Remove yourself from negative situations and people. You do get to choose the people you willingly spend your time with or what you spend your time doing. If you always leave a place or people feeling drained, angry, dejected, or violated, then make a new choice.

Don't take it personally. Most of what others say or do is about them, not you. If you carry that to the next logical step, that also means that much of what you say about others if really about you.... hmmm..

Choose "true-to-self" over everything else. Whenever you need to make a choice, always take the path that is in harmony with your core values and beliefs.

Make mistakes, learn from them, laugh about them, and move along.

Treat everyone with the same level of respect you would give to yourself.

Be yourself, be love, be anything you wish for.

Be positive, smile, and make it count. Pretend today is going to be great. Do so, and it will be.

You need much less than you think you need to be happy, and you usually have a lot more than you think you have.

As Friedrich Nietzsche so profoundly said, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” Your purpose is your ‘why.’

Selflessly helping someone is a super powerful way to feel good inside.

Happiness is valuing what you have and enjoying the people, places, objects and events in your life for what they are.

secret of serenity

The ocean has many moods.  Sometimes the colors of the sunrise are painted on the ocean surface as on a huge smooth canvas.  At other times whitecapped waves thunder against the shore.

The surface of the ocean changes constantly.  Now it is smooth
and quiet.  Again it becomes violent and tempestuous.  But in its depths, down under the storms that whip the surface into a fury, there is a zone of eternal calm which no storm ever reaches, no hurricane ever ruffles.

The surface of life is also in a state of constant flux, with good days and bad, victory and defeat.  To maintain, as the ocean does, a deep inner calm, while the storms of misfortune, fears and worries lash at the surface of life, is to discover the secret of serenity.

Years ago, when Thomas Edison's factory burned down, he wasted no time bemoaning his fate.  Immediately after the disaster the reporters found a calm, quiet man already at work on plans for a new building.

When Emerson's home was destroyed by fire and his precious books were being reduced to ashes, Louisa May Alcott came to console him.  The great philosopher said, "Yes, yes, Louisa, they are all gone, but let us enjoy the blaze now.  Isn't it beautiful!"

Such people are ocean personalities.  In their inner depths
they are not defeated by what happens to them.

The towering waves of circumstances cannot reach us when we go deep within to seek the peace that passes all understanding.  While the surface of life is in turmoil we can find an inner calmness to see us through.

Walt Whitman must have discovered this truth, for he wrote,
"Nothing external to me can have any power over me."

The stillness of the ocean depths is a symbol of perfect poise.

Lessons in Life

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's okay to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's okay to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.


"A REAL FRIEND IS ONE WHO WALKS IN WHEN
THE REST OF THE WORLD WALKS OUT

Ways To Inspire Everyone Around You.

Be the person you know yourself to be – the best version of you – on your terms. Above all, be true to YOU, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation.  Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others temporarily think you are. 

Practice what you preach or don’t preach at all. Walk the talk!  Be the change you want to see in the world.  If you really want to inspire others to do something, then this ‘something’ should be a big part of your life. 

As von Goethe once said, “Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”
Instead of judging people by their past, stand by them and help repair their future.  In life, you get what you put in.  When you make a positive impact in someone else’s life, you also make a positive impact in your own life. 

Be happy with who you are now, and let your positivity inspire your journey into tomorrow.  Everything that happens in life is neither good nor bad.  It just depends on your perspective.  And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should. 

Focusing on gratefulness keeps us centered and helps ward off negativity

Here are five little things we can do each day to nourish our sense of gratitude:

1.  Choose your friends wisely.
If you want to be more grateful, spend time with grateful people. Spend time with positive people to be more positive; joyful people to be more joyful.  If you strive to be spiritually strong, supportive, empowering, intelligent, energetic, and positive, seek those characteristics in others.

Help your friends develop more positive traits by living those positive traits yourself.  Know what kind of friends will help you nurture your soul, and set out to find some.

2.  Help your friends cultivate gratitude.
Before you say anything about a friend's situation, remember that everyone's situation is unique. I've seen it happen to myself and to my friends. They'll be perfectly happy until someone tells them they're being mistreated. Suddenly, they're upset.

Don't let your friends wield such power, and work to avoid wielding such power yourself.

Day by day, hour by hour, make a goal to avoid complaining about your life. Make a pact with your friends to cut the complaints from your conversations.
 

3.  Give the gift of gratitude to your children.
Help your children to be satisfied and grateful for simple, everyday things by giving thanks aloud.  Keep a Gratitude Journal in which, each day,  you record five or ten things for which you are grateful, and ask your children for contributions.  Give your children a journal of their own or keep a family Gratitude Journal.

4.  Say "Thank You."
Whom in your life do you appreciate?  Let them know, whether it's your mom, your kids, your friends, your husband, your child's daycare provider or the helpful woman behind the cosmetics counter.

Write thank you notes regularly - not just after a  gift exchange - and be mindful of all the ways you show your appreciation by the things you do in return.

Tell your kids how thankful you are for them. Jot a note to  each of your children in which you tell them how much you  love them, why you're thankful for them, and all the  ways they have enriched your life. This can be  something you give them now or after they have grown.

5.  Be mindful of the little things.
Today, strive to be aware of all the aspects of your personal, professional, and family life for which you are thankful.

Take a few minutes today to appreciate nature. Go for a walk and notice only those things that are beautiful. Whether you focus on the stars above, a distant mountain range, or the cottonwood tree in your backyard, try to notice the details. Give thanks for the beauty that surrounds us.

Regardless of whether you record these items, spend some time each day to focus on the little things in your life that make each day special.  Perhaps it's your child's toothless grin.  A warm home.  Delicious food enjoyed with family.

Together, let's work on focusing on what we have--not on what we don't have-- and all the ways we can help one another have more gratitude for the gift of life.

Motivational  Tips.

The number one thing you need to convince yourself of is that you CAN do whatever you seek to accomplish.  If there are skills you must have, you can learn them.  If there are resources you need, you can locate them.  Your beliefs and commitments drive possibility into otherwise difficult situations.  Convince yourself to achieve, and you will find a way to get there.
If you’re still searching for the perfect partner, stop.  There’s no such thing.  There are only different flavors of imperfect ones.  In fact, you are just as imperfect as the partner you seek.  You simply need to find someone whose imperfections complement your own.
The biggest problem standing between you and your goal is the sorry excuse you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.  Sure, a believable excuse may enable you to save face in the short-term, to appear more diligent than you know you are, but eventually this lie will catch up to you.  The question you should be asking yourself is:  “Do I want to seem successful to someone else, or do I want to know in my heart that I am?”
Do something extraordinary.  Accept life’s opportunities.  Realize that if you never step up to a challenge that’s a bit over your head, you’ll never know how tall you truly are.  Rise to each challenge and continue adding value to the ever-growing possibilities that await your brilliance.
Do not wish your moments away.  Do not ruin today by focusing on another time and place.  There is only now; realize how rich you are in it.  It stands to reason that if you learn to live well you will eventually pass on well too, in complete peace.  The skills are the same: being present in the moment, and brave, and thankful for all the opportunities you have.
Happiness is the journey.  Open your eyes.  Don’t miss it.

“I have just three things to teach:

simplicity, patience, compassion.

These three are your greatest treasures.

Simple in actions and in thoughts,

you return to the source of being.

Patient with both friends and enemies,

you accord with the way things are.

Compassionate toward yourself,