“In my dream, the angel shrugged and said,
if we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination
and then she placed the world gently in the palm of my hand.”
— Brian Andreas

“If you want to identify me,
ask me not where I live,
or what I like to eat,
or how I comb my hair,
but ask me what I am living for, in detail,
ask me what I think is keeping me from
living fully for the thing I want to live for.”
~ Thomas Merton

It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are,
without any self-deception or illusion, that a light will develop out of events,
by which the path to success may be recognized.

I Ching

The most beautiful people we have known
are those who have know defeat,
known suffering, known struggle, known loss
and have found their way out of the depths.
These persons have an appreciation,
a sensitivity and an understanding of life
that fills them with compassion,
gentleness and a deep loving concern.

Beautiful people do not just happen.

 ~ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life,
and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence,
is the proof of your moral integrity,
since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty
to the achievement of your values.”
~ Ayn Rand

“All negative emotions, especially anger,
depend on your ability to blame someone or something else
for something in your life that you are unhappy about.”
Brian Tracy

I claim to be no more than an average man
with below average capabilities.
I have not the shadow of a doubt
that any man or woman can achieve what I have
if he or she would put forth the same effort
and cultivate the same hope and faith.

~ Mahatma Gandhi.

The little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon.
It should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other,
not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,
but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating
gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo
or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.

It is cultivating flexibility, patience,
understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal,
dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner,
it is being the right partner.

“As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few.
The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods.
The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hope it does the same for you.

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon…
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.