Perspective is a Prerequisite to Wisdom

Perspective is a Prerequisite to Wisdom.
One cannot have wisdom without perspective,
but once gaining perspective, one attains wisdom.
Wisdom is the ability to view every situation
as each person who is in any way affected
by that situation might view it.
Wisdom benefits from having a knowledge of history,
and therefore a historical perspective,
as well from as having the perspective of imagination -
the realm of the what-might-be
inhabited by futurists and science-fiction writers.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves
and our own self-preservation,
we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.
- Joseph Campbell

One of the secrets of life is that
all that is really worth the doing
is what we do for others.
- Lewis Carroll

Science investigates; religion interprets.
Science gives man knowledge, which is power;
religion gives man wisdom, which is control.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

The best cure for our own self-inflicted suffering
is often service to others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Honor Balance

The ancient Chinese Yin-Yang symbol represents the balance of yin (peacefulness, serenity, acceptance, rest, rejuvenation, roots, tradition) with yang (activity, strength, striving, movement, change, wings, invention, progress). A meaningful and joyful life is to be found in balance.

In the midst of movement and chaos,
keep stillness inside of you.
- Deepak Chopra

Manage the remarkable balance between acting
from your heart and close to your gifts
with completing the obligations
that your labor and tasks require of you.
Leverage opportunity AND seize joy.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.
- Confucius

Maintain a balance between skepticism and faith.
Maintain a beginner mind. Be open to possibility.
Don't give in to skepticism,
but don't give in to fantasy either.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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

Further reading: Go With the Flow - Six Ways to Live a Happier Life

Seek Balance in Life

Balance Work and Play
     

Compassion Requires Empathy

 

To keep the Golden Rule we must put ourselves in other people's places,
but to do that consists in and depends upon picturing
ourselves in their places.
- Harry Emerson Fosdick (Founding Pastor of New York's Riverside Church)

That which is hateful to you,
do not do to your fellow.
That is the whole Torah;
the rest is the explanation.
- Talmud (Jewish Wisdom)

Do not do to others what would anger you
if done to you by others.
- Isocrates (Ancient Greek)

Do to others as you would have them do to you.
- Luke 6:31 (the "Golden Rule") 

Make A Special Effort To Have Empathy
With Those Who Are Very Different From Yourself.

Know that the true essence of the Golden Rule
is always being compassionate, kind,
generous, and being in service to others.
Compelling others to behave as you wish
them to behave in the name of the
Golden Rule is a corruption of a sacred principle.
Compassion is the universal standard for moral living.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Allowing Others the Right of Free Speech

Social Morality

Make Empathy a Daily Practice

God Calls Us To Help Others
           

Renew Your Love Daily

 

Distance cannot matter - ours is a friendship of the heart.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Love is not a mere sentiment.
Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of creation.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Love that does not renew itself every day becomes a habit and in turn a slavery.
- Khalil Gibran

A friend is someone who understands my past,
believes in my future,
and accepts me just the way I am.
- Anonymous

A true friend is the one who walks in when others walk out.
- Walter Winchell

Our relationships - love and friendship - are at the core of the meaning of our lives. Let today be a day to appreciate your relationships and friendships. Let today also be a day to be clear which connections are committed, and which are merely for temporary convenience.

Further reading:  Appreciate Your Friends

Happy Friends - Happy You

Today's picture features words and calligraphy by my dear friend Mary Anne Radmacher and art by my wife Suze Huie.
     

Celebrate Whimsey

 

Today is your day to practice whimsey,
smile broadly, sing loudly,
paint your rooms in bold colors,
watch wondrous cloud animals parade your story,
search every rabbit hole
for a magical white bunny,
have caviar for breakfast
and oatmeal for dinner,
wear a purple coat with a red hat,
and dance lightly with life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Follow Your Bliss.
- Joseph Campbell
 
You're only given a little spark of madness.
You mustn't lose it.
- Robin Williams

If being good isn't working - try being outrageous.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Follow Your Bliss.
- Joseph Campbell

Who said that life had to be serious?
Imagine, Play, Sing, Turn Cartwheels, Be Unstoppable, Dance Wildly With Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What if we like our outrageous side best?
We "know" that the "right" thing to do is to suck it up,
put the costume and the happy face back in storage for another year,
re-dress in our frown and gray flannel suit,
and trudge back to job, chores, "responsibilities," and "duty."
Stop! Maybe TODAY is the day to put the frown and gray flannel
into that dusty storage locker, and start to LIVE.
Not just today, but EVERY DAY for the rest of your life!
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today: Do something Outrageous - just because you want to.
Take off your shoes and dance on the beach... Play in the mud... Sing at the top of your lungs... and don't care who hears you.
Celebrate today... Celebrate ME... Celebrate Life... Celebrate Rainbows and Butterflies... Celebrate Whimsey...

Further reading: Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

Life is too important to be taken seriously

Do Something Crazy

Today is Your Day (my complete poem)
     

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself...

Today, fear again grips America - in public and in private. Remember FDR's words and focus with courage on the job at hand - the job of living joyfully regardless of external circumstances.

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself
the means of inspiration and survival.
- Winston Churchill

We must be the great arsenal of democracy.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

This world of ours... must avoid becoming
a community of dreadful fear and hate,
and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in infamy...
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd President of the United States)

Watch FDR's 1941 "Live in Infamy" Speech

Further reading: Serenity rather than Fear
       

Follow Your Heart

 

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 

Happiness is a choice.
You grieve, you stomp your feet,
you pick yourself up and choose to be happy.
- Lucy Lawless

As you awaken,
may your dreams greet you by name,
and may you answer, "Yes!"
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Let Your Life Follow Your Heart.
Let your heartfelt longings be your guide.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Courage has a Quiet Voice

Choose Your Attitude

Honor Your Heart