On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Here’s an inspirational message from bestselling author and motivational speaker, John Maxwell:
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:
Even when your past — your story — tries to pull you back in, you can consciously do your best to focus on your present blessings. What do you see in your life right now? Be thankful for the good parts. For your health, your family, your friends, or your home. Many people don’t have these things.
Remind yourself that the richest human is rarely the one who has the most, but the one who needs less. Wealth is a daily mindset. Want less and appreciate more today. Easier said than done of course, but with practice gratitude does get easier. And as you practice, you transform your past struggles into present moments of freedom.
Ultimately, on the average day, happiness is letting go of what you assume your life is supposed to be like right now and sincerely appreciating it for everything that it is. So, at the end of this day, before you close your eyes, smile and be at peace with where you’ve been and grateful for what you have. Life has goodness.
Keep reminding yourself…
*You are not your bad days.
*You are not your mistakes.
*You are not your scars.
*You are not your past.
Be here now and breathe.
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Here’s an inspiring post from the Mind Fuel Daily blog:
We may see ducks regularly at the local pond or park, but have you ever stopped to consider and appreciate their many compelling qualities? Here are five things we can learn from the duck.
Form Quality Partnerships
Contrary to popular belief, ducks do not mate for life; instead, they practice seasonal monogamy each breeding season. Are you with the ideal partner for the current season of your life? Make sure your close partnerships in work and in life are a “match” for each phase or project.
Make Family a Priority
Female ducks lay an average of 5 to 12 eggs that hatch within 28 days. While they are gestating, the male duck will protect the nest and fight off any potential invaders. Be protective of your kin and raise your children attentively.
Let Stress Roll Right Off You
Ducks are equipped with naturally waterproof feathers that allow them to stay comfortable and dry even while in the water. They also don’t hold a grudge; if they have a tiff with another duck, they shake the stress of the encounter from their feathers and get on with their day.
Keep Your Wits About You
Ducks have an internal GPS system and see in color 360 degrees around them. The are also able to sleep with one eye open and half their brain engaged for protection against predators. Enjoy your life, but be ready to navigate quickly away from pitfalls and hazards.
Be Buoyant and Flexible
Equipped with both webbed feet and wings, most ducks can travel by water, land, and air. Be flexible and cultivate a buoyant spirit in life as you travel from one adventure to the next.
From the mallard to the wood duck to the scoter, ducks delight with their beautiful feathers and cheerful dispositions. Consider how you might apply these examples of wisdom from the duck.
Source: Mind Fuel Daily Blog
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In her book, Let It Be Easy: Simple Ways to Stop Stressing & Start Living, life coach Susie Moore shares insightful gems. Here’s one of my favorites:
If you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them. But if you argue for your possibilities, they expand.
We are experts at knowing our limitations. We defend them doggedly. We set up Judge Judy-style courtrooms in our heads and play the part of the prosecution—against ourselves. Against our own possibilities.
What if we flipped the script?
Next time you’re about to prove a personal limitation, pause. Is it helpful, to you or anyone else? I’ve never found it to be so.
Are you “too sensitive”? Maybe you’re highly empathetic, and that’s a superpower!
Are you “disorganized”? Maybe you’re an action taker who focuses on the overall mission over tidy perfection.
Are you “on the bossy side”? Maybe you’re a natural, confident leader.
What’s there to apologize for or explain away, exactly, here?
Here’s a fun exercise. Imagine you’re responsible for defending your possibilities in a courtroom. If you had to be your own attorney for just five minutes, what would you say about who you really are and what you can do?
Source: Let It Be Easy, pp. 65-66
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:
All of the things from our past that we desperately try to hold on to, as if they’re real, solid, everlasting fixtures in our lives, aren’t really there. Or if they are there in some form, they’re changing, fluid, impermanent, or simply imagined storylines in our minds.
Life gets a lot easier to deal with the moment we understand this.
Imagine you’re blindfolded and treading water in the center of a large swimming pool, and you’re struggling desperately to grab the edge of the pool that you think is nearby, but really it’s not—it’s far away. Trying to grab that imaginary edge is stressing you out, and tiring you out, as you splash around aimlessly trying to holding on to something that isn’t there.
Now imagine you pause, take a deep breath, and realize that there’s nothing nearby to hold on to. Just water around you. You can continue to struggle with grabbing at something that doesn’t exist… or you can accept that there’s only water around you, and relax, and float.
Today I challenge you to ask yourself:
*What’s something from the past that you are still desperately trying to hold on to?
*How is it affecting you in the present?
Then imagine the thing you’re trying to hold on to doesn’t really exist. Envision yourself letting go… and just floating.
How might that change your life from this moment forward?
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
I look forward to receiving weekly emails from Robert Holden, a British psychologist, author, and broadcaster, who works in the field of positive psychology and well-being. Here’s an excerpt from a recent email:
At the start of the year, I got a shoulder injury. I got it playing football with my son Christopher. I was playing in goal, when I made a heroic dive that ruptured tendons in my shoulder.
