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Basic Human Contact - The Meeting Of Eyes, The Exchanging Of Words - Is To The Psyche What Oxygen Is To The Brain. If You're Feeling Abandoned By The World, Interact With Anyone You Can.

-Martha Beck

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Basic Human Contact -

Martha Beck

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Basic Human Contact - The Meeting Of Eyes, The Exchanging Of Words - Is To The Psyche What Oxygen Is To The Brain. If You're Feeling Abandoned By The World, Interact With Anyone You Can.

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The Repercussions Of One Person Living In Stubborn Gladness Are Incalculable.

Play Until It's Time To Rest, Then Rest Until It's Time To Play.

Question Every Thought That Causes Suffering And Test It Against Your Own Sense Of Truth.

When You're Weary, Find Relief. When You're Strong, Find Delight.

There Has Never Been, And Never Will Be, Anyone Who Sees, Thinks, Or Responds Exactly The Way You Do. Whether You’re Revolutionizing Physics Or Making A Quilt, You Must Display Your Differences To Make A Difference.

Emotional Discomfort, When Accepted, Rises, Crests And Falls In A Series Of Waves. Each Wave Washes A Part Of Us Away And Deposits Treasures We Never Imagined. Out Goes Naivete, In Comes Wisdom; Out Goes Anger, In Comes Discernment; Out Goes Despair, In Comes Kindness. No One Would Call It Easy, But The Rhythm Of Emotional Pain That We Learn To Tolerate Is Natural, Constructive And Expansive... The Pain Leaves You Healthier Than It Found You.

Explorers Depend On The North Star When There Are No Other Landmarks In Sight. The Same Relationship Exists Between You And Your Right Life, The Ultimate Realization Of Your Potential For Happiness. I Believe That A Knowledge Of That Perfect Life Sits Inside You Just As The North Star Sits In Its Unaltering Spot.

Remember, Intimacy Increases With Honesty. Share Less To Keep People Away And More To Draw Them Closer.

If You're Religious, It Gives You A Perspective.

Standards Of Beauty Are Arbitrary. Body Shame Exists Only To The Extent That Our Physiques Don't Match Our Own Beliefs About How We Should Look.

The Part Of You That Is Unhampered By Illusion-the Illusion Of Time, The Illusion Of Powerlessness, The Illusion Of Impossibility-i S Waiting For You To Slow Down And Open Up So That It Can Speak To Your Consciousness. In Some Unguarded Moment, You Will Hear Its Wildly Improbable Words And Know That They Are Guiding You Home.

The Shortness Of Life, Which We All Discuss, But Which Is Very Clear To Me At The Moment, Makes Keeping And Spreading A Joyful Peace More Crucial Than Ever Before. Let Us Keep Our Minds On What Matters, Which Is Our Work, Which Is Astonishment And Gratitude. From This Quiet Magic Comes A Power For All Other New Years Wishes To Come True.

This Is The Part Of Us That Makes Our Brief, Improbable Little Lives Worth Living: The Ability To Reach Through Our Own Isolation And Find Strength, And Comfort, And Warmth For And In Each Other. This Is What Human Beings Do. This Is What We Live For, The Way Horses Live To Run.

Trust In Your Truth. It Will Be The Best Decision You Ever Make.

To Be Really Productive, It's As Important To Rest When We're Tired As It Is To Work When We're Inspired.

Make Stuff Up. Anyone Who Ever Did Something New Or Interesting Was Making It Up As They Went Along.

When You Do The Thing You Fear, The Thing Loses Its Power To Scare.

I've Developed The Habit Of Mentally Listing Things That Make Me Optimistic About The Future. I Do It Every Day.

Adults Under Threat Feel Like Children.

I Practice Staying Calm All The Time, Beginning With Situations That Aren't Tense.

Truth Itself Is Something You Live, Not Something You Think.

If You See Failure As A Monster Stalking You, Or One That Has Already Ruined Your Life, Take Another Look. That Monster Can Become A Benevolent Teacher, Opening Your Mind To Successes You Cannot Now Imagine.

I Want You To Be Supervised, All Day Every Day, By People Who Forgive Your Errors And Believe In Your Destiny.

During The Times We Think We’re Being “unproductive,” The Seeds Of New Worlds Are Germinating Within Us, And They Need Peace To Grow.

