Not Alone
In all I do, let me take God’s hand. I am not alone, even when dealing with my own mistakes.
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 25
In all I do, let me take God’s hand. I am not alone, even when dealing with my own mistakes.
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 25
I made a decision that day. I was here, I was me, and I was enough in spite of my past, my present, my future, my weaknesses, my foibles, my mistakes, and my humanness.
We’re good, and we’re good enough. Sometimes we make big mistakes; sometimes we make little mistakes. But the mistake is what we do, not who we are. We have a right to be, to be here, and be who we are. If we’re not certain who we are, we have a right to make that exciting discovery. And we don’t ever have to let shame tell us any differently.
–Melody Beattie, Beyond Codependency, p. 111
The answer is not to ignore or deny my emotions. In fact, I must become more aware of them — but in a different way. Now I use awareness to take out the garbage.
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself
Once we accept shame’s presence, find a way to make it disappear. Talk back to it. Get mad at it. Tell it to go away. Feel it intensely. Make friends with it. Let it go.
— Melody Beattie, Beyond Codependency, p. 110
We are the children of God, every one of us, and nearly nineteen hundred years ago He gave us the greatest of all the gifts He has, greater even than life. He gave us hope: a way back from every mistake we have made, no matter how small or how large, how ugly or how incredibly stupid, or how shameful. There is no corner of hell secret enough or deep enough for there to be no path back, if we are willing to climb up. It may be hard, and steep, but there is a light ahead, and freedom.
— Dominic Corde, in A Christmas Secret, by Anne Perry
Learn to recognize the difference between shame and guilt. Guilt is believing that what we did isn’t okay. Authentic guilt is valuable. It’s a signal that we’ve violated our own, or a universal, moral code. It keeps us honest, healthy, and on track. Shame is worthless. Shame is the belief that whether what we did is okay or not, who we are isn’t. Guilt is resolvable. We make amends for what we did, learn from our mistake, and attempt to correct our behavior. Shame isn’t resolvable. It leaves us with a sense that all we can do is apologize for our existence, and even that falls short of what’s needed….
If we feel ashamed because we’ve done something we feel guilty about, we convert shame to guilt, then make any appropriate amends and change our behavior. If we decide shame is trying to enforce an unhealthy, inappropriate message on us, we change the message. If we feel ashamed about something we cannot or need not change, we surrender to the situation and give ourselves a big hug.
— Melody Beattie, Beyond Codependency, p. 107-110
Forgiveness is the decision to out endure the ego. Therefore, don’t try to forgive for all time; just forgive in the moment. Two minutes from now the grievance may come back. Simply forgive again in the moment. If you keep surrounding someone in the light, soon your ego — which hates light — will stop handing you the grudge.
— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 21
We were created to have joy. We were created to enjoy laughter and share it with one another.
— Debbie Macomber, Knit Together, p. 160
Here’s the hot and hard truth: Only your own loving behavior can make you feel worthy of love. It’s not rocket science. The only way to feel lovable is to be loving and compassionate.
Compassion is the most important emotion for forging intimate relationships. It contributes far more to happiness than love does. Relationships can be happy with low levels of love and high levels of compassion, but not the other way around.
— Steven Stosny, You Don’t Have to Take It Anymore, p. 207
Integrity and honesty are noble. Suffering is not required. In fact, when you suffer, it’s easy to forget about the rest of the world. Personal suffering tends to obscure our vision beyond our own pain and to cut us off from community….
When people rewrite and heal their limiting belief about suffering, they begin to look outward, not inward. There would be more focus in the world on helping others and being of service rather than on one’s own wounds or suffering. People’s attention would not be on keeping a good reputation (as one who suffers and is therefore noble), but connecting with the person next door who could use some assistance.
— Christel Nani, Sacred Choices, p. 208