HEART-FULL MOMENTS 2018

December 15, 2018

A monthly feature of “Listening with Heart” blog, sharing wise words, meaningful things read, or good things found, to help warm your heart.

These are the most impactful quotes I have read or heard this month that give me pause or uplift my heart. Wisdom spoken in just a few words. They reflect what I’ve been reading or learning, or values I share, or what’s been going on in our world.

Heart-Full Moments – December 2018

I wish you courage, kindness and light

It’s been another very challenging month, and I know we each need some insight and encouragement to keep carrying on. I am happy to share these quotes – that speak to coping with darkness; honoring the light outdoors, and the light within; values and life codes; and a holiday wish – with you. Take a moment to go through them and maybe highlight a few that speak to you. Enjoy…

“Although coming forward was terrifying, and caused disruption to our lives, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to fulfill my civic duty. Having done so, I am in awe of the many women and men who have written me to share similar life experiences and now have bravely shared their experience with friends and family, many for the first time. I send you my heartfelt love and support.” – Christine Blasey Ford
“What shall I do? How will I do it? I want to win but not at the expense of justice, not at the expense of the dignity of any man — not at the expense of hurting a friend nor teaching my children a prejudice which I do not feel.”- George H.W. Bush
“Words I like: family, loyalty, kids, freedom, grandkids, caring, love, heart, decency, faith, honor, service to country, pride, fair (fair play), strength, hope, healing, kindness, excellence.” – George H.W. Bush
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” – Jack Kornfield
“What I learned from Bernie Glassman was a willingness to stay in the room when the going got tough and to take loving action.” – Frank Ostaseski
“Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.” – Dr. Albert Schweitzer
“Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“His life code was: ‘Tell the truth. Don’t blame people. Be strong. Do your best. Try hard. Forgive. Stay the course,’ ” – Jon Meacham
“We’re a nation hungry for more joy: Because we’re starving from a lack of gratitude.” – Brene Brown
“I love golden white lights and seeing them in various locations has become my purposeful pause. They remind me to consider that what is called for now may be the commitment to and the choice of leading with light – each soft smile, or act of generosity, no matter how small, creating ripples of light to guide our way.” – Dawn MacDonald
“Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light.” – Frida Kahlo
“I now see that meditation is simply exercise for the mind, similar to the way we exercise our muscles when we play sports. For me, it has nothing to do with faith or mysticism. It’s about taking a few minutes out of my day, learning how to pay attention to the thoughts in my head, and gaining a little bit of distance from them.” – Bill Gates
“The paradox is that living a full human life is not about getting it all together but embracing that not-together-ness in a loving awareness that is larger than it all.” – Melli O’Brien
If we knew just how powerfully our thoughts, words, and actions affected the hearts of those around us, we’d reach out and join hands again and again.” – Tara Brach
“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” – OG Mandino
“Practice gratitude for the balance of dark and light.
While standing outdoors, breathe in the cold winter air. Hold your left palm upward, look at it and say, ‘I give thanks for the cold, dark, and restful days of winter.’ Then hold your right palm upward and say, ‘I give thanks for the forthcoming summer and the person I am becoming.’ Then bring your palms together in prayer position. Raise them to your third eye saying, ‘I honor the varied rhythms of Mother Nature.’ Bring your pressed together palms to heart center saying, ‘I honor the dark and light inside of myself.’ Then bow in gratitude.” – Ashley Hitchcock
“This is my holiday wish for you: deep peace in your heart and soul, self-compassion, joy and laughter throughout the year, play!, optimal health for you and your loved ones, prosperity and abundance, energy to follow your heart to the corners of the world, and gratitude for all you have and for all you do!” – Alexandra Katehakis

So that’s this month’s short list of Heart-Full Moments that holds some meaning for me. I hope your month has been graced with compassion and reflection and that you might take a moment of pause to connect with what inspires you and replenishes your soul.

I’d love to hear back from you…How are you coping with darkness, and managing light in your life? What are your wishes for the new year? Just reply to this email.

Many blessings and an abundance of peace and joy to you and your community, as you wind down this year.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to find moments of full-heartedness, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart Full Moments November 2018

The fire inside you burns brighter than the fire around you

It’s been another very challenging month, and I know we each need some insight and encouragement to keep carrying on. I am happy to share these quotes – that speak to Healing from sorrow, anger, gratitude and generosity, peace, and a way to make a difference in the world – with you. Take a moment to go through them and maybe highlight a few that speak to you. Enjoy…

“Just keep going.” – Marie Forleo
“I greet you from the other side of sorrow and despair with a love so vast and shattered it will reach you everywhere.” – Leonard Cohen
When the washing is done, they end with a phrase from the Song of Songs, a poem from the Jewish bible: “You are beautiful my beloved friend and there is no flaw in you.” – after preparing the Jewish shooting victim martyrs for burial.
“Be a lamp or a lifeboat or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.” – Rumi
“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” – Interpretive Translation of Talmudic Texts
“The greatest gift one can give is thanksgiving. In giving gifts, we give what we can spare, but in giving thanks we give ourselves. “ – Br. David Steindl-Rast
“Waiting is an opportunity to turn inward, to find a moment’s silence, to meditate. Let’s be quiet and enjoy our wait.” – Paul Brunton
“Life is so painful, but I try to remember the beauty and miracles. “ – Elaine Mansfield
“It’s in that convergence of spiritual people becoming active and active people becoming spiritual that the hope of humanity now rests.” – Van Jones
“It is a powerful practice to be generous when you are the one feeling in need.” – Allan Lokos
“I have decided to stick to love… Hate is too great a burden to bear.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“In the new year, look for the good in people, instead of always looking for the bad.” – Jamie Foxx
“People who routinely express gratitude enjoy better health and greater happiness.” – Greater Good Science Center
“The vast majority of human acts each day are constructive: making meals, tending to children, saying hello, restraining anger, completing tasks, planting seeds, teaching, healing, nurturing, cooperating, smiling, and on and on it goes. Recognizing this truth is comforting and inspiring. There is still hope!” – Rick Hanson
”For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is to let it rain.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.” – L. R. Knost
Aristotle writes that “anyone can become angry. That is easy, but to be angry at the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose and the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and that is not easy.”
“We cannot escape the tragedies that arise in our lives. We can search for a reason and ask – why? Maybe we could hold others at fault or imagine what life would be had this not happened, but perhaps what defines our character is not our struggles but how well we meet them and rise up after getting knocked down. Faith will overcome fears, doubt and insecurities. Sometimes in life we don’t recognize how strong we actually are until we are faced with a great tragedy in our life. This calamity we face today will help develop the strength and fortitude we need for tomorrow. Losing everything we own is sad, but the things we own do not diminish who we are inside. Sometimes the worst situation brings out the best in us and others. When you put together a jigsaw puzzle made of hundreds of pieces, you put it together one piece at a time. No one can go back and change what has happened, but we can all start today and make a new tomorrow, one shovel at a time, one day at a time.” – GB (letter left to fire survivor)
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – William Arthur Ward
”For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Dear Creator,
You, the borderless sea of substance,
We ask You to give to all the world
That which we need most — Peace.” – Dr. Maya Angelou
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Adrienne Gusoff
“A person of good intelligence and sensitivity cannot exist in this society very long without having some anger about the inequality – And it’s not just a bleeding heart, knee-jerk, liberal kind of a thing – It is just a normal human reaction to a nonsensical set of values where we have cinnamon flavored dental floss and there are people sleeping in the street.” – George Carlin
Another way to give and make a difference on Giving Tuesday: Send a free beautiful e-card to someone you love or are grateful for in your life. Make their day (and your day) better with an expression of gratitude. https://gratefulness.org/connect/send-an-e-card/

