Soar Above the Madness of the World

Let today be a day to soar -
soar your spirits, soar your joy,
soar your belief in yourself.
Let all aspects of your life soar.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Protect your vision.
Prevail over adversity.
Persevere in the midst of turmoil.
Passionately act upon your convictions.
Purposely walk into the day.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

We are strange beings, we seem
to go free, but we go in chains -
chains of training, custom, convention,
association, environment -
in a word, Circumstance -
and against these bonds
the strongest of us struggle in vain.
- Mark Twain

Today's affirmation:
I soar on eagle wings,
high above the madness of the world.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Soar, It's Your Natural State

Fly Life on Free Wings

No Limits on Your Life
     

Free Yourself from the Expectations of Others

Value your own opinion more, and others' opinions less.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

To free us from the expectations of others,
to give us back to ourselves -
there lies the great singular power of self-respect.
- Joan Didion

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better
to displease the people by doing what you know is right,
than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.
- William J. H. Boetcker

Celebration wears a lot of different outfits
but always wears the same old, beautiful dancing shoes.
- Mary Anne Radmacher 

Everyone should carefully observe
which way his heart draws him,
and then choose that way with all his strength.
- Hasidic Proverb

To know what you prefer
instead of humbly saying Amen
to what the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Resilience is about believing in yourself,
and trusting your own wisdom
rather than being swayed by the opinions of others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Whatever anyone else says or does, their words and their actions are truly about themselves. Don't take it personally when they rant, even if they direct their unhappiness in your direction.

While I appreciate how unpleasant it is to have others making unreasonable demands of you, it may help to remind yourself that it's not personal. Others are often 100% focused on their own issues and their own perceived needs. They project their frustration out into the mirror of life. When they look into that mirror, they think they are seeing your face, but in reality, they are seeing their own emotions.

Each of us is responsible for the consequences of our choices. When we choose for others rather than for ourselves, we suffer. Make all your choices from the longing of your own heart.

Gather all the facts.
Listen respectfully to others.
Be charitable to all.
And then make your own decisions.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Remember to love yourself and to take time for yourself.

Say NO to the demands of the world.
Say YES to the longings of your own heart.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Make Your Own Choices

Your Intuition is Your Guide

At the Center of Your Being

Experts and Authorities

How to Be Yourself

Personal Boundaries
       

Generate Your Own Inner Peace

What is real is beyond all reach.
- Julian Green

We know nothing at all.
All our knowledge is but the knowledge of schoolchildren.
The real nature of things we shall never know.
- Albert Einstein

Each one has to find his peace from within.
And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion,
for the real and for the truth.
- Abraham Maslow

The wise man looks into space,
and does not regard the small as too little,
nor the great as too much;
for he knows that there is no limit to dimensions.
- Lao Tzu

True religion is real living;
living with all one's soul,
with all one's goodness and righteousness.
- Albert Einstein

Know that you are unlimited.

Today's affirmation: I have ready access to a power beyond my wildest imagination.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Go Beyond

Abundance

Beauty and Adventure

The time has come

FEAR
      

Nothing is beautiful until it is looked at

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In these times of health, political, social, and economic challenge,
it is our task to generate beauty and happiness for ourselves
rather than hoping to "find" them.
...
The beauty does not live out there; the beauty's in my eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The sculptor produces the beautiful statue
by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed -
it is a process of elimination.
- Elbert Hubbard

Perspective. Point-of-view. Is something ugly, or beautiful?
Noble or insensitive? There are six billion ways of seeing life.
Trust your own inner eye for beauty.

Outer show is a poor substitute for inner worth.
- Aesop

Further reading: How to Build Self Esteem

How to Love Yourself

How to Feel Good About Yourself 
         

If you can't crash through an obstacle or leap over it, walk around it

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles
possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.
- Albert Schweitzer

Real obstacles don't take you in circles. They can be overcome.
Invented ones are like a maze.
- Barbara Sher

Obstacles are like wild animals.
They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can.
If they see you are afraid of them...
they are liable to spring upon you;
but if you look them squarely in the eye,
they will slink out of sight.
- Orison Swett Marden

Press on.
Obstacles are seldom the same size tomorrow as they are today.
- Robert H. Schuller

Further reading: Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Later is Never

Learn to Motivate Yourself
       

Focus on Solutions Rather Than Blame

All the world is full of suffering.
It is also full of overcoming.
- Helen Keller

When you are offended at any man's fault,
turn to yourself and study your own failings.
Then you will forget your anger.
- Epictetus

It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out;
it's the grain of sand in your shoe.
- Robert W. Service

Ninety-nine percent of the failures
come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
- George Washington Carver

Where there is no accusation of "fault,"
there can be no anger.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb

Sometimes "bad" things just happen. Try to avoid lashing out at whoever is handiest - your spouse, your family, your friend, the government, God.

Direct your attention to finding a way forward,
rather than on assigning blame.
 - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: How to Deal with Anger

Revenge is Never the Answer

When You Have Been Wronged
      

Don't Limit Your Own Growth

The only limits in our life are those we impose on ourselves.
- Bob Proctor

May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity.
May your heart sing sweet lullabies of timelessness.
May your spirit soar throughout the vast cathedral of your being.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

There are no great limits to growth because there are
no limits of human intelligence,
imagination, and wonder.
- Ronald Reagan

Further reading: Soar Your Spirit

How to Regain Your Dreams

Choose Your Life Purpose

The Edge