Born Innocent

Every act of conscious learning
requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem.
That is why young children,
before they are aware of their own self-importance,
learn so easily.
- Thomas Szasz

Children are natural Zen masters;
their world is brand new in each and every moment.
- John Bradshaw

Children are born innocent.
Before they are domesticated they live in the moment,
love without fear, and don't even think about the opinions of others.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Unlike grown-ups, children have little need to deceive themselves.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Children are curious and are risk takers.
They have lots of courage.
They venture out into a world
that is immense and dangerous.
A child initially trusts life
and the processes of life.
- John Bradshaw

Further reading: Value Honor, Not Ego

Childlike Wonder

Our Children's Earth
    

Your Talent is God's Gift to You

Your talent is God's gift to you.
- Leo Buscaglia

Pray as though everything depended on God.
Work as though everything depended on you.
- Saint Augustine

God is present everywhere, and every person is His work.
- Saint Francis de Sales

A man's pride shall bring him low,
but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.
- Proverbs 29:23

Leadership is an opportunity to serve.
It is not a trumpet call to self-importance.
- J. Donald Walters

Today's affirmation:
I give thanks to God for my physical, mental, and emotional health;
for my intelligence; for my talent; for my parents;
for my rearing; and for my place and condition of birth.

Further reading: Give Thanks and Celebrate

Tolerance, Not Judgement

Helping Others

Judge Not

Rekindling the Light
    

Self-Made Pride

Your talent is God's gift to you.
- Leo Buscaglia

None of us got where we are solely by
pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.
- Thurgood Marshall

It was pride that changed angels into devils;
it is humility that makes men as angels.
- Saint Augustine

The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness
of the interdependence of all these living beings,
which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.
- Thomas Merton

Ingratitude often hides behind a mask of independence or self-sufficiency.
An assertion of being "self-made" is a rejection of God, one's ancestors, and society.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Seeds You Plant

Pay It Forward

Feeling Blessed
  

Value Honor, Not Ego

The ego lives by comparisons...
The ego cannot survive without judgment.
- A Course in Miracles

Real excellence and humility are not incompatible one with the other,
on the contrary they are twin sisters.
- Jean Baptiste Lacordaire

A man's pride shall bring him low,
but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.
- Proverbs 29:23

Talent is God-given; be humble.
Fame is man-given; be thankful.
Conceit is self-given; be careful.
- John Wooden

Comparisons are odious.
- Old English Saying

We take refuge in pride because we are afraid to tell the truth to ourselves.
- Kakuzo Okakura

Further reading: my thoughts on ego

The Problem with Comparisons

On Importance - read this first - then this

You are Important

Humble Places

Humility

Honor

Real excellence and humility are not incompatible one with the other, on the contrary they are twin sisters. - Jean Baptiste Lacordaire

Real excellence and humility are not incompatible one with the other, on the contrary they are twin sisters.
- Jean Baptiste Lacordaire

Like many people, I have a constant battle with self-importance. Sometimes I am very pleased with myself and believe that other people's happiness depends on me. Much more often, I have self doubts and believe that I am inadequate. I fully identify with the words my friend Philip wrote recently, "I usually go back and forth between feeling like I'm more important than I really am or that I'm not important at all. Either way is simply self-centeredness. What I would like to be all day, every day, is God-centered."

I find self-centeredness to be a great cause of self-inflicted suffering, whether it shows up as an inflated ego or as feeling worthless. For me, happiness comes when I remember that others' opinions of me are just their opinions - nothing more. I find happiness in moving toward my goals regardless of the applause or the jeers of others.

Further reading:
Abraham Lincoln: Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?

Happiness blooms in the presence of self-respect and the absence of ego. - jlh

How to be Happy - 7 Secrets for a Happy Life