I’d love to hear back from you…what’s inspiring you these days? What’s meaningful that touches you? How are you coping? Just reply to this email.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to find moments of full-heartedness, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart Full Moments October 2018

We are twice armed if we fight with honor…

It’s been another very challenging month, and I know we each need some insight and encouragement to keep carrying on. I am happy to share these quotes – that speak to justice, sanctuary, emotional gardening, mindful pause, voting, and even girl power – with you. Take a moment to go through them and maybe highlight a few that speak to you. Enjoy…

Click here for everything you need to vote.
“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
“If you restore balance in your own self, you will be contributing immensely to the healing of the world.” – Deepak Chopra
“Start just here. Tune into your heart. That is where love, wisdom, grace, and compassion reside. With loving attention, feel into what matters most to you. Yes, there are anxious thoughts, and there is grief and trauma, but don’t let your heart be colonized by fear. Take time to quiet the mind and tend to the heart. Go out and look at the sky. Breathe in and open yourself to the vastness of space. Sense the seasons turning, the rise and fall of dynasties and eras. Breathe out and dwell in loving awareness. Practice equanimity and steadiness. Learn from the trees. Become the still point in the center of it all.” – Jack Kornfield
Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that in uncertain times, our own steadiness can become a sanctuary for others.
“In these days of shared difficulties, first make your heart a zone of peace. And then, with courage and calm, you can act, you can speak up, help those in need, dialogue with others, register voters, feed the hungry, care for the vulnerable, contribute to the whole.” – Jack Kornfield
Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes, “Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching to mend the part that is within our reach.”
“I imagine that one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, that once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” – James Baldwin
“There are many fine things which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is yours is the present.” – Grenville Kleiser
“Until then, I had never really thought of the emotional life as a garden. But that is much closer to reality than seeking the instant miracle. Experiences are akin to soil, the rich terroir of growth. Left untended, certain emotions choke out others, like the weeds that threaten my lettuces every spring. In my garden, I pay attention. I know the difference between seedlings and the invasive plants, cultivating the greens and pulling out the others. So it is with our emotional lives. The same soil allows both weeds and good seeds to grow, and it takes a watchful gardener — and more than a little practice — to ensure the health and productivity of the whole. Over decades, I learned to work the garden of my own soul, and discovered that it was the spiritual work of gratitude. The gardening image has been helpful to me in many ways, most significantly by reminding me that some things take patience and time. To think of the emotional life as a garden moves us away from notions of instantaneous change toward a spirituality that emphasizes learning, attentiveness, trial-and-error, and growth. More than once, I have felt like I have finally overcome anger or grief only to discover it was not really gone. I may not want to, but sometimes I have to rework old soil, replant seeds, and try again. Gardening is the oddest combination of accepting what is (including your own limits and failures) and developing persistence. Suffering is in the soil. From it grows both negative and positive emotions. The negative ones are like weeds in the high summer; the positive ones — including gratitude — too often the smallest of shoots. I have discovered that hard work on one’s knees is the surest way to tend the garden. Both in prayer and rooting around in the soul’s soil, recognizing the difference between what will inhibit the growth of goodness and that which is fruitful, and then plucking out the invasive species. If the work is done, the garden flourishes. And there: gratitude grows. It is a miracle of a sort. One that takes time. And patience.” – Diana Butler Bass
Watch this – Sure to make you smile…girl power! Watch Eight-Year-Old Drummer Cover Led Zeppelin – Rolling Stone
“The first step in learning to practice the informal pause is to be intentional, know you are stopping. Then, take three full breaths — very long in breath and very slow out breath. Right away, that starts to relax the sympathetic nervous system and help you to acclimate. And then, pay attention to waking up your senses, so you know you are here. To occupy the pause, know that you’re listening to sound right here; the forms you are seeing are right here; the sensations in your body right here. Three breaths, open up your senses, and then, with kindness, invite yourself to be here. That’s it. And if you practice pausing in many different situations, you will start getting the knack of homecoming.” – Tara Brach
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” – Desmond Tutu
“Dear Survivor: you are not defined by the violence that happened to you. The earth is not defined by the asteroid that struck it, but by the million years of life that came after.”
“We are twice armed if we fight with honor.” – Plato
“And if this isn’t a day when your universe has tilted and something precious you take for granted has not been suddenly irrevocably lost, bow before the mystery and let gratitude wash over you for the miracle of life, health, and this brief walk on our fragile planet.” – Carolyn Moore
“I thank God no one’s been hurt, And I thank the brave and resourceful security and law enforcement people who have protected us. There’s something more powerful than bombs, and that’s your vote. People MUST vote!” – Robert De Niro
“May I become free of all suffering so I may help others be free of all suffering.” – Pema Chodron
“The more I wonder, the more I love.” – Alice Walker

…So that’s this month’s short list of Heart-Full Moments that holds some meaning for me. I hope your month has been graced with compassion and reflection and that you might take a moment of pause to connect with what inspires you and replenishes your soul.

