Life Trove

1 January 1991

Cherishing Others

The sacred nature of relationships

When we lose sight of each other as sacred souls on a sacred journey, then we cannot see the purpose behind all relationships. The purpose of a relationship is to decide what part of ourselves we would like to experience and express - not what part of another we can capture and hold. Not to have someone to complete us but to have another with whom to share our completeness. N. D. Walsch

When I see others in need, I allow myself to use the illusion to express the part of myself that I choose to experience. But be clear that I never do anything for another. Everything I do I do for myself. That is because the self is all there is . In this way, there is no resentment. N. D. Walsch

I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. Roy Croft
Quality relationships are built on principles - especially the principle of trust. And trust grows out of trustworthiness, out of the character to make and keep commitments, to share resources, to be caring and responsible, to belong, to love unconditionally. Stephen Covey

Perhaps God is in the space between people as they try to connect. Before Sunrise
Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition. Alexander Smith

Young lovers seek perfection. Old lovers learn the art of sewing shreds together and of seeing beauty in a multiplicity of patches. American Quilt

We come to love, not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

The gift of friendship

From quiet homes and first beginnings, Out to the undiscovered ends, There's nothing worth the wear of winning, But laughter and the love of friends. Hilaire Belloc

It's the friends you can call up at 4 am that matter. Marlene Dietrich

Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes.

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. Aristotle

And what is as important as knowledge, asked the mind. Caring and seeing with the heart, said the soul. Flavia Weedn

A sorrow shared is half a trouble, but joy that's shared is joy made double. English proverb

Let there be spaces in your togetherness. Kahlil Gibran

It is better to have one person working with you than three people working for you.

Finding and cherishing the beauty in others

Every person is special, unique and deserves respect. Learn to see beyond what people see in themselves. Everyone has the seeds of greatness in them and you empower people by seeing beyond their imperfections and problems to their potential, their depth, their inner beauty and their possibilities. John Kehoe

Is the tulip superior to the rose? Are the mountains more majestic than the sea? Which snowflake is the most magnificent? Is it possible that they are all magnificent - and that, celebrating their magnificence together, they create an awesome display. See the beauty and the wonder of all whose lives you touch. For you are each wondrous indeed, yet no- one more wondrous than another. And you will oneday melt into Oneness, and know then that you form together a single stream N. D. Walsch

A man is like a bit of labrador spar, which has no lustre as you turn it in your hand, until you come to a particular angle, then it shows deep and beautiful colours. Emerson

When you see others who appear separate from you, look at them deeply. Look into them. Do this for a long moment and you will capture their essence. And you'll meet you, waiting there. N. D. Walsch

Affirming others

Affirm each person you meet. Feed positive energy to your friends and family. The waitress after a meal. The taxi driver. The letter carrier. John Kehoe

See God in everyone and help everyone to see God in themselves. N. D. Walsch
The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own. Benjamin Disraeli

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you. Sir William Arthur

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being. Johann W. von Goethe

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. William James
A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

A person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated. Life's Little Instruction Book
Wise sayings often fall on barren ground; but a kind word is never thrown away. Sir Arthur Helps

A woman wants to be cherished - to be loved and accepted for who she is. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

Accepting others

Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves, without any insistence that they satisfy you. Dr Wayne W Dyer

True love requires nothing. N. D. Walsch

Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another's personhood. Karen Casey

I allow myself and those around me the freedom to be as they are. I do not rigidly apply my idea of how things should be. I do not force solutions on problems. Deepak Chopra

You will not see in yourself that which is Divine until you forgive that which you believe is not. And you will be unable to behold the divinity in another unless and until you do the same. Forgiveness is the expander of perception. N. D. Walsch

Listening

Nurture a genuine interest in others. You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Dale Carnegie

Breathe before you speak. Pause - breath - after the person to whom you are speaking is finished. Richard Carlson

A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something. Wilson Mizner

There is only one rule for being a good talker: learn to listen. Christopher Morley

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Dr. Karl Augustus Menninger

Become a better listener and a more peaceful person by slowing down your responses. Don't fire back your response. Wait for the person you are listening to finish. You'll notice that the pressure you feel is off. Richard Carlson

Seek first to understand. Be more interested in understanding others and less in having other people understand you. Stephen Covey

Giving

Wherever I go, and whoever I encounter, I will bring them a gift. The gift may be a compliment, a flower, or a prayer. Today I will gratefully receive all the gifts that life has to offer me. The gifts of nature, sunlight and the sounds of birds singing. Deepak Chopra

Each day, I make a difference to someone's life.

