"We stumble and fall constantly even when we are most enlightened. But when we are in true spiritual darkness, we do not even know that we have fallen."
-- Thomas Merton
"The world is not to be put in order; the world is order, incarnate. It is for us to harmonize with this order."
-- Henry Miller
“Without peace of mind, life is just a shadow of its possibilities.”
-- Jean Borysenko
There are moments when you feel you’re not yourself. Your mind is in turmoil. This feeling robs you of your innate ability to be all you can. The storms in your mind rob you of your creativity, zest and passion for living. Without these qualities, you are a shadow of yourself.
You have the power and the ability to be the master or mistress of yourself. However you need serenity to be able to master yourself and your destiny. Therein lies the importance of maintaining your body’s software, the mind, in top notch shape. It’s like maintaining your computer regularly to rid it of malwares and viruses. These are some of the practices that can help.
· Devote sometime to be still and know yourself.
· Cultivate productive relationships as they serve as buffers in times of need.
· Read widely. By so doing you come to realize that you are weaving the same tapestry as your next door neighbor. In other words you're in this together.
· Volunteer and give of yourself. Selfless acts wipe the tears from the face of a suffering neighbor. When this happens you forget your own tears.
“If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.”
-- Chinese Proverb
"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -- that is the myth of the 'atomic age' -- as in being able to remake ourselves."
-- Mohandas Gandhi