Quotes to Live By

Following are some of my favorite quotes and stories:

• You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough. ~ Frank Crane

• Life isn’t about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself. ~ Unknown

• When the pain of where you are becomes greater than the fear of where you’re going, you’ll move.

• When people show you who they are, believe them. ~ Maya Angelou

Don't give up.....

One day I decided to quit...
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.
I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I asked, "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"
His answer surprised me...
"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.
"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.

I gave them light.

I gave them water.

The fern quickly grew from the earth.

Its brilliant green covered the floor.

Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.
In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.
"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.

But I would not quit.
In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would
not quit." He said.
"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared
to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6
months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.
I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle."
He asked me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots".

"I would not quit on the bamboo.

I will never quit on you."
"Don't compare yourself to others."

He said.

"The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern.

Yet they both make the forest beautiful."
"Your time will come", God said to me.

"You will rise high"
"How high should I rise?"

I asked.
"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.
"As high as it can?" I questioned.
"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."
I left the forest and brought back this story.

I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.
Never, Never, Never Give up.
For the Christian Prayer is not an option but an opportunity.
Don't tell the Lord how big the problem is,
tell the problem how Great the Lord is!

• Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts.  It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all.

• Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are. ~ Malcolm S. Forbes

• Don't talk about yourself; it will be done when you leave. ~ Wilson Mizner

• It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.  ~ Unknown

• Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity. ~ Frank Leahy, Look, 10 January 1955

•  In all that surrounds him the egotist sees only the frame of his own portrait. ~ J. Petit-Senn

• None are so empty as those who are full of themselves. ~ Benjamin Whichcote

• Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

• The man who thinks he can live without others is mistaken; the one who thinks others can't live without him is even more deluded. ~ Hasidic Saying

• Modesty:  The art of encouraging people to find out for themselves how wonderful you are.  ~Source Unknown

• Conveying truth in your actions is never a mistake.

• Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could be any different.

• “Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution." ~ Deepak Chopra

• "You can accept or reject the way you are treated by other people, but until you heal the wounds of your past, you will continue to bleed. You can bandage the bleeding with food, with alcohol, with drugs, with work, with cigarettes, with sex, but eventually, it will all ooze through and stain your life. You must find the strength to open the wounds, stick your hands inside, pull out the core of the pain that is holding you in your past, the memories, and make peace with them." ~ Iyanla Vanzant                                                                                                                             

• It is worth remembering that the time of greatest gain in terms of wisdom and inner strength is often that of greatest difficulty. ~Dalai Lama