I’d love to hear back from you…what’s inspiring you these days? What’s meaningful that touches you? How are you coping? Just reply to this email.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to find moments of full heartedness, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart Full Moments – September 2018

Help! Things have been so hard…

Coping with injustice, grief in a mindful and respectful way. Quotes of wisdom.

It’s been another very challenging month, and I know we each need some insight and encouragement to keep carrying on. I am happy to share these quotes – that speak to coping with injustice, compassion, respectful speech, grief, mindfulness and even a hero’s words – with you. Take a moment to go through them and maybe highlight a few that speak to you. Enjoy…

“We’ve got the gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard, or just think it’s gonna get on with itself. You gotta keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it…and nurture it.” – John Lennon
“The world is a shitty place and I’m not gonna make it worse.” – Alex Williams
“One must view the world through the eye in one’s heart rather than just trust the eyes in one’s head.” – Mary Crow Dog
“If you are neutral on situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” – Desmond Tutu
“Interdependence: This is the practice of remembering that we are part of something larger than our individual selves—a karmic web of humanity—and what we do has impact.
Compassion: The practice of compassion is a weapon of mass healing.
Harmlessness: The practice of nonharming in body, speech, and mind is essential for respect and safety.” – Ruth King, Mindfulness of Race
“In my country, we go to prison first and then become president.” – Nelson Mandela
“What would your parrot say about your speech?” – Ruth King
“When we attend to the discomfort that kindles unwise speech, we discover that unwise speech is a habitual strategy that attempts to disguise the anxiety we are experiencing in the moment. Once we give kind attention to the impulses of our speech, we are more likely to uproot the habit of uttering unwise speech.” – Ruth King
“Real strength never impairs beauty or harmony, but it often bestows it; and in everything imposingly beautiful, strength has much to do with the magic.” – Herman Melville
“Two things to remember in life: take care of your thoughts when you are alone, and take care of your words when you’re with people.”
“Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.” – Alan Cohen
“Walk fearlessly into the house of mourning for grief is just love squaring up to its oldest enemy and, after all these mortal human years, love is up to the challenge.” – Kate Braestrup
“Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.” – Maya Angelou
This month, welcome the opportunity to share celebration, kindness, gratitude, and empathy with a heartfelt message. Peruse our free eCards, newly updated with fresh beauty and grateful sentiments. Make a difference – share your love and care. Enjoy our collection – Gratefulness.org
“Are you aware of any laws that give the government power to make decisions over a male’s body?” – Kamala Harris
“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself; if you want to eliminate suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own transformation.” –Lao Tzu
“Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.” –The Dalai Lama
“Mindfulness meditation helps you say to yourself, ‘This is a feeling. It doesn’t define who I am and it’s not going to last forever.’” – David Creswell
“When the waves close over me, I dive down to fish for pearls.” – Masha Kaleko
“Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love.” – Valarie Kaur
“If all eligible young women voted, you would have the power to determine EVERY. SINGLE. ELECTION.” – #IGNITETHEVOTE
“They say ‘this could ruin his life’; without acknowledging it already has ruined hers.
They say ‘he was just a kid’ without acknowledging she was too.
They say ‘it was just a few stupid minutes ‘ without acknowledging how those few minutes changed all of her years.
They say ‘he doesn’t deserve this’ as if she does.
They say ‘boys will be boys’ without realizing that denied this girl her girlhood.
They say ‘he deserves better’ while implying she does not.” – Marisa Kabas
“I draw prayer round me like a dark protective wall, withdraw inside it as one might into a convent cell and then step outside again, calmer and stronger and more collected again.” – Etty Hillesum
“Apart from the assault itself, these last couple of weeks have been the hardest of my life. I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media, and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me. I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me. I am a fiercely independent person and I am no one’s pawn. My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr. Kavanaugh’s actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth.” – Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Hero
“May I be filled with lovingkindness.
May I be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May I be well in body and mind.
May I be at ease and happy….
May you be filled with lovingkindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be well in body and mind.
May you be at ease and happy.” – Loving kindness practice

I’d love to hear back from you…what’s inspiring you these days? What’s meaningful that touches you? How are you coping? Just reply to this email.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to find moments of full-heartedness, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart Full Moments August 2018

Keep on Keeping

It’s been another challenging month, and I know we each need some insight and encouragement to keep carrying on. I am happy to share these quotes – that speak to the challenge of creating good relationships, dealing with the unpleasant, truth and integrity, and even a little humor – with you. Take a moment to go through them and maybe highlight a few that speak to you. Enjoy…

“Always do the right thing even when no one is watching.”– Maui bathroom
“Listen without judgment. Talk without criticism. Put differences in reverence.” – Harville Hendricks
“Listening is the price you pay to be heard.”
“An amazing couple is one where only one person goes crazy at a time!” – Kohut
“The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are. The second greatest challenge is being happy with what you find.”
“President Trump’s inner child is very wounded. He’s always looking for validation. He probably never felt good enough as a child. He needs love, compassion, joy.” – Deepak Chopra
“The most important thing I learned on retreat is how to find a deep and authentic care for both myself and others.” – teen iBme retreat participant
“The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
“If you can be with the pleasant without chasing after it, with the unpleasant without resisting it, and with the neutral without ignoring it – that is an incredible freedom.” – Rick Hanson
“This thought doesn’t serve me well. What could I think instead?” – Shari
“Some people feel intimate when they joke and laugh together. Some feel it sparring with one another in a playful way. Other people feel it much more sensuously, like when they’re taking a bath together or making love. Others feel intimate when walking side by side exploring ideas, talking philosophy or dreaming about future goals.” – Ellyn Bader
“Patriarchy damages both sexes” – Terry Real
“This is the essence of straight white privilege: to not have to worry that your neighbors will be violent toward you because of the color of your skin; to not have to assess each neighborhood for signs of racism or homophobia to make sure you and your children will be safe.” –
“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” — Oprah Winfrey
“Is she someone you find interesting?”:
“You will spend more time with this person than anyone else for the rest of your life,” Obama said, “and there is nothing more important than always wanting to hear what she has to say about things.”
“The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.” – Henry David Thoreau
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams
“Everyone is doing the best that they can with the resources they have.” – Hailey Magee
“You are not here merely to…make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” – Woodrow Wilson
“Healing from trauma is about regaining access to those parts of you that shut down in order to cope, and/or the things that trauma took away from you. Sometimes the reclaiming doesn’t work for you, but even the attempt can be empowering.“ “I can’t emphasize enough that “resolving“ trauma is not pretending it never happened, or going back to the way of life you had before the Traumatic incident. Resolving trauma is becoming aware of your coping mechanisms and triggers, and acting from conscious choice rather than automatic reaction’s.” – ‘Reclamation is a Part of Healing’ in Fierce Passions Blog by M’Kali-Hashik
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” – Rumi
“I think over again my small adventures, my fears, those small ones that seemed so big, all those vital things I had to get and to reach, and yet there is only one great thing: to live and see the great day that dawns, and the light that fills the world.” – old Inuit song
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care, TCB
Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me)
A little respect (sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me) Whoa, babe (just a little bit)
A little respect (just a little bit)
I get tired (just a little bit)
Keep on tryin’ (just a little bit)
You’re runnin’ out of fools (just a little bit)
And I ain’t lyin’ (just a little bit)” – Aretha Franklin, Respect
“Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade—our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace.” – Barack Obama
“Soul: The deep place inside every human that gives us the power to overcome obstacles, care for those in need, and assert ourselves when our minds tell us we don’t have the energy or heart.” – Ted Perry
“What I know for sure is that you feel real joy in direct proportion to how connected you are to living your truth.” – Oprah Winfrey
“Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“If I had my life to live over again, I would ask that not a thing be changed, but that my eyes be opened wider.” – Jules Renard
“When we can sit in the face of insanity or dislike and be free from the need to make it different, then we are free.” – Nelson Mandela
Walls and Bridges: interesting conversations about race, politics, gender, immigration, extremism, etc. Definitely worth listening to here.
We all need some fun to lighten our load and lift our spirits. Check out this video of ten hilarious easy and cool party games. These would be great to play with your family too, and believe it or not – are actually mindful practices disguised as fun!
“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” – E.B. White

…So that’s this month’s short list of Heart-Full Moments that has some meaning for me. I hope your month has been graced with compassion and reflection and that you might take a moment of pause to connect with what inspires you and nourishes your soul.

I’d love to hear back from you…what’s inspiring you these days? What’s meaningful that touches you? Just reply to this email.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to find moments of full heartedness, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart Full Moments July 2018

What has touched you this month?

“Let’s be wise and not go about acting out our anger, but instead act upon the wisdom of our anger.” – Amber Ray
“Unlike self-criticism which asks if you are good enough, self-compassion asks what’s good for you.” – Kristen Neff
“Deference is different from unquestioning acceptance,” Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, blasting the majority opinion. She made the rare move of reading her dissent from the bench and closed with an ad lib: “History will not look kindly on the court’s decision today — nor should it.”
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” – Zeno
“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic to the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong, because someday in life, you will have been all of these.“ – George Washington Carver
“Sometimes I go about pitying myself when all the while I’m being carried by great winds across the sky.“ – Ojibwa saying
“To this day I believe we are here on Earth to live, grow, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.” – Rosa Parks
“Until we extend the circle of compassion to all living things, we will not ourselves find peace.” – Albert Schweitzer
“I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all, I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” — Agatha Christie
“Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” – Rumi
“We live in a time when science is validating what humans have known throughout the ages: that compassion is not a luxury; it is a necessity for our well-being, resilience, and survival.” – Roshi Joan Halifax
“I know what happens when children are separated from their families. They collapse into themselves and try to become as small as an atom, infinitely divided. They fold their sorrow over and over again – hoping that by taking up less space they may create room for their families to rejoin them.” – Marcela Rodriguez-Campo
“In appreciating our neighbor, we’re participating in something truly sacred.” – Fred Rogers
“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what,” the Thai navy SEALs posted on Facebook. “All the thirteen Wild Boars are now out of the cave.”
“Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.” — Dalai Lama
“Separating children from their parents contradicts everything we stand for as pediatricians — protecting and promoting children’s health,” reads a statement from AAP president Dr. Colleen Kraft. “We can and must do better for these families. We can and must remember that immigrant children are still children; they need our protection, not prosecution.”
Writer Dell Cameron, who was sent to foster care during a custody battle, notes that workers at such centers often have no understanding of the children they’re caring for. When these kids inevitably act out as a response to their emotional stress, they are punished. “Hope is what I lost as a child. It was destroyed by the state,” Cameron wrote. “Detaining children when parents love them and want them is a crime against humanity.”
“We all want to be happy. So if you want to be happy, be grateful. Gratefulness is the key to happiness.“ – Br. David Steindl-Rast
“Paying attention is an ongoing act of reciprocity, the gift that keeps on giving, in which attention generates wonder, which generates more attention—and more joy. Paying attention to the more-than-human world doesn’t lead only to amazement; it leads also to acknowledgment of pain. Open and attentive, we see and feel equally the beauty and the wounds, the old growth and the clear-cut, the mountain and the mine. Paying attention to suffering sharpens our ability to respond. To be responsible.” – Dr. Robin Wall-Kimmerer
“Turns out that their coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, who led them on a hike into the cave when it flooded on June 23, trained in meditation as a Buddhist monk for a decade before becoming a soccer coach. According to multiple news sources, he taught the boys, ages 11 to 16, to meditate in the cave to keep them calm and preserve their energy through their two-week ordeal.” – Eliza Barclay
“In meditation, “you’re cultivating [peace, kindness, clarity] so you can offer it to others. When you sit with someone who’s calm, you can become calm. If you sit with someone who’s agitated and hateful, you can become agitated and hateful.” – Brother Phap Dung
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” – Henry David Thoreau
“The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway.” – Henry Boyle
“I sat with my anger long enough, until she told me her real name was grief.”
“Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life.“ – Church billboard
“We don’t know what life will bring, so it is what we bring to life that matters.” – Patricia Campbell Carlson
“In a time of destruction, create something: a poem, a parade, a community, a school, a vow, a moral principle; one peaceful moment.” -Maxine Hong Kingston
“This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” – Maya Angelou

