The Power of Beginner's Mind

 

Bringing a childlike wonder
and a beginner's mind to life
maximizes both success and joy.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Become more and more innocent,

less knowledgeable and more childlike.
Take life as fun -
because that's precisely what it is!

- Osho

Innocence isn't ever lost completely;
we just need to maintain our goodness to regain it.
- Jewel

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

Over the years, we come to see life as we expect it to be. We make assumptions that support how we "KNOW" that things ARE. We make expectations of others and of ourselves based on those assumptions. For example, we "KNOW" what kinds of people are "good" people and which kinds or people are "bad" people.

Imagine what life would be like if you could forget all the past resentments and perceived offenses that color your thinking and your emotions. Buddhists call that state "beginner mind" - an opening to experience life without the jaundiced filter of past disappointments, to move past assumptions about the nature of life, and really SEE your surroundings - especially the people you interact with - with new eyes.

Today is your day to shed the scales from your eyes.

Further reading: Reverence

Growing Up - Staying Young

Natural Web
    

American Independence Day 2021

 

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph
is for enough good men to do nothing.
- Edmund Burke

We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- Thomas Jefferson (third President of the United States)
[Declaration of Independence, and inscribed in the Jefferson Memorial]

To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains,
but to live in a way that respects
and enhances the freedom of others.
- Nelson Mandela

We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
- Edward R. Murrow

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
- Emma Lazarus - written on the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor

Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself.
- Robert Green Ingersoll

The best way to enhance freedom in other lands
is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.
- Jimmy Carter

Further reading: Uncharted Territory

Take Action About Things That Matter

No Need to Conform

The Freedom of Others
      

Do Not Succumb to the Clamor of the World

 

May your life always be Counterpoint to the Clamor of the World.
May you delight in Dancing Lightly With Life.
May you soar on eagle wings, high above the madness of the world.
May you always sing Melody in the Symphony of Your Life.
May you taste, smell, and touch your dreams of a beautiful tomorrow.
May your sun always shine, and your sky be forever blue.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world,

we lose connection with one another - and ourselves.
- Jack Kornfield

Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness.
It does not believe that I do not want it.
- Mary Oliver

The world clamors, "Do more! Be all that you can be!"
But our Father whispers, "Be still and know that I am God [Psalm 46:10]."
- Joanna Weaver

Today's affirmation:
I am Counterpoint to the Clamor of the World.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

A Life of Harmony

Make Healthy Choices to Relieve Stress

Try Meditation

12 Ways to De-Stress Your Life
    

Compassion, the Highest Value

 

You may call God love, you may call God goodness.
But the best name for God is compassion.
- Meister Eckhart

Praying without ceasing is not ritualized,
nor are there even words.
It is a constant state of awareness of oneness with God.
- Peace Pilgrim

I distrust those people who know so well
what God wants them to do,
because I notice it always coincides
with their own desires.
- Susan B. Anthony

He who is persistent will realize God.
So try your best to make meditation
a regular experience in your life.
- Paramahansa Yogananda

The style of God venerated in the church, mosque, or synagogue
seems completely different from the style of the natural universe.
- Alan Watts

When the universal sacraments of compassion and joy
fill the vast cathedral of our being,
we become the face of God.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Everything is God

Surrender to God

Solitude vs. Feeling Lonely

Be an Open Channel
    

Smile, Especially When You Don't Feel like It

 

Just smiling goes a long way toward making you feel better about life.
And when you feel better about life, your life is better.
- Art Linkletter

First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen?
Then prepare to accept it.
Then proceed to improve on the worst.
- Dale Carnegie

The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive.
The great opportunity is where you are.
- John Burroughs

Smile and the world smiles with you.
- Anonymous

Peace begins with a smile.
- Mother Teresa

Always do the best you can,
and everything else will take care of itself.
Focus your energies on doing what you can
rather than worrying about what you can't.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

A smile that begins as an effort and a pretense quickly grows to become genuine,
and given time, a habit of happiness. In the words of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, "Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

Inner Smile Exercise:
1. Breath slowly, deeply, and consciously.
2. Close your eyes and set the corners of your mouth in just the slightest smile.
3. Visualize your smile growing larger and larger, and your happiness increasing.

Today's affirmation:
Every day in every way I am getting better and better.
- Émile Coué

Further reading: Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

No Regrets

Beyond Your Worries