Saturday ~ January 16, 2016

In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught.

( Baba Dioun, 1937 -    )

Friday ~ January 15, 2016

Now give hearts onward habit brave intent:
Hammer the golden day until it lies
A glimmering plate to heap with memory;
Salute the arriving moment with your eyes,
Open the door that opens toward the sky;
Press mind and body hard against this world,
Before we fall asleep, before we die.

( John Holmes, 1815 - 1894 )

Thursday ~ January 14, 2016

Trees need their protective bark to enable the delicate process of growth and renewal to unfold without threat. Likewise, we must have our our boundaries and defenses so that the more venerable parts of ourselves can safely heal and unfold. But our growth also depends upon our ability to soften, loosen, and discard boundaries and defenses that we no longer need. It is often the case in life that structures we put in place to help us grow eventually become constricting..

( Madisyn Taylor, b. late-20th c. )

Wednesday ~ January 13, 2016

The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself, it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that  fester, smell far worse than weeds.

( Willian Shakespeare, 1954 - 1616)

Tuesday ~ January 12, 2016

We use all kinds of ways to escape - all addictions stem from this moment when we meet our edge and we just can't stand it. We feel we have to soften it, pad it with something, and we become addicted to whatever it is that seems to ease the pain.

( Pema Chodron, 1936 -   )

Monday ~ January 11, 1016

When giving thanks comes hard for you,
And things are grim,
And hope runs thin,
Recall: Despair's a door to pass on through,
and not a home for living in.
When Thanksgiving fills your cup,
And those you love are all about,
Look at your blessings, count them up,
and give back something to the world without.

( Robert Mabry Doss, 1927 -   )

Sunday ~ January 10, 2016

To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

( Bessie Anderson Stanley, 1879 - 1952 )