So that’s this month’s short list of Heart-Full Moments that has some meaning for me. I hope your month has been graced with compassion and reflection and that you might take a moment of pause to connect with what inspires you and nourishes your soul.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to find moments of full-heartedness, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart Full Moments June 2018

Comfort for the Soul

“I do want to create art beyond rage. Rage is a place to begin, but not end. I’m not as wise as my work, but I know if I take the writing deep enough, something larger and greater than myself will flash forth and illuminate me, heal me. I do want to devour my demons—despair, grief, shame, fear—and use them to nourish my art. Otherwise they’ll devour me.” – Sandra Cisneros
“We’re all under the same sky and walk the same earth; we’re alive together during the same moment.” – Maxine Hong Kingston
“That’s what, to me, carries teams over the top,” Kerr told the sports website Bleacher Report soon after the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers. “A lot of teams have talent, and obviously we have great talent. But when that talent is committed to the greater good . . . that takes you over the top.” – Steve Kerr
“When researchers studied the gender composition of management teams of the top firms in Standard & Poor’s Composite 1500 list, they found that, on average, “female representation in top management leads to an increase of $42 million in firm value.”
“Prejudice hurts the health of both targets and (to a different degree) perpetrators. The targets of prejudice experience the well-documented “weathering effect” on their physical and mental health. On the other side, many studies suggest that people who discriminate are at much greater risk of cardiovascular disease. Fortunately, interracial interactions needn’t be stressful. In many of the same studies, low-prejudice people respond to interracial interactions in ways that are happy and healthy.”
“The most fortunate are those who have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder and even ecstasy.” – Abraham Maslow
“The wound is the place where the light enters you” – Rumi
“Thanking is difficult. That’s why most people judge.” – Carl Jung
“Life is fragile and short and worth all the loving presence we can bring to it.” – Rebecca Kushins
”Racism is a heart disease. How we think and respond is at the core of racial suffering and racial healing. If we cannot think clearly and respond wisely, we will continue to damage the world’s heart.“ – Ruth King
“Every choice made has both good and evil results. The best we can do is to intend the good.”
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott
“If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.” Thich Nhat Hanh
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” — Desmond Tutu
“We find ourselves again upon a time where we will one day utter “how could we have let that happen?” We cannot afford to forget that there is a history of separating children from their parents: during slave auctions; during the forced assimilation of American Indians; and during the Holocaust. The reverberations of these barbaric stains on our history are still felt today and future generations of these original victims will inherit the intergenerational transmission of these traumas. To try and argue that this policy of ripping children from their parents at the border is somehow different from the systematic traumatization of children during the times of slavery, forced assimilation, and the Holocaust is to disregard history. To somehow convince ourselves that this systematic traumatization of children has no bearing on the lives of these children and no impact on the legacy of our country is to be living in an alternate universe. And to not care about the impact these policies have on these children is to succumb to the worst potential of humanity.
We, the undersigned, implore you to recognize what is at stake when children are taken from their mothers and other attachment figures. As psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, and counselors we have a responsibility to report any concern of child maltreatment. This policy of separation is an indefensible violation of children’s civil rights and we uphold our responsibility as mandated reporters to sound the alarm.” – Petition to Stop Border Separations of Children from Parents
“In its passivity and resignation, cynicism is a hardening, a calcification of the soul. Hope is a stretching of its ligaments, a limber reach for something greater.” – Maria Popova
“When my daughters were born, I made a pledge to them, and to myself, that I would do everything I could to give them some things I didn’t have. And I decided that if I could be one thing in life, it would be to be a good father.“ – Barack Obama
“I imagine that one of the reasons that people cling to their hate and prejudice so stubbornly is because they sense that once that hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with their own pain.“ – James Baldwin
“Now a time of change has come.
We must listen deeply, bear witness, honor everyone, and choose our actions wisely and courageously.
Do not worry if the Right Action is not yet clear to you.
Wait in the unknowing with mindfulness and a clear heart.
Soon the right time will come and you will know to stand up.
I will meet you there.” – Jack Kornfield
“Our ideal should be to create something beautiful that did not exist before us.” – Zapotec saying
“I started to view caring for my mental health as a revolutionary act, a form of resistance to the forces of oppression that were threatening to extinguish me, a working-class black woman. I come from a legacy of people who fought simply to be and I view my effort to fight my depression as a battle for freedom.” – Sherri Williams, PhD
”In each of us, there is a little voice that knows exactly which way to go.” – Alice Walker
“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong, because someday in life, you will have been all of these.” – George Washington Carver

If you or someone you care about is struggling to find moments of full heartedness, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

HEART-FULL MOMENTS – May 2018

Reflect on these wise quotes and inspiration…

Inspiration of the month: Daniel D. Music. He plays electric violin accompanying several genres of music. Another therapist shared this with me as a suggestion for waiting room music. I found it to be passionate, soulful and inspirational to listen to while working on a creative project. He’ll help you get your work done with heart and soul. I like his story and how he’s putting himself out there, and doing good in the world. Check him out here.
“Ultimately, I decided that my role as a therapist is both to support the individual (who has said something racist) and to support a greater good. These are inseparable to me. Partly because racism and other kinds of oppression are also harmful to the oppressor. So by not pointing out problematic thinking on the part of my client in regards to their blind spots when it comes to race and privilege, I’m not supporting their healing and growth.“ – Lily Sloane
“Walls turned sideways are bridges.” – Angela Davis
“When you listen generously to people they can hear the truth in themselves, often for the first time.” – Rachel Naomi Remen
“Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms, you would never see the true beauty of their carvings.“ – Elizabeth Kubler Ross
“If we take the time, no matter how crazy and troubled we feel, we can find something to be thankful for.”- Terry Lynn Taylor
“Laughter isn’t even the other side of tears. It is tears turned inside out. Truly the suffering is great, here on earth. We blunder along, shredded by our mistakes, bludgeoned by our faults. Not having a clue where the dark path leads us. But on the whole, we stumble along bravely, don’t you think?” – Alice Walker
FAITH:
“Every morning when I was a girl
my mother would wake me
with song, the same lilting lyric
every dawn,
It’s going to be such a lovely day,
good morning, good morning I say.
It sounds too grand to call it ceremony,
and she would have appeared
an unlikely celebrant
in her bathrobe and slippers,
but she infused this daily ritual with prayer
and to this day I wake
certain that the world
will have beauty in it
and certain that I will find it—
this the most beautiful gift
any mother could give.” – POEM by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
“If I could summarize nonviolence in one word, it would be: patience.” – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
“Study after study shows that self-criticism is consistently associated with less motivation and worse self-control.” – Kelly McGonigal
“There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments.” – Wangari Maathai
“Beauty seen makes the one who sees it more beautiful.” – Br. David Steindl Rast
“The human spirit must sometimes take wings or sails, and create something that is not just utilitarian or commonplace.” -Queen Elizabeth II
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” – Maya Angelou
“You are your best thing.” – Toni Morrison
“If you wish to heal your sadness or anger, seek to heal the sadness or anger of others. They are looking to you for guidance, help, courage, strength, understanding, and for assurance. Most of all, they are looking to you for love.” – Ana Castillo

