Some things to ponder

[Wolfstarr]

"All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving
may be yours and not your inheritors."

Kahlil Gibran

[Wolfstarr]

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.

Lao Tzu

[Hopefloats]

Quote "When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you."

This is so true Wolfie..and a great, great lesson for all of us...
Love ya little Wolfie..these are fantastic!!!!!
Hope

[Wolfstarr]

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Thich Nhat Hanh

This is familliar to me; I do hold onto feelings that no longer have a place--only to make me suffer internally....

[Wolfstarr]

When you assume responsibility for what you experience
and share what you experience in a spirit of companionship,
that is the same as forgiveness.
When you hold someone responsible for what you experience,
you lose power.

~ Gary Zukav - from "Seat Of The Soul" ~

[Hopefloats]

Originally Posted by Wolfstarr

When you assume responsibility for what you experience
and share what you experience in a spirit of companionship,
that is the same as forgiveness.
When you hold someone responsible for what you experience,
you lose power.

~ Gary Zukav - from "Seat Of The Soul" ~

A big WOW to this one wolfie! Isn't that the truth. So often we do hold someone else responsible for our experience and it does take away our power. Forgiveness comes very easy for me these days. I feel sad for those stuck in that place where forgiveness just is not possible.
Love Gary Zukav. I had that book "Seat Of The Soul" lost it in my fire...

Thank you again my dear friend

[Wolfstarr]

27th verse of the tao

Living by Your Inner Light

A knower of the truth

travels without leaving a trace,

speaks without causing harm,

gives without keeping an account.

The door he shuts, though having no lock,

cannot be opened.

The knot he ties, though using no cord,

cannot be undone.

Be wise and help all beings impartially,

abandoning none.

Waste no opportunities.

This is called following the light.

What is a good man but a bad man's teacher?

What is a bad man but a good man's job?

If the teacher is not respected

and the student not cared for,

confusion will arise, however clever one is.

This is the great secret.

Practical: Find one person labeled "bad" and use that opportunity to do your job. Be a teacher by reaching out and sending a loving message to him or her - perhaps you could pass along a book, write an email or letter, or make a phone call. Just do one thing as a "good" person today, even if it's for a stranger living in a prison cell. He or she is your assignment right now.

Taken from "Change your thoughts, Change your life, Living the wisdom of the Tao"
Wayne Dyer

[Wolfstarr]

(((Hope))) I love Gary Zukav, too. He is such a gentle soul. I think it's time we both got another copy of that book! Mine walked away from me, probably to someone who could benefit from the words.

[Wolfstarr]

What is, is.
What isn't, isn't.
You become so obsessed with what isn't
that you miss what is.

~ Author Unknown ~

[Wolfstarr]

When you look at life through the eyes of gratitude, the world becomes a wonderful place. The more you find to be grateful about, the more you find to be grateful about. Gratitude is a wonderful antidote to depression. It lifts you out of your small self and gives you an expanded view.
A simple exercise:

Think of one nice thing that happened today that you can be thankful for....
notice how you feel as you dwell on it.

Now, think of a yukky thing that made you sad or angry or upset or fearful....
notice how you feel as you dwell on it.

Which one made you smile? Which one made you feel uplifted? Which one made you feel heavy? Which one made you feel light?

So the more times you find something to be grateful / thankful for, the more times you feel good. The more times you feel good, the more of that joy you spread to others. Watch out... it could be contagious....

It's that simple!



Gratitude helps you to grow and expand.
Gratitude brings joy and laughter into your lives
and into the lives of all those around you.

~ Eileen Caddy ~

[Hopefloats]

I don't think we can say enough about gratitude. It really fills our lives and makes our hearts swell.
I am so thankful for understanding the meaning of gratitude and even more thankful that I take time to think about it each and every day.

[Wolfstarr]

Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while
waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to
meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and
dont be afraid... and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. If you follow
your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.

~ Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) ~

[Wolfstarr]

To everyone here on SV--Happy Valentine's Day. You are loved!!

Valentine Gift (to the Villagers!)

On Valentine’s Day,
I’m thinking about
the special ways
you have made my life better,
the little things,
the not-so-little things...
your kindness,
the way you always listen
and pay attention to me.
You make my world
brighter and richer.
You’re a gift to me,
and I thank you
for being you.

By Joanna Fuchs

[Hopefloats]

Aaah thanks Little ((((wolfie)))
Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day too!!
Love
Hope

[Wolfstarr]

Hope



"Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect."

~ Chief Seattle, 1854 ~

[Wolfstarr]

Who You Are: A Meditation For Challenging Times
Brian Vaszily


For the worried, the stressed, the overwhelmed, the lonely, the displaced, the desperate, the sick, the heartbroken, the confused, the paralyzed, the angry, the lost, the human. May we always remember who we really are.

I accept responsibility for my human being, because only I am responsible, but I take comfort in and rejoice that I am so much more.

As such:

I am not the circumstances around me.

Where I believe I can make a positive impact on the circumstances, I will try. Where I cannot change circumstances, I will accept that they are so, and how they impact my own circumstances is so. But I will not let them bring me down. Instead I will rise above them, as they are not me.

I am not my money.

And the gain and loss of my money is not me. I respect the good that money can help do, but I also recognize its limitations and how easily it can cause harm to others and to me. I will control my money to the best of my ability, but whether I gain or lose it, I will never let it take control of me.