Spend a moment everyday thinking of someone to love. Who shall I send love to today? Gear your mind towards love. Even if it just to wish them a day filled with love. Richard Carlson

My heart expands to embrace others. And so I help because I want to. To lend a hand, an ear, give some time, concern, money - whatever seems appropriate. As I lose myself momentarily in service to others, I am nourished & find a nurturing inner peace. I let my heart breathe & beat for more than just myself. I become the vehicle through which the Great Mystery showers gifts upon others, because so many gifts have been showered upon me. Every act of kindness becomes a prayer. John Kehoe

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. Buddha

Make service an integral pat of your life. Ask yourself at the start of the day "How can I be of service?" The best way of being of service is often very simple - it's those little, quiet, often unnoticed acts of kindness that I can choose on a daily basis - being supportive.

Every day, tell at least one person something you like, admire or appreciate about them. Richard Carlson

Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty. Pay for the person behind you at toll booths.

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. Charles Dickens

Each of us has a gift, a talent to give back to the world. It may be small or large, it does not matter. The sacred song is our unique gift, our purpose, & each of us was born to discover & share it with the world.

Meaning is in contribution, in living for something higher than self. Stephen Covey

One turning point amid life’s lessons comes when we receive an acknowledgement of gratitude from someone who may or may not know us. Something clicks inside of us and we realise we are contributing something. Suddenly we realise that our life really matters and we have found a life path that will feed more than just the brain and ego; it will feed our heart and our soul. An influx of energy bursts through us, and we enjoy a sense of satisfaction, spiritual accomplishment and self- esteem. These feelings gather together to create a kind of magical synchronicity. We begin going with that flow rather than paddling up stream. We begin to flow with an unseen force ‘Dancing the Dream’ Jamie Sams

What you give, you become (receiving through giving)

Be the source. If you want joy, give joy to others. If you want love, learn to give love. The easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want. Deepak Chopra

From the soul's perspective, both helpee and helper are just hanging out together - complementary roles in a dance. Without helpees, what would the helpers have to do? Susan Jeffers

It is in sharing the most, not gathering the most, that the most is received. N. D. Walsch
The more you give, the more you receive because you keep the abundance of the universe circulating in your life. Deepak Chopra

However little of anything you have, you can always find someone who has less. Find that someone and give to them from the abundance that is yours. Seek not to be the recipient of anything but to the the source. That which you wish to have , cause another to have. That which you hope to experience, cause anther to experience. For what you give you become. And in so doing, you will realise that you have had these things in your possession all along. N. D. Walsch

Be what you are looking for and what you are looking for will find you. What you seek from another, give to another. That which you wish to experience from another, cause another to experience. N. D. Walsch

There is a wonderful, mystical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life - happiness, freedom and peace of mind - are always attained by giving them to someone else.

We are sacred spirits on a sacred journey

Life is a cosmic game of hide and seek in which we lose ourselves to find ourselves. Deepak Chopra

In reality, we are divinity in disguise, and the gods and goddesses in embyro that are contained within us seek to be fully materialised. True success is therefore the experience of the miraculous. It is the unfolding of the divinity within us. It is the perception of divinity wherever we go, in whatever we perceive. Deepak Chopra

We are not human beings trying to be spiritual. We are spiritual beings trying to be human.

The parable of the soul and the sun: There was once a soul who knew itself to be the light. This was a new soul, and so, anxious for experience. "I am the light," it said. "I am the light." Yet all the knowing of it and the all the saying of it could not substitute for the experience of it. For in the realm from which the this little soul emerged, there was nothing BUT the light. Every soul was magnificent, and shone with the brilliance of My awesome light. And so the little soul in question was as a candle in the sun. In the midst of the grandest light, of which it was a part, it could not see itself, nor experience itself as Who It Really Is. Now it came to pass that this soul yearned and yearned to know itself. And so great was its yearning that I one day said "Do you know, Little One, what you must do to satisfy this yearning of yours? You must separate yourself from the rest of us and then you must call upon yourself the darkness." "What is the darkness, oh Holy One?" the little soul asked. "That which you are not." I replied and the little soul understood. And so this the soul did, removing itself from all Yea, and going even unto another realm. And in this realm, the soul had the power to call into its experience all sorts of darkness. And this it did. And yet in the midst of all the darkness did it cry out, "Father, father, why have you forsaken me?" But I have never forsaken you, but stand by you always, ready to remind you of Who You Really Are, ready, always ready to call you home. N. D. Walsch

In creating "something else" - namely the realm of the relative - we have produced an environment in which we may choose to be God, rather than simply be told that we are God, in which we may experience our Godness as an act of creation, rather than conceptualisation, in which the little candle in the sun - the littlest soul - can know itself as the light. N. D. Walsch

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in. Arlo Guthrie

My purpose in creating you, My spiritual offspring, was for Me to know myself as God. I have no way to do that save through you. Thus it can be said that My purpose for you is that You should know yourself as Me. N. D. Walsch

We are all God, Godding - experiencing Our Self through the experiencing of Our parts. We are God expressing Our Self. N. D. Walsch

We are all the Light. Light is all we are. But we have been placed in a relative realm (light and dark) so we can experience who we are and who we are not.

