What You Emphasize

The trick is in what one emphasizes.
We either make ourselves miserable,
or we make ourselves happy.
The amount of work is the same.
- Carlos Castaneda

When any situation arises which tempts you to become disturbed,
say: "There is another way of looking at this."
- A Course In Miracles

Our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions
and not on our circumstances.
- Martha Washington

If you paint in your mind a picture of
bright and happy expectations,
you put yourself into a condition conducive to your goal.
- Norman Vincent Peale

We see what we expect to see.
If we believe the world to be violent and ugly,
we see violence and ugliness.
If we believe the world to be a gift,
we see rainbows, and butterflies, and smiles,
and hear babies cooing, and roosters greeting the dawn.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Choosing a Joyful Life

Not Too Serious

Your Choices Determine Everything

Don't Let One Cloud
    

A Clear Conscience

When will our consciences grow so tender
that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?
- Eleanor Roosevelt

I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing,
than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.
- Robert E. Lee

'Tis the business of little minds to shrink,
but they whose heart is firm,
and whose conscience approves their conduct,
will pursue their principles unto death.
- Thomas Paine

The man who has won millions at the cost of his conscience is a failure.
- B. C. Forbes

There are only two ways to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball.
One is to have a clear conscience,
and the other is to have no conscience at all.
- Ogden Nash (paraphrase)

Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular;
but one must take it BECAUSE it is right.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today's picture is of a Yazidi refugee camp.

Further reading: Passing the Torch

Your Choices Determine Everything

Character

Martin Luther King, Jr.
    

Complaining Only Makes You Miserable

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
- Chinese proverb often quoted by Eleanor Roosevelt

The world will persist in exhibiting before you
what you persist in affirming the world is.
- Emma Curtis Hopkins

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Complaining only makes you miserable.
Either plan and take effective action,
or gracefully accept the circumstances you are called upon to bear.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Serenity Prayer

Disappointment

Serenity in Times of Crisis

Aesop: The Fox and the Grapes

A Different Life

Is today the day to find joy?

What One Emphasizes.

The trick is in what one emphasizes.
We either make ourselves miserable,
or we make ourselves happy.
The amount of work is the same.
- Carlos Castaneda

Our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions
and not on our circumstances.
- Martha Washington

When any situation arises which tempts you to become disturbed,
say: "There is another way of looking at this."
- A Course In Miracles 

When life gives you lemons, Make Lemonade.
- Anonymous saying

Further reading: How to Think Positive

What You See

Choosing the World You Live In

Beauty is Everywhere

Point of View

Miserable

The trick is in what one emphasizes.
We either make ourselves miserable,
or we make ourselves happy.
The amount of work is the same.
- Carlos Castaneda

Misery nourishes your ego -
that's why you see so many miserable people in the world.
The basic, central point is the ego.
- Osho

Our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions
and not on our circumstances.
- Martha Washington

Read my article How To Make Yourself Miserable

Further reading: How to Think Positive

How to Think Positive

Eleanor Roosevelt: It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
- Chinese proverb often quoted by Eleanor Roosevelt

Complaining only makes you miserable. Either plan and execute an effective response, or gracefully accept the circumstances you are called upon to bear.