“In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us.”—Virginia Woolf
Inspirational thoughts
Change is invigorating…
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R. Tolkien
Hard truth
“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” Flannery O’Connor
Patience…
“Don’t strain to make things perfect. Life in the present order will never be perfect, so don’t stretch to put everything right, to order all persons and things once and for all. Life is about living in the balance of the unbalanced, the imperfect, the never finished, the never totally secure, never quite happily ever after. We have to learn to live with the mess.” This Blessed Mess – Patricia Livingston.
Other’s opinion….
“What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?”
Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
Self-mastery
“The brave man is he who overcomes not only his enemies but his pleasures.”
Democritus
Something simple like making a sacrifice at every meal: no alcohol, no dessert, no cream in your coffee, no extra salt on your food, or taking more of what you do not like…goes a long way in forming the habit of self-mastery.
Optimist?
“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.” –Helen Keller.
What if???
“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” – Jack London.
We need Jesus!
“Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.”
-St. Augustine of Hippo
The pain of discipline…
“Time, which sees all things, has found you out.”
– Sophocles, ‘Oedipus the King’
There are two types of pain: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.