If it isn't about love, it isn't about God

God is love. God accepts me as I am. God expects nothing of me. God does not judge. Nothing makes God unhappy. God would never condemn anyone. I do not need to change anything or "get better" to be seen as perfect and beautiful in God's eyes. N. D. Walsch

The Great Mystery never judges me. The Great Mystery supports, nourishes, loves and accepts me totally. And encourages me to do the same. "Love thyself as I love you." And it is not just me that the Great Mystery loves. It comforts everyone, even the most wicked. Such is its love. None will be punished except those who punish themselves. All is forgiven when you forgive yourself. One thing only is asked of us: that we love and accept ourselves as the universe has loved and accepted us. That is all. John Kehoe

God needs nothing. God cannot fail, and neither can I. Nothing is separate from anything. There is enough. There is nothing I have to do. I will never be judged. Love knows no condition. A thing cannot be superior to itself. I already know all of this. N. D. Walsch

If it isn't about love, it isn't about God Susan Jeffers

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart", but rather, "I am in the heart of God". Kahlil Gibran

Earthly things must be known to be loved; Divine things must be loved to be known. Blaise Pascal

As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so I would learn to attain
free fall and float
into Creator Spirit's deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all surrounding grace. Denise Levertov

The Great Mystery

In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things. Pablo Casals

"How do you know," a Bedouin asked, "that there is a God?" "In the same way," his friend replied. "that I know, on looking at the sand, when a man or beast has crossed the desert - by his footprints in the world around me." Henry Parry Liddon

Footprints (inspired by the quotes above)

Through the loving ways that people connect;
laughter between friends, a couple holding hands,
the generosity of a stranger, the smile of a child
Through the gift of knowing I am enough, no matter what
Through my highest thoughts, my truest words, my kindests deeds
Through the wonders of sunsets and mountains, ocean waves, dolphins and daffodils
Through the uplifting beauty of music, art and poetry
Through the infiniteness of time and space and the intricacies of atoms and less
Through the mighty power of silence and the peace that stillness brings
Through these things,
I see the footprints of a benevolent Mystery unfolding
and I look out into the vast night sky
and I smile at the stars and the moon
content in the knowledge
that the universe smiles back

Beauty

It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in. American Beauty
Beauty is to the spirit what food is to the flesh. It fills an emptiness in you which nothing else can fill. Frederick Buechner
We all share beauty. It strikes us indiscriminately. . . . There is no end to beauty for the person who is aware. Even the cracks between the sidewalk contain geometric patterns of amazing beauty. If we take pictures of them and blow up the photographs, we realize we walk on beauty every day, even when things seem ugly around us. Matthew Fox in Creation Spirituality

Wonder

Celebrating wonder

Life is measured not by the number of breaths we take but the number of moments that take our breath away.
We are all connected through this world of wonders that's more plainly referred to as life. Charlie O'Shields
When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. Mary Oliver
From wonder into wonder existence opens. Lao-tzu
Rich in the simple worship of the day. John Keats
Wonder is the basis of worship. Thomas Carlyle
The highest human purpose is always to reinvent and celebrate the sacred. N. Scott Momaday
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the curious eyes of a child - our own two eyes. All is a miracle. Thich Nhat Hanh
Wonder rather than doubt is the root of knowledge. Abraham Joshua Herschel
Wonder is the beginning of wisdom Greek proverb quotes
Wherever life takes us, there are always moments of wonder. Jimmy Carter
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C- beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die. Blade Runner
It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility. Rachel Carson
Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Robert Fulghum
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. Rachel Carson

Wonder in the every day

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change. Buddha
The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The child lives in the neighbourhood of wonder where innocence keeps mystery playful. Each new event and encounter is all absorbing. John O'Donohue

Knowledge and wonder

The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder. Ralph W. Sockman
As knowledge increases, wonder deepens. Charles Morgan
The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery. Anais Nin

