Healthy Relationships are Based on Mutual Respect

Love is granting another the space
to be the way they are
and the way they are not.

- Werner Erhard

Every good relationship, especially marriage, is based on respect.
If it's not based on respect,
nothing that appears to be good will last very long.
- Amy Grant

I love you not only for what you are,
but for what I am when I am with you.
I love you not only for what you have made of yourself,
but for what you are making of me.
I love you for that part of me you bring out.
- Roy Croft

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

Further reading: A Loving Relationship

Celebrate Your Differences

7 Secrets of Happy Couples

Say It Out Loud
      

Cultivate Empathy for All Others

If everyone howled at every injustice,
every act of barbarism, every act of unkindness,
then we would be taking the first step towards a real humanity.
- Nelson DeMille

There is no neutrality.
There is only greater or lesser
awareness of one's bias.
- Phyllis Rose

Do not judge another person
until you have walked a mile
in their moccasins.
- Native American (various wordings)

It is not our differences that divide us.
It is our inability to recognize, accept,
and celebrate those differences.
- Audre Lorde

In the century following Columbus' arrival in the Americas, 95% of the 70 million Native Americans were either killed by Europeans, or died from diseases brought by the Europeans.

Further reading: Your Point of View

Through the Eyes of Another

Why I Choose to Believe that Others are Never the Cause of My Unhappiness

Byron Katie - The Work - No one can give you freedom but you
       

Understand How Others View Our World

Unhappiness is generally a result of spending too much time
regretting and resenting the past or worrying about the future.
The key to happiness and success is focusing,
with awareness, on the present moment.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie  

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley

The ability to be in the present moment
is a major component of mental wellness.
- Abraham Maslow 

Dwell in stillness.
Observe without reacting and without judging.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life is simple.
Everything happens for you, not to you.
Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late.
You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do.
- Byron Katie

 Be still and know who you are.
- Kirtana

Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is,
and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

You're either attaching to your thoughts or you're inquiring. There is no other choice.
- Byron Katie

What is necessary to change a person is
to change his awareness of himself.
- Abraham Maslow

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.
- Byron Katie

Have you ever arrived at work after your morning commute, and noticed that you didn't remember a single thing you saw during your drive? Let today be a day of awareness. Consciously pay attention to what is going on around you as drive, walk, do your business, or relax. Consider the world from the perspective of those you pass - the small child, the elderly lady trying to cross the street, the homeless person, the truck driver, the policeman, the executive in the big limo. 

First accept reality, only then choose how to react to it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Cherish This Moment Question Your Questions

Byron Katie - No one can give you freedom but you 

Truth isn't True. Reality isn't Real.

Cultivate Awareness Consciousness

Live in the Present

Cease Striving 

VISION - the fifth Point of Simply An Inspired Life

Breath by Breath
        

Accept the fact that everything changes

Equanimity (or composure) is the state of being calm, balanced,
and in control of one's emotions, even under stress or in the midst of difficulty.

Affirmation:
I choose to respond to life's provocations,
not with anger, resentment, or regret,
but with equanimity and a focus on positive action.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I know, to banish anger altogether
from one's breast is a difficult task.
It cannot be achieved through pure personal effort.
It can be done only by God's grace.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity
opinions which differ from
the prejudices of their social environment.
Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
- Albert Einstein

Without accepting the fact that everything changes,
we cannot find perfect composure.
But unfortunately, although it is true,
it is difficult for us to accept it.
Because we cannot accept the truth of transience,
we suffer.
- Shunryu Suzuki

Further reading: Complaining Creates Unhappiness

Stillness

Ancient Wisdom about Uncertain Times

Restraint

Stay Positive
     

Patience and Gentleness

A person who is a master of patience is master of everything else.
- George Savile [paraphrase]

A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.
- Lao Tzu

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions,
do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.
- Saint Francis de Sales

Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is...
The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.
- Dan Millman

The greatest weapon against stress
is our ability to choose one thought over another.
- William James

Do not attempt to conquer the world with force,
for force only causes resistance.
- Lao Tzu

Read the Aesop fable The Oak and the Reeds

Further reading: The Secret of Happiness

The River of Life

Enjoy the Journey 
     

Care and Share

Share your heart as deeply as you can reach.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Live your life from your heart.
Share from your heart.
And your story will touch and heal people's souls.

- Melody Beattie

There never was any heart truly great and generous,
that was not also tender and compassionate.
- Robert Frost

Love cures people - both the ones who give it
and the ones who receive it.
- Karl A. Menninger

I have found that among its other benefits,
giving liberates the soul of the giver.

- Maya Angelou

The greatest gift that you can give to others is the
gift of unconditional love and acceptance.
- Brian Tracy

It costs you nothing to make another happy -
and you gain your true self through the act of spreading joy.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Be Proactive in Your Love

Be Tender

What Does Love Look Like?
       

Practice Acceptance and Compassion toward Everyone

One way or another, we all have to find
what best fosters the flowering of our humanity
in this contemporary life,
and dedicate ourselves to that.
- Joseph Campbell

You must not lose faith in humanity.
Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty,
the ocean does not become dirty.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

A generous heart, kind speech,
and a life of service and compassion
are the things which renew humanity.
- The Buddha

We cannot despair of humanity,
since we ourselves are human beings.
- Albert Einstein

Today's affirmation:
I choose acceptance and compassion toward all humanity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: We are One

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

We are most like God when we forgive

Progress of the Human Mind
       

Keep Your Focus on What's Most Important

Clarity affords focus.
- Thomas Leonard

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves.
The process never ends until we die.
And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Instead of focusing on that circumstances that you cannot change -
focus strongly and powerfully on the circumstances that you can.
- Joy Page

Keep your attention focused entirely
on what is truly your own concern,
and be clear that what belongs to others
is their business and none of yours.
- Epictetus

Remember that there are a million "wrong things" in the world
(as well as a billion "right things"),
so focus your energies on addressing with courage the few issues closest to your heart,
and accept the rest of life with serenity.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The Main Thing is to Keep
The Main Thing The Main Thing.
- Stephen Covey

Further reading: Fork in the Road

Life Begins When You Do

A decision about Who You Are

Aesops Fables: The Miller, His Son, and the Ass
     

First, Understand What IS

First, Understand What IS!
You can't improve the world until you understand how it functions today.
Especially regarding human nature, understand what is baked-in and what is malleable.
Study psychology; study history of the world.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What I recognized is that you can't put it together.
It's already together, and what you have to do
is experience it being together.
- Werner Erhard

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.
- Henry David Thoreau

We don't live in the world of reality,
we live in the world of how we perceive reality.
- Bryan Singer

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious
privilege it is to be alive -
to breathe,
to think, to enjoy, to love.
- Marcus Aurelius

Not what we experience,
but how we perceive what we experience,
determines our fate.
- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Further reading: Seeking

Solitary Cell

Perspective
             

Diverse Individuals in a Universe of Oneness

Try a new perspective on diversity.
Across the country and around the world,
we are all one.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity
are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

It is not our differences that divide us.
It is our inability to recognize, accept,
and celebrate those differences.
- Audre Lorde

In Republics, the great danger is that the majority
may not sufficiently respect the rights of the minority.
- James Madison

Further reading: Oneness

Empathy

Don't Categorize People

Apples and Oranges
     

Complaint Against Life Fixes Nothing

Some things you can change, others you need to work with.
But the worst choice is to pretend that things aren't the way they really are.
Begin with the facts, then make your choices.

Do not rail against life. [Do not complain about life.]
Make positive contributions where you can.
Practice gracious acceptance elsewhere.
And express daily gratitude for all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If you want reality to be different than it is,
you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.
- Byron Katie

He who avoids complaint invites happiness.
- Abu Bakr

How is it that one rails against that
which is nearly a certainty?
- Mary Anne Radmacher

To deny the facts would be illogical.
- the character Spock in the television series Star Trek

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest

Don't Resist Life

I Will Fear No Evil

Serenity rather than Fear
      

Be Open to New Ways

When you expect nothing,
you can receive everything as a marvelous gift.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Expect nothing.
Live frugally on surprise.
- Alice Walker

Expectation is the root of all heartache.
- William Shakespeare

It is important to expect nothing,
to take every experience,
including the negative ones,
as merely steps on the path,
and to proceed.
- Ram Dass

Mostly, it is human to dislike surprises -
often with great intensity.
Be open to new ways;
sometimes newness just knocks on our door;
welcome it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Choose Joy Anyway

Know the Difference

Cheer for Endings
     

Serenity, Courage, Wisdom

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
- Reinhold Niebuhr (Serenity Prayer)

There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.
- the character Morpheus in the movie The Matrix

There is a great difference between knowing and understanding:
you can know a lot about something and not really understand it.
- Charles Kettering

Know the power of perspective.
Be a passionate observer of life.
See the events, feel the emotions,
and recognize the difference.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading:  More About the Serenity Prayer

Great Truths

Consciously Choosing Your Truth

Different and Yet the Same
      

Free Your Mind, Become Centered

 

Breathe deeply and slowly.
Let yourself become centered - shut out all distractions.
Breathe out your worries; empty your body of regrets and resentments.
Breathe in eternal peace; let your body fill with unconditional love.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Breathe; let go; relax; forgive.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others,
is stronger than any physical force in the universe.
- Wayne Dyer

