Remember, remember, the sky of November...

"The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand."
- Robert Vallett -

"Being receptive and allowing things to happen is a skill that can be practiced and improved upon."
- Dr. Amy Johnson -

"Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things."
- Thomas Merton -

"Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint."
- Angela Duckworth -

"When you look deeply into your anger, you will see that the person you call your enemy is also suffering. As soon as you see that, the capacity for accepting and having compassion for them is there."
- Thich Nhat Hanh -

"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness."
- John Muir -

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."
- Dalai Lama -

"The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness. Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing."
- Jon Kabat-Zinn -

"Miracles can happen when we can keep our consciousness away from analyzing and classifying one another."
- Marshall Rosenberg -

Motivational quotes

"There is something so enchanting in the smile of melancholy. It is a ray of light in the darkness, a shade between sadness and despair, showing the possibility of consolation."
- Leo Tolstoy -

"Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master."
- Christian Lous Lange -

"I think we have to get rid of the idea that protest will bring about change. We need to do visionary organizing. "
- Grace Lee Boggs -

"It's a bizarre but wonderful feeling, to arrive dead center of a target you didn't even know you were aiming for."
- Lois McMaster Bujold -

"Every saint has a bee in his halo. "
- Elbert Hubbard -

"No one can give you better advice than yourself."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero -

"The faster we live, the less emotion is left in the world. The slower we live, the deeper we feel the world around us."
- Stanko Abadzic -

"The art challenges the technology, and the technology inspires the art."
- John Lasseter -

Motivational

"When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in."
- Kristin Armstrong -

"Acts of kindness, even in the simplest ways, are what make our lives meaningful, bringing happiness to ourselves and others."
- The Dalai Lama -

"Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness. It comes from letting the world tickle your heart, your raw and beautiful heart."
- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche -


"The greatest fear dogs know is the fear that you will not come back when you go out the door without them."
- Stanley Coren -

"How shall we speak of love, except in the splurge of roses?"
- Mary Oliver -

"Every life speaks to the power of what can be done."
- Oprah Winfrey -

"Books are humanity in print. "
- Barbara Tuchman -

"The perfect woman, you see, is a working woman; not an idler; not a fine lady; but one who uses her hands and her head and her heart for the good of others."
- Thomas Hardy -

"You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result."
- Mahatma Ghandi -

"If you want life on your side or to be on the side of life against death you must surrender completely to life."
- Agnes Martin -

Tall, taller, tallest

"What you are, the world is. And without your transformation, there can be no transformation of the world."
- J. Krishnamurti -

We are all parts of a bigger living organism. And the whole is reflected in the part, but also the part is reflected in the whole. The easiest way to change the world is by changing yourself. Try it! It will surprise you.

"I avoid grandiose plans. I start with a small piece that I can do. I go to the root of the problem and then work around it. It's building brick by brick. "
- Muhammad Yunus -

But i am not important, and my feeble actions cannot change the world, you can say. Which is not necessarily true, even if you believe that. In one of his stories, Tony Robbins said how someone left a bag full of food on Thanksgiving day, in front of his door. Because of that, growing up, he always remembered and tried to give some food-bags to people in need. First time he gave 2, second time 4, and now, more than 40 years later, he just gave more than 5 millions bags. It is always good to start small. But how much will grow, you never know.

"We rise by lifting others."
- Robert Ingersoll -

Why me? you asked. Because there is no change to grow only for yourself. This kind of growth is not real, and you will fail eventually. But when you are doing it for many others, than you become responsible. And accountable. And then your efforts will be real and you will persevere. You will know which is your limit, but you will go even further that that.

About advice, sleep and ideal justice

"Advice is like snow - the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge -

I was always thinking that, when it is about giving some advice, make it in the way that the person listening will think that it was his/her idea. It is not about manipulation, but more about the art of providing hints, so the other person listening to reach to that conclusion according to their own needs.

