Exploring Life

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust

Victimhood, part one

“Glorying in victimhood” is a favorite course for people who’ve been hurt in relationships (especially those who are divorced). When someone has been wronged (and wronged many times) it is easy to keep seeing life through those pain-filled moments. It’s easy to “define” yourself in those terms.. relating all that goes on to those dreadful events. Instead of moving on and putting it behind, your past pain becomes an excuse for not taking responsibly today.. and a way to gain sympathy from others. When you meet new people, you find yourself quickly working into the conversation an “explanation” what happened. You want others to see you in that light. You want that shadow from the past to fall over your face whenever they look at you. How much better it is to let them get to know the person you are today! It’s risky but help to break the chains of victimhood.

Stephen Goforth

The Storms of Life

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Choosing to Come Alive.. or Surrender

The longer we continue to make the wrong decisions, the more our heart hardens; the more often we make the right decision, the more our heart softens - or better perhaps, comes alive.

Each step in life which increases my self-confidence, my integrity, my courage, my conviction also increases my capacity to choose the desirable alternative, until eventually it becomes more difficult for me to choose the undesirable rather than the desirable action.

On the other hand, each act of surrender and cowardice weakens me, opens the path for more acts of surrender, and eventually freedom is lost. With each step along the wrong road it becomes increasingly difficult for them to admit that they are on the wrong road, often only because they have to admit that they must go back to the first wrong turn, and must accept the fact that they have wasted energy and time.

Eric Fromm
The Heart of Man: Its Genius for Good an Evil

Opportunities

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.
Harry Truman

Follow the Light

Keep your face to the sunshine..
and you cannot see the shadows.

Fondly Thinking Ahead

Optimists are nostalgic about the future.

When I Run

I believe God made me for a purpose.. and when I run I feel His pleasure.
Eric Liddell

Catching Wind

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second.

On the Move

I get up. I walk. I fall down. Meanwhile, I keep dancing.

Step into Spring

An optimist is the human personification of spring.
Susan J. Bissonette

Drama and Petty Things

Life is too short for drama and petty things.
So KISS slowly;
LAUGH insanely;
LOVE truly;
And FORGIVE quickly!

A Stroke of Insight

The annual TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference costs $6k to attend. But you don't have the pay to see some of the remarkable presentations at the gathering tagged "ideas worth spreading". They are posted online. You might start with Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor's remarkable account of her stroke. While I would not fully embrace her interpretation of the event, there's nothing like coming completely unraveled to make you rethink who you are and why you are here.

Stephen Goforth

Breathing

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breathe away.

A Brash Shuffle

My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.

Henry Rollins