It may well be that success lies as much in our ability to behold the world before us in gratitude and wonder as it does in owning things and doing things. And it may be, too, that happiness really is a state of mind we choose for ourselves, a way of being that we cultivate from one moment to the next, rather than the result of realizing our ambitions or acquiring whatever it is we think we most desire.
— Katrina Kenison, The Gift of an Ordinary Day, p. 56
What if someone asked, “Are you dating anyone?” and you answered, “I’m really involved in loving myself right now.
— SARK, Prosperity Pie, p. 85
I have learned that, if we set our mind to it, we have an incredible, almost awesome ability to find misery in any situation, even the most wonderful of circumstances.
Shoulders bent, head down, we shuffle through life taking our blows.
Be done with it. Take off the gray cloak of despair, negativity, and victimization. Hurl it; let it blow away in the wind….
We can stand in our power. We do not have to allow ourselves to be victimized. We do not have to let others victimize us. We do not have to seek out misery in either the most miserable or the best situations.
We are free to stand in the glow of self-responsibility.
Set a boundary! Deal with the anger! Tell someone no, or stop that! Walk away from a relationship! Ask for what you need! Make choices and take responsibility for them. Explore options. Give yourself what you need! Stand up straight, head up, and claim your power. Claim responsibility for yourself!
And learn to enjoy what’s good.
— Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, p. 282-283
Being happy by shining my brightest inspires others to do the same, if they choose.
— Christel Nani, Sacred Choices, p. 155
A book on virtually any subject, when written well and falling into the right hands, can produce a transcendent emotional response. And one such experience can lead to another and another, in a delightfully unpredictable way that is different for each person.
It is said that no love is sincerer than the love of food. Perhaps no love is vaster in its particulars than the love of books.
As adults, we can use the power of book love not only to entertain us, but also to inspire us to do new things, and to make significant changes in our lives. We can even use our love of books to help others, and maybe save a bit of the world.
That’s what reading is all about — the pure pleasure of it, how it changes you, how you live your life differently because of what you read.
— Steve Leveen, The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life, p. 8
It’s reasonable to believe that everyone I love has the right to choose their level of happiness.
— Christel Nani, Sacred Choices, p. 155
Book love is something like romantic love. When we are reading a really great book, burdens feel lighter, cares seem smaller, and commonplaces are suddenly delightful. You become your best optimistic self. Like romantic love, book love fills you with a certain warmth and completeness. The world holds promise. The atmosphere is clearer and brighter; a beckoning wind blows your hair.
But while romantic love can be fleeting, book love can last. Readers in book love become more skilled at choosing books that thrill them, move them, transport them. Success breeds success, as these lucky people learn how to find diamonds over and over. They are always reading a good book. They are curious, interested — and usually interesting — people. That keen observer of reading, Holbrook Jackson, wrote in 1931, “Book-love…never flags or fails, but, like Beauty itself, is a joy for ever.”
— Steve Leveen, The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life, p. 7
[Samuel] Johnson, even in his later years, delighted in rolling downhill.
— William Kirk Kilpatrick, Psychological Seduction
As we are made in the image of the Great Creator — part of that is our imagination, to keep us excited with living. Never do I want to lose that!!!
— Colleen Jenks, letter, July 1, 1984
Don’t try to hold on to this mountaintop experience. Indeed, never try to hold on to anything, but let go immediately and willingly in order to be ready to receive the new joys and riches which I am preparing for you.
— Hannah Hurnard, Winged Life