Many People Think Passion Is A Fuzzy Feeling That Makes Taking Action Effortless. In Fact, It's The Gritty Courage And Tenacity To Forge Onward.

If You're Miserable, Make A Choice. If You're Still Miserable, You Can Choose Again.

Trying To Motivate Yourself With Fear Is Like Screaming At A Child, “do Something, Dammit!” You’ll Either Freeze Up Or Act In Counterproducti Ve Ways. Fear Widens The Knowing-doing Gap. Don’t Use It.

Life Is Full Of Tough Decisions, And Nothing Makes Them Easy. But The Worst Ones Are Really Your Personal Koans, And Tormenting Ambivalence Is Just The Sense Of Satori Rising. Try, Trust, Try, And Trust Again, And Eventually You'll Feel Your Mind Change Its Focus To A New Level Of Understanding.

Try Seeing Your World And Yourself This Way, Eyes Open To Whatever Is Before You, Mind Free Of Dichotomies. Are You Good Or Bad, Fragile Or Tough, Wise Or Foolish? Yes. And So Am I.

The Only Map Of Your Right Life Is Written On Your Soul At Its Most Peaceful, And The Only Sure Compass Is Your Heart At Its Most Open.

The Holy Days Are The Best Times To Focus On Real Enthusiasm, The Inner Source That Lightens And Sanctifies Our Lives All Year.

When We Run From Our Feelings, They Follow Us. Everywhere.

It Isn’t Necessary To Know Exactly How Your Ideal Life Will Look; You Only Have To Know What Feels Better And What Feels Worse…begin Making Choices Based On What Makes You Feel Freer And Happier, Rather Than On How You Think An Ideal Life Should Look. It’s The Process Of Feeling Our Way Toward Happiness, Not The Realization Of The Platonic Ideal, That Creates Our Best Lives.

Learning To Let Go Of Expectations Is A Ticket To Peace. It Allows Us To Ride Over Every Crisis—small Or Large, Brother-in-law Or End-of-quarter Office Lockdown—like A Beach Ball On Water. The Next Time A Problem Arises In Your Life, Take A Deep Breath, Let Out A Sigh, And Replace The Thought Oh No! With The Thought Okay.

If You're A Bit Spongy, Vulnerable To The Unsettling Energy Of Others, Count Yourself Lucky. You've Been Given An Incentive To Armor Up, To Consciously Screen Out The Ubiquitous Stresses That Afflict Humanity.

If You Want To End Your Isolation, You Must Be Honest About What You Want At A Core Level And Decide To Go After It.

Most Unhappy People Need To Learn Just One Lesson: How To See Themselves Through The Lens Of Genuine Compassion, And Treat Themselves Accordingly.

Your Life Is Not Little, And Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World. Your Living Large, On The Other Hand-your Being Your True Self Despite Fear, Fatigue, Doubt, And Opposition- Will Serve The World More Than You Can Imagine. In Fact, It May Help Save It. And Saving The World, After All, Is What All Heroes (including You) Are Here To Do.

Loneliness Is Proof That Your Innate Search For Connection Is Intact.

You Get Social Pressure From Your Parents, Who Teach You To Pay Attention To Certain Things And Not To Others. You Get It In School.

Social Pressure

I'd Like To Help Repair The Earth's Ecosystems, And To Fully Live Until I'm Fully Dead.

Anything You're Trying To Will Is Focused On The Future; It's Always Associated With Some Sort Of Anxiety That Makes The Present Moment Somewhat Uncomfortable.

I'm Not Saying We Have Power Over Everything In Our Lives - If That Were True, My Hair Would Look So, So Different - But I Am Saying That There's No Circumstance In Which We Are Completely Powerless.

Pain Is Like A Life Coach In Your Body. It’s What Made Me A Life Coach Because I Started Paying A Lot Of Attention To What Made Me Hurt And What Didn’t. It Turned Out My Body Was Trying To Steer Me Away From A Life That Was Absolutely Wrong For Me And Into A Life That Was Absolutely Wonderful.

I Now Believe That Bêtes Noires Usually Attack Because We're Thwarting Our Own Destinies. Calming The Beast Turns Us Toward Our Best Lives.

Although Beauty May Be In The Eye Of The Beholder, The Feeling Of Being Beautiful Exists Solely In The Mind Of The Beheld.

