Ideal Self
You can spend the rest of your days
attempting to become
some imagined, perfect person,
but I recommend
you don’t waste your life striving to become
some unattainable version of yourself.
You’ll never reach the place of perfection,
and that’s perfectly all right.
The path to perfection
will only lead to exhaustion
and disappointment; meanwhile,
your actual life will be passing you by.
The more peaceful and practical approach is
to simply be yourself at every moment,
accept that this being human is a messy ordeal,
and learn to be OK
with getting your hands dirty.
There’s no actual happiness to be found
in always trying to be someone else
at some future time,
because the fact is, you’ll never quite get there.
Why not instead, show up fully,
right here, right now?
Allow yourself to let go of the idea
that who you are already isn’t enough,
and realize this deep acceptance
is the path to real freedom.
~Mark Van Buren
(Mindful Living trainer and musician.
From: A Fool’s Guide to Actual Happiness)
Signs
Tenderness and kindness
are not signs
of weakness and despair
but manifestations
of strength and resolution.
~Khalil Gibran
(1883-1931, Poet, Artist, Mystic)
Love
In consideration
that God is love,
and love is the supreme power
in our world,
in your willingness to be
in cooperation and alignment
with that love,
allow the love to lead you perfectly.
Do whatever you can
to let go of any interference –
and interference would be anything
that gets in the way
and unnecessarily restricts love
from doing what love is here
to do with you.
~John Morton
(Spiritual Director of Institute
for Individual and World Peace)
Happiness
Ever since happiness
heard your name,
it has been running
through the streets
trying to find you.
~Hafiz
(1315-1390, Sufi Mystic
and Poet of Shiraz, Persia)
Vulnerable
Being vulnerable
is the only way
to allow your heart
to feel true pleasure.
~Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley
(1945 –1981, Jamaican singer-songwriter,
musician, guitarist, social activist)
Perspective
What the caterpillar sees
as the end of the world,
the rest of us
see as a butterfly.
~Lao Tzu
(circa 6th century BCE, Chinese Philosopher)
Unconditional Love
The soul loves unconditionally,
because God loves unconditionally.
The soul and God
are one and the same.
If we tap into our soul
and look at the world through its eyes,
we can not only love unconditionally,
but also feel God’s unconditional love for us.
The sun does not discriminate
as to which flowers it will shine upon.
It sheds its light on all equally.
Thus, roses and violets, tulips and weeds
all receive the same light.
So it is with God’s love.
It shines on us all,
whether we are man or woman,
Hindu or Muslim, Christian or Jew,
Sikh, Sufi, Parsi or Jain.
It shines on us no matter
what color our hair, skin, or eyes.
When we experience our soul
and begin to identify with it,
we too can grow in our love
of all people.
~Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
(1946 to pres., Author, Scientist, Mystic,
Leader of Science of Spirituality and
International Movements for World Peace)
