Maintaining Positive Energy

Negative energy can have a powerful pull on us, especially if we’re struggling to maintain positive energy and balance. It may seem that others who exude negative energy would like to pull us into the darkness with them. We do not have to go. Without judgment, we can decide it’s okay to walk away, okay to protect ourselves.

We cannot change other people. It does not help others for us to get off balance. We do not lead others into the Light by stepping into the darkness with them.

— Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, p. 114

Doorway to Growth

You don’t have to forgive because they deserve it. Frankly, they don’t. But just as Jesus chose to forgive us even before we’d repented, the choice to forgive opens the way for the most meaningful growth we can experience in life. If you think you can’t possibly forgive, do it instead to set yourself free from that pain. Do it in hopes that trust will one day return. But do it soon, and accept that it’s simply a part of living life.

— Cheryl & Jeff Scruggs, I Do Again, p. 177

The Power of Stories

Our stories have power.  Let this power be at the heart of your writing practice, and let your writings awaken and strengthen you in return.

Let all these stories inspire you to spend your time more richly, and let that richness spill onto your pages.

Let your stories of change and stumblings illuminate the path for those hiking behind you.  Writing lights a bright beam for all to see, and that light leads to more souls sharing their experiences.

Let me give you a big “juicy pen” and some “thirsty paper” to drink up your words and stories.

Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper, by SARK, p. 119-120

Every Experience for Good

I remember hearing, early in my spiritual recovery, that we should thank God for every experience we have, while we are having it; that we need to look for the good in every one of our experiences.  I was not easily convinced.  I had had too many painful times in my life to believe it was all intentional and all holy.  It took more than a little willingness for me to review my past with an eye toward seeing and then accepting that all of my experiences were holy, even the most painful, and that all were necessary to help create who I had become, and thus had been a blessing.  Letting in the idea that there are no accidents allows us to give up our confusion, our fear, our spiteful anticipation, our preconceived resentments, our resistance, and our near-constant concern over outcomes.  We can choose to believe that every experience is on its own schedule and that showing up for it is our only real job.

If this seems too simple or far-fetched, consider this:  If you find out at the time of death that this way of seeing was all wrong, will it matter?  I think not.  In the meantime, it will have allowed you to be far more peaceful going forward.

— Karen Casey, Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow, p. 111-112

Enchantment Is Self-serve.

To all of you who would like more excitement, pleasure, and satisfaction in your lives, please take note:  Enchantment is self-serve.  Opportunities abound, if you are available.

As we have seen, it isn’t certain things that satisfy us, it is our capacity to be satisfied.  Are you satisfiable?  Notice that I’m not saying you should settle for less; rather, I’m suggesting that you develop the capacity to Receive more.  The last line of Derek Walcott’s poem “Love After Love” says it beautifully:  “Sit.  Feast on your life.”  What are you presented with that you might fully Receive in this moment, this place, this income, this age, this you, this life?  Whatever it is:  Sit.  Feast.

— Victoria Castle, The Trance of Scarcity, p. 130-132