When Making A Decision, Focus On What Feels "shackles Off" Versus "shackles On".

The Only Way To The Place Beyond Fear Is To Do The Thing You Fear Most. This Is How To Surrender To Your Best Destiny.

Don't Fight Fearful Thoughts. Just Match Each One With An Alternative Thought That Brings You More Peace.

Somewhere In There, Among The Worries, Questions, Advice And Advertising Jingles, Lives Your Intuition, Your True 'inner Voice.' You Can Hear It To The Extent That You Give It Your Attention.

Don’t Hide Love. If You Feel It, Express It-not To Demand That Others Love You Back, But Simply To Live Outwardly The Best Of What You Feel Inwardly. The Worst That Can Happen To Your Heart Is Not Rejection By Another Person But Failure To Act On The Love You Feel.

Your First Daily Priority Should Be Stillness, Attention To What You Really Know And What You Really Feel.

No Part Of Your Experience Is Wasted. Everything You've Experienced So Far Is Part Of What You Were Meant To Learn.

Every Day Brings New Choices.

If Your Life Is Cloudy And You're Far, Far Off Course, You May Have To Go On Faith For A While, But Eventually You'll Learn That Every Time You Trust Your Internal Navigation System, You End Up Closer To Your Right Life.

Bracketing Has Turned All My Experiences, Remembered And Present, Into A Gallery Of Miracles Where I Wander Around Dazzled By The Beauty Of Events I Cannot Explain.

Welcoming Imperfection Is The Way To Accomplish What Perfectionism Promises But Never Delivers. It Gives Us Our Best Performance And Genuine Acceptance In The Family Of Human -- And By That I Mean Imperfect -- Beings.

The Effect Of Emotional Venting Is To Sustain An Unsatisfactory Status Quo. Most People Think The Opposite, That Complaining Is Part Of An Effort To Change An Unsatisfying Situation. Nope. Complaining Lets Off Pressure So That We Neither Explode With Frustration Nor Feel Compelled To Take The Often Risky Steps Of Openly Opposing A Difficult Person Or Situation. Keeping Emotional Pressure Tolerably Low Doesn't Change Problematic Circumstances But Rather Perpetuates Them.

No One Can Give You Anything-love, Shame, Self-esteem- Until You Give It To Yourself. Today, Give Yourself Good Things.

Caring For Your Inner Child Has A Powerful And Surprisingly Quick Result: Do It And The Child Heals.

Whether You've Seen Angels Floating Around Your Bedroom Or Just Found A Ray Of Hope At A Lonely Moment, Choosing To Believe That Something Unseen Is Caring For You Can Be A Life-shifting Exercise.

Any Moment You Spend Attacking Yourself Is A Moment Away From Your Higher Purpose And Your Power To Love. Don't Go There.

As Soon As You Think You Know Someone Else's Truth Better Than They Do, You Are In Deep Water.

If You'd Rather Live Surrounded By Pristine Objects Than By The Traces Of Happy Memories, Stay Focused On Tangible Things. Otherwise, Stop Fixating On Stuff You Can Touch And Start Caring About Stuff That Touches You.

Recurrent Floods Of Sadness And Anger Gradually Wash Away The Rubble Of The Defunct Relationship, Leaving Only The Bits Of Treasure: The Remembered Moments Of Real Communion, A New Understanding Of Your Own Mistakes, A Clear Picture Of The Dysfunctions You Will Never Tolerate Again.

Your Relationship Is Not Supposed To Be Perfect All The Time, Your Business Is Not Supposed To Do Well All The Time, Your Soufflés Are Not Supposed To Raise Perfectly All The Time. Everything Is Designed To Go Wrong So That You Can Gain The Skills Of Rediscovering Your Tracks, Even In Difficult Or Frightening Circumstances. Especially In Difficult And Frightening Circumstances.

We Are A Time-starved People, Obsessed With Fitting Huge Achievements Into Our Few Years. In The Process, We Often Fill Our Buckets With Things That Don't Matter Or Work. But When We Give Up On Trying To Change What Can't Be Changed, And Simply Embrace What We Love, A Miracle Occurs. We Notice That The Moment To Be Happy Has Already Arrived. It's Here, Now.

If You Think There Is No Action That You Can Perform In Your Current Circumstances That Will Increase The Supply Of Love In The World, You Are Believing A Lie. At The Very Least, You Always Have The Option To Offer Yourself Kindness And Understanding. That Alone Can Increase The Supply Of Love In The World.