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free.
Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing.
- Zhuangzi

Further reading: Conscious Breathing to Relieve Stress

Forgiveness: Path to Inner Peace

Breath by Breath

Gratitude for THIS Moment
   

Forgiveness Creates New Beginnings

 

Forgiveness is the cleansing fire that burns away old regrets and resentments.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Forgiveness is the key to happiness.
- A Course In Miracles

In forgiveness you grant,
and more so in the forgiveness you receive.
- Terry Goodkind

The practice of forgiveness is our most important
contribution to the healing of the world.
- Marianne Williamson

Forgiveness is not a whitewashing of the past.
Forgiveness is declaring a new beginning to create space for a joyful present and future.
 - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today's affirmation:
I accept everything that ever has been,
with no regrets, no resentments, and no call for vengeance.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Forgive Others for Your Own Sake

How to get over regrets and resentments

Find Peace in Forgiveness

Forgiveness is Essential to a Great Relationship

Burned by Your Own Anger
      

Be Generous with Your Unconditional Love and Acceptance

 

Where there is great love there are always miracles.
- Willa Cather

The greatest gift that you can give to others is the
gift of unconditional love and acceptance.
- Brian Tracy

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

As selfishness and complaint
pervert and cloud the mind,
so love with its joy
clears and sharpens the vision.
- Helen Keller

Love is the greatest force for good.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Where love is, there God is also.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

Further reading: Love: the Greatest Force for Good.

Where There is Love, Nothing is Missing - a Parable

Miracles are Expressions of Love
       

Choose to Accept and Love All of Life

Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions,
it is governed by our mental attitude.
- Dale Carnegie

Things turn out best for the people
who make the best of the way things turn out.
- Art Linkletter

Live and work but do not forget to play,
to have fun in life and really enjoy it.
- Eileen Caddy

Happiness depends upon ourselves.
- Aristotle

Today's affirmation:
I become happy when I choose to accept and love all of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Secret of Happiness

Radiate Your Happiness to the World

Say NO to Stress

Finding Joy

Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now
      

Don't Just Complain, TAKE ACTION!

 

We cannot change anything until we accept it.
Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.
- Carl Jung

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain,
and most fools do.
- Benjamin Franklin

Never ascribe to malice that which is
adequately explained by incompetence.
- Napoleon

When they are disappointed, most people react by assigning blame,
and finding someone to criticize.
What if we accepted that our disappointments
are seldom the result of malice on the part of anyone,
and worked together to make life better for all.
Don't Complain, Take Action Instead.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am,
then I can change.
- Carl Rogers

Further reading: Restraint

Condemn None

Stand Beyond Criticism

Judge Not
      

Put Events in Perspective

 

We have a good life when we manage to live with both
satisfied and unsatisfied needs,
when we are not obsessed by what is beyond our reach.
- Kjell Magne Bondevik

Do what you can, and do it well.
Accept the rest with equanimity, and trust in God.
No one can ever do more than that.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued,
is always just beyond your grasp,
but which, if you will sit down quietly,
may alight upon you.
- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often.

- Anonymous

Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time;
serenity, that nothing is.
- Thomas Szasz

Laugh at yourself and at life.
Not in the spirit of derision or whining self-pity,
but as a remedy, a miracle drug, that will ease your pain,
cure your depression, and help you to put in perspective
that seemingly terrible defeat and worry
with laughter at your predicaments,
thus freeing your mind to think clearly toward the solution
that is certain to come. Never take yourself too seriously.
- Og Mandino

The difference between serenity and boredom is whether you choose to enjoy it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Live in Peace

The Blessing Of Serenity

Pay Attention to the Natural World
       

Find a Reason to be Happy TODAY

The key to happiness is not to have what you want
but to want what you have.
- Anonymous

Happiness is when what you think, what you say,
and what you do are in harmony.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

You can not find happiness by chasing after it.
Happiness comes from doing what you love to do,
and from being who you truly are.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.
- Zhuangzi

The only reason you suffer is because you choose to suffer.
The only reason you are happy is because you choose to be happy.
Happiness is a choice, and so is suffering.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Happiness is not a brilliant climax to years of grim struggle and anxiety.
It is a long succession of little decisions
simply to be happy in the moment.
- J. Donald Walters

You don't need a reason to be happy,
just a choice.
Happiness is the Choice to be Happy in This Moment
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

One can flow harmoniously with the River of Life -
or one can struggle fearfully against the River -
and the River just flows.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: The Secret of Happiness

Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

Simple Pleasures

How to be Happy in Life by Breaking the Cycle of Self-Inflicted Suffering

Choose To Be Happy