All inspiration and wisdom comes from the Great Mystery. Let go and listen

Awaken intuition. Reflect on the fact that the perfect answers and solutions exist within you. State clearly what it is that you wish your subconscious to bring to you. Repeat confidently "My subconscious is now bringing me..." Relax and fill your mind with faith and expectancy that the right answers will come. Then listen to your feelings and hunches and "inner voice." John Kehoe
Within our consciousness is contained the wisdom of the ancestors, learned on their own explorations. Christ died for my sins. Buddha became enlightened so I, too, could become enlightened. Black Elk had visions so I could share his visions. We are all one tribe. We who live today receive the benefit of every spiritual act from every person who has ever lived. The river of consciousness flows through the minds of all, past and present. John Kehoe
Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens.
We live in the lap of immense Intelligence. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Inner wisdom, take over now please. Susan Jeffers
I ask wide questions that tune me into the universe and my inner intelligence: Where would you have me go? What would you have me do? What would you have me say and to whom? Susan Jeffers
Trust your intuitive heart. Open your eyes and heart to your greatest source of wisdom and grace. Set aside a little quiet time to clear your mind and listen. Pay attention only to the calm thoughts and feelings that surface. Richard Carlson
Real feelings are the language of the soul. I listen. N. D. Walsch
Today I will witness the choices I make in each moment. When I make a choice, I will ask myself two questions: What are the consequences? will it bring happiness and fulfillment to me and those effected by this decision? Then I will ask my heart for guidance and be guided by its feeling of comfort or discomfort. Deepak Chopra
We have to recognise that intuition is not a flaky concept. Basically, intuition is accumulated knowledge. Andre Alkiewicz

The power of stillness

I will Find You in the Stillness

You need not leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You need not even listen, simply wait. You need not even wait, just learn to be quiet, and still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet. Deepak Chopra
Searching with my mind is like swimming on the surface - swim the whole ocean and I will find nothing. I sink to the place of stillness within. From here the inner presence nourishes me with living waters. From here my prayers carry much power. From here the voice speaks to me sweetly. Helps me in my day-to- day affairs. Tells me truths long forgotten by my race. John Kehoe
In the stillness, you will find your true being. In the silence, you will hear the breathing of your soul - and of God. You will find God in the Stillness. N. D. Walsch
To the mind that is still, The whole universe surrenders. Chuang Tzu
I lovingly nurture the god in embryo that lies deep within my soul. I awaken myself to the deep stillness that lies deep within my heart. Deepak Chopra
All power comes from the Great Mystery. I can draw directly from the great cosmic reservoirs. The Path of Power involves becoming less, not more. Less of me, the ego. More of the Great Mystery. When I quieten my mind and remain in stillness and feel this power, I feel renewed and empowered. To do this is to drink from the living waters. Here is the source of all power. And here too, is my centre - not only mine but the centre of all centres. As my consciousness expands, my whole being changes and I vibrate at a higher frequency. Inner truths are perceived. Veils are lifted. I see with new eyes. John Kehoe
Nothing worth knowing can be understood with the mind. Woody Allen
The cosmic psyche whispers to us softly in the gap between our thoughts. We can learn more about the universe "between our thoughts" than actually "from our thoughts". Deepak Chopra
Silence is the language of God; It is also the language of the heart. Dag Hammerskjold
Much silence has a mighty noise. Swamile

The Journey Inwards

The longest journey of any person is the journey inward. Dag Hjalmar Agné
I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within. Lillian Smith
I think that I travelled not outwards but within… Imtiaz Dharker

Stillness in Nature

In the mountain, stillness surges up to explore its own height; In the lake, movement stands still to contemplate its own depth. Sir Rabindranath Tagore
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie, the grass below, above, the vaulted sky. Clare John
Twilight has always seemed like God's indrawn breath, a pause in the progression of time. Emilie Richards

The Pure Witness

When the mind is quiet, we come to know ourselves as the pure witness. Deepak Chopra
To see your drama clearly is to be liberated from it. Ken Keyes Jr

Being Still

Simply be quiet. Be with your Self in the stillness. Do this daily. Just stop. Stop all your doing ness. Stop all your thinking. Just "be" for a while. Take an hour every day at dawn and give it to your Self. Meet your Self there in the holy moment. Then go about your day. You will be a different person. N. D. Walsch
Wherever I go in the midst of movement and activity, I carry my stillness with me. Deepak Chopra
I get in touch with the power of pure potentiality by taking time each day to be silent, to just be. I take time each day to commune with nature. I will practice non- judgement. Today I shall judge nothing that occurs. Deepak Chopra
Enter into the stillness inside your busy life. Become familiar with her ways. Grow to love her, feel with all your heart and you will come to hear her silent music and become one with Love’s silent song, the song of Songs. Noel Davis
Stillness within finds stillness without as the framework through which all activity occurs. Breathe deep and full. Relax always. Grace unfolds from within to dance about in joyous recognition. Rob Campbell
He who does not go within, goes without, N. D. Walsch
There is a place in you where there is perfect peace. There is a place in you where nothing is impossible. There is a place in you where the strength of God abides. A Course in Miracles
To meet everything and everyone through stillness instead of mental noise is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe. Eckhart Tolle
Trying to find the Truth through words and speech is like putting your head in a bowl of glue. Yuan Wu
The Chinese word for “busy” is composed of two characters: “heart” and “killing.” When we make ourselves so busy that we are always rushing around trying to get this or that “done” or “over with,” we kill something vital in ourselves, and we smother the quiet wisdom in our heart. When we invest our work with judgment and impatience, always striving for speed and efficiency, we lose the capacity to appreciate the six million quiet moments that may bring us peace, beauty, or joy. As we seek salvation through our frantic productivity and accomplishments, we squander the teachings that may be present in this very moment, in the richness of this particular breath. Brother Steindhl-Rast