Humans Only Really Learn From Each Other By Storytelling. We Didn't Evolve To Memorize Things. We Evolved To Hear Each Other's Stories And Feel Them In Our Heart. Your Life Is The Most Powerful Story You Can Tell.

Do Something Today That You Think Is Too Delicious, Too Selfish, Too Wacky To Fit Within The Rules Of Your Life.

When You Meet People, Show Real Appreciation, Then Genuine Curiosity.

Don’t Worry That You’ve Wasted Time. Each Moment -- No Matter How Frozen Or Confused -- Was A Useful And Necessary Lesson.

Most People Go Through Their Whole Lives," John Went On, "and Never Have One Miracle Happen To Them. You've Had Dozens And Dozens, And You Still Want More! It's Like God Gives You A Brownie, I Mean A Really Good Brownie, But You Can't Be Content With It. You Want The Whole Pan Of Brownies. Nobody Gets That.

In Fact, When Care Appears, Unconditional Love Often Vanishes.

Unconditional Love

Don't Expect The Future To Look Like The Past. Clear Away Expectations, And Let Yourself Picture A Wild, Grand New World.

Tiny Steps Will Get You To Your Goal Months And Months Sooner. A Little Is Better Than A Lot.

If You Did Nothing But Pursue The Truth About Yourself For The Rest Of Your Life, You Would Never Run Out Of Fresh Discoveries.

Rest Of Your Life

What Should You Do Now? Find A New Way. A Better Way. Your Way. The Unknown, Uncharted Path Through This Wild New World That Allows You---yourself, In Your Uniqueness--to Reclaim The Full Measure Of Your True Nature.

Your Individuality Is The Most Valuable Thing You Have.

Valuable Things

Use Anything You Can Think Of To Understand And Be Understood, And You'll Discover The Creativity That Connects You With Others.

Silence Comes In Two Varieties: One That Nourishes And Comforts; Another That Chokes, Smothers, And Isolates. Solitary Confinement Is The Worst Kind Of Imprisonment We Can Inflict On Fellow Humans, And If You Are Forced To Keep Silent About Some Dark Secret, You Live In Solitary Confinement. Without The Bridge Of Communication Connecting You To Other Human Beings, You Can’t Share Your Burdens, Can’t Receive Comfort, Can’t Confirm That You Still Belong. Silence Is The Abyss That Separates You From Hope.

Friends, There Are Many Areas In Which I Need Encouragement, But Worrying Is Not One Of Them. I Worry The Way Renée Fleming Sings High Cs: Effortlessly. Loudly. At Length.

Seek Art From Every Time And Place, In Any Form, To Connect With Those Who Really Move You.

A True Leader Is Not Someone Who Feels Fully Informed But Someone Who Continuously Receives Insight And Guidance.

Your Body Is Free But Your Heart Is In Prison. To Release Your Heart, You Simply Reverse The Process Which Locked It Up. First You Begin To Listen For Messages From Your Heart-messages You May Have Been Ignoring Since Childhood. Next You Must Take The Daring, Risky Step Of Expressing Your Heart In The Outside World. . . . As You Learn To Live By Heart, Every Choice You Make Will Become Another Way Of Telling Your Story. . . . It Is The Way You Were Meant To Exist. If You Stop To Listen, You'll Realize That Your Heart Has Been Telling You So All Along.

The Difference Between Success And Failure Isn't The Absence Of Fear But The Determination To Pursue Your Heart's Desires No Matter How Scared You Are.

When Fear Makes Your Choices For You, No Security Measures On Earth Will Keep The Things You Dread From Finding You. But If You Can Avoid Avoidance - If You Can Choose To Embrace Experiences Out Of Passion, Enthusiasm, And A Readiness To Feel Whatever Arises - Then Nothing, Nothing In All This Dangerous World, Can Keep You From Being Safe.

Dangerous World

Don't Let Your Life Revolve Around Whatever You're Trying Not To Do Or Feel. Live To Experience, Not To Avoid.

Given The Eclectic And Constantly Shifting Nature Of My Metaphysical Inclinations, I Will Probably Never Feel Certain Exactly What An Angel Is.