"The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep."
- E. Joseph Cossman -

We live in a sleep deprived society, where action is desired, but even if we care about what we eat or how we exercise, this is not enough. Sleep is still one of the most important part of life, and this alone can heal, regulate eating and help with resilience when exercising. Do it properly, and you will see the differences. Try to go to sleep early and wake up early, having 8-9 hours consistently.

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -

This is the ideal, and thinking about it we can only see that we are still far away of that Golden Age where everything will be how is supposed to be. The real world needs a lot of help, and we need to do the work.

21 motivational quotes to choose from...

This blog post is an answer to the news program watched yesterday at work. While i do not pretend they are solutions, you can get inspired and try to mend the modern world. Enjoy it!


1.If people are informed they will do the right thing. It's when they are not informed that they become hostages to prejudice.

- Charlayne Hunter-Gault -

2.Man's nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature.

- Mahatma Gandhi -

3.Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.


- Marcus Aurelius -

4.There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.

- Helen Frankenthaler -

5.There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.

- Helen Frankenthaler -

6.We can do no great things; only small things with great love.

- Mother Teresa -


7.How strange the change
From major to minor,
Every time we say goodbye.

- Cole Porter -

8.Forever is composed of nows.

- Emily Dickinson -

9.The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man

- Charles Darwin -

10.The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

- Mahatma Gandhi -

11.The things that matter most in our lives are not fantastic or grand. They are moments when we touch one another.

- Jack Kornfield -

12.I think most artists in their most personal, private moments in their studio ask, "Whats my purpose on earth as an artist?

- Carl Cheng -

13.We are each made for goodness, love and compassion. Our lives are transformed as much as the world is when we live with these truths.

- Desmond Tutu -

14.To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

15.It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

- Frederick Douglas -

16.Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception.

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg -

17.Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

18.True peace between nations will only happen when there is true peace within people's souls.

- Native American Proverb -

19.Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world.

- Brene Brown -

20. We cannot create a world we can't imagine and stories are the engines of our imaginations.

- Josh Stearns -


21. Writing is the painting of the voice.

- Voltaire -

Random thoughts

"A drop of ink may make a million think."
- George Gordon Byron -

Leave messages, uplifting messages, whenever you can. Be creative, from boards and stick-it on the fridge, to notes and stickers on the toilet's mirror. Find new ways, inside the cupboards, or in the envelopes with the message Open-Me. You will make someone smile, and that is enough to continue.

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit."
- Nelson Henderson -

Make long term plans, big plans, plans meant to change the world. Follow a new one any time you can. You never now what can happen. Something can reach a tipping point, and the humanity as a whole will evolve further. Do your part. And never expect something in exchange. Be the anonymous person who helped everyone.

" When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'"
- Lao Tzu -

This put me in awe. Just the thought that someone like this can exist. Yes, we hear often the 'I wouldn't do it without you!'. But this, this is a subtle way of directing events to happen, a mastery known to many. And now i have something to think about. Life is good.

"I think it's important and I think it's true that our life experience is going to be about our attitude, our thoughts, our beliefs, our speech and our actions. We can transform our life experience simply by changing our language. "
- Jason Mraz -

So simple and yet so effective. Words can kill. Words can also heal. And, if you embrace the positivity, and banish all the hurting, untrue or confusing words from your life, your whole experience will change. You will build something, inside your brain, something majestic. Even if it will take time, and maybe you will fight like you never did before, it is a worthy effort. Change now, change sooner. It is never too late.

Bees, meaning and acceptance of life

"The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others."
- Saint John Chrysostom -

Nature is wonder. It is an urban legend, or maybe more than this, saying that in the moment we kill all the bees, the whole earth will die. We are all but links in an universal chain of life, slipping though the holes of the intricate weave of reality. Nothing else to say.