Simple and focused is beautiful

Focus

I do 1st things first. I focus my efforts on the rewarding 20%.
I focus! I know what my one goal is.
Simplicity. What cannot be left out? What are the three most important? I do the vital 20%.
Be a minimalist. Only retain what you need and use regularly. Reduce clutter. Let only the fittest survive. Travel light. Keep it down to the essentials.

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Simple is beautiful

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” Hans Hofmann
Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity. Plato
Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple. C.W.Ceram
An intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction. Hoshang N. Akhtar
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. Charles Mingu
Out of intense complexities intense simplicities arise. Winston Churchill
The great artist and thinker are the simplifiers. Henri Frederic Amiel
Simplicity, clarity, singleness: these are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy. Richard Halloway

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Simplify!

The simplest things are often the truest. Richard Bach
Simplicity means knowing what can't be left out. Paul von Ringelheim
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. Hans Hofmann
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. Albert Einstein
An eye for small things leaves big things undone. Confucius
Never use two words when one will do. Thomas Jefferson
One of the great maladies of our time is the way sophistication seems to be valued above common sense. Norman Cousins
Our life is frittered away by detail... Simplify, simplify, simplify! ... Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose. Henry David Thoreau
When the subject is strong, simplicity is the only way to treat it. Jacob Lawrence
Eliminate physical clutter. More importantly, eliminate spiritual clutter. D.H. Mondfleur
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. Confucius
The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non- essentials. Lin Yutang
"Think simple" as my old master used to say - meaning reduce the whole of its parts into the simplest terms, getting back to first principles. Frank Lloyd Wright
It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. Laura Ingalls Wilder
Simplicity is indeed often the sign of truth and a criterion of beauty. Mahlon Hoagland
Simplicity is the nature of great souls. Papa Ramadas
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Leonardo DaVinci
In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. Tao Te Ching
A key tenet of the Zen aesthetic is kanso or simplicity. In the kanso concept beauty, grace, and visual elegance are achieved by elimination and omission.
Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means. Dr. Koichi Kawana

There is more than enough

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Life is Abundant

It's an abundant universe. There is lots of everything for everyone if we but open ourselves up to it. Look at nature - lavish, extravagant, even wasteful in its abundance. Try and count the number of stars in the sky. Look at wildflowers in a field spreading out far beyond. John Kehoe.
To you the Earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you know how to fill your hands. Kahlil Gibran
There are staggering opportunities for abundant health. Staggering opportunities to make new relationships. Staggering opportunities to advance myself. Staggering opportunities to become closer to my family. Staggering opportunities to live a fun- filled life. Staggering opportunities to make a great deal of money. John Kehoe.
Never begrudge someone else's good fortune. Acknowledge it and feel good about it, for it is proof that it can be done. Look for and acknowledge success everywhere you can. John Kehoe.

My life is already abundant

If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough. Oprah Winfrey
It's not about having what you want. It's about wanting what you have and what you are, right at this moment. Zen saying
Give up on the idea that more is better. The desire to have more and more and more is insatiable. As long as you think more is better, you'll never be satisfied. As soon as we get something, or achieve something, most of us simply go onto the next thing. Immediately. You can learn to be happy with what you have by becoming more present moment oriented, by not focusing so much on what you want. You can spend your life time wanting more, always chasing happiness - or you can simply decide to consciously want less. The latter strategy is infinitely easier and more fulfilling. Richard Carlson
Think of what you have instead of what you want. Richard Carlson
My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions but in the fewness of my wants. J. Brotherton
Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. Lao Tzu
Need does not exist. I need nothing to be happy. Happiness is a state of mind. N. D. Walsch
Appreciate the abundance of what's good in your life, rather than measure and amass things that do not actually lead to happiness. Cherie Carter-Scott