So that’s this month’s short list of Heart-Full Moments that has some meaning for me. I hope your month has been graced with wisdom and reflection and that you might take a moment of pause to connect with what inspires and nourishes your soul.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to find moments of full-heartedness, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart Full Moments from April 2018

Finding wisdom and inspiration

live your best life with words of wisdom

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller
“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” – Helen Keller
Anyone can be happy when they get what they want; the challenge is to stay grateful and peaceful even when the world around you feels crazy and dangerous and horrible.” – Elizabeth Gilbert
“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.“ – Mahatma Gandhi
“Choose feelings over logic, adventure over perfection, here over there, now over then, and always love, love, love.“ – from “notes from the universe“
“In times of sorrow
May you see light on the path ahead
When the road you walk is dark.
May you always hear,
Even in your hour of sorrow,
The gentle singing of the lark.
When times are hard may hardness
Never turn your heart to stone,
May you always remember
When the shadows fall,
you do not walk alone.” – memorial prayer
“It is a huge danger to pretend that awful things do not happen. But you need enough hope to keep going. I am trying to make hope. Flowers grow out of darkness.” -Corina Kent
“My prayer is, let me be a blessing to someone or something today.” – Jean Houston
“Don’t plan it all. Let life surprise you a little.” – Julia Alvarez
“By going with what’s happening rather than expending energy fighting or turning away from it, you create the opportunity to gain insight into what’s driving your concerns.“ – Bob Stahl
“Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.” – Native American proverb
Rise Up Lyrics, Andra Day
You’re broken down and tired
Of living life on a merry go round
And you can’t find the fighter
But I see it in you so we gonna walk it out
And move mountains
We gonna walk it out
And move mountains
And I’ll rise up
I’ll rise like the day
I’ll rise up
I’ll rise unafraid
I’ll rise up
And I’ll do it a thousand times again
And I’ll rise up
High like the waves
I’ll rise up
In spite of the ache
I’ll rise up
And I’ll do it a thousand times again
For you
For you
For you
For you
When the silence isn’t quiet
And it feels like it’s getting hard to breathe
And I know you feel like dying
But I promise we’ll take the world to its feet
And move mountains
We’ll take it to its feet
And move mountains
And I’ll rise up
I’ll rise like the day
I’ll rise up
I’ll rise unafraid
I’ll rise up
And I’ll do it a thousand times again
For you
For you
For you
For you
All we need, all we need is hope
And for that we have each other
And for that we have each other
We will rise
We will rise
We’ll rise, oh oh
We’ll rise
I’ll rise up
Rise like the day
I’ll rise up
In spite of the ache
I will rise a thousand times again
And we’ll rise up
Rise like the waves
We’ll rise up
In spite of the ache
We’ll rise up
And we’ll do it a thousand times again
For you oh oh oh oh oh
For you oh oh oh oh oh
For you oh oh oh oh oh
For you
“A star at dawn, a drop of dew, an echo, a rainbow and a dream.” – The Buddha
“We don’t see the world as IT is; we see it the way WE are.” -Talmud teaching
“One of the most prominent characteristics of our left brain is it’s ability to weave stories. The storyteller portion of our left brain’s language centers is specifically designed to make sense of the world outside us, based upon minimal amounts of information. It functions by taking whatever details it has to work with, and then weaves them together in the form of a story. Most impressively, our left brain is brilliant in its ability to make stuff up, and fill in the blanks when there are gaps in its factual data.
As my left brain language centers recovered and became functional again, I spent a lot of time observing how my story-teller would draw conclusions, based upon minimal information. For the longest time I found these antics of my storyteller to be rather comical. Until I realized that my left brain whole heartedly expected the rest of my brain to believe the stories it was making up!… I need to remember however, that there are enormous gaps between what I actually know and what I think I know. I learned I need to be very wary of my story teller’s potential for stirring up trauma and drama.“ -Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight
“Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Victor Frankl
“Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment. We also gain immediate access to our own powerful inner resources for insight, transformation and healing.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
“Sometimes I think I need a spare heart to feel all the things I feel.” – Sanober Khan
“Travel back in time to bring to mind some of the many ways children had fun before cell phones, computers or televisions were invented. For thousands of years, kids have been drawing, dancing, climbing, scribbling, digging, making music, and using their imaginations to generate fun. Left to their own devices — and not those electronic ones — your children will find ways to occupy themselves while you catch your breath at the end of a long day.” – Susan Stiffelman
”A moment of self-compassion can change your entire day. A string of such moments can change the course of your life.” – Christopher Germer
“Dwayne Johnson, 45, embraces his role as an inspirational figure. When a 19-year-old fan tweeted that he took hope for his own future from seeing Johnson’s achievements after battling depression, Johnson shot back a tweet of his own: “Battled that beast more than once. Us men [too] prideful to ask for help. Speak up, ask for help & you’re never alone. See [you] at the top one day.” Also:
You’ve also got to learn how to block out all the noise and all the things that distract you from your dreams and ambitions. You’ve got listen to that little voice inside you that tells you that you’re good enough and that you can realize your dreams.” – Dwayne Johnson
“The whole world is a series of miracles, but we’re so used to them we call them ordinary things.” – Hans Christian Andersen
“You have to stop thinking you’ll be stuck in your situation forever. We feel like our heart will never heal or we’ll never get out of this impossible struggle. Don’t confuse a season for a lifetime. Even your trials have an expiration date. You will grow, life will change, things will work out.“ – Brittney Moses
“Be proud of who you are and the struggle that makes you YOU.” And “Be encouraged. Really be encouraged and have hope.” – Michelle Obama
“Silence isn’t empty. It’s full of answers.“ – Kiara Elliott
“Be careful how you are talking to yourself because you are listening.” – Lisa M. Hayes
“The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.” – Wendall Berry
“Oh Lord, may I become the person my dog thinks that I am.“ – Bumper sticker…
…“Oh Lord, may I remember that I am the person my dog thinks that I am.“ – Cindi Rivera

