Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul Daily Inspirations (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (34 page)

Jeff McFarland

Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much.

Oscar Wilde

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
10

D
iscouraged and disheartened, I stood on the dusty roadside, my journey nearly half over, my reserves of strength and will ebbing away in the searing summer heat. Should I turn back now, or continue to an uncertain fate? As I deliberated, a tiny ant labored in the dry powdery dust. Just like me, he was scuffling and stumbling along, yet he pressed forward with dogged determination toward an unknown goal. I watched with silent fascination until he finally reached the edge of the road. What great fortitude! Inspired, I mustered the courage and determination to move ahead and complete my own journey. That tiny ant’s example set me on a sure course out of poverty, homelessness and despair.

David Claerr

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.

Anaïs Nin

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
11

V
iolence, sexual abuse, alcohol and drugs were the hallmarks of my life by the time I was fourteen. My path of self-destruction was my destiny. I married young and soon had two beautiful children, and that was the turning point in my life. I discovered that being a good mother was something I could accomplish. I faced my problems and learned healthy parenting and life skills. I faced the loathing and shame, and grieved for the loss of my childhood so that the cycle stopped with me. In its place a life centered on love and nurturing has taken root. I am careful to plant more seeds and water them daily.

Marilyn Joan

The most common sort of lie is the one uttered to one’s self.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
12

M
uch of the incredible confusion of growing up with dysfunctional parents came from never knowing what they wanted. Our sense of self was nonexistent. We were important enough to be there when they felt good, but weren’t important enough to be there when they didn’t. We never learned to think of ourselves as successful, because we never knew when we would be praised and when we would be pushed away. As adults, we can give ourselves consistent acceptance and affirmation. We can learn to pay attention to what we want.

Yvonne Kaye

Come here. I love you. Go away. I can’t stand you. We have visitors, so stay in your room.

James C.

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
13

I
n the far recesses of my soul there is a place of quietness, of meeting of heart and mind; a place of deep serenity, of where my true love dwells; a place where I can breathe easy and be my own true self. It is there that I find freedom to speak the truth in love; there, where honesty abounds in all simplicity and humility and God is more than enough. No guile, no deceit, no pretense. Masks unveiled, and true self revealed. I have lost my way to this blessed place, O Lord. HowI long for this sanctuarywithin. Will you take me there again?

Lilian Chee Sau Leng

God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only choice is how.

Henry Ward Beecher

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
14

I
have the strength to lift up the rugs of my life and see what emotions have been swept underneath. I acquire this strength by exploring the notion that my old ways of seeing things aren’t the only ways to see and in doing so I discover and practice healthier ways of observing myself and others.

Donna LeBlanc

Watch what you are doing instead of thinking about what you are doing. Seeing, not thinking, is believing.

Donna LeBlanc

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
15

T
houghts have a creative power of their own. I can see my thoughts come to life and I create the possibility of what I would like by first experiencing it in my mind. I visualize what I would like to have in my life in my mind’s eye and accept what I see in my inner eye as being there for me. I am specific about what I see, smell, taste and feel, and accept it as fully as possible. I enjoy my vision, then let it go and move on in my day, releasing it with no thought of controlling it further. I let it happen if it is right for me in God’s time and knowing all good things are possible for me.

Tian Dayton

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

Henry David Thoreau

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
16

T
he reality may dawn on us only after exhausting years wasted in attempts to orchestrate the behavior of others. The truth is, it doesn’t work. We may have the best motives and the most sensible suggestions but in the end, people will do as they please regardless of our good advice. What a tremendous relief it is to finally grasp this and drop the crushing load of minding others’ business. We are then free to tend our own affairs and make this one life as pleasant as it can be.