A few days later, my family and I flew to Findhorn, Scotland. I booked myself in to see Kemi, who is an amazing bodyworker and healer who lives nearby.
“There is a deeper purpose to this injury!” Kemi told me.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Your shoulders are telling me that they want you to rest more,” she said.
“I’d like that,” I said.
“To heal your shoulder injury, you will need to lighten the load you are carrying,” she said.
“You mean, take some weight off my shoulders?”
“Yes,” she said. “And it’s time to grow wings.”
Louise Hay believed that the body is a message board. And that your body is always trying to give you messages to help you be healthier, happier, and more whole.
Kemi feels the same way about the body. “Listening to your body is a spiritual practice,” she says.
Asking yourself a question like, “What message does my body want me to know today?” is a great practice for living a healthy life.
My new spiritual practice is growing wings. I am enjoying playing with this metaphor.
‘So, what can I do to grow my wings?” I asked Kemi.
“Let life love you more,” she told me, with a smile.
“I wrote a book about that!” I said.
“Let your angels help you more,” she said.
“You mean, stop trying to do life all by myself,” I said.
“Exactly,” she said.
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Robert Holden’s website.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In A Year of Writing Dangerously, author and teacher Barbara Abercrombie shares anecdotes, insights, and solutions. Here’s a thought-provoking excerpt:
Maybe the essay you’re writing, or the memoir or novel, has now taken up residence in your inner life, like a DVD playing in your head. Maybe as you go to sleep at night, you’re working on your story, you dream it. And when you brush your teeth in the morning, you’re thinking about it, seeing flashbacks of your own life or your characters hovering behind you. If it’s a book you’re working on, you imagine what the cover will look like. Articles you read in the newspaper or online, things you observe, hear on radio or TV—everything starts to connect to your work.
Maybe you already have a draft of an essay or short story you’ve written that needs to sit for a while for you to get some perspective on it, and you’re looking for the subject of your next one. What you look for, you usually find.
Or maybe not. Maybe you’re stuck. But the only way to become unstuck is to keep showing up, to keep writing. And trust that when you do show up, something will be playing in your unconscious.
Source: A Year of Writing Dangerously, p.149
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:
In the present moment we all have some kind of pain: anger, sadness, frustration, disappointment, regret, etc.
Notice this pain within yourself, watch it closely, and see that it’s caused by whatever story you have in your head about what happened in the past (either in the recent past or in the distant past). Your mind might insist that the pain you feel is caused by what happened (not by the story in your head about it), but what happened in the past is NOT happening right now. It’s over. It has passed. But the pain is still happening right now because of the story you’ve been subconsciously telling yourself about that past incident.
Note that “story” does not mean “fake story.” It also does not mean “true story.” The word “story” in the context of your self-evaluation doesn’t have to imply true or false, positive or negative, or any other kind of forceful judgment call. It’s simply a process that’s happening inside your head:
*You are remembering something that happened.
*You subconsciously perceive yourself as a victim of this incident.
*Your memory of what happened causes a strong emotion in you.
So just notice what story you have, without judging it, and without judging yourself. It’s natural to have a story; we all have stories. See yours for what it is. And see that it’s causing you pain. Then take a deep breath, and another…
Inner peace begins the moment you take these deep breaths and choose not to allow the past to rule your present thoughts and emotions.
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:
Dr. Caroline Leaf, a leading brain scientist/learning specialist and committed Christian, notes in her teaching on the brain: “The Word and science believe that the mind and the brain are one.” The way you think is voluntary—you can control your thoughts. I want you to give your brain a new job and begin to teach your mind to work for you instead of against you.
One important way to do this is to make the intentional decision that you will begin to think positively. I realize your brain won’t be able to fulfill the new role completely overnight. You may be asking it to undergo a radical transformation, and that will take time. So give it a little grace, but determine that with your diligence and God’s help your brain will go to work for you instead of against you and become a powerful, positive force in your life.
I like what Dr. Leaf says—that the human brain takes “eighteen years to grow and a lifetime to mature.” Don’t miss this point. Although every other organ in the body is fully formed when a person is born, and simply gets bigger as the body gets bigger, the brain actually takes a full eighteen years to be fully formed. After that it continues to mature until the day a person dies. This means, no matter how old you are, your brain is still maturing. This is great news because it means you do not have to be stuck in any old or wrong thought patters. Your brain is still maturing, so you can still mature in your thinking.
Source: Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Rumi (born Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) was a 13-century Persian poet, Islamic scholar, and Sufi mystic. One of the most accomplished poets of all time, his musings on life, love, and the mysteries of the universe continue to resonate worldwide.
Here are ten of my favorite Rumi quotes:
You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.
Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.
Why do you stay in prison, when the door is so wide open?
Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.
If the light is in your heart, you will find your way home.
There’s a field somewhere beyond all doubt and wrongdoing. I’ll meet you there.
Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being.
Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.
Anyone who genuinely and consistently with both hands looks for something will find it.
Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.
Joanne Guidoccio 