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Gifts are for
giving.
-- Ian and
Sylvia Tyson
Many years
ago, a young woman named Dorothy was very talented
at china painting. She painted tiny scenes on
china dishes, the way people today paint on wood
and Easter eggs.
Then
Dorothy fell in love, got married, and decided she
had no time to paint.
But as her
children grew, they loved to stand at the china
cabinet and stare at all her tiny pictures -- each
one seemed to hold its own special world.
Years
passed, and Dorothy's grandchildren also loved to
stand and stare at the paintings. Everybody loved
her work.
They
wondered why she didn't take up painting again,
but she wouldn't say. Her love of painting seemed
to be locked away.
When we
give up some talent of our own because we don't
have time for it, we lock away part of ourselves.
When we
imprison our talents, we limit our possibilities.
But when we make self-expression a natural part of
our day, others can gather around and enjoy the
results.
There is
always room for our talents because they create
worlds of their own.
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I come into the
peace of wild things who do not tax their lives
with
forethought of grief.
-- Wendell
Berry
Blessed
are all birds and animals, the wildest beasts,
and, yes, all serpents, too, for they live in
nature, in a state of natural grace.
They live
beyond the rules of evil and good.
Their
instincts are obedient only to the laws of
survival, growth, and health.
And as
their lives unfurl in obedience to these laws,
they suffer no shame, regret, or sin.
Nor do
they curse their failures, or themselves.
We can
learn much from them.
They
harbor no evil toward one another, and they trust
their own inner sense of how to live, and that
their Higher Power makes sure everything which
befalls them is for the best.
Yes, they
are blessed, and so are we, the highest
animal.
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Any time you
sense you are getting overrun
by
outside influences and losing your feelings,
put your
attention inside your body.
Relax. . ., let
your breath sink low. . .,
breathe in your
abdomen. . . .
-- Anne Kent
Rush
When we
are feeling as though all our energy is scattered
throughout our bodies, we need to practice
centering, or focusing this energy into one
place.
Our center
may change from day to day, and each of us feels
it differently. 
When we're
walking, we may feel power coming from our hips
and spreading through the body, heart, and
mind.
When we're
in a meditative mood, we may feel warm energy at
the back of the head.
At other
times, we might feel a real centering place in the
middle of the chest, right where our heart and
arms and breathing come together.
There is
no one way to be at peace.
Centering
is a way for each of us to find and picture to
ourselves our focused energy.
When we
can do this, we increase our power to bring about
those things we want from life, those things we
really do deserve.
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_______________
Copyright ©
2024 Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. All rights reserved.
from the book Today's Gift
R.I.P. image
Copyright ©
Jonas
Jodicke
Dividers from
Gran Gran's (dead link 07/06/2011)
Night Fairy image Copyright © James
Ryman
Onirique image Copyright © Ralph
Heimans
Watching Over Her
image Copyright © Kjun
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