Monday, 31 October 2011

Smile


It takes only a smile 
to make a dark day seem bright. 
Find the one 
that makes your heart smile.
- Unknown

Friday, 28 October 2011

Give up


Don't feel sad over someone 
who gave up on you.  
 Feel sorry that they gave up on someone 
who would never have given up on them. 
- Unknown

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Choose


I choose…
to live by choice, not chance; 
to make changes, not excuses; 
to be motivated, not manipulated; 
to be useful, not used; 
to excel, not compete.  
 I choose self-esteem, not self-pity. 
I choose to listen to my inner voice, 
not the random opinion of others. 
– unknown

Monday, 24 October 2011

Lazy


Some of the most productive, creative, 
and efficient employees…
are really just lazy people 
who have found the easiest way
to do their work
.  – Erin Rooney Doland

Friday, 21 October 2011

October 21, 2011 Chautauqua



From the Editor's Computer
 
    As humans, we love guarantees and assurances.  Nothing reassures us or gives us a better sense of security than the certainties in our lives.  

   Certainties?  As much as we wish it otherwise, there are no certainties in this life.

   One could argue that death is a certainty, and in one respect, that is true.  However, look how much uncertainty surrounds death.  We don’t know what day, hour, or year we will die, nor do we know the age we will be.

   Further, we don’t know if our deaths will be quick, prolonged, painless, or painful.  We don’t know if the cause of death will be natural, old age, illness, accident, or natural disaster.  We don’t know if we will die alone, surrounded by loved ones, or in a crowd.

   That is a lot of uncertainty regarding something that we figure is pretty much a guarantee in this life.

   We can plan and prepare as much as we want for our daily lives, and future events, yet so many of the variables surrounding these plans are completely out of our hands, especially if the variables involve the weather or other people!

   Now before you give up in despair and decide that there is no point setting goals or anticipating future events so we might as well all sit like lumps all day, there is another certainty that we often overlook: the certainly of choosing our reaction to the uncertainties of life. 

   How you may react to the events in your life could be uncertain, but that you will react, isn’t.  Consciously choosing to react in ways that are healthy to our bodies and minds is an important step to flowing along life’s twists and turns.  Once something has happened, we can’t go back and change it.  That said, we can do our best, by our choices, to ensure that similar events don’t occur.  The better our choices, the better the events in our lives.

   Here something else we can be certain of…if you wake up one more morning, that gives you one more chance to make your life, and then the lives of others, and then the world, a better place.
 
Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wDBqsVL1HtC9M2Td0sJgza4sTIoRaNMr/view?usp=sharing

To contact The Chautauqua, email: thechautauqua@gmail.com.

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Round


God made the world round 
so we could never see
too far down the road. 
– Isak Dinesen

Monday, 17 October 2011

Kindness


Practicing kindness and selflessness, 
you naturally align your life 
with the Integral Way. 
– Lao-tzu

Friday, 14 October 2011

Do


We do without doing
and everything gets done.  
 – Norse runes

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Open


Like a flower, 
you have to open 
to the rain and the sunlight. 
– Colette Baron-Reid

Monday, 10 October 2011

Thank you

Thank you for being.
– traditional Seneca greeting

Friday, 7 October 2011

October 7, 2011 Chautauqua



From the Editor's Computer


   "We tend to focus on the people in our lives before the tasks...you need to decrease the people tension (home life, relationships, disagreements, health) before you can...focus on the task tension (deadlines, presentations, work life)."  Karyn Goodwillie

   A few weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing stressful people.  I was told that we need stressful people or life would be too dull. I countered that we need exciting people to enliven our lives. 

   The people you interact with, and your reactions to them, have more of an impact on you (mentally, emotionally, and physically) than any other external or internal factors in your environment. 

   Stressful people make time seem like it is never-ending.  A mere five minutes in their company can feel like eons!  You want to run away and hide, avoiding them at all costs.  When you are around exciting people, however, time is meaningless.  Five hours can fly by and only feel like five minutes.  You tend to seek out exciting people, and want to spend as much time with them as you can.

   Stressful people are hazardous to your health as they deplete your vitality and energy.  Normally healthy individuals can develop chronic, even terminal, illnesses just by being around stressful people for extended periods of time.  Exciting people have an extremely beneficial effect on a person’s overall health as you relax and enjoy their presence.  Some health conditions can be completely reversed by spending time with exciting people. 

   Rarely are we completely powerless regarding our contact with stressful people in our lives.  Waiting for stressful people to change is futile, as they won’t. We can, and should for the sake of our overall health, make the choice to minimize, if not totally eliminate, all contact with stressful people.  At the very least, we should change the way we relate to them, setting and enforcing firm boundaries for all our interactions.     

   We should also boost our contact with exciting people, surrounding ourselves with as many as we can.  Equally important, we must each be an exciting person, not a stressful person, in the lives of those around us.         
 
Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W02OVVAPuj-4t76cW94EyEgiF72vbDRz/view?usp=sharing

To contact The Chautauqua, email: thechautauqua@gmail.com.

Wednesday, 5 October 2011

Content

Once what you are doing 
has for you meaning, 
it is irrelevant 
whether you’re happy or unhappy.  
 You are content –
you are not alone in your Spirit 
– you belong.   
– Sir Laurens der Post

Monday, 3 October 2011

Focus

Concentrate all your thoughts 
upon the work at hand. 
The sun’s rays do not burn
until  brought to a focus.  
 - Alexander Graham Bell

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