Basic Human Contact - The Meeting Of Eyes, The Exchanging Of Words - Is To The Psyche What Oxygen Is To The Brain. If You're Feeling Abandoned By The World, Interact With Anyone You Can.

Here Is The Crux Of The Matter, The Distilled Essence, The Only Thing You Need To Remember: When Considering Whether To Say Yes Or No, You Must Choose The Response That Feels Like Freedom. Period.

My Deep Belief Is That All Of Us Have The Same Lifelong Work: To Learn Honesty, Courage, And Love. To Learn, In Other Words, How To Be Our Best Selves.

The Past Doesn’t Exist Except As A Memory, A Mental Story, And Though Past Events Aren’t Changeable, Your Stories About Them Are. You Can Act Now To Transform The Way You Tell The Story Of Your Past, Ultimately Making It A Stalwart Protector Of Your Future.

Everything Always Passes, And Everything Is Already Okay. Stay In The Place Where You Can See That, And Nothing Will Resist You.

If Anything Is Worth Doing, It Is Worth Doing It Badly.

Remember That It’s Okay To Ask For Help When You’re Stumped, Because Sometimes You Really Can’t Be Expected To Handle Everything Alone.

Bad Artists Ignore The Darkness Of Human Existence. Good Artists Often Get Stuck There. Great Artists Embrace The Full Catastrophe Of Our Condition And Find Beyond It An Even Deeper Truth Of Peace, Healing, And Redemption.

People Don’t Cry When They Lose Their Hope. They Cry When They Get It Back.

Peace Is More Than Just A Feeling. It's The Mental And Physical Frequency Where You'll Find All Your Real Power.

You Are Lovable. Can You Show Me Any Baby In Any Nursery Who Isn't Priceless? No. There's No Such Thing As A Worthless Newborn. And The Essential Value That Was Born Into Brand-new-baby You Can Never Be Extinguished. This Means That Even If You Think You're Being Absolutely Honest, Believing Yourself To Be Anything Other Than Astonishing, Incomparable, And Infinitely Precious Makes You A Habitual Liar.

Perpetually Doing, Without Ever Tuning In To The Center Of Our Being, Is The Equivalent Of Fueling A Mighty Ship By Tossing All Its Navigational Equipment Into The Furnace.

Absolutely Lonely People Have Few Personal Interactions Of Any Kind.

In The Moments I Get It Right, Every Step I Take Seems To Be Matched By A Universal Mystery, Which Obligingly, Incredibly, Creates What I Can't.

You Have The Freedom To Live And Let Live, To Love And Let Love. Granting Yourself That Freedom Is One Of The Healthiest, Most Constructive Things You Can Do For Yourself And The People Who Matter To You.

Live And Let Live

In One Century, We've Added 28 Years To Our Average Life Span - A Change So Rapid That Our Brains Couldn't Possibly Have Evolved To Accommodate It.

Most Of Our Stress And Suffering Come Not From Events, But From Our Thoughts. Reframe From Negative Thoughts, And Stress Subsides.

I Have Come To Believe That There Are Infinite Passageways Out Of The Shadows, Infinite Vehicles To Transport Us Into The Light.

What Laughter Is To Childhood, Sex Is To Adolescence.

The Idea Is To Identify A Destructive Thought Pattern, Then Simply Label It And Watch It And Let It Pass By Whenever It Appears In Your Mind.

The Power To Bring Me Out Of Solitude - Or To Push Me Back Into It - Had Never Belonged To Another Person. It Was Mine And Only Mine.

Sometimes A Psychic Tells You Something And It Feels Wrong And Others May Be Right On The Money. It's Your Choice About Whom To Trust, And Giving That Trust Is Something We Do Ourselves.

Be Brave Enough To Turn Away From Shiny Objects, And Toward The Light That Makes Them Shine.

Whenever You Go Somewhere That Speaks To Your Soul, You Are Going Home To Yourself.

The Knowledge Of Your Destiny Is Available To You, Well Before It Actually Happens, As A Message Streaming Continuously From Your Heart To Your Brain, Written In The Language Of Longing.

Learning To Quit While You're Not Ahead, When The Dull Ooze Of Depression Tells You Things Are Not Going To Get Any Better, Is One Of The Best Financial And Life Skills You Can Master.

Angels Come In Many Shapes And Sizes, And Most Of Them Are Not Invisible.

