1-31-2006 Quote for today

Night's deepest gloom is but a calm; that soothes the weary mind: The labored days restoring balm; the comfort of mankind.
-Leigh Hunt

Chinese proverb

The palest ink is better than the best memory.

1-30-2006 Quote for today

Only when your consciousness is totally focused on the moment you are in can you receive whatever gift, lesson, or delight that moment has to offer.
-Barbara De Angelis

Zen Story - Ritual

When the spiritual teacher and his disciples began their evening meditation, a cat who lived in the monastery made such noise that it distracted them. One day the teacher ordered that the cat be tied up during the evening practice. Years later, when the teacher died, the cat continued to be tied up during the meditation session. And when the cat eventually died, another cat was brought to the monastery and tied up. Centuries later, learned descendants of the spiritual teacher wrote scholarly treatises about the religious significance of tying up a cat for meditation practice.

1-29-2006 Quote for today

The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams.
-Og Mandino

1-28-2006 Quote for today

In your thirst for knowledge, be sure not to drown in all the information.
-Anthony J. D'Angelo

1-27-2006 Quote for today

A mind grows by what it feeds on.
-J. G. Holland

Zen Story - Rehearsal

A dramatic ballad singer studied under a strict teacher who insisted that he rehearse day after day, month after month the same passage from the same song, without being permitted to go any further. Finally, overwhelmed by frustration and despair, the young man ran off to find another profession. One night, stopping at an inn, he stumbled upon a recitation contest. Having nothing to lose, he entered the competition and, of course, sang the one passage that he knew so well. When he had finished, the sponsor of the contest highly praised his performance. Despite the student's embarrassed objections, the sponsor refused to believe that he had just heard a beginner perform. "Tell me," the sponsor said, "who is your instructor? He must be a great master." The student later became known as the great performer Koshiji.

1-26-2006 Quote for today

Experience is a good school. But the fees are high.
-Heinrich Heine

1-25-2006 Quote for today

The life so short, the craft so long to learn.
-Hippocrates

1-24-2006 Quote for today

As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge.
-Henry Van Dyke

1-23-2006 Quote for today

Living in dreams of yesterday, we find ourselves still dreaming of impossible future conquests.
-Charles Lindbergh

1-22-2006 Quote for today

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.
-John Lubbock

1-21-2006 Quote for today

You may not always be able to avoid difficult situations, you can modify the extent to which you suffer by how you choose to respond to the situation.
-The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living (HH Dalai Lama)

1-20-2006 Quote for today

Only the dreamer shall understand realities, though in truth his dreaming must be not out of proportion to his waking.
-Margaret Fuller

1-19-2006 Quote for today

All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.
-Juvenal

Zen story - Reality Is Now

A Japanese warrior was captured by his enemies and thrown into prison. That night he was unable to sleep because he feared that the next day he would be interrogated, tortured, and executed. Then the words of his Zen master came to him, "Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now." Heeding these words, the warrior became peaceful and fell asleep.

1-19-2006 Quote for today

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
-Annie Dillard

1-18-2006 Quote for today

You study, you learn, but you guard the original naivete. It has to be within you, as desire for drink is within the drunkard or love is within the lover.
-Henri Matisse

1-17-2006 Quote for today

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.
-Marcel Proust

1-16-2006 Quote for today

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.
-George Sand

1-15-2006 Quote for today

Love is the emplem of eternity; it confounds all notions of time; effaces all memory of begining, all fear of an end.
-Madame de Stael

1-14-2006 Quote for today

Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away.
-Ben Hecht

1-13-2006 Quote for today

No man may make another free.
-Zora Neale Hurston

1-12-2006 Quote for today

The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.
-Hippocrates

A Winter Night - Sara Teasdale

My window-pane is starred with frost,
The world is bitter cold to-night,
The moon is cruel and the wind
Is like a two-edged sword to smite.

God pity all the homeless ones,
The beggars pacing to and fro.
God pity all the poor to-night
Who walk the lamp-lit streets of snow.

My room is like a bit of June,
Warm and close-curtained fold on fold,
But somewhere, like a homeless child,
My heart is crying in the cold.

1-11-2006 Quote for today

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.
-Gil Stern

1-10-2005 Quote for today

In accomplishing one's goals, one should be like a starving or parched person craving for food and drink. If one has talent but lacks the desire to improve oneself, this means one has no goals.

1-9-2006 Quote for today

There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but only one view.
-Harry Millner

1-8-2006 Quote for today

The bravest are the most tender; the loving are the daring.
-Bayard Taylor

1-7-2006 Quote for today

A sense of curiosity is nature's original school of education.
-Smiley Blanton

1-6-2006 Quote for today

Be careful what you set your heart upon, for it will surely be yours.
-James A. Baldwin

1-5-2006 Quote for today

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
-Lao Tzu

Guided Imagery

Guided imagery is a well recognized, mind-body intervention aimed at easing stress, and promoting a sense of peace and tranquility at a stressful or difficult time in someone's life. It is a simple process of incorporating the "power of the mind" to assist the body to heal, maintain health or relax by way of an inner communication involving all senses, (i.e. visual, touch, smell, sight, sound). It forms a balance between the mind, body and spirit.

Relaxation is essential for imagery to be successful as it allows the mind to be open and receptive to new information. Not only does it reduce muscle tension, but also enhances the production of images and triggers the unconscious, which stimulates the emotions.

Research suggests that the physiological impact of relaxation may be the result of its effects on cortisol, a hormone released by the body in response to stress. Although the release of cortisol is helpful during the "fight or flight" response, its continual, prolonged release in response to daily stresses can inhibit the immune system and slow tissue repair.

It has been shown that when the mind is still, it is clear and more open to suggestions. It is then able to cooperate in positive images and suggestions that may enhance physical and emotional healing. Therefore, imagery is most successful when the mind and body are quiet and still. Imagery induces an "altered state" that enables messages to travel more easily from our minds to our bodies.

1-4-2006 Quote for today

A great thing can only be done by a great person; and they do it without effort.
-John Ruskin

Stress in our lives

Life will always have its series of ups and downs. Being busy, always on the go, rushing, feeling that we are burning the candle at both ends.

We ask ourselves, can we ever slow down? How can we really get the point of appreciating the everyday blessings?

Stress is an inevitable part of life . It is the way a person physically and emotionally responds to changes. It can be the motivating and productive force of a person. Burning the candle at both ends, or continual stress, however, can be detrimental and destructive to one's health.

A common complaint by many is that they feel consumed with rushing and being hurried all the time.

We forget what it is to relax, slow down and truly enjoy the beautty and simplicity of the present moment.

Often, we are preparing so much for tomorrow, we realize, that the most important part of life, today, is often missed!

So much of our own stress is self induced.

1-03-2006 Quote for today

Only the educated are free.
-Epictetus

1-2-2006 Quote for today

Excellence is not an act but a habit. The things you do the most are the things you will do the best.
– Marva Collins

1-1-2006 Quote for today

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
-Benjamin Franklin