My Own Affirmations
everyday you should have a few things you say or do to help you work through emotions and stresses. they must be personal to you and remember it takes 21 days makes a habit.
- No Assumptions, No Projections, No Expectations -
These three concepts can change your whole life...Stop assuming things about others and life situations -
ask questions rather than guessing - it will save you a lot of time and effort.
Stop Projecting your thoughts and beliefs onto others - this is where insecurity stems from.
Stop expecting things of others or events because if you let this go, you no longer can be disappointed.
- Don't Give it Value -
Everything is neutral until you place value on it. I use to get aggravated all the time with everything but that is
because i let those things bother me. If you think that traffic sucks and life is horrible as a result,
than you have wasted perfectly good energy on something you have no control over.
It is up to you whether you place a positive or negative value on things in your daily life...
be it work, a line for coffee, someone cutting you off in traffic or your friend not texting you back immediately.
- Live in the Moment & Be Present in Your Daily Life -
When you compare the present to the past or say in the future i will be happy, you will always be let down. Live for right now and be present in your experiences. If you are playing with your dog or getting a massage
then just do that for right then in the present moment!
- Accept the moment for what it is -
Do not compare the present to yesterday because that moment is already gone.
Do not try to make the moment last forever, just seep into the moment and enjoy it because it will eventually pass too. .
Do not try & make it that way because fighting reality will only cause you more pain than necessary. Nothing is permanent
- Go at it alone-
Whether that be hitting the road alone or just trying to put up that shelf without help.
You get a lot more sometimes out of the experience when you experience it alone because you gain pride in yourself and your own perspective Personally, being on the road alone makes the experience so much better because I will get lost and there is no man there to be upset with me or if I just head in any direction it is up to me where I go next. However, this does not mean you should isolate or cut off but know when the moment is right for you to trust yourself and rely only on you. In addition and this one is very hard for me even currently, learn how to just sit with yourself alone - go to the movies or out to eat alone and by choice. We get so co-dependent on each other to experience life.
- Stop looking to others to validate your feelings -
Before, if someone cut me off in traffic or was rude to me in line, I would continue to bring it up all day. I would complain or explain to family and friends what occurred in order to get their validation on my emotions. In reality, I should have dropped the situation immediately after it happened rather than dwell on it.
- Go with the Flow -
While this does not mean you can abandoned all responsibility of your daily life –jobs, bills, kids, you can make life easier if you stop fighting it. I find little things that make me happy and incorporate them into my day even if that is just your favorite drink from Starbucks or listening to a particular song while getting ready in the morning. Whatever energy you put out into the universal comes back to you. I used to walk around with a sinister look on my face and felt the world was against me. When i lightened up and took the day as it came, everything got a little easier.
-Learn to quiet the Mind -
Your mind is an organism like any other trying to survive so why do we identify with it so much? It can misleads us, lie to us, and stretch reality. It works off the past to make facts of situations when in fact it is the present. When i use to think of mediation I would think of monks or yoga classes but really it is the ability to quiet the mind.
Stop the racing thoughts about your day or what someone said and just sit.
Then i can finally hear that voice that is usually right which is my spirit...
These three concepts can change your whole life...Stop assuming things about others and life situations -
ask questions rather than guessing - it will save you a lot of time and effort.
Stop Projecting your thoughts and beliefs onto others - this is where insecurity stems from.
Stop expecting things of others or events because if you let this go, you no longer can be disappointed.
- Don't Give it Value -
Everything is neutral until you place value on it. I use to get aggravated all the time with everything but that is
because i let those things bother me. If you think that traffic sucks and life is horrible as a result,
than you have wasted perfectly good energy on something you have no control over.
It is up to you whether you place a positive or negative value on things in your daily life...
be it work, a line for coffee, someone cutting you off in traffic or your friend not texting you back immediately.
- Live in the Moment & Be Present in Your Daily Life -
When you compare the present to the past or say in the future i will be happy, you will always be let down. Live for right now and be present in your experiences. If you are playing with your dog or getting a massage
then just do that for right then in the present moment!