I am not my possessions.

The material goods in my life include tools that can help me do and achieve things, and ornaments that can make me feel a certain way. But while I may choose to assign symbolic value to some of these things, I realize they are all still mere things, mere dust, but I am so much more.

I am not my job.

I may love the work I do, or my job may only be a stepping-stone, but either way it is still just something I do. It may nourish me, it may help others, but I am now and always will be far greater than the work that I do.

I am not my relationships.

Though they may be the nearest and dearest part of my human life, and though I seek to guide and learn from and share with and stand by them, in our humanness the people I love are not me. I am not the thoughts, hopes, desires, intentions, perceptions nor the actions of my spouse, children, parents, siblings, or friends. I cannot control their thoughts and choices, nor can they control mine. The only control I have is over me.

I am not my emotions.

I may feel joy, excitement, and other positive emotions, and I am grateful when I do. I may feel fear, anger and other challenging emotions, and I accept when I do. But because I am not my emotions, I know that only I have the power to let these emotions linger and influence my thoughts and actions, or to let go of the emotions so they do not.

I am not my actions.

But I am responsible for my actions. Where I have a choice of actions, I can only try my best to make the right choices. And where I make mistakes in my choices, I will acknowledge them, try to learn from them and forgive myself. And I will seek to atone for the impact of my mistakes on others, and seek their forgiveness.

I am not the actions of others that impact me.

I can hope their actions are done with the best of intentions, but I am not responsible if their actions are instead done out of envy, greed, anger, fear or other negative emotions. I am responsible for accepting if they are so, for trying my best to guide, and for forgiving and letting go if they are so. But I am not responsible that they are so.

I am not my body.

I am not my skin, blood and bones. I am not my fat, my baldness, my scars, or my illness. I am not my body’s desires. I am not my appearance. But I accept responsibility for controlling my body’s desires, and I accept responsibility for doing my best to respect my body, as it and it alone is what houses me in this human state.

I am not my genetics.

If a part of my human being is fixed and preordained, I accept both the gifts and challenges I have been given therein. But part of my human being is most certainly driven by choices, and so I will try my best using my wisdom and courage to make the best choices where I am able.

I am not my thoughts.

I recognize that my thoughts have the power to open doors or create barriers for me in this human form, and so I will do my best to manage the direction of my thoughts. But though their range and influence may seem immense, still they are only human thoughts, with human limits, whereas I am unlimited.

I am not my past.

Anything I have done or that has been done is done. I can choose to learn from it, I can choose to atone for it and seek forgiveness for it, and I can choose to cherish it. But I cannot change it, so I will not let it hold me. I will not let time hold me at all, as I am beyond that mere invention. The only moment to do and be is now, so now is where I am.

I am my spirit.

I am that which existed before, during and after this body, these events, these relations, and this place. That which exists beyond time and space.

In my flesh, my thoughts, my choices, my relations, my humanness, I am anything but perfect. But at my core, in my spirit, I am perfect. As we all are.

And though I cherish this human life, and this temporary body and family I am in, and I am committed to trying my best for all others and myself out of that love, I know I have nothing to lose.

Because I have been given the gift of this eternal spirit. Because I am my spirit.

I am pure, I am whole, I am God’s, I am the universe, I am grateful.

I am love.

And I have nothing to fear.

Everything is ultimately good.

And so it will be.

[Wolfstarr]

I am grateful for what I am and have.
My thanksgiving is perpetual...
O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches.
No run on my bank can drain it
for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.

Henry David Thoreau

[Wolfstarr]

26th Verse of the Tao:

Living Calmly

The heavy is the root of the light.

The still is the master of unrest.

Realizing this,

the successful person is poised and centered

in the midst of all activities;

although surrounded by opulence,

he is not swayed.

Why should the lord of the country

flit about like a fool?

If you let yourself be blown to and fro,

you lose touch with your root.

To be restless is to lose one's self-mastery.

Practical: Sit in a quiet place and picture the one person with whom you have some kind of long-standing conflict sitting there before you. Now say out loud, directly to him or her, "I forgive you. I surround you with love and light, and I do the same for myself." This will put the message of the 26th verse of the Tao te ching to work for you by bringing about a sense of calm.

[Giyana]

Quite beautiful Wolfy, and something I shall use today.

[Wolfstarr]

(((GI))))thank you



Please Listen


When I ask you to listen to me
and you start giving me advice,
you have not done what I asked.

When I ask you to listen to me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way,
you are trampling on my feelings.

When I ask you to listen to me
and you feel you have to do something
to solve my problem,
you have failed me, strange as that may seem.

Listen!
All I ask is that you listen.
Don't talk or do - just hear me.
Advice is cheap - 20 cents will get you both
Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same newspaper.
And I can do for myself; I am not helpless.
Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.

When you do something for me that I can
and need to do for myself,
you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
But when you accept as a simple fact
that I feel what I feel, no matter how irrational,
then I can stop trying to convince you
and get about this business of understanding
what's behind this irrational feeling.
And when that's clear, the answers are obvious
and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense
when we understand what's behind them.

Perhaps that's why prayer works - sometimes -
for some people, because God is mute.
and he doesn't give advice or try to fix things.
God just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.

So please listen, and just hear me.
And if you want to talk,
wait a minute for your turn,
and I will listen to you.



Author Unknown