AOM Meditations: 120220

Watermill at Limetz, 1888, Claude Monet

~*~

"Self-respect is often mistaken for arrogance

when in reality it is the opposite.

When we can recognize all our good qualities

as well as or faults with neutrality,

we can start to appreciate ourselves

as we would a dear friend

and experience the comfortable inner glow of respect.

To embrace the journey towards our full potential

we need to become our own loving teacher and coach.

Spurring ourselves on to become better human beings,

we develop true regard for ourselves,

and our life will become sacred."

~Osho

~*~

“When you are content to be simply yourself 

and don't compare or compete, 

everyone will respect you.” 

~Lao Tzu

(Tao Te Ching)

~*~

“Stand up for who you are. Respect your Self and ignite the divine sparks in you. Access your powers. Choose your rights and work together with others to bring blessings into the lives.”

~Amit Ray

AOM Meditations: 111120

by Claude Monet

~*~

 

AOM Meditations: 061120

The Ally Point, Low Tide (1882) by  Claude Monet

Thanks to our Friend, David, for sending us this beautiful art

~*~

"Enthusiasm is one of life's greatest qualities, 

but it must be practiced 

to become a dominant factor in one's life.  

There is real magic in enthusiasm. 

It spells the difference 

between mediocrity and accomplishment."

~Norman Vincent Peale 

~*~

"Enthusiasm, 

like measles, mumps, 

and the common cold, 

is highly contagious."

~Emory Ward

~*~

"Here is good news to those to whom enthusiasm does not come naturally: It can be cultivated. At first, you must consciously put your eyes, your voice, your spirit--in a word, yourself--into your appreciation of people and events and things. Do this around your home, at your work, and in your social contacts, and you will be surprised at how quickly it will become second nature. You will find yourself living in a more gracious and enthusiastic world, for your enthusiasm will be reflected back to you from the people to whom you give it."

~David Dunn

~*~

"Every great and commanding movement 

in the annals of the world 

is the triumph of enthusiasm.  

Nothing great was ever achieved without it."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

AOM Meditations: 052020

Etretat, Cliff of d'Aval Sunset by Claude Monet

Thanks to a Friend for sending us this gorgeous image

~*~

"If I could ask for any gift in the world for myself, it would be peace. If I could ask for any gift for everyone else in the world, it would be peace.

Peace of mind, peace of heart, peace in relationships, peace in every land. If everyone in the world felt at peace with themselves, how much crime would we have? How much anger and frustration and violence? So many of the bad things in the world, even down to the person who makes fun of you or someone you know, are caused by a lack of peace, and it's hard to imagine what the world would be like if everyone felt peace.

I know that my perspective of the world has changed drastically since I've actually focused on making peace one of my highest priorities in my life. I do my best to find small pockets of peace, and I do my best not to let situations or people take my peace away from me--if someone angers me, he or she has robbed me of the feeling of peacefulness that I strive to maintain in my life.

I can't do it always--I've never expected to, and I never expect to. I'm human, and I'm going to let my peace of mind slip away from time to time. I'm going to worry about things like money and jobs and what's wrong with my car.  I'm going to feel inferior to some people, I'm going to feel that I don't belong in certain situations, I'm going to beat myself up over something stupid that I'm going to say tomorrow or next week or next month. As I get better at maintaining peace, though, I'm not going to let things like that take my peace away. And I'm going to feel better because of it, and I'm going to be more effective at making others feel better, too.

One of the things that I always try to ask myself before I respond in situations in which I'm bound to overreact or react inappropriately is this: Will my reaction contribute to the peace in the world, or will it contribute to the discontent and anger in the world? Sometimes the answer makes me stop and not say what I meant to, and I always find that later, I'm much more at peace for not having said or done that something than I would have been had i said it or done it.

Do you want to give a gift to the world? Contribute to the peace in the world, and help others feel one of the most important feelings they'll ever feel. And don't forget to give it to yourself, too--you deserve it.  Peace be with you."

~tom walsh

AOM Meditations: 012720

Poplars on the Banks of the River Epte (1892) by Claude Monet

Thanks to our Friend, David, for sending us this beautiful art

~*~

Praise Song for the Day

by Elizabeth Alexander

"Each day we go about our business,

walking past each other, catching each other’s

eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.

All about us is noise. All about us is

noise and bramble, thorn and din, each

one of our ancestors on our tongues.

Someone is stitching up a hem, darning

a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,

repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere,

with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum,

with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky.

A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.

We encounter each other in words, words

spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,

words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark

the will of some one and then others, who said

I need to see what’s on the other side.

I know there’s something better down the road.

We need to find a place where we are safe.

We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain: that many have died for this day.

Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,

who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,

picked the cotton and the lettuce, built

brick by brick the glittering edifices

they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.

Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,

the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables.

Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,

others by first do no harm or take no more

than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national,

love that casts a widening pool of light,

love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air,

any thing can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,

praise song for walking forward in that light."

ART: Claude Monet

by Claude Monet

"Oscar-Claude Monet; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter, a founder of French Impressionist painting and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature."

Thanks to our Friend, David, for sending us this beautiful art