Imagination

"Imagination allows you to realize the limitless possibilities before you and to bring to life things that don't even exist. It's one of the more important things that make us human."

-George Lucas

Imperfections, Acceptance

"These days, my practice is teaching me to embrace imperfection: to have compassion for all the ways things haven't turned out as I planned, in my body and in my life-for the ways things keep falling apart, and failing, and breaking down. It's less about fixing things, and more about learning to be present for exactly what is."
-Anne Cushman

"I was caught in the conundrum of believing that I needed to be different, that the way I was right now was not all right...eventually I came to understand that it was this very non-acceptance that was keeping me stuck in my patterns."
-Judith Lasater

Inauguration Day 2009: Barack Obama (Soon) Becomes the 44th President of the United States of America

In celebration of this historical day, the inauguration of Barack Obama, the soon to be 44th president of the United States of America, and the first African-American President of the United States of America, below is a quote, an excerpt from Barack Obama's acceptance speech, given in Chicago, November 4, 2008:

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America."

-Barack Obama, text excerpt of Barack Obama's acceptance speech
November 4, 2008
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/obama.transcript/

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.


"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Defeat and Courage

"We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated."

-Maya Angelou


"One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest."

-Maya Angelou

On Art and Artistic Expression

"I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration."

-Frida Kahlo

Purpose and Dreams

"Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose — a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye."

-Mary Shelley

"My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed - my dearest pleasure when free."

-Mary Shelley

Considering Yourself

"One by one, consider all your ideas about yourself and then discard them. Sense your subjective experience of simply being. Allow your choices to arise from the depths of your true nature, not your ideas about yourself."

www.thingstobehappyabout.com

Cultivating Kindness

"With a loving heart as the background, all that you attempt and all that you encounter will open and flow more easily. Loving kindness can be cultivated."

www.thingstobehappyabout.com

Possibilities and Hope

"We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

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“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”

-Thich Nhat Hanh

Other's Expectations

"Inner dialogue that commiserates about the manipulative expectations of others ensures that this kind of conduct continues to flow into your life. If your thoughts are on what others expect of you-even though you despise their expectations-you'll continue to act on and attract more of what they want and expect for you. Removing the obstacle means that you decide to shift your inner speech to what you intend to create and attract into your life. You must do this with unswerving intent, and a commitment to not giving mental energy to what others feel about how you live your life. This can be a tough assignment at first, but you'll welcome the shift when you do it."

-Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, "The Power of Intention"

Living Connected To "Source"

"A person who lives in a state of unity with the Source of all life doesn't look any different from ordinary folks. These people don't wear a halo or dress in special garments that announce their godlike qualities. But when you notice that they go through life as the lucky ones who seem to get all the breaks, and when you begin to talk to them, you realize how distinctive they are compared to people living at ordinary levels of awareness. Spend a few moments in conversation with these people who are connected to the power of intention and you see how unique they are. These people, whom I call connectors to signify their harmonious connection with the field of intention, are individuals who have made themselves available for success. It's impossible to get them to be pessimistic about achieving what they desire in their lives. Rather than using language that indicates that their desires may not materialize, they speak from an inner conviction that communicates their profound and simple knowing that the universal Source supplies everything."

-Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, "The Power of Intention"

On Problem Solving and Miracles

Yesterday turned out to be a very surprising and amazing day. It was filled with a series of unexpected events that took me right off my "plan" for the day, in the best possible of ways (don't you love when that happens?). In this process, I didn't put up a quote of the day, as I had promised to do each day this month. So, here are two quotes to make up for missing yesterday. Enjoy!

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” -Albert Einstein

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

Life As An Unfolding

"All our progress is an unfolding, like a vegetable bud. You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge as the plant has root, bud, and fruit. Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Moving Past Limits

"A Tibetan method of meditation is called the method of exaggeration. Whatever you are feeling, exaggerate it. Exaggerate it because you have lived within a limit, a boundary that has become a routine for you and unless you go beyond it, you will never be aware of what that limit is. It is part of your habitual mind. Once you have learned to go beyond this limit, you will be in a totally different world. You will start knowing how to get out of it and get beyond it."

www.thingstobehappyabout.com

Never Too Late...

"It's never too late, you're never too old, you're never too sick, to start again ..."

Bishnu Ghosh, (Bikram Choudhury's teacher)

Small Steps To A New Way Of Being...

"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

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In celebration of the New Year, I'll be posting quotes throughout the month. Enjoy and Happy New Year!