I am enough as I am

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I love myself as I am

Behold thyself in glory. Love thyself as I love you. In this way you honour Me. It is your duty to love yourself deeply, totally, unconditionally. To see yourself as something of great worth. To do less is to deny the task for which you were born. What of your faults and inadequacies? Resolve to love them as part of who you are. You are beautiful because of them. They are part of your uniqueness, like markings on a wild animal. They give you flavour. Make you real. Allow yourself and others to make mistakes, miss opportunities, and make foolish decisions. Recognise and accept your vulnerability and fragility. Your quirks and idiosyncrasies - all part of who you are. You are beautiful and special because of your humanness - in fact, this is where your true beauty lies. As the day accepts the sun and the night accepts the moon, so you accept yourself. And so you become complete and whole. John Kehoe
I resolve to renounce all guilt and remorse for all mistakes, past and future. I do my best. No more is asked. Sometimes I will make bad decisions. Sometimes consequences will result which will hurt others. I am human. But I will not pay too much heed to these things. I will offer a silent prayer and move on. There is no point in regret or self-recrimination. For no matter how dire the consequences I imagine, the sun will still shine. Rivers will still run. The tree will produce fruit. The ocean tides will ebb. When I allow myself to be human and let go of my harsh judgements, I flower and bloom. My eyes are opened to my worth. Talents and gifts I never knew I had, begin to reveal themselves. Every part of me bathes in the warm glow of love and acceptance. Strengths, abilities, weaknesses and inadequacies. All things become new. No regret or shame. A life nourished from within. As the day accepts the sun and the night accepts the moon, so I accept myself. And so I become complete and whole. John Kehoe
I am the prism by which all is perceived. I need not change, make myself better or more beautiful - I have merely to behold myself as beautiful and it will be so. Wondrous, it is so. John Kehoe
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Marianne Williamson
Respect heroes above men, gods above demi- gods, but above all, respect yourself. Pythagoras

The strength from within

When your centre is strong, everything else is secondary. Elie Wiesel
A pleasant and happy life does not come from external things. Man draws from within himself, as from a spring, pleasure and joy. (Plutarch)
Eliminate dependency. I may want but I do not need. I am the sunshine of my life and having you in it makes it even brighter. Dr Wayne W. Dyer
He that respects himself is safe from others; He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce. Longfellow
Joy is not in things, it is in us. (Richard Wagner)
How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone. Coco Chanel
When you do not require a person to show up as you imagine you need them to be, then you can drop expectation. Then you love them exactly as they are. Yet this can only happen when you love your Self exactly as you are. N. D. Walsch
Accept yourself as you are right now. I may not be perfect, but I okay just the way I am. Richard Carlson

I am enough

I grow to experience greater happiness, not to improve or because I feel incomplete. Dr Wayne W. Dyer
Happiness is having a sense of self - not a feeling of being perfect but of being good enough and knowing that you are in the process of growth, of being, of achieving levels of joy. Leo Buscaglia
I may not be totally perfect but parts of me are excellent. Ashleigh Brilliant
Freedom from must and shoulds is freedom from musturbation. Replace musts and shoulds with I may or I choose. Albert Ellis

This moment is home

Here is home. Right here where I am, in this moment, regardless of where I am or what I am feeling. Each day, the journey takes me deeper into unknown territory. I am a nomad. We are all nomads. There is no stability here. No permanence. Nothing to grasp and hang onto. I cannot make life stand still. Everything is moving, changing, becoming something else. I can coax it. Try to direct it in the ways I want it to go. And I do these things and sometimes very successfully. But just when I think I’ve got everything sorted out and co- operating with me, off it goes, full of twists and turns, absurd reversals, outrageous surprises, crises, things you could never imagine and it won't stop. Home is movement, constant movement. If I wish to be comfortable in my home, I had best embrace the journey, pack my bags and travel lightly. I rid myself of excess baggage. I resolve to lose my life in order to find it again. John Kehoe
With the smell of the open air and the wind at my back, I discover that I am at the very centre of the universe. And the pulsating, ever present Now reveals itself to me. Joyously letting go. Now becomes alive, radiant, all- encompassing. Nothing is needed when I lose myself in its presence. Desires, worries, what are these? How feeble and pitiful. They scurry away frantically, in shame. They know they possess no glory like what is present. Even thoughts themselves seem subdued and timid. A fusion of one hundred million sensations all packed into the instant. The dance of Shiva. Colours, sounds, events. Frame by frame the universe unfolds. Now puts everything on a pedestal. Worships it. Proclaims it more holy than all. I celebrate this day, this moment. Needing nothing, wanting nothing. Everything contained within myself this very second. And suddenly I see it clearly. The kingdom is here this very instant. The kingdom I have sought so diligently is none other than my awakened consciousness. I have been at the steps of the kingdom all my life and knew it not. Contained in every second. Contained in every person. Our mortal eyes see it not, so preoccupied are we by day to day affairs, but spiritual senses, once awakened, fly to it like a bird to a nest. One enters the kingdom not through truths or teachings but moment-to- moment surrendering to the Mystery. John Kehoe

Love is at my core

I am Love. Life is about making love. To everything. Love is the point of it all. Love is the energy of which I am made. It is the energy that holds me together. Love is my experience of Self when I see everyone as part of me. It is unity expressed. We are all part of God. I love you = "the god in me sees the god in you." N. D. Walsch
Least effort is expended when my motivations are motivated by love, because nature is held together by love. When my actions are motivated by love, my energy multiplies and accumulates. Attention to my ego - when I seek power and control over others or seek approval from others - consumes the greatest amount of energy. When my internal reference point is my spirit, when I am immune from criticism and unafraid of any challenge, I harness the power of love. Deepak Chopra
My internal reference point is my spirit which is love. In object referral, we are seeking approval of others and need to control things. Our behaviour is in anticipation of a response, therefore fear based. Ego based power lasts only as long as the object of reference is there. As soon as the money, power, title, job goes away, so does the power. In self referral, my self is immune to criticism, unfearful of a challenge, feels beneath no- one, yet feels superior to no- one because it recognises that everyone is the same spirit. Deepak Chopra
Fear is the energy which contracts, closes down, draws in, runs, hides, hoards, harms. Love is the energy which expands, opens up, sends out, stays, reveals, shares, heals. Fear wraps our bodies in clothing, love allows us to stand naked. Fear clings to and clutches all that we have, love gives all that we have away. Fear holds close, love holds dear. Fear grasps, love lets go. Fear rankles, love soothes. Fear attacks, love ammends. Every human thought ,word or deed is based in one emotion or the other. You have no choice about this, because there is nothing else to choose. But you have free choice about which of these to select. N. D. Walsch

I am the Sacred Witness

The beginning of freedom is the realisation that you are not the "thinker." The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realise that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also begin to realise that all the things that truly matter - beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace - arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken. Eckhart Tolle
When you surrender to what is and so become fully present, the past ceases to have any power. The realm of Being, which has been obscured by the mind, then opens up. Suddenly a great stillness arises within you, an unfathomable sense of peace. And within that peace, there is great joy. And within that joy, there is love. And at the innermost core, there is the sacred and immeasurable, That which cannot be named. Eckhart Tolle
I watch myself unfold. I become the observer of my life instead of being trapped in the midst of the drama. Susan Jeffers
"I wonder what Graeme is going to do now?" I set myself apart from the drama. I become the observer instead of the decision maker." Susan Jeffers
When we become the observer, we take ourselves one step away from the drama. Becoming observer allows me to let go of expectations and to create a sense of wonder instead of fear about the future. Susan Jeffers

I am a spiritual being

At the end of your life, you will know that nothing you have done will matter - only who you have been while you have done it. Have you been happy? Have you been kind? Have you been gracious? Have you been compassionate and considerate of others? And most of all, have you been loving? You will see that it is who you have been, not what you have done, that matters to the soul. And you will see that it is your soul, after all, that is Who You Are. N. D. Walsch
I lovingly nurture the god in embryo that lies deep within my soul. I awaken myself to the deep stillness that lies deep within my heart. Deepak Chopra
In reality, we are divinity in disguise, and the gods and goddesses in embyro that are contained within us seek to be fully materialised. True success is therefore the experience of the miraculous. It is the unfolding of the divinity within us. It is the perception of divinity wherever we go, in whatever we perceive. Deepak Chopra
I am unhappy if I think I am my things - job, friends, appearance, money. Sure, I can have fun with them, but not confuse with Who I Am. They have nothing to do with displaying or experiencing my True Self - and that is what I came to do. N. D. Walsch
At the end of my life, I will know that nothing I have done will matter - only who I have been while I have done it. That is what matters to my soul. And I will see that it is my soul that is Who I Am. N. D. Walsch
My soul is the essence of who I am. I am a spiritual being. The being I am is Love. Thats why, when I'm being that, I find my greatest joy. I am God and God is Love. I am an aspect of divinity, experiencing my Self. N. D. Walsch
Your soul doesn't care what it does for a living - and when your life is over, neither will you. Your souls cares only about what you're being while you're doing whatever you're doing. It is a state of beingness the soul is after, not a state of doingness. N. D. Walsch
I am the prism by which all is perceived. I need not change, make myself better or more beautiful - I have merely to behold myself as beautiful and it will be so. Wondrous, it is so. All exists within. So it has been and will be forever more. And so I choose to behold myself and my life through the vision the Great Mystery has shown me. I will behold my life as glorious in sickness as well as health. In despair and in hope. In sadness and happiness. This will be my gift. This is my sacred song. To behold the wonder and glory - and to proclaim it loud and clear for all to hear. There is no greater honour than to honour myself. My life. All I can see and touch. Every person I meet. Each day becomes my miracle, simply because I live within the Great Mystery. The Great Mystery is there in all I do and experience. Each day becomes a tribute and a prayer and worship. Always together. Always one. Holy art thou, Mysterious One. John Kehoe

