Snips

"I woke up this morning and I had a hard time for a while," said one man. "Then I realized it was because I wasn't liking myself very much." People often say: I just don't like myself. When will I start liking myself?
The answer is: start now. We can learn to be gentle, loving, and nurturing with ourselves. Of all the behaviors we're striving to attain, loving ourselves may be the most important. If we are habitually harsh and critical toward ourselves, learning to be gentle with ourselves may require dedicated effort. But what a valuable venture!
By not liking ourselves, we may be perpetuating the discounting, neglect, or abuse we received in childhood from the important people in our life. We didn't like what happened then, but find ourselves copying those who mistreated us by treating ourselves poorly.
We can stop the pattern. We can begin giving ourselves the loving, respectful treatment we deserve. Instead of criticizing ourselves, we can tell ourselves we performed well enough. We can wake up in the morning and tell ourselves we deserve a good day. We can make a commitment to take good care of ourselves throughout the day. We can recognize that were deserving of love. We can do loving things for ourselves. We can love other people and let them love us.
People who truly love themselves do not become destructively self-centered. They do not abuse others. They do not stop growing and changing. People who love themselves well, learn to love others well too. They continually grow into healthier people, learning that their love was appropriately placed.
Today, I will love myself. If I get caught in the old pattern of not liking myself, I will find a way to get out.
Melody Beattie ©

We cannot experience all of what's possible if we have unresolved issues with others. We cannot truly rejoice in the expression and the experience of God's love for us and receive that fully if our hearts are closed to even one person. As we forgive where there is pain or bitterness in our lives, we open our selves to an experience of true celebration.
Mary Manin Morrissey

AA Thought for the Day / We learned that if we were seriously disturbed, our first need was to quiet that disturbance, regardless of who or what we thought caused it. / 12 & 12, p. 47

Stop trying so hard to control the things over which you have no power and start controlling those things over which you do have power...mostly yourself. Recognize that it is how you perceive events that is threatening, usually not the events themselves. One person's threat is another's challenge. You can control your perceptions. Remember it is the meaning you attribute to circumstances outside yourself to which your body responds. You have the power to change that meaning. Is a lemon so sour a fruit it's useless? Is it a glorious source of lemonade? Is it a beautiful object of a painting? You decide how you want to see it.
Lloyd J. Thomas

As we grow older, we often lose our appreciation for qualities such as awe, mystery, and magic, perhaps thinking they must be put aside as "things of a child." This is tragic, for in losing touch with these qualities, we lose our ability to feel life's giant pulse, its sanctity and splendor. As we lose our ability to feel, our hearts become diminished and we take false refuge in our reasoning mind. We must never abandon our heart's rhythmic relationship to all others in the family of living things.
Robert Rabbin

When still, water accurately reflects the surrounding reality. Still water mirrors perfectly whatever is around it. When water is turbulent, its ability to accurately reflect is distorted. Perhaps we need to still our minds to perceive more clearly and accurately reflect on our current situation. On our own way of being in the world. Let your mind and heart be quieted by not making judgments and assumptions. Avoid fearful speculation.
Lloyd J. Thomas

"When you are full of problems, there is no room for anything new to
enter, no room for a solution. So whenever you can, make some room, create
some space, so that you find the life underneath your life situation."
Eckhart Tolle


To see the world in a grain of sand, and heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour.
William Blake

Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.
A Course In Miracles