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AOM Meditations: 030618

by Alfred Sisley

Thanks to our Friend for sending us this beautiful art

~*~

"It is not the events of today that happened to you that matter (such as that you lost something or something went wrong or someone forgot you or spoke to you harshly, etc.), but how you reacted to it all--that is, what states of yourself you were in--for it is here that your real life lies and if our inner states were right, nothing in the nature of external states could overcome us.  Try therefore to distinguish, as an exercise in living more consciously, between inner states and outer events, and try to meet any outer event, after noticing its nature, with the right inner attitude--that is, with the right state.  And if you cannot, think afterward about it--first try to define the nature of the event and notice if this kind of event often comes to you and try to see it more clearly in terms such as "This is called being late" or "This is called losing things" or "This is called receiving bad news" or "This is called unpleasant surprises" or "This is called being ill."  Begin in this very simple way and you will soon see how different personal events, and so how in this respect one's outer life, are changing all the time, and what you could not do at one moment, you can at another."

~Maurice Nicoll

AOM Meditations: 122117

California Spring by Albert Bierstadt

Thanks to a Friend for sending us this beautiful art

~*~

"That the birds of worry and care 

fly above your head,

this you cannot change.

But that they build nests in your hair, 

this you can prevent."

~Chinese Proverb

~*~

"You can't always control circumstances.  

However, you can always 

control your attitude, approach, and response.  

Your options are to complain 

or to look ahead and figure out 

how to make the situation better."

~Tony Dungy

(Quiet Strength)

~*~

"Your attitude is your choice. It always is. We live in an age that has developed the art of shifting blame to very high levels, and sometimes we get caught up in that same tendency. "Well, if you had my job you wouldn't be so positive." "If you had my kids, you wouldn't feel so good." "If only my boss were different, I could be a positive person."  In other words, "My bad attitude is not my fault!"

The truth is, however, your attitude and mine are always our choice. No matter how bad things are, no one can force you to have a bad attitude if you don't want to. Now that should come as really good news because it says our attitudes don't have to be victims of our circumstances or of other people. We choose our responses."

~Mary Whelchel

~*~

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the people who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

~Viktor E. Frankl

(Man's Search for Meaning)

~*~

"The simple things in life can bring much joy if you look at them with a positive attitude. Flying a kite with a child can be fun, or it can be time wasted if you wish you were doing something else. Receiving a compliment from your employer, your teacher, or a family member for something you did especially well can make you feel wonderful. Facing each task with the determination to do the job to the very best of your ability can bring something positive to the actual doing and a solid feeling of accomplishment after the job is completed.

You can get out of bed in the morning, ready to make the day an adventure. Or, you can stay under the covers as long as possible and rush to work with mind and body already weary and your thoughts possibly scrambled from hurrying. Your attitudes can help create your life's circumstances. Attitudes may make you either a happy or an unhappy person.  Of course, the inevitabilities of life can bring problems, troubles, and sadness to us all, but if your glass remains half full, your attitudes can help you triumph over those times."

~John Marks Templeton