A thought for the Day

[Dan Murphy]

Our boundaries are both inside and outside ourselves. No one can set them for us; we can only set them. We may wonder, What are they? How do we use them? Many of us come from families where, as children, our boundaries were disregarded, creating a pattern we continue to act on as adults.

Starting to set boundaries for ourselves takes time and practice. Because the experience is unfamiliar, we may often find ourselves veering between two extremes —holding back for fear of blurring our boundaries or acting as if we have no boundaries at all. But our willingness to set boundaries and stick with them brings us a clearer sense of who we are. We begin to learn where we start and end. We start to learn the same about other people. With boundaries comes a new sense of self-respect because they are our affirmation to ourselves that we are not objects to be trampled on or used, but we are human beings with dignity.

--Answers In The Heart

 

[Dan Murphy]

.. open up to hope and new possibilities.

Some mornings we may awaken filled with thoughts of what is wrong
in our lives. Perhaps we obsess about our failures or the limits of our
relationships. If we let ourselves sink into self-loathing, we build a wall
that separates us from those things that nurture us and give us joy.

When we awaken to the living and growing world, our spirits lift and
open up to hope and new possibilities. Walking along an old sidewalk
or across an abandoned parking lot, we see cracks in the concrete or
asphalt and new green growth pushing through. Where there is enough
soil to hold a seed, there is the possibility of a tree someday. The
universe seizes opportunities for renewal that slip through the slightest
opening.

--The More We Find in Each Other

 

[helenabear]

Dan I really truly loved these last two... the last one in particular. Thank you so much for all these wonderful thoughts you find!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Wonderful life


Life is wonderful, abundant, filled with beauty and joy. There is simply no way to deny that. Certainly there is tragedy in this world. And yet in order to even grasp the concept of tragedy, you must start with the assumption that life is very much worth living.
Even the disappointments point out the potential goodness of life. Because every disappointment is the result of knowing that life can indeed be better, that the positive possibilities are very much there.

It is an undeniable reality that this day has magnificent possibilities. When you can see those possibilities, and focus upon them, and follow where they lead, you'll bring them to life.

Yes, things could be better than they are at the moment. And you are blessed with the ability to make them better. This very day is the day to do it.

-- Ralph Marston

 

[Dan Murphy]

Really live

Imagine a sparkling, blue sea, filled with life and color and beauty. Now think for a moment about how you can most fully experience it.
If you try to take it for yourself and keep what you have taken for yourself and no one else, all you end up with is a bucket of salty water. Yet when you let go of your need to possess, and dive in, immersing yourself in the sea and giving yourself to it, then you fully experience its magnificence.

Similarly, when you try to take from life and hoard a small bucket of it for yourself, whatever you get is not really worth having. It is when you dive in and give of yourself that you experience the real meaning and beauty of being alive.

Life is simply too grand and too magnificent for you ever to be able to take anything away from it. You can never take away and keep for yourself anything more than a mere token. When you really give is when you really live.

-- Ralph Marston

 

[Dan Murphy]

Light the darkness

Light does not conquer darkness by pushing the darkness out of the way. Rather, the light comes into the darkness and transforms it with brilliant, positive energy.
In the same way, the obstacles in life are not conquered by fighting them on their own terms or attempting to push them out of the way. The best way to move past a difficult situation is to transform it with positive, productive energy.

No matter how much you push against the darkness it will not go anywhere. Yet the moment you shine your light, the darkness is no more. When you fight against your problems, all it usually accomplishes is to make them stronger and give them more validity. Instead, seek to transform those problems, those difficult situations, by virtue of your own positive values and efforts.

Rather than struggling against the situation, give the best you have to it. Rather than fighting darkness with more darkness, transform that darkness by letting your light shine.

-- Ralph Marston

 

[Dan Murphy]

In three words, I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.

- Robert Frost


If we've ever dug in a garden and unearthed an ants' nest, we can recall
their first reaction to our unintended destruction: they do everything
possible to save their lives and supplies. The ants scurry around,
moving the larvae to an underground room. Exposed contents are then
relocated to unseen passages. In a matter of minutes, the ants are again
safely underground and ready to resume their daily routines.

