Being Lavish

Joy, Life 0

Overindulging or acting unconsciously is quite different from being lavish.  When we are lavish, we inhabit the unconflicted realm of Yes — wholehearted and intentional enthusiasm for life. . . .  When we make strict rules for ourselves about what is allowed and how we may feel, we’re being stingy with ourselves.  That stinginess leads to frustration, suspicion, righteous anger, and, ultimately, grim resignation.  If we don’t believe we can have what we want, we unconsciously create lifestyles that assure we can’t possibly be fulfilled.

— Victoria Castle, The Trance of Scarcity, p. 125

Finding Treasure

Compassion, Forgiveness, Healing, Joy, Life, Trials 0

Adopting the perspective of the Stargazer not only leads us toward our future best destinies but actually transmutes past unhappiness into treasure.  This is because, in emotional terms, everything is made from its opposite.  The raw material for joy is sorrow; the raw material for compassion is anger; the raw material for fearlessness is fear.  This means that the very people who hurt you worst may turn out to have enriched you most.  “Forgiveness” isn’t even an issue from the position of the Stargazer.  Why would anyone bother to “forgive” someone who’d made them rich?

— Martha Beck, Steering by Starlight, p. 76

The Sacred Romance

God, Joy, Life 0

The sacred romance calls to us every moment of our lives.  It whispers to us on the wind, invites us through the laughter of good friends, reaches out to us through the touch of someone we love.  We’ve heard it in our favorite music, sensed it at the birth of our first child, been drawn to it while watching the shimmer of a sunset on the ocean.  It is even present in times of great personal suffering — the illness of a child, the loss of a marriage, the death of a friend.  Something calls to us through experiences like these and rouses an inconsolable longing deep within our heart, wakening in us a yearning for intimacy, beauty, and adventure.  This longing is the most powerful part of any human personality.  It fuels our search for meaning, for wholeness, for a sense of being truly alive.  However we may describe this deep desire, it is the most important thing about us, our heart of hearts, the passion of our life.  And the voice that calls to us in this place is none other than the voice of God.

— Brent Curtis and John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance, p. 195

Wow.

Gratitude, Growth, Joy, Life 0

Now there’s at least two ways I can look at all of this.  I can say look at everything I’ve had to go through.  Or I can stand back and say wow.  Look at everything I got to experience, feel, and see.  And as much as I’ve resisted and struggled each step of the way, maybe that’s why I am here: to go through all of this and see from my point of view exactly how all these things feel.

— Melody Beattie, Playing It By Heart, p. 247

Deepening the Pleasure

Gratitude, Joy, Life 0

Receiving means being available in the fullest sense of the word — allowing the precious moments of life to touch us deeply.  Receiving has nothing to do with being worthy, but it has everything to do with being Open….

If we receive fully, Gratitude follows naturally.  Gratitude is generative energy that acknowledges our connectedness.  Gratitude deepens the pleasure of Receiving and makes us eager to accept more and more good things into our lives.

— Victoria Castle, The Trance of Scarcity, p. 97

Rejoicing in Bills

Gratitude, Joy 0

Bills are really wonderful things.  It means that somebody has trusted me enough to give me their service or product, knowing that I have the ability to pay for it.  My bills are an affirmation of my ability to pay.

— Louise L. Hay, Meditations to Heal Your Life, p. 17