- Accept the moment for what it is -
Do not compare the present to yesterday because that moment is already gone.
Do not try to make the moment last forever, just seep into the moment and enjoy it because it will eventually pass too. .
Do not try & make it that way because fighting reality will only cause you more pain than necessary. Nothing is permanent
- Go at it alone-
Whether that be hitting the road alone or just trying to put up that shelf without help.
You get a lot more sometimes out of the experience when you experience it alone because you gain pride in yourself and your own perspective Personally, being on the road alone makes the experience so much better because I will get lost and there is no man there to be upset with me or if I just head in any direction it is up to me where I go next. However, this does not mean you should isolate or cut off but know when the moment is right for you to trust yourself and rely only on you. In addition and this one is very hard for me even currently, learn how to just sit with yourself alone - go to the movies or out to eat alone and by choice. We get so co-dependent on each other to experience life.
- Stop looking to others to validate your feelings -
Before, if someone cut me off in traffic or was rude to me in line, I would continue to bring it up all day. I would complain or explain to family and friends what occurred in order to get their validation on my emotions. In reality, I should have dropped the situation immediately after it happened rather than dwell on it.
- Go with the Flow -
While this does not mean you can abandoned all responsibility of your daily life –jobs, bills, kids, you can make life easier if you stop fighting it. I find little things that make me happy and incorporate them into my day even if that is just your favorite drink from Starbucks or listening to a particular song while getting ready in the morning. Whatever energy you put out into the universal comes back to you. I used to walk around with a sinister look on my face and felt the world was against me. When i lightened up and took the day as it came, everything got a little easier.
-Learn to quiet the Mind -
Your mind is an organism like any other trying to survive so why do we identify with it so much? It can misleads us, lie to us, and stretch reality. It works off the past to make facts of situations when in fact it is the present. When i use to think of mediation I would think of monks or yoga classes but really it is the ability to quiet the mind.
Stop the racing thoughts about your day or what someone said and just sit.
Then i can finally hear that voice that is usually right which is my spirit...
Useful Quotes & Concepts
"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not
victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt
"The only real wisdom is knowing you know nothing" Socrates
"If you are depressed you are living in the past, if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace you are living in the present."
Lao Tzu
victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt
"The only real wisdom is knowing you know nothing" Socrates
"If you are depressed you are living in the past, if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace you are living in the present."
Lao Tzu
Dalai Lama's 18 rules for Living
1. Take into account that great love and great achievement involve great risk
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson
3. Follow the 3 R's - Respect for self, Respect for others & Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly
6. Don't let a little dispute injury great friendship
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it
8. Spend some time alone everyday
9. Open your arms to change but don't let go of your values
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation of your life
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past
14. Share your knowledge. Its a way to achieve immortality
15. Be gentle with the earth
16. Once a year, go some place you've never been
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson
3. Follow the 3 R's - Respect for self, Respect for others & Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly
6. Don't let a little dispute injury great friendship
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it
8. Spend some time alone everyday
9. Open your arms to change but don't let go of your values
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation of your life
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past
14. Share your knowledge. Its a way to achieve immortality
15. Be gentle with the earth
16. Once a year, go some place you've never been
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it
Gandhi's Ten Fundamentals for Changing the World...
