand:

  • What is it that’s gnawing at us?
  • What are we upset about?
  • What do we need?
  • What will satisfy us?

The answers and the direction will then be forthcoming!

Daily Affirmation: Today I AM stepping in!

Recommendation: Do It! Let’s Get Off Our Buts by Peter McWilliams

Do It! Let's Get Off Our ButsKindle Fire, Full Color 7

How To Solve Any Problem…

It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.Albert Einstein

smart?

Am I smart? Let’s answer that question as truthfully as we can. While we’re at it let’s also answer questions like:

  • Am I creative?
  • Am I lovable?
  • Do I amount to anything?

Believing that we’re not capable or good-enough is the big problem! Accepting our creativity and God-given smarts is a sure way to achieve more than we can imagine!

the answer

The solution to any problem is discovered by staying with the problem. We may question what the problem means to us. How do we react to it? How does it impact others? If we accept first that we’re capable and don’t give up, we will fail not!

Daily Affirmation: Today I AM a solver!

Recommendation: Einstein on Cosmic Religion… by Albert Einstein

Einstein on Cosmic Religion and Other Opinions and AphorismsKindle Fire, Full Color 7

Is God Real?

Being can be felt in the silence of the soul.The Bhagavad Gita

conclusion

It’s been a pleasure going through each chapter of The Gita ruminating on any verse that stood out. You may find all related posts here. Here’s what I conclude from this soul exercise:

God is present in our heart. He’s a partner in our daily strivings and accomplishments. Life is lived to the fullest when we accept his presence in faith and act accordingly while serving others lovingly.

the proof is in the pudding

God cannot be proved to anyone else. But his presence is very palpable. His presence is cultivated via Stillness, prayer and loving service. The proof is really in the pudding, let’s taste some of it!

Daily Affirmation: Today I AM.

Recommendation: The Bhagavad Gita (Penguin Classics) by Juan Mascaro

The Bhagavad Gita (Penguin Classics)Kindle Fire, Full Color 7

What Are The Most Important Questions?

We must decide: is life something that is happening to us or something that is happening through us?Neale Donald Walsch

decision time

In this ground breaking book, The Storm Before the Calm, Neale makes the point that the time has now come to make certain decisions individually and collectively. We must reassess the ‘story’ we’ve been living. We ought to realize that our current assumptions about life aren’t going to produce a much different world from the one we’re experiencing.

question time

To embark on this journey we must ask ourselves certain questions. I’ll be presenting these questions one at a time to highlight their importance.

It’s now time to understand that we’re responsible for our life. It’s also clear that as earthlings we’ve collectively created most of what we’re experiencing across the world.

  1. What should we do about this?
  2. How can we move forward more creatively?
  3. How can we solve this large problem as a family?

Daily Affirmation: Today I question what’s going on!

Recommendation: The Storm Before the Calm by Neale Donald Walsch

The Storm Before the Calm: Book 1 in the Conversations with Humanity SeriesKindle Fire, Full Color 7

How To Win The Whole World!

First, arouse in the other person an eager want. He who can do this has the whole world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely way.Harry Overstreet

motivating others

How are we motivated to do anything? We do something because we want something, like go for a movie because we want to be entertained. This essential principle applies to everyone else too. And that’s exactly what we can employ to get others to cooperate with us. Of course it has to be a genuine effort not a manipulative one…

Here’s a story from the book:

‘Andrew Carnegie’s sister-in-law was worried sick over her two boys. They were at Yale, and they were so busy with their own affairs that they neglected to write home and paid no attention whatever to their mother’s frantic letters. Carnegie offered to wager a hundred dollars that he could get an answer by return mail, without even asking for it! Someone called his bet; so he wrote his nephews a chatty letter, mentioning casually in a postscript that he was sending each one a five-dollar bill. He neglected, however, to enclose the money. That did the trick. Back came the replies by return mail thanking "Dear Uncle Andrew" for his kind note and …you can finish the sentence yourself.’

life principles

3rd Principle: Arouse in the other person an eager want.

I’m going to use this space to blog each Dale Carnegie Life Principle that I’ve come across lately. There are 2 selfish benefits:

  1. I get to share them with you!
  2. And get to reinforce and relive them myself!

Thank you for being such a great audience to my own self-improvement adventures and ramblings!

Daily Affirmation: Today I AM cognizant of others’ wants!

Recommendation: How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie

How To Win Friends And Influence People, Revised EditionKindle Fire, Full Color 7

What Can We Be?

…that the greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could become.Ben Herbster

what we are

When assessing self let’s consider two dimensions:

  1. What should we improve?
  2. What should we appreciate about self?

A balance between the two is necessary. Some of us are perfectionists and demand a lot from self. This attitude can hurt more than it helps. On the other hand if we think too much of self that may translate into arrogance and righteousness.

can be

What’s our potential? This question too must be asked across more than one dimension:

  1. Physical: How can we have greater health and material success?
  2. Mental: How can we have great relationships? How can we be more mentally acute?
  3. Spiritual: What larger goals are we pursuing? Where are we truly headed?

Daily Affirmation: Today I AM a thinker!

Recommendation: True Purpose by Tim Kelley

True Purpose: 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to MakeKindle Fire, Full Color 7

Why We’re At Home!

God is our Father, the earth our mother, and the universe our birthplace.The Urantia Papers

fear

What’s the core problem we face? I believe it has do with fear. We’re fearful of life and what might happen to us. Ponder that…

How much of our life do we build on this essential belief system? What would happen if we were fearless and at peace? What would it take to be that way?

a decision

In some ways what ‘is’ depends on what we decide it must be. What ‘is’ depends on what we expect from life. What would happen if we accept the following as true?

  1. God is my parent
  2. I’m loved beyond measure
  3. I want for nothing
  4. All is well
  5. All will be well

Daily Affirmation: Today I AM a child of the Universe!

Recommendation: The Urantia Papers

The Urantia Book: Indexed Version with free Audio Book on DVD (Can only be played on a computer with a DVD drive.)Kindle Fire, Full Color 7