Thank you for reading. I hope you have enjoyed this month’s Heart Full Moments – wise words that I’ve been touched by, and reflected about. I hope you have had the chance to read or see or hear things, in your own world too, that have made you pause and breathe in, the wisdom or wonder of that experience. Thank you also for any inspirational wisdoms you have shared with me.

To deepen your experience even more, you might use any one of these as a journal prompt, where you add whatever comes to mind about how this applies in your life, and how it makes you feel. Or use any one of these as a conversation starter and see if you can draw someone out to share how these words make them feel. Enjoy sharing Heart full wisdom…

I’d love to hear from you. What have you come across lately that inspires you to keep on keeping on?

If you or someone you care about needs help to overcome some of life’s struggles, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart-full Moments from March 2018

You never know where you’ll find wisdom and inspiration.

wisdom and quotes, living mindfully, dealing with life’s difficulties

“Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.” – William Saroyan
“Hope is like a road in the country: there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.” – Lin Yutang
“Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou
Check out spoken word poetry by Rudy Francisco & his book Helium. My favorite is “Complainers” https://youtu.be/2vgICFh-Fq4 with a powerful reminder to be grateful for what we have.
”There is a hard truth to be told: before spring becomes beautiful, it is plug ugly, nothing but mud and muck. I have walked in the early spring through fields that will suck your boots off, a world so wet and woeful it makes you yearn for the return of ice. But in that muddy mess, the conditions for rebirth are being created.” – Parker Palmer
“Other peoples’ perception about you ain’t none of your business!” & “l’m not gonna dim my light; I’m just gonna hand you some shades!” – Lisa Nichols
“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.” Stephen Hawking gave this now-famous piece of advice to his three children Lucy, Robert and Tim and related it in an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer in 2010. Included in those words of advice were: “Never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it.” And: “if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don’t throw it away.”
More from Stephen Hawking:
- “However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.”
- “My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit, as well as physically.”
- “Although I cannot move and I have to speak through a computer, in my mind I am free.”
- “My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.”
- “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.”
- “Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion.”
”Art is not simply works of art; it is the spirit that knows beauty, that has music in its oul and the color of sunsets in its handkerchief, that can dance on a flaming world and make the world dance too.” – W.E.B. Dubois “
“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“The most precious inheritance that parents can give their children is their own happiness.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We need to arm our teachers. We need to arm our teachers with paper, pens and the money they need to support themselves and their families, and the futures that sit in their classrooms.” – Ryan Deitsch
“My grandfather had a dream that his four little children will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but the content of their character. I have a dream, that enough is enough. And that this should be a gun-free world. Period.” – Yolanda Renee King, nine-year-old granddaughter of Martin Luther King.

I hope you have enjoyed this month’s Heart Full Moments – wise words that I’ve been stirred by – and that you have read or seen or heard things, in your own life too, that made you pause and breathe in, the wisdom or wonder of that experience.

You might keep your own list of Heart-full or mind-full gems, and re-read them when you need an uplift. Simply to be on the lookout for gems that speak to you is a mindful practice that helps to keep your heart open to all that’s good in the world. To deepen your experience even more, you might use any one of these as a journal prompt, where you add whatever comes to mind about how this applies in your life, and how it makes you feel. Or use any one of these as a conversation starter and see if you can draw someone out to share how these words make them feel. Enjoy sharing Heart full wisdom…

If you or someone you care about needs help to overcome some of life’s struggles, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart Full Moments February 2018

A monthly feature of Listening with Heart blog

“Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” – Steven R.Covey
“Assertiveness is an open and direct expression of our thoughts and feelings while respecting the right of others to express themselves. It is a form of being kind to ourselves as well as to the other person”. – Sara Fabian
“Every time your fear is invited up, every time you recognize it and smile at it, your fear will lose some of its strength.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, what single right action can you take right now to move closer to your heart’s desire?” – Alex Katehakis
“Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.” – Maya Angelou
“Insanity is living your life as if there were a better moment than the one you’re in.” – Eckhart Tolle
“The days pass and the years vanish and we walk sightless among the miracles… Don’t be sightless” – Sabbath prayer, Dani Shapiro
“Life is so hard, how can we be anything but kind?” – Sylvia Boorstein
“There’s nothing stronger than gentleness.” – a wise grandmother
“Love is as Love does…When you love somebody, ask yourself, “What acts of love have I done for him?” – Nicos Hadjicostis
“It is never too late to give up our prejudices.” – Henry David Thoreau
“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.” – HH Dalai Lama XIV
Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day saying “I’ll try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
“There is no pain on earth that doesn’t crave a benevolent witness.” Sarah in The Invention of Wings
“You are the sky. Clouds are what happens- what comes and goes.” – Eckhart Tolle
“In a time of destruction, create something: a poem, a parade, a community, a school, a vow, a moral principle; one peaceful moment.” – Maxine Hong Kingston
“Welcome your feelings like a doorman welcomes a guest to a party…Just don’t follow them into the bathroom!” – a wise meditator
Recommended book: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd – a beautiful story about the relationship between a young abolitionist-to-be, and her slave, and how they each grow into different experiences of freedom
“Remember that imperfections are deliberately woven into Navajo rugs and treasured in the best Japanese pottery. They are part of the art. What a relief to honor your life as it is, in all its beauty and imperfection.” – Jack Kornfield
“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A. A. Milne
“You should sit in meditation 20 minutes a day. Unless you are too busy, then you should sit one hour.” – old Zen saying
“Not one more. We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of a firing assault rifle to save the lives of students. We cannot allow one more family to wait for a call or text that never comes. Our schools are unsafe. Our children and teachers are dying. We must make it our top priority to save these lives.