How do we react when some catastrophe or unplanned event occurs?
Do we want to crawl under a rock or are we as resilient as the ants?
Instead of moaning over postponed plans or the loss of something in
our lives, we can try to be like the ants and learn how to best work with
circumstances that come our way.

Life doesn't stop for us to lick wounds or add fuel to grievances. Hours
pass, we grow older, nature continues. Every event is part of life's
cycle. We can't run away from anything. We must meet life head-on
and adjust to its ebb and flow.


--Night Light

 

[Dan Murphy]

The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to
say to him: "What are you going through?"

Simone Weil

Love is listening to our friends and really hearing what they have to
say. Sometimes we find it hard to listen because we are so full of
ourselves. We don't hear well when we stop listening and start thinking
about our own responses.

We feel most heard when someone doesn't try to fix us or give us all
the answers. Mostly, we need a friend to let us pour our hearts out, to
tell our stories to. In giving another the same attention we'd like to
have, we live by the Golden Rule, and we allow ourselves the rewards
of true friendship.

Today let me bring a friend my undivided attention

---Our Best Days

 

[JC2]

Dan, thank you so much for sharing this.
I so agree that way too often we ask "how are you?" and never even hear the person's reply. I think they pick up on that and know we aren't listening. Certainly we wouldn't do that on purpose, but sometimes in our busy-ness it happens. I like to say it this way: Spend some "on purpose" time with people, not just your "leftovers".

Sobering thought today, Dan. Thank you!

 

[Dan Murphy]

JC2

No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking questions.

Charles P. Steinmetz

We often pass up the chance to ask a question of someone because we
don't want to feel stupid. In the past, we kept very busy trying to look
like we were in control; trying to seem as though we already knew
what we needed to know. Now, in our new awareness that we can't
live life alone, there is much we need to ask. We can learn a lot from
children in this area. They are so wonderfully free of inhibitions when
it comes to asking questions, and as a result, they learn. Their world
expands.

We understand ourselves and others better when we ask questions,
when we seek out new knowledge. We haven't experienced, studied,
read about, or heard everything there is to know, so we have many
questions, especially in the area of recovery. Now we know we can go
ahead and ask, that it's okay, that the answer may help improve the
quality of our lives. The more we search, the more we will learn, and
the more serenity we will find. Like children, our minds are hungry
for knowledge.

Today help me ask questions without worrying about looking foolish,
and respond to questions in the most helpful way I can.

---Body, Mind, and Spirit

 

[Dan Murphy]

The example of good men is visible philosophy.

-English Proverb

Just as we do not live in a vacuum, untouched by others and touching
no one, so too, our efforts to maintain positive self-esteem are not
isolated or self-contained. No matter how common and ordinary we
think we are, we influence others. In ways we never notice or intend,
everything we do reaches out and touches someone. And as with all
human contact, the effect can be positive or negative.

Just think of all the people who see us or hear us in the course of a day.
As we try to think well of ourselves and act that way, as we commit to
the behaviors that evaluate our self-esteem, we are constantly having an
impact on the people around us. Who knows the battles going on within
the walled-up hearts of a brother or sister next to us? Who knows what
really lurks behind the happy facades our fellow human beings are
willing to show us? Perhaps a world of hurt.

A smile, a word of encouragement, or a compliment may well be the
spillover of our own efforts to help ourselves. Transformed, any good
we do ourselves may become the golden key that opens a long-rusted
door in someone else's heart. We are more powerful people than we
realize we are. What we do or fail to do is important to other people as
well as ourselves.

Ordinary people often wield extraordinary influence.

--Believing in Myself

 

[helenabear]

Hi JC2

Dan, I really don't know how you pick these, but I must say that you seem to pick some of the best and most relevant thoughts for my life. Thank you for taking the time to do these and pick such wonderful thoughts!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Glad to brighten your day, Elaine.

The high road

You are just as capable of lifting up someone else as that someone else is of bringing you down. You are just as capable of making a situation better as that situation is of making you worse.
When you come across someone who is not as positive and upbeat as you are, there's a much better alternative than letting yourself sink to their level. That alternative is to raise the other person up to your level. The two of you will have to find some common ground in order to interact. So make that common ground a positive, productive, enthusiastic and empowering one.

