Gratitude is not a magic trick, yet it can make a half-empty glass appear half full. It can transform difficult moments because it has a way of making the littlest things more significant and meaningful.
Gratitude or appreciation is an intentional focus on the positive, on what you already perceive as good. When you appreciate someone, you are focusing on her source-like qualities. Anything else that you seem to see, anything that you perceive as un-source-like in any way, is ultimately only...
- By Alan Cohen
A young Japanese man named Shui was riding on a crowded train when a belligerent drunk made his way through the train car and began to rough up passengers. Shui had studied martial arts for many years, yet never before had he been forced into a public confrontation. Shui felt his blood begin to boil, and...
Once in a while, a person will have a defining moment -- an experience -- a bit of wisdom or inspiration that pops into their heads and hearts and changes their lives. I had one of those moments recently on the Rogue River in Oregon. It helped to change in a very positive way my relationship with Barry, my beloved of 46 years.
- By Alan Cohen
Are you worrying about how something important to you will turn out? I know the answer. You’ve got to believe me. I see so many people stuck, confused, or fearful about what will come next. Eventually they somehow handle their issues, and the universe gives them a hand with the details...
"Do you really think the world is going to end?” she asked. I was stunned. She couldn’t have known that, in a recent e-mail to a friend, I confessed how strange it was that suddenly all sorts of individuals I was encountering in my everyday life were bringing up the subject of apocalypse. I’d joked that...
by Marie T. Russell. Years ago I read a small (yet immense) book entitled The Door of Everything. When I first saw it in a bookstore, I immediately bought it. It sat at home for a few weeks, until one morning, as I was headed out to the beach, I heard "Take the small book." I looked around and wondered...
- By Marc Allen
Look at the lives of some of the wealthiest people in the world, and you see lives full of misery, because so many of them haven’t learned the simple secret of a life well lived, a life of happiness and inner peace, a life of purpose, a sacred and miraculous life...
His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks of counteracting forces for the disturbing emotions. These counteracting forces are specific mental states that we cultivate to oppose the ones that are not realistic or beneficial. Worry can't abide in a mind that is...
by Marie T. Russell. "Don't tell me what to do!" We've heard that said many times... we've even said it, and at times when we didn't say it, we thought it! "Don't bug me! Don't get on my case! Don't tell me what to do!" Sounds like a teenager speaking... ah! but it is! It's that inner teenager that most of us still carry around inside.
by Dean Van Leuven. In dealing with another person's anger, it's important to be aware of the fact that the other person wants something to come out of their relationship with you. The key is to understand their expectations, and to help them understand yours. Such mutual understanding is brought about by...
Oh, dear! I did it again. Shifted gears. Things were going along smoothly, everyone was feeling good, the vibrations were pleasant and then I shifted gears. I guess you could say that I shifted into reverse. Someone said something that "pushed my button", and I shifted out of a positive and calm head-space, into one where anger and...
Let's look at the system of reward and punishment as it is practiced among humans. We reward ourselves or others when we judge an action to be 'good'. We punish others or ourselves for something 'bad'. Yet who calls the shots on this? Who is the one qualified to judge?
It crept up unexpectedly, little by little, until it was a full blown "mood". My ego tells me "It all started after the conversation with that person who was angry... it's all their fault." "Wait a minute," my Higher Self interjects. "You chose to adopt that anger and carry it with you. No one forced you or 'made you' angry."
by Sylvia Browne. There was one passage [in the Dead Sea Scrolls] that struck me as reflecting our philosophy so much: "An edict went out amongst the Essenes [later the Gnostics] that stated, 'Stop holding on. Quit having the stubbornness of guilt.'" It really struck me how tenacious guilt is. Guilt is a killer -- no doubt about it.
How many times have you prayed for something to happen in your life? Yet, if you think back on some of the prayers you've asked along your journey I?m sure you can come up with at least one that you are grateful went unanswered..
The ability to see your own anger is critically important. Anger takes many forms: irritation, lack of patience, refusal to communicate, holding a grudge, making fun of someone, manipulation of another, criticism, blame, complaints...
by Amy B. Trachter, Psy.D., Ph.D. Anger is an extremely powerful emotion. It can energize you in a way that most emotions do not. Think of all the energy you use when you are angry. Now think of what you could do with that energy if it were directed in a way that was beneficial to you. You can choose to handle your anger in a way that is helpful to you, or not...
by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. Generally speaking, all religions consider compassion to be important. Moreover, it is not just the religions of the world that consider compassion to be important. Ordinary, worldly people think so too. Generally, everyone feels compassion, but the compassion is flawed.
Are you angry at yourself? Some of you may respond "no" while others may recognize that you do carry anger towards yourself. Yet, even with acknowledging the presence of anger, do we really realize the depth and extent of the anger we carry?
The world's favorite pastime is not football, soccer, or baseball but gossip. People love to gossip about one another. The next time you are at the check out line in your grocery store notice all the papers and magazines that thrive on gossip...
Guilt! It may not be a four-letter word, but its effects on the body, mind and emotions are deep. It used to be accepted as a way to keep us on the path, but upon reflection I realized that its effect is the complete opposite...
Ideally, we all want to be in a constant state of total unconditional acceptance. However, in your zeal to become 'unconditional' have you overlooked yourself? Have you been able to stop judging and accept the inconsistencies that occasionally cause you to fall short of the mark?