The Best Revenge – Not Revenge At All
There is no revenge as sweet as living a joyful life.
— Dr. Shirley P. Glass, PhD, NOT “Just Friends”
Category: Joy
10 Posts
Transformation
If you meet with selfishness, joyfully call it a chance to be unselfish yourself. Practice the unselfish attitude which is so obviously lacking in some particular person or situation, and lovely, unselfish things will begin springing up all around you. Instead of saying in thought, “what irritating, thoughtless neighbors,” begin calling them to yourself “delightful, potential friends and companions.” Just as though you wave a magic wand over them, they will certainly become that if you persist long enough, or else they will move away and be replaced by delightful companions. For you are waving a magic wand over yourself, remember, changing yourself into the nature of the name you give, so that people of the same nature will gravitate to you.
That, of course, is the whole secret and key. What you think, you yourself become in spirit. Spirits are continually attracted to, and gravitating towards, other spirits that think, desire, and feel the same kind of things as themselves. To think only of good things continually attracts other good and loving spirits to you in the real world of spirit or thought as you strengthen and bless one another. The reverse happens if you think and feel unkind or unloving things.
— Hannah Hurnard, Eagles Wings to the Higher Places, p. 66-67
A Life of Loving
Loving others will definitely improve your life right now. Take that passion that is God’s gift to you and lavish it on others. Think of yourself as being loved, because you are. God loves you, and probably many others do as well. Once you move from focusing on an absence of love to recognizing the abundance of love already within, you will stop postponing happiness. A life of loving is available now.
— Mary Manin Morrissey, No Less Than Greatness, p. 72
Healthy Selfishness
Some healthy selfishness now can rekindle the excitement and joy in your life — feelings that are nearer to the surface than you might imagine. Best of all it can help you realize some of your most private and most precious dreams — now, while there’s still time.
— Dr. Rachael Heller and Dr. Richard Heller, Healthy Selfishness: Getting the Life You Deserve Without the Guilt, p. 53
Finding Joy
Joy is of our making, and it is most easily made when we acknowledge God. I am inclined to say that acknowledging God is a necessary exercise. At least I have found it so. As I have said already, our minds can hold but a single thought. If God is in that thought, every experience has the capacity to instill joy in us. . . .
Joy is always available to us moment by moment. But we must keep our minds open and pay attention. A closed mind or a mind filled with fear or judgment will never know joy. A red rose beginning to open, a willow tree swaying in the breeze, the rainbow after a shower, the dew glistening on each blade of grass in the early morning, a baby taking her first steps — all of these moments hold the potential for joy. Every moment of every day we can see evidence of God everywhere. And we can feel overjoyed by this evidence if we want to. The decision is ours.
— Karen Casey, Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow, p. 30-31
Being Lavish
Stinginess sits at one end of the continuum. At the other end is the experience of being lavish. For many of us, that word produces an instant response: Oh, I couldn’t, I shouldn’t! But if you don’t give to yourself, how will your life become abundant? Lavish means stepping wholeheartedly into the big middle of life, rather than just tiptoeing partway in. Lavish means letting the flow of life move freely through you. Lavish isn’t busy trying to control everything (that’s stingy). Lavish is juicy, and yes, it’s messy. It’s alive.
— Victoria Castle, The Trance of Scarcity, p. 43
The Present
Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment “as to the Lord.” It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.
— C. S. Lewis, “Learning in War-Time” (The Weight of Glory), quoted in A Year with C. S. Lewis, p. 323
Like Being a Child
If you try to see being a parent as something bound and dictated by certain behaviors and rules, you are in for big trouble. Being a parent is no different than being a child. If it becomes a set of rigid rules you must live by, life loses its joy and becomes a state of constant criticism. Talk with your mate, too, about giving yourselves some of the freedom the children have. Make fun of yourselves and your quirks so you can laugh and relax. The world is a serious enough place. Lighten up and be a joyful example to your family rather than a slave to the arbitrary expectations of conformity.
— Bernie Siegel, MD, Love, Magic & Mudpies, p. 76
Exciting Possibilities
When the heart is ready for a fresh beginning, unforeseen things can emerge. And in a sense, this is exactly what a beginning does. It is an opening for surprises. Surrounding the intention and the act of beginning, there are always exciting possibilities.
— John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us, p. 5
Ingredients for Happiness
Happy women know that a good attitude, valued relationships, and a meaningful life are the central ingredients for happiness.
— Dan Baker, PhD, and Cathy Greenberg, PhD, What Happy Women Know, p. 237