You wanna fly, you gotta give up the shit that weighs you down. ~Toni Morrison Some folks begin the new year with a resolution to lose weight, eat healthier, exercise more. By the end of February, many resolutions, about weight or otherwise, have fallen by the wayside. So the title of this post might have […]
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. …[A]s we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. ~Marianne Willamson I had a friend who, although barely five
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In the movie Black Panther, Nakia tells T’Challa, “You can’t let your father’s mistakes define who you are. You get to decide what kind of king you are going to be.” I loved the whole movie, but this line is what stuck with me. So many of us are shackled, limited, burdened by our history.
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I accept my destiny to walk this earth awake and at peace, in mastery and not in fear. ~The Way of Mastery How do we walk through our lives? How do we walk through a single day? What guides our steps? Too many of us are driven by fear, by shoulds, by musts, by must
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There are no guarantees. From the viewpoint of fear none are strong enough. From the viewpoint of love none are needed. ~Emmanuel’s Book II Have you ever known someone – perhaps a friend, a child, a parent, a significant other – for whom no assurance of love was ever enough? This quote reminded me of
Years ago, I was standing on a sidewalk in Paris, close to a line of cars parked along the curb, chatting with some friends. Suddenly a deep voice bellowed from the car closest to me. “Step away from the car! Step away from the car!” I didn’t just step, I leapt several feet, crashing into
Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step out of it. ~Rainer Maria Rilke Is it so hard to believe that
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Years ago, I happened to be at a church service where a pastor candidate was giving what I called an “audition sermon.” After the service, the congregation was invited to stay and ask questions. One woman, concerned about dwindling church membership, asked, “What are your plans to grow the church?” The candidate paused, and with
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I was walking with a friend recently, relating to her some of my experience two years ago when I began the year with a prayer to the universe. I prayed out loud every morning asking for liberation, whatever it takes. Apparently, for me it took getting cancer. Not what I had in mind, but I
Carpe the fuck out of this diem. ~slogan on a pair of socks Several years ago, a friend gave me a pair of socks with this slogan on each sock. I don’t know what motivated her to give me this gift, especially since I never ever heard a cuss word come out of her mouth.
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Contentment is subversive. That might sound like an odd statement in the midst of angry protests, marches, boycotts, rallies, and disruptions. But think about it. Our integrated systems of politics, religion, economics, law, and healthcare are all based, in one way or another, on discontent. Our economy, to take one example, is driven by consumerism.
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I choose to allow these very conditions to be those conditions under which I now learn to choose love. ~The Way of Mastery This quote encourages me to keep my heart open in all circumstances. I don’t have to like difficult times or celebrate suffering. I don’t have to pretend that everything is fun. On
Practicing the external martial arts taekwondo and kung fu gave me lots of experience with humility. Resuming this training in my 50s after being away from it for several decades meant that I was a beginner once again and most often the oldest person in the room. It was obvious from the start that I
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All life is your guru. There is absolutely nothing that does not reflect the perfection of creation and the power of love that created it. The very cells of your body vibrate in harmony with all that is. Your understanding or your lack of understanding changes nothing. But your experience changes everything. Once remembrance is
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The way to find love is to be love, which is just another way of saying be who you are. You are not lovable because someone loves you. You are not without love if someone doesn’t love you. It is not possible to be without love or to be unlovable. It is only possible to
Everything we hold on to will be relinquished. The people we love, the things we have, the beliefs we defend, the identities we treasure, the bodies we inhabit – all will be left behind. Like the great closing sale of life – everything must go! Every loss we fear will come to pass. What does
“You do you” is sometimes used to dismiss someone you do not agree with, similar to phrases like “suit yourself” or “whatever.” Someone said this to me not long ago. I admit that at the time it stung. But later I thought about the phrase itself apart from the context in which it was used.
In Greek mythology, Arachne was a highly skilled weaver. So confident was she of her talent that she bragged her weaving was more beautiful than that of the goddess Athena. Athena did not take kindly to the comparison. She approached Arachne disguised as an old woman and issued this warning: “I have had much experience
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Start with “I don’t know.” Why not start with where you’ll end up anyway? ~Adyashanti This quote inspired the second chapter of my book Your Breath Is Your Guru. It refers to thinking that we can know or understand truth with our thinking minds. When we begin to question what we think we know, we
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Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Sometimes life brings us a gift of such overwhelming magnitude that it’s hard to resist trying to make sense of it in our rational minds. Our minds are dedicated in their mission to label, categorize, explain, and construct narrative, to fit everything neatly into an organized system