March For Our Lives is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too familiar. In the tragic wake of the seventeen lives brutally cut short in Florida, politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns. March For Our Lives believes the time is now.

On March 24, the kids and families of March For Our Lives will take to the streets of Washington, DC to demand that their lives and safety become a priority. The collective voices of the March For Our Lives movement will be heard.

School safety is not a political issue. There cannot be two sides to doing everything in our power to ensure the lives and futures of children who are at risk of dying when they should be learning, playing, and growing. The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues. No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.

Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. We live in fear.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future. Their young voices will be heard.
Stand with us on March 24. Refuse to allow one more needless death.”
MARCH FOR OUR LIVES! Mission Statement

“The lion’s story will never be known, as long as the hunter is the one to tell it.” – African proverb
“The opposite of poverty is not wealth, but justice.” – Bryan Stevenson
“A racial literacy involves the ability to read, recast and resolve a racially stressful encounter. Reading involves recognizing when a racial moment happens and noticing our stress reactions to it. Recasting involves taking mindfulness and reducing my tsunami interpretation of this moment and reducing it to a mountain-climbing experience, one that is — from an impossible situation to one that is much more doable and challenging. Resolving a racially stressful encounter involves being able to make a healthy decision that is not an underreaction, where I pretend, “That didn’t bother me,” or an overreaction, where I exaggerate the moment.” – Howard C Stevenson
“Grateful eyes look at each thing as if they had never seen it before and caress it as if they would never see it again.” – Brother David Steindl-Rast
“Let Yourself wonder without Googling it.” – Janell Burley Hofmann

If you or someone you care about needs help to overcome some of life’s struggles, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

Heart Full Moments – January 2018

Wise words for uplift and keeping your heart open

wisdom for living mindfully; living in the moment with kindness; simple everyday mindfulness practice to ease stress.

Happy New Year to you! I hope this first month of 2018 has had the right combination of energy and calm for you, and that you have been blessed with peace in your relationships and gratitude in your heart.

These are the most impactful things I have read or heard this month that give me pause, or uplift my heart. I am happy to share them with you. Take a moment to go through them and maybe highlight a few that speak to you. Enjoy…

“Acknowledging the good that is already in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” – Eckhart Tolle
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Victor Frankl
“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand – and melting like a snowflake.” – Sir Francis Bacon
“ When you speak, speak. When you listen, listen. When you drive your car, drive your car… Do something until you are done. After you are done, then you can move onto the next thing.“ – Rob Brandsma
Celebrate the little things.
“Thoughts aren’t facts so don’t take them seriously.” -Ruby Wax
“And while the news often features the worst of humanity, there are a billion acts of human kindness every hour of every day. Take another breath and sense this truth.” – Jack Kornfield
“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” – Pablo Neruda
“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.” – Golda Meir
“Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).” ~James Baraz
“When given the choice to be right or kind – choose kind.” – precept from Wonder movie
“Compassion is the capacity to feel love and pain at the same time.“ – Susan Piver
“Think more about how to give love rather than how to get love.“ – Susan Piver
“It really is a shame, this feeling of shame, that keeps us from being there for each other, and feels isolating.” – Parent at San Quentin
“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” – Carlos Castaneda
“We all have needs, and we all want those needs to be met. But we also need to learn how to achieve that and how to manage the time between having the need and having the need met.” – Mercedes Samudio
“People have said, “Don’t cry“ to other people for years and years, and all it’s ever meant is, ‘I’m too uncomfortable when you show your feelings. Don’t cry.’ I’d rather have them say, ‘Go ahead and cry. I’m here to be with you.’ – Fred Rogers
“Yoga helps to get the issues out of the tissues.” – Nicky Myers
“We believe that people of all genders and ages should live free of violence against us. And, we believe that women of color, and women who have faced generations of exclusion – indigenous, Black, Brown and Asian women, farmworkers and domestic workers, disabled women, undocumented and queer and trans women — should be at the center of our solutions….We look forward to partnering with them and others to organize, support all survivors, and find solutions that ensure a future where all women and all people can live and work with dignity.” – #TIMESUP initiative
“Failing at a task is not failing as a person.” – Jenny Anderson
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“So today capitalism has outlived its usefulness. It has brought about a system that takes necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“In a real sense, all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be… This is the inter-related structure of reality.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” – Attributed to the Talmud
“All addiction comes from a sense of lack, a core feeling that something is missing. And when we feel this lack subconsciously or consciously, we tend to breathe poorly.” – Tommy Rosen
“May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.” – John O’Donohue
“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die. Or when. You can decide how you’re going to live. Now.” – Joan Baez
“The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.” – Bell Hooks
“Courage is facing your fear and doing it anyways. Confidence is a slightly over rated mask for insecurity.” – Dani Shapiro
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” – Barack Obama
“Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.” – The Dalai Lama
“I think 99 times and I find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me.” –Albert Einstein
“What’s past is past, nothing can change that. But the future can be different if we choose to make it so. We have to cultivate a vision of a happier, more peaceful future and make the effort now to bring it about. This is no time for complacency, hope lies in the action we take.” – Dalai Lama
“I don’t want to be somebody that I’m not. I like me, and I’ve been pretty successful so far being me and I was raised in a really big family. And, you know, my mom liked me, my friends liked me … I don’t care about a title or a position. You know I have to wake up with me every morning, and I want to be the best version of myself. I don’t want to be this person you’re trying to make me, so I’m really sorry but I have to go. So, I left, and literally a month later got the call to become the CEO of Burberry.” – Borrowing from Shakespeare, Ahrendts then sums up the lesson in a single, beautiful sentence:
“So, I just think that to thyself be true.” –Angela Ahrendts

I hope you have enjoyed this month’s Heart Full Moments, and that you have read or seen or heard things, in your own life too, that made you pause and breathe in, the wisdom or wonder of that experience.

If you or someone you care about needs help to overcome some of life’s struggles, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.

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