chapter XVII

Just A Little Sanskrit

Saw this today:

“To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inaction”

Followed up by reading this:

Click on this link and read...

Made a whole lot of sense.  Something to keep in mind as you travel through this wild and precious life.  That last phrase, the one about this wild and precious life, that is not mine.  It's from Mary Oliver.  Read the whole thing here.

Lots to think about with these two links today. 

Words To Live By

"Moderation? It's mediocrity, fear, and confusion in disguise. It's the devil's dilemma. It's neither doing nor not doing. It's the wobbling compromise that makes no one happy. Moderation is for the bland, the apologetic, for the fence-sitters of the world afraid to take a stand. It's for those afraid to laugh or cry, for those afraid to live or die. Moderation...is lukewarm tea, the devil's own brew."

 

Dan Millman, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior

Time - the right perspective

For all of us who are "so so busy" blah blah blah, let's keep this in mind:

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."  H. Jackson Brown

Humbling, ain't it?

Thank you, Rumi

Have you ever had one of those days when you feel like you are all out of sorts?  Nothing is quite right?  I had a little bit of one of those over the weekend.  Nothing tasted good, I could not identify what I wanted, could not get to sleep but was tired, everyone seemed to be walking in my way, I had a few odd interactions with people.  You know, nothing major, but little irritants.

I saw a quote this morning that put it all in perspective.  From Rumi:

If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?

Well that helps.  At this point, I should be gleaming with a brilliant shine :-)

A Great Way to Think About Age

I read a wonderful quote the other day.  Hillary Clinton was describing a woman who works for her, and she described her like this...she said this woman has "the energy of a woman in her 20s, the confidence of a woman in her 30s, the experience of a woman in her 40s and the grace of a woman in her 50s."

Well isn't that a great way to think about age.  I have so many traits to look forward to!  Cheers, Hillary.

Words To Live By

"You don't stop laughing because you grow old.  You grow old because you stop laughing."

Michael Pritchard

Potted Plants and Poetry and Stuff

April is National Poetry Month.  I happen to be a big poetry fan, and so am thrilled every year when various poetry organizations email out a poem a day in April.

In reading a poem today - not one from the official orgs, but from 37Days, a verse caught my eye.  It's as follows:

"And I noticed my new best friend -- by now we were holding hands --
Had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,

With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always
Carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere."

I believe it's a Palestinian tradition...could be wrong about that.  In any event, I like traditions as much as I like poems, and this one is worth noting. 

Thought For The Day

"Fortune favors the bold."

Virgil

No Offense to Suburbanites, but...

"Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them."  Bill Vaughan

Hee hee.

Something to Think About

"Anyone can become angry -- that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way -- this is not easy." - Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics