“When I say, ‘I love you’, do I come with a full bowl to be shared, or an empty bowl
to be filled?”
– Old Chinese Proverb.
Grown-Up
‘By the time it came to the edge of the Forest the stream had grown up, so that it was almost a river, and, being grown-up, it did not run and jump and sparkle along as it used to do when it was younger, but moved more slowly. For it knew now where it was going, and it said to itself, “There is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” But all the little streams higher up in the Forest went this way and that, quickly, eagerly, having so much to find out before it was too late.’
– A.A. Milne. (from Winnie the Pooh).
Personal Growth
Inevitably, each of us will reach the moment when the place we have felt most comfortable becomes so uncomfortable that we feel as if we are suffocating in the stale air of our own history.
Most of us will arrive at some point in our lives when the world with which we are most familiar no longer works for us.
We are meant to outgrow ourselves; indeed, we can no more avoid this development than we can stop the ageing process.
The only question is how gracefully – and healthily – we will handle the transition.”
– Caroline Myss
Secrets of the Mouth vs. Secrets of the Heart
There are secrets of the mouth and secrets of the heart.
Most secrets are secrets of the mouth. Gossip shared and small scandals whispered.
These secrets long to be let loose upon the world.
A secret of the mouth is like a stone in your boot. At first you’re barely aware of it. Then it grows irritating, then intolerable.
Secrets of the mouth grow larger the longer you keep them, swelling until they press against your lips.
They fight to be let free.
Secrets of the heart are different.
They are private and painful, and we want nothing more than to hide them from the world.
They do not swell and press against the mouth.
They live in the heart, and the longer they are kept, the heavier they become.
It is better to have a mouthful of poison than a secret of the heart.
Any fool will spit out poison, but we hoard these painful treasures.
We swallow hard against them every day, forcing them deep inside us.
There they sit, growing heavier, festering. Given enough time, they cannot help but crush the heart that holds them.
– Patrick Rothfuss in Wise Man’s Fear
A Certain Person
“We have an illusion that a certain time, a certain place, a certain person is the only way. Without it or them, we are lost.
It is not true. Impermanence teaches us this. There is no one thing to hold on to.”
– Natalie Goldberg, in Long Quiet Highway.
Loving Someone
“Happy comes and goes.
Loving someone isn’t that crazy infatuation that you feel at first. That passes.
Well, not passes, but it calms down, and then sometimes, when you least expect it, you get a glimpse of the person and it all comes back again, in a big rush.
But even that’s not what you’re looking for.
What you’re looking for is the feeling that no matter what, being with that person is always going to be better than being without that person.
Good times or bad.
That having that person around makes whatever you’re going through better, or at least more tolerable.”
– Robin Hobb.
The Search for Our True Selves
“The search for the true self, or higher self, is at the core of all human motivation. Whether we know it or not, we are searching for this connection, and the drive is always present, even if subconscious.”
– David Cumes.
Going Out
“I only went out for a walk and finally decided to stay until sundown, for going out I discovered was actually going in.
– John Muir
Under the Wide and Starry Sky
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
– Robert Louis Stevenson.
Keep your Marriage Brimming
“Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming:
whenever you’re wrong, admit it;
whenever you’re right, shut up”.
– Ogden Nash
Parenting: Seize the Day
“While the days of parenting may seem so long, the years are so short.”
– Daniel J. Siegel.
Einstein: Reality, Nature & Human Stupidity
There are a couple of great quotes from Einstein that I’ve come across over the years.
1) This one helps me explain to clients the concept of how we can change our EXTERNAL reality, by first changing our INTERNAL reality:
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
2) On a personal level, I really like this one:
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
3) My personal favourite, however, and the one I find myself frequently telling my clients when we speak about the multiple manifestations of human folly is,
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
– Albert Einstein
Listening to Life 