Think of all the people who tend to drag you down. Now consider that if anyone has the power to drag you down, then you must also have the power to lift them up. Think of all the circumstances that bring you down. And know that if any situation has the power to bring you down, then you must also have the ability to make it better.

Decide to choose the high road, and commit yourself to staying on that high road. Anytime something or someone must change, do your part to make it a change for the better.

-- Ralph Marston

 

[Dan Murphy]

Resolve to be thyself; and know, that he who finds himself, loses his misery.

Matthew Arnold

We all have known the braggarts, the boastful ones who constantly toot
their own horns. These people crave approval because they don't yet
approve of themselves. There are those who do the same thing but
they're not so noisy about it. The girl who says she's ugly even though
she's pretty, or the guy who says he's dumb even though he isn't. These
are not humble people. They are people who need to learn to approve
of themselves.

We don't have to be either of these people now. We can honestly look
at ourselves and see our strengths and weaknesses for what they are.
We don't have to put ourselves down today. Best of all, we can now
accept compliments graciously.

---Our Best Days

 

[Dan Murphy]

A peaceful mind

Great ideas and great accomplishments flow easily and naturally from a calm and peaceful mind. When you are free to think and act in the direction of your most treasured dreams and highest vision, there is no limit to what you can accomplish.
But when your mind is filled with resentment or regret, it cannot do its work. When worries are bouncing around inside your head, they crowd out the valuable and useful thoughts. When anger clogs your thinking, your mind has trouble getting anything done. When envy infects your thoughts, it's difficult to focus on anything else.

So put your mind at ease, free your thoughts, and let them move you quickly forward. Experience how wonderful and refreshing it can be to release your mind from the burden of negativity.

No one is forcing you to hang on to your anger, so let it go. Nothing can make you worry unless you choose to worry. Whatever is possible, is possible for you, so there's never any reason to be envious of anyone. Let all those negative thoughts simply fall away from you.

You are blessed with a powerful and effective mind. Keep it calm, keep it peaceful, and fill it with the thoughts that will move you quickly ahead.

-- Ralph Marston

 

[helenabear]

Thank you Dan I particularly liked this one today... something I definitely have to try to keep in mind

 

[Dan Murphy]

Elaine....... Glad you liked it.

Focus on gratitude

Before you speak, before you act, before you make a decision, take time to appreciate. Look lovingly at where you are, at who you're with, at what you're doing, and find a reason to be thankful.
Even in the most difficult situation, there are plenty of reasons for sincere gratitude. Instead of cursing your problems, take a moment to count your blessings, and give your energy to the blessings rather than the problems.

Just imagine how much positive value you will add to any relationship when you focus on gratitude before each interaction. Consider how much more effective your work will be when you find something to sincerely appreciate in everything you do.

The more profoundly you appreciate something in your life, the more value you give to it. In every direction you look, there is something for which you can be sincerely thankful.

Gratitude truly opens your eyes to the incredible abundance that is all around you. Make gratitude your constant companion and that abundance becomes yours to live.

-- Ralph Marston

 

[Dan Murphy]

Spread joy

When your day is filled with troubles, rejoice! You've been given a challenge worthy of your strength, and one which will build that strength even more.
Don't wait for happiness and joy to come to you. Let them come from you. Spread joy and you will know joy. Pay no mind to the circumstances. They come and go. Let your joy transcend them and transform them. The troubles of the moment will soon be history. You, on the other hand, have the privilege of being alive and able to move beyond any past disappointment, no matter how severe.

Fill your heart with joy and you'll be amazed at how many positive possibilities suddenly pop into view. Put a smile on your face and watch your actions become more effective. Spread joy to your world and feel the warmth of it coming back to you.

This is a great day to be alive. So be alive with joy and make it even better.

-- Ralph Marston

 

[EROS]

Man is quite insane.


He wouldn't know how to create a maggot,


yet he creates gods by the dozen.


Michel de Montaigne

 

[SPAGo 98]

What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

psalms 8.4