Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.  - Henry Ward Beecher

"Disappointment and hope always come as a pair. When one appears, the other is lurking not far away."

FANTASTIC, Illuminating Interview with Dutch Cardiologist, Dr. Pim Van Lommel, on Consciousness And The Science of a Near-Death Experience

Different Perspectives On The Holidays

"The holidays have become all about excess, rather than gratitude, simplicity, and love."

"I try to stay far removed from the commercial aspects of the holiday, and focus on the real meaning."

"It isn't about the little details...it's always about love."

"Consider the fact that you don't even have to do the holidays.  Who says they are right for you and your family?  
There is no law dictating this!  Do what works for you."

"You, your work, your home, your kids – these things will never be perfect"...

By letting go – just a little – you will gain: 

1. TIME
2. CONTENTMENT
3. SPACE FOR OTHER THINGS
4. PRODUCTIVITY
5. ENERGY

Do Nothing

http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com

“‎Just for a moment, let yourself be here. Let yourself STOP becoming more, better, or different. You are not a walking mistake. You are not a problem to be solved.”  -Adyashanti

To heal yourself, is to heal your family.
To heal your family, is to heal your village.
To heal your village, is to heal your land.
If you heal your land, you heal the Earth.

"To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal." - William James

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” -M. Scott Peck

Meditation is a universal 'Yes' to everything - Frances Lucille

Let It Go

When you set peace of mind as your goal and plan everything you do in terms of whether it helps or hinders your attainment of that goal, you'll probably never make another mistake. -Brain Tracy

"In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude.  One must overcome the fear of being alone." - Rollo May

"… pure intelligence of consciousness -- the stillness that lies beneath the masks and identities we wear." - Michael Damian

"Silence in this world brings us to a profound inner world where things are understood without words, where there is knowing beyond our intellectual ability. The outer silence touches a place inside of us of endless space, an emptiness that is vastly full, a presence of great heart essence." -

Bruce Davis, Ph.D.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” - Ambrose Redmoon

“Compassion is a verb.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

You are not just a drop in the ocean, you are the mightly ocean in the drop. - Rumi

Sleeping Stranger On Q SubwayTrain Defines Empathy And Is A Lesson In Being Good

“Maybe the photo wouldn’t have become so popular if people weren’t seeing a Jewish man with a yarmulke and a black man in a hood, and because they might not necessarily correlate the two. But there is only one reason that I didn’t move, and let him continue sleeping, and that has nothing to do with race. He was simply a human being who was exhausted, and I knew it and happened to be there and have a big shoulder to offer him.”

Rabbi Bradley Hirschfield, was moved by Theil's recollection of his own fatigue as an explanation for his kindness, and said it was a perfect demonstration of human empathy…."To be able to draw on past hardship to soften our hearts towards others…" 

AWESOME

Astronaut Chris Hadfield Performing David Bowie's SPACE ODDITY, in Space! 

"I think what everyone would find if they could be [up in space] -- if they could see the whole world every 90 minutes and look down on the places where we do things right, and look down where we're doing stupid, brutal things to each other and the inevitable patience of the world that houses us -- I think everybody would be reinforced in their faith, and maybe readdress the real true tenets of what's good and what gives them strength." -  Canadian Astronaut, Cmdr. Chris Hadfield

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart ~ Kahlil Gibran

The Intuitive Mind Is a Sacred Gift and the Rational Mind Is a Faithful Servant - Einstein

There is no formula for generating the authentic warmth of love. It cannot be copied. - Alan Watts

It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to. - Jean-Luc Godard

“Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.” -Alan Watts

Comparison is the thief of joy. - Theodore Roosevelt

The power of music...

"The first Velvet Underground record may have only sold 1,000 copies, but every person who bought it started a band." 
- Brian Eno

take the long way home ...