To Follow Your Life's Guidance, You May Have To Reassign Some Seemingly Important Things To 'unimportant.' If You Believe That Pleasing Your Horrible Boss Or Having A Spotless House Is A Higher Priority Than Playing With Your Children Or Sleeping Off The Flu, Be Prepared For A Long And Strenuous Battle Against Destiny. Also, Be Prepared To Lose.

Stop Trying To Change Your Behavior; Instead, Rethink Your Beliefs

Almost All My Middle-aged And Elderly Acquaintances, Including Me, Feel About 25, Unless We Haven't Had Our Coffee, In Which Case We Feel 107.

Connecting With The People Who Are Meant To Be Part Of Your Own North Star Is Much More Important Than Any Aspect Of Business. It's The Essence Of Happiness, The Full Realization Of Your Potential For Joy.

All Religious Leaders And Spiritual Teachers Emphasize Finding A Place Within Us That Is True. People Who Obsessively Follow These Leaders Instead Of Their Own Purpose Attach To The Spiritual Leader And Become Fanatical And Controlling. That's Why Jesus Tried To Tell His Followers Not To Get Attached To Outward Form.

Most People Think That Once They've Found Their Purpose And The Power To Practice It, They'll Finally Be At Peace. Actually, Though, It's Only By Starting In A Place Of Peace That We Find Our Purpose And Power. Peace Is The First Step And The Final Lesson We All Need To Learn.

A Confession You Make Merely To Illuminate The Murky Corners Of Your Little Life May End Up Lighting The Path To Freedom For A Thousand Other Hearts.

This Very Moment Of Your Life, If You Experience It Fully, Will Show You Astonishing Wonders And Exquisite Delights.

I Explain To Everyone I Deal With-co-workers, Children, Friends-that I'm Transitionally Challenged And They Should Call Me On My Cell Phone If I'm Even A Few Minutes Late. Such Calls Often Come In When I'm Happily Writing Or Rearranging The Furniture. The Monochrones In My Life Are So Organized, They Have No Trouble Remembering To Remind Me To Show Up.

What Would You Do If You Knew That Every Good Thing In Your Life Depended On Your Getting Enough Rest? Because It Does.

Your Life Follows Your Attention. Wherever You Look, You End Up Going.

In The Pursuit Of Knowledge, Every Day Something Is Added. In The Practice Of The Way, Every Day Something Is Dropped. Less And Less Do You Need To Force Things, Until Finally You Arrive At Non-action. When Nothing Is Done, Nothing Is Left Undone.

Having Fun Is Not A Diversion From A Successful Life; It Is The Pathway To It.

The More You Claim Your Own Destiny, The Easier It Will Be To Love Unconditionally .

Every Instance Of Heartbreak Can Teach Us Powerful Lessons About Creating The Kind Of Love We Really Want.

Criticism Is An Alluring Substitute For Creation, Because Tearing Things Down, Unlike Building Them Up, Really Is As Easy As Falling Off A Stump. It's Blissfully Simple To Strike A Savvy, Sophisticated Pose By Attacking Someone Else's Creations, But The Old Adage Is Right: Any Fool Can Burn Down A Barn. Building One Is Something Else Again.

To Know What That True Self Is Without Social Pressure Is To Know Your True Nature.

Social Pressure

Forcing Yourself To Think Happy Lies Doesn't Heal Your Dreams. Getting To The Truth Does.

I Fell In Love With Africa And Began Helping People Fix Things There.

Whoever Said That Love Is Blind Was Dead Wrong. Love Is The Only Thing On This Earth That Lets Us See Each Other With The Remotest Accuracy.

Rest Until You Feel Like Playing, Then Play Until You Feel Like Resting, Period. Never Do Anything Else.

My Anguish Came From My Hypothesis That Other People's Hypothetical Hypotheses About Me Mattered. Ridiculous!

The Moment We Begin Tolerating Meanness, In Ourselves And Others, We Are Using Our Authorial Power In The Service Of Wrongdoing. We Have Both The Capacity And The Obligation To Do Better.

I Want You To Notice Is That-right Here, Right Now-you’re Okay. You May Be In Pain, You May Be In Fear, You May Be In Grief. But You’re Here, You’re Surviving; This Moment Is Okay.

Imagination Is The Doorway You Walk Through Into Every Future Moment. Are You Walking Through Doorways To Pain Or To Joy?