27 December 1990

Favourite Meals

Doug and Claudia's pepper-corn steak (a highly secret family recipe)
Colin's and Natalie's sea food curry (Perth)
roast beef & yorkshire pudding (touch rugby)
kushiri (Cairo)
the food in Istanbul (Turkey)
Hagendaaz Icecream (Kensington)
Cambridge crepes
Tescos Crème Caramel (London)
Spur Hot Rock & Pecan Nut Sunday
Thick shake & Blue Moon Pancake (Dahab)
Le Perla crayfish
Barrister's Madagascan Fillet
The Grove rib-eye steak (London)
Sally's crème brule
curry prawns in Gothenberg
Ally's lamb & pavlova
On the Rocks prawns
Buttlers Funky Fab pizza
roast beef & veggies & kiersch (Gran)
Over the Top - desert
Fish Platter (Ocean Basket, SA)
pork ribs @ John Barleycorn
Cassanova veal and cassata
pint of prawns (Plett)
lamb rack in Gothenberg - best lamb ever
Granny Station's roast chicken & junket
mum's chocolate mousse, banana pudding & crème caramel
Argentinian steak (Buenos Airies)
Pocara steak (Nepal)
Rosemarie's chocolate gateau and risotto
Boschedahl buffet
Franschhoek cheese platter with caremelised fig
Sea food hot pot (Ko Bulan, Thailand)
Lamb chops (El Calafate)
Buffet by weight (Rio)
Leche sorbet at San Marcos (Sea Point)
Meal at web council
Ally and mum's chicken soup
Mum's Xmas cake
Jo's peppermint pudding and date balls
Melissa's French Nougat
Melissa lunches and coffee
Nandos chicken, chips with perinase and olives
Marcel's peppermint crisp blizzard
Brazil self service icecream (Isla Grande)
Volvo Thursday roasts
Scollops in knightsbridge, London
Jamie's crayfish
meals at George's Place (Butterfly Valley, Turkey)
Ally's apple pie with ginger
Ally's lemon merengue pie
jam donuts and custard slice at Silwood bakery
Coimbra chicken
Yak steak (Nepal)
Cream tea in Devon
Ritz tea (Ally)
South African braais with sizzling boerewors
mum's Xmas dinners, particularly xmas pudding and brandy butter
Mexican wrap and berry smoothy from Kuali
Steve Fuhrter's strawberry juice
Woolies picnics
Le Petite Fermet lunches
Constantia Uitsig lunches
Desserts at The Village restaurant
Dessert wine at The Oxo Towers, London
Granadilla lollies, St James
Caramel crisp icecreams as a kid
Nachos at Cocacabana (Bolivia)
Ribs at The Spur
mum's Sunday Roasts
coffee and Top Deck wtching TV on Saturday nights
Spur Hero Burger
Crepes and thick-shakes at Dulces
Allies Jamie Oliver's sweet and sour chicken
Brooklands court sunday picnics in the lounge (rocket,archichokes, piclked onion, sundried tomatos, chicken)
yoghurt and honey (Olympos, Turkey)
mum's rice pudding
North Carolina onion rings
Wilga and Normon's garden picnics
Putney gourmet burgers
North Acton lamb and mint burgers
Aylesbury Tin Roof
Biltong from The South African shop, London
sushi (Vancouver)
Mike Vanderbeck's mexican dinner (Canada)
Mexican at Ponchos (Cape Town)
South African Don Pedro
sea food on the beach at The Strandloper
Kendal Mint Cake (Granchester, Lake District)
Carrol's roast beef cheese platters
Welsh Rarebit
Birkenhead dinners with granny and grandpa as a kid
Appletizer on the beach with grandpa as a kid
Mount Nelson lunches with the family as a kid
spring rolls from Dean Street Chineese
Glue vine
Lamb in pastry at The Wild Fig
Glue Vine (and Swedish Glug)
Meals at La Taska (Gothenberg)
Gran's lumpy custard

26 December 1990

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About Ally

Before moving to Cape Town from Joberg, my childhood memories are of eating Kumquats from the tree just outside my bedroom window (and gettig many a sore tummy), and making duvet homes in the backyard.

Leaving behind all I loved at 8, including my grandparents, was hard but I soon grew to love seeing the mountain from our porch in Cape Town, and having the independence of having everything within walking distance. My favourite subject at high school was fibre art (weaving, batik etc.) but after investigating a career in that, I decided to keep it as a passion. I decided instead to combine peope and business, hence my current career in Human Resources. My next goal is to open up my own career guidance practice as it lifts my soul when I am able to help guide people. One of the happiest days of my life was when I married the love of my life, the G Man, in 2000. We enjoy so much together. Some of my favourite things to do are