 
"The meaning of life is to give life meaning."
- Viktor Frankl -

Do i need to repeat it? "The meaning of life is to give life meaning." We are alive, but not really living, for the biggest part of the day. When were you really excited about the next thing that you are supposed to do? Can you tell me? Was it today? Last week? Last month? Last year? It is a question popping by often for me. Do i really live, or i am just surviving, barely keeping myself alive? What give us meaning? Is the meaning happiness? Riches beyond measure? Love? Think about it and you will see how the answer is changing, given enough time.


"Acceptance of one's life has nothing to do with resignation; it does not mean running away from the struggle. On the contrary it means accepting it as it comes...To accept is to say yes to life in its entirety."
- Paul Tournier -

Yes, it is a common misconception. Acceptance is not fatality, it is just doing your best, and in knowing there, being oblivious of the result. Even if you fail, you will not stress about it, because you did your best at that specific time. You will improve and get better, until achieve the necessary level to complete that challenge. In acceptance is the secret of a life without stress, without infertile thoughts.

Random quotes about life

"The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web." - Pablo Picasso -

You can see beauty everywhere, if you are looking for it. If you set for beauty, it will surround and enchant you. But you all your thoughts are negative, dark, stressful, then the color will fade, and the magic will disappear from your life. Think about that. If you think that this world is hell, it is. If you think that this world is paradise, it is. Either way you are right. Then, why not to make the right choices?

Transforming idea of the week: "Make new friends by attending a class or event at a community center in a different neighborhood from your own." - Maya Angelou -

Do something new, outside your comfort zone. If you are white, go to a non-white predominant club. If you are black, go to an Asian predominant club. You get the idea. Learn about other country, or about other profession. Spend time with some bikers. As long as you are not in danger, reaching other circles than your usual ones will make you grow, adapt and challenge your beliefs. It is an useful exercise.

"There comes a day when you realize turning a page is the best feeling in the world, because you realize there is so much more to the book than the page you were stuck on." - Zayn Malik -

The metaphor is good, coming from Zayn, and it is making us thinking about our routines, about what are we doing in the same way every day, without trying to find if it is a better alternative. Do not become a person of habit. Challenge yourself and your little automatic gestures. The brain will rewire and your experience will make you a better person in any given direction. You will even start to learn faster, to change when needed and to find a teacher in everyone.

"There are three truths: my truth, your truth and the truth." - Chinese proverb -

Everything we see in understood through our life experience, and no one can see the same big picture in the same way. No, not even the twins. Can be close of our reality or far away, but it is not the same. We, people, are islands, surrounded by the entire world as an impersonal ocean. If we keep this in mind, sometime we can have a glimpse into another person life, and this is a big thing. The more often we can do this, the more wiser we will become.

Motivational quotes list

This is a short list with some of the quotes I liked in the past month:

Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.
- Rumi -

What we fear most is that we will be denied the opportunity to fulfill our true potential.
- Dan Pallotta -

Satisfactions are fulfillment of the heart. Dissatisfactions are the rumblings of the mind.
- Duane Elgin -

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
- C.S. Lewis -

If we could surrender to Earth's intelligence, we would rise up rooted, like trees.
- Rainer Maria Rilke -

Humility in response to an experience of failure, then, is at its core a form of therapy, the beginning of a healing process.
- Costica Bradatan -

You cannot transform yourself, and you certainly cannot transform your partner or anybody else. All you can do is create a space for transformation to happen, for grace and love to enter.
- Eckart Tolle -

If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.
- Mother Theresa -

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion.
- Maya Angelou -

Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.
- Abraham Joshua Heschel -

Choosing Must is the greatest thing we can do with our lives
- Elle Luna -

Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have.
- Margaret Mead -

To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace.
- Morihei Ueshiba -

If we apply our minds directly and competently to the needs of the earth, then we will have begun to make fundamental and necessary changes in our minds.
- Wendell Berry -

Listen to the trees as they sway in the wind. Their leaves are telling secrets.
- Vera Nazarian -

The human heart is the first home of democracy.
- Terry Tempest Williams -

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
- Virginia Woolfe -

Whether we live in poverty or prosperity, we can still live generously.
- Dillon Burroughs -