If You’re Doing Something You Love With People You Love In A Place You Love, You Are Going To Create Something Of Value To The World.

It's Only By Starting In A Place Of Peace That We Find Our Purpose And Power.

Places Of Peace

Fear Is The Raw Material From Which Courage Is Manufactured. Without It, We Wouldn't Even Know What It Means To Be Brave.

The End Goal Of All Of This Striving Is To Live Joyfully, And That There Are Often More Direct Ways Of Achieving This Than Conforming To Rigid Standards Set By Social Custom.

External Circumstances Do Not Create Feeling States. Feeling States Create External Circumstances.

The Average Adult Laughs 15 Times A Day; The Average Child, More Than 400 Times.

Instead Of Fretting About Getting Everything Done, Why Not Simply Accept That Being Alive Means Having Things To Do? Then Drop Into Full Engagement With Whatever You're Doing, And Let The Worry Go.

You Do Not Owe Anyone Your Time. When You Realize That, Others Will Respect Your Time Much More.

True Freedom Starts With Absolute Honesty. The Moment You Call A Problem By Its Real Name, You’re Already Learning How To Make It Less Harmful.

Where Your Attention Goes, Your Life Goes.

I Majored In Chinese. I Was Never Really Good At Chinese But I Really, Really Benefited From Having Been Exposed To Asian Philosophy Early In My Life.

Many Of Us Have Spent A Lifetime Trying To Be What We’re Not, Feeling Lousy About Ourselves When We Fail, And Sometimes When We Succeed. We Hide Our Differences When, By Accepting And Celebrating Them, We Could Collaborate To Make Every Effort More Exciting, Productive Enjoyable, And Powerful. Personally, I Think We Should Start Right Now.

Most Of My Clients Don't Realize That The Way They Look And The Way They Think About Their Looks Are Two Separate Issues.

The Way Out Of Fear Isn’t Safety. It’s Freedom.

Dawn Kotzer Is The Kind Of Coach Who Can See Beauty And Wisdom In Circumstances That Seem Ugly And Chaotic. She's Kind, Genuine And Honest, Willing And Able To See Where Her Clients Get Stuck And Gently Help Them Recover Their Freedom. Better Than A Coach Who Gives You The Answers, Dawn Will Help You Find The Answers To Your Life's Dilemmas That Are Already Within You.

I’ll Tell You What It’s Time To Do Right Now. It’s Time To Set Your Schedule In Order So That You Don’t Look Back On The Day Of Your Death And Wonder Why You Never Really Lived. It’s Time To Ignore The Opinions Of Those Who Think Your Life Should Be All About Their Cause, Their Rules, Their Agenda, And Not Your Soul’s Desire. It’s Time To Stop Flagellating And Start Dancing.

To Attract Something That You Want, Become As Joyful As You Think That Thing Would Make You.

Imagine What You'd Do If It Absolutely Didn't Matter What People Thought Of You. Got It? Good. Never Go Back.

I Once Read That Forgiveness Is Giving Up All Hope Of Having Had A Different Past...but Forgiving Is Not The Same As Obliterating Memory.

Polite Strangers Often Tell Soothing Lies About Our Physical Appearance That Prevent Many Of Us From Facing, Discussing And Solving Our Real Problems.

Do Whatever Work Feeds Your True Self, Even If It’s Not A Safe Bet, Even If It’s Like A Crazy Risk, Even If Everyone In Your Life Tells You You’re Wrong Or Bad Or Crazy.

Does This Feel Warmer Or Colder?

You Can't Stay Well Without Telling--and Living--the Truth.

Children Who Assume Adult Responsibilities Feel Old When They're Young.

Good-looking Individuals Are Treated Better Than Homely Ones In Virtually Every Social Situation, From Dating To Trial By Jury.

Looking For Love

Do Whatever It Takes To Convey Your Essential Self.

Whatever It Takes

Any Transition Serious Enough To Alter Your Definition Of Self Will Require Not Just Small Adjustments In Your Way Of Living And Thinking But A Full-on Metamorphosis.

Instead Of Hiding Your Loneliness, Bring It Into The Light. Honor It. Treat It. Heal It. You'll Find That It Returns The Favor.

Anyone Who Comes Into Your Life, Under Any Circumstances, Has Something To Teach You.

