Gratitude

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order,
confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast,
a house into a home,
a stranger into a friend.

Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow."

~ Melody Beattie ~

(Trick and Trinkets #378)

The Adventurer

You can not lived sheltered forever without ever being exposed,
and at the same time be a spiritual adventurer.

Be audacious. Be crazy in your own way, with that maddness in
the eyes of man that is wisdom in the eyes of god.

Takes risks, search and search again, search everywhere,
in every way, do not let a single opportunity or chance
that life offers pass you by, and do not be petty and mean,
trying to drive a hard bargain.

- Arnaud Desjardins (Cool Tricks and Trinkets #377)

in the dark

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

- Confucius (Notable Quotables 11/17/05)

the formula of zen

"What is the zen life itself? We can put it in a formula:
Infinite gratitude towards all things past.
Infinite service to all things present.
Infinite responsibility to all things future."

- Huston Smith quoting his Zen Roshi (from Cool Tricks and Trinkets #375)