If your consciousness is clean, pure, innocent, the moment is not far away when you will explode into a luminous splendor. That’s what is known as enlightenment, or awakening, or self realization.
~ Osho

AS YOU GO THROUGH LIFE……..

Set your own pace……..When someone is pushing you, it’s ok to tell them they’re pushing.

Take nothing for granted……..Watch water flow, the corn grow, the leaves blow, your neighbors mow.

Allow yourself time to be lazy and unproductive……..Rest isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Listen to the wind blow……..It carries a message of yesterday and tomorrow……..And now………Now counts.

Rest on your laurels……..They bring comfort whatever their size, age or condition.

Talk slower. Talk less. Don’t talk. Communication isn’t measured by words.

Give yourself permission to be late sometimes……..Life is for living, not scheduling.

Listen to the song of a bird……..The complete song. Music and nature are gifts, but only if you are willing to receive them.

Slow down. God is still in heaven……..You are not responsible for doing it all…yourself… right now.

Remember a happy, peaceful time in your past……..Rest there. Each moment has a richness that takes a lifetime to savor.

Quit planning how you’re going to use what you know, learn or possess……..God’s gifts just are. Be grateful and their purpose will be clear.

When you walk with someone, don’t think about what you’ll say next……..Thoughts will spring up naturally if you let them.

Talk and play with children……..It will bring out the unhurried little person inside you.

Create a place in your home…At your work….in your heart…where you can go for quiet and recollection. You deserve it.

Take time to think……..Action is good and necessary, but it’s fruitful only if we muse, ponder and mull.

Make time for play……..The things you like to do. Whatever your age, your inner child needs re-creation.

Watch and listen to the night sky……..It speaks.

Listen to the words you speak……..Especially in prayer.

Learn to stand back and let others take their turn as leaders…….. There will always be new opportunities for you to step out in front again.

Divide big jobs into little jobs……..If God took six days to create the universe, can you do any better?

Direct your life with purposeful choices, not with speed and efficiency……..The best musician is one who plays with expression and meaning, not the one who finishes first.

Take a day off alone……..Make a retreat. You can learn from monks and hermits without becoming one.

Pet a furry friend……..You will give and get the gift of now.

Work with your hands……..It frees the mind.

Take time to wonder……..Without wonder, life is merely an existence.

Sit in the dark……..It will treat you to see and hear, taste and smell.

Once in awhile……..Turn down the lights, The throttle, The invitations. Less really can be more.

Let go……..Nothing is usually the hardest thing to do…but often it is the best.

Taste your food……..God gave it to delight as well as nourish.

Notice the sun and the moon as they rise and set……..They are remarkable for their steady pattern of movement, not their speed.

And as you ramble on thru life my dearest friend……..Keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole.

“AND SLOWLY COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS ONE AT A TIME”

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty:
to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves,
more and more peace,
and to reflect it towards others.
And the more peace there is in us,
the more peace there will be in our troubled world.

Etty Hillesum

Watch yourself!

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

“Just living isn’t enough,” said the butterfly,

“one must also have freedom, sunshine, and a little flower.”

-Hans Christian Anderson

“We need to find God, and he can’t be found in noise and restlessness.
God is the friend of silence.
See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence;
See the stars, the moon, and the sun, see how they move in silence.
We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

-Mother Teresa

“Neither a lofty degree of intelligence
nor imagination
nor both together
go to the making of genius.
Love, love, love,
that is the soul of genius.”
~Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

They say that wisdom comes from suffering. This is not true. Wisdom comes from having unconditional empathy for all mankind. Any man filled with empathy is capable of gaining valuable insights on the human condition through the suffering of others. You do not need to suffer to know suffering, but you need empathy first to identify and feel the suffering of others around you. If you do not feel love for all mankind, nor see everyone around you as a valuable human and an extension of yourself, then you will never feel real empathy.