Bad Habits Fill Needs, So Find Good Alternatives For Them.

Creating Ways To Be Happy Is Your Life's Work, A Challenge That Won't End Until You Die.

Feel About Yourself What You Would Have Others Feel About Themselves.

People Are So Afraid Of Authority Figures And Doctors Are Authority Figures.

I Don't Believe That There Are No Spiritual Beings Around Us. I Don't Know What To Call Them, I Don't Know How They Work. But I Know They're There

If You're Living Completely On Your Own, Break Out Of Solitary Confinement. Seek To Understand Others, And Help Them Understand You

Ten Bajillion Product Ads Notwithstanding, Your Looks Are Another Thing That's Basically Genetic.

As Much Horror As We Have Always Created, We Are A Species That Keeps Moving Forward, Seeing New Sights In New Ways, And Enjoying The Journey.

The Way We Do Anything Is The Way We Do Everything.

Menders Of All Times And Places Have Taught That Silencing The Thoughts In Our Heads And Opening To The Experience Of The Body And Emotions Is The Basis Of All Healing. It's The Only Means By Which We Can Reclaim Our True Nature Or Feel The Subtle Cues Telling Us How To Find Our Way Through Life.

By The End Of Your Incredibly Arduous, Disappointing, Stressful Journey, You Will Be Your True Self, In A Place Where You Belong, With Friends Who Truly Understand You And Bring All Sorts Of Opportunities Your Way.

Own Your Failure Openly, Publicly, With Genuine Regret But Absolutely No Shame, And You’ll Reap A Harvest Of Forgiveness, Trust, Respect, And Connection-the Things You Thought You’d Get By Succeeding. Ironic, Isn’t It?

Constantly Measuring Ourselves Against Others Sours And Shortens Our Lives, Robbing Us Of The Very Things We Think It Will Bring: Prosperity, Love, Inner Peace, The Knowledge That We’re Good Enough.

Heading Towards That Inner Home Will Take You Places-both Inside Yourself And In The External World-which Your Heart Will Recognize As Its Native Environment, Even Though You Have Never Been There Before.

From A Place Of Stillness, Openness, Forgiveness And Acceptance You Can Renew Your Commitment To Any Eating Plan You Like.

Allowing Children To Show Their Guilt, Show Their Grief, Show Their Anger, Takes The Sting Out Of The Situation.

To Make An Activity Joyful, Keep Adding Things Until The Activity As A Whole Becomes More Appealing Than Repulsing.

We Virtually Never Feel Our Age, But Thinking That We Should Can Lead To Disaster.

The Really Potent Part Of Love Is That It Allows You To Carry Around Beliefs About Yourself That Make You Feel Special, Desirable, Precious, Innately Good. Your Lover Couldn't Have Seen [these Qualities] In You, Even Temporarily, If They Weren't Part Of Your Essential Being.

The Way That Other People Judge Me Is None Of My Business.

Only Since The Industrial Revolution Have Most People Worked In Places Away From Their Homes Or Been Left To Raise Small Children Without The Help Of Multiple Adults, Making For An Unsupported Life.

You Shine For Who You Are ... Because No One Can Steal Your Light.

Take Off Your Watch: The Divine Is Speaking To You.

Make A Plan To Change The World. For One Night, Don't Disbelieve That You Can.

Judgments That Constrain Your Giving Are The Very Demons That Are Keeping You From Receiving.

A Joyful Life Isn’t About Others; It’s About The Brightness That Is Associated With Being Alive. Your Path To It Is Through Anything That Replaces Thinking With Pure Flight, Pure Joy.

When You Are In A Creative Or Appreciative Zone, You Literally Have No Access To Your Inner Lizard, To That Fear-based, Non Creative, Shrieking Little Beasty Who's So Afraid You're Going To Be A Bag Lady.

At Times In My Life, I Have Been Utterly Lonely. At Other Times, I've Had Disgusting Infectious Diseases. Try Admitting These Things In Our Culture.

To Live A Life That Is Wrong For You Is A Form Of Dying. There Are People Who Have Lives That Look Perfect. They Try To Be Happy, They Believe They Should Be Happy, They Are Trying To Like It, But If It's Off Course From Their North Star, They Aren't Satisfied.

Breathe In, Breathe Out, No Fear, No Doubt.

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Carl Von Clausewitz

Annabella Sciorra

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