1. Change yourself
2. You are in control
3. Forgive and let go
4. Without action you are not going anywhere
5. Take care of this moment
6. Everyone is human
7. Persist
8. See the good in people and help them
9. Be congruent, be authentic, by true to yourself
10. Continue to grow and evolve
2. You are in control
3. Forgive and let go
4. Without action you are not going anywhere
5. Take care of this moment
6. Everyone is human
7. Persist
8. See the good in people and help them
9. Be congruent, be authentic, by true to yourself
10. Continue to grow and evolve
Dr. Seuss-isms
1. A person is a person, no matter how small
2. You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose
3. Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you
4. Don't cry because its over. Smile because it happened
5. Today is your day. Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way
6. Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple
7. The more that you read, the more that you learn, the more places you'll go
8. Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better. Its not
9. I'm afraid sometime you'll play lonely games too, games you cant win because you'll play against you
10. Say what you want, do what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those you matter don't mind
11. If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good
12. We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love...
2. You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose
3. Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you
4. Don't cry because its over. Smile because it happened
5. Today is your day. Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way
6. Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple
7. The more that you read, the more that you learn, the more places you'll go
8. Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better. Its not
9. I'm afraid sometime you'll play lonely games too, games you cant win because you'll play against you
10. Say what you want, do what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those you matter don't mind
11. If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good
12. We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love...
The Four Agreements by Miguel Angel Ruiz
1. Be Impeccable with your word
2. Don't take anything personally
3. Don't make assumptions
4. Always do your best
2. Don't take anything personally
3. Don't make assumptions
4. Always do your best
Solitude
"Solitude gives birth to the original in us."
Thomas Mann
"All humans are frightened of their own solitude. But only in solitude can we learn to know ourselves..."
Han Suyin
"Do not rely completely on any other human being, however dear. We meet all life's greatest tests alone."
Agnes Macphall
"Each of us is alone in the world. It takes great courage to meet the full force of your aloneness...When you face your aloneness, something begins to happen. Gradually, the sense of bleakness changes into a sense of true belonging. This is a slow and open-ended transition but it is utterly vital in order to come into rhythm with your own individuality."
John O'Donohue
"I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity."
Albert EInstein
"Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your spring that never drys up."
Pearl S. Buck
"Isolation is aloneness that feels forced upon you, like a punishment. Solitude us aloneness you chose and embrace. I think great things can come out of solitude, out of going to a place where all is quiet except the beating of your heart."
Jeanne Marie Laskas
"Like water which can clearly mirror the sky and the trees only so long as its surface is undisturbed, the mind can only reflect the true image of the Self when it is tranquil and wholly relaxed."
Indra Devi
"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."
Hans Margolius
Thomas Mann
"All humans are frightened of their own solitude. But only in solitude can we learn to know ourselves..."
Han Suyin
"Do not rely completely on any other human being, however dear. We meet all life's greatest tests alone."
Agnes Macphall
"Each of us is alone in the world. It takes great courage to meet the full force of your aloneness...When you face your aloneness, something begins to happen. Gradually, the sense of bleakness changes into a sense of true belonging. This is a slow and open-ended transition but it is utterly vital in order to come into rhythm with your own individuality."
John O'Donohue
"I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity."
Albert EInstein
"Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your spring that never drys up."
Pearl S. Buck
"Isolation is aloneness that feels forced upon you, like a punishment. Solitude us aloneness you chose and embrace. I think great things can come out of solitude, out of going to a place where all is quiet except the beating of your heart."
Jeanne Marie Laskas
"Like water which can clearly mirror the sky and the trees only so long as its surface is undisturbed, the mind can only reflect the true image of the Self when it is tranquil and wholly relaxed."
Indra Devi
"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."
Hans Margolius
Travel
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
St. Augustine
“All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.”
Paul Fussell
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”
John Steinbeck
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”
Lin Yutang
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.”
Cesare Pavese
“When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves.
Cool, unlying life will rush in.”
D.H. Lawrence
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”
Martin Buber
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.”
Paul Theroux
“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.”
James Michener
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
Mark Twain
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”
Maya Angelou
“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.”
William Least Heat Moon
“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.”
Mark Jenkins
St. Augustine
“All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.”
Paul Fussell
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”
John Steinbeck
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”
Lin Yutang
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.”
Cesare Pavese
“When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves.
Cool, unlying life will rush in.”
D.H. Lawrence
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”
Martin Buber
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.”
Paul Theroux
“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.”
James Michener
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”
Mark Twain
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”
Maya Angelou
“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.”
William Least Heat Moon
“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.”
Mark Jenkins
