keeping small

(photo credit: diesmali)

Why do I write? Because I find life unsatisfactory.

Tennessee Williams

..the only test that Christianity has known for determining the authenticity of a mystic and her or his message has been that of personal transformation, both on the mystic’s part and—especially—on the part of those whom the mystic has affected.

Bernard McGinn

just like the white winged dove
sings a song sounds like she’s singing
ooh oohh ooh

stevie nicks : edge of seventeen

(photo credit: Brandon Christopher Warren)

I gave up caring about anything, and all the problems disappeared.

Fyodor Dostoevsky : The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877)

Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step: only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.

Dag Hammarskjöld : Markings

In Thomas Friedman’s, ‘That Used to be Us’, Bill Gates notes that, “We can renew our excellence not so much with things other have invented, but rather with things we used to do quite well ourselves.” I wonder if I could let that perspective influence my initiatives in the new year. So much focus is on new things and new ways of moving forward but maybe there is a hint in our own personal histories. What was I doing right during a previous high point in my personal life or career? What did I used to do that was working and can I recreate that? Perhaps even improve upon it.

May 2012 be the year you’ve been waiting for…

When I realized that some of my resolutions for 2012 are exactly the same as those in 2011. I cringed. Why didn’t I make more progress in 2011? What were the reasons I couldn’t evolve in the preferred direction? Resolutions seem to focus so much on where we want to go and not how I want to get there. I think the method of travel is just as important. What was I thinking right before I crashed? What was I thinking when I choked?

this will never work. i don’t deserve it. how does this fit in with my true vision for my life. is this even necessary? the answer is just going to be no. i don’t actually want anyone to know who i really am. i’m too scared. i’m too tired. it’s too expensive. it’s not worth it. i’ll be humiliated. i’m not sure i can complete it. what if i don’t finish? what if i suck? this isn’t who i really am.

Only in confronting these thoughts for yourself can you get your mind right for 2012.