Have you ever considered that your own story is the greatest love story of your life?
I’m talking about the love story you have with yourself.
I’ve been thinking a lot about personal love stories since tomorrow (Tuesday, the 30th) is the two-year anniversary of my arrival in the state of Texas. That move was a HUGE one for me, not just from a relocation perspective but more importantly, from a heart perspective. It was like wearing a blindfold and jumping off the high dive into a swimming pool–you can’t see the water but you assume it’s there.
Scared? You bet I was! I was also nervous, anxious and exhilarated.
So what does that have to do with a personal love story? Everything.
Two years ago, I took a gigantic leap of faith and stepped into the person I’ve always wanted to be. I jumped right into the middle of my own heart
when I said an emphatic YES to moving to Texas. I gave myself the gift of living in full Technicolor and I promised myself that no matter what happened, I would continue to support my own hopes and dreams. I would not give up on me.
Sure sounds like a love story to me.
Like any good story of the heart, there have been intense highs and lows in the last 24 months. But as with any relationship worth cultivating, I hung in, even when I wasn’t sure that I could. I used all the tools at my disposal, including quotes like the ones listed below.
These inspirational pieces touch my heart; it’s my fervent wish that you find them helpful in nurturing a loving relationship with yourself this week. Use them all every day, or pick one for each day of the week. Either way, you have an extra one–a bonus!–because I simply could not leave one out.
Enjoy your Mindful Monday and the rest of your week. B Well! Beth
A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.
Mother Teresa
Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Where there is love, there is life.
Mahatma Gandhi
You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.
Barbara DeAngelis
If you cannot love yourself, you have no chance to love another person.
Matthew Ford
Where there is the greatest love, there are always miracles.
Willa Cather
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Two divergent clouds met, then narrowed into a flattened yet distinctive heart
Nothing but morning sky in the middle,
Converged in the eastern, early morning August sky.
The poised–woman and greyhound–waited, watched
As golden light beams striped the blue above.
A heart on its side, a bit compressed, but open nonetheless
To shifting tints, rising hues, bursting auras.
Then–there–the first arch of glow tipped the inner rim,
Warming to its space.
There–then–gently pushed, slowly slid
Then sighed into settling as if to breathe,
I made it.
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This week’s quotes are actually borrowed from Melody Beattie’s The Language of Letting Go. On August 17, she writes about transforming reality with healing thoughts. My autographed copy of Melody’s book is dog-eared from a bunch of years of use and I love it when just the right daily meditation jumps from the pages. I’ve been having some tough days and have moved to and fro off my comfortable and balanced middle. This reading, which I’ve broken into five parts–one for each day this week–brings me back to a mindful center. Thank God!
Please enjoy.
Monday
When you feel anger or resentment, ask God to help you feel it, learn from it, and then release it. Ask Him to bless those who you feel anger toward. Ask Him to bless you too.
Tuesday
When you feel fear, ask Him to take it from you. When you feel misery, force gratitude. When you feel deprived, know that there is enough. When you feel ashamed, reassure yourself that who are are is okay. You are good enough.
Wednesday
When you doubt your timing or your present position in life, assure yourself that all is well; you are right where you’re meant to be. Reassure yourself that others are too. When you ponder the future, tell yourself that it will be good. When you look back at the past, relinquish regrets.
Thursday
When you notice problems, affirm there will be a timely solution and a gift from the problem. When you resist feelings or thoughts, practice acceptance. When you feel discomfort, know that it will pass. When you identify a want or a need, tell yourself it will be met.
Friday
When you worry about those you love, ask God to protect and care for them. When you worry about yourself, ask Him to do the same. When you think about others, think love. When you think about yourself, think love.
Throughout the week, as you live in the presence of transforming your days through healing thoughts, please know that you are precious, you are blessed and you are loved as you are.
B Well, share, and let us know how your reality transforms!
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I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling unusually tense and sort of snappish.
I’m not good at waiting, especially on outcomes that I can’t control. I’m waiting on results from health tests and I’m waiting to get used to the idea that my father is selling my childhood home (which I’m okay with in my head, if you know what I mean but my heart is struggling).
Oh wait, I temporarily forgot that there is very little that I can control. What’s the line from the Serenity Prayer about knowing the difference between what I can change and what I can’t?
Have you noticed that tension is oozing from the news (which I try not to delve too deeply into these days because I’ve decided politics may make me physically ill), the oppressive heat wave and from so many individuals you encounter?
What’s up with all this tension?
Do you think it has anything at all to do with a lack of mindfulness?
Ouch. It hurts for me to admit.
The good news is that we have tools to get us back into a peaceful presence of mind. It’s my hope that you’ll take these five quotes for your work week–one per day–and thoroughly immerse yourself in them.
I’m setting the intention. Will you join me? Choose one per day, focus on that one only and move on to the next day’s quote that speaks to you. I’ll love to hear how they help pull you back into your precious present.
Knowledge is knowing that we cannot know.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
When we are in the midst of chaos, let go of the need to control it. Be awash in it, experience it in that moment, try not to control the outcome but deal with the flow as it comes.
Leo Babauta, author of Zen Habits
Be a lamp unto yourselves! Work out your liberation with diligence! Fill your mind with compassion!
Buddha
If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.
The Gospel of Thomas
We should notice that we are already supported at every moment. There is the earth below our feet and there is the air, filling our lungs and emptying them. We should begin from this when we need support.
Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within
Have a Magnificent Mindful week!
B Well,
Beth
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Backstory from Beth: A while back I downloaded an e-book called Personal Development. The PDF document contains five articles from three top development blogs. The link back to the ebook is http://www.dragosroua.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/01/bestof.pdf.
The ebook was compiled by a man, who in his own words writes, “I am a citizen of the world, known by the name Dragos Roua. I’m on a wonderful trip in which I discover, experience, share, seek and create many wonderful worlds. I was born in a country called Romania a while ago, and I don’t know yet when and where I will die.
“From social experience I know that this specific physical trip will end somehow and someday. Between my birth and my death this fantastic journey will spread.
On a more realistic approach, I’m a serial online entrepreneur, personal development fanatic, blogger, father, dreamer, risk taker. I also think happiness is a process, not a goal.”
Now the Front Story
I’ve never met Dragos (although I sure hope to one day!) but I’m grateful that he generously offered one of his articles for reprint. The article, called “33 Questions for an Interview With Yourself,” is dynamite, and is designed for a reader to thoughtfully craft responses to the questions as a way to understand herself and as a way for Dragos to get to know readers from all over the world.
Now, without further ado, I’d like to present eight of those questions and an invitation to respond to one or more. Post your answers here or, if you’d rather, send an email response to me personally at bheretoday.bethw@gmail.com. Either way, have fun, be mindful and more than anything, B Here with your words!
Question #1: Do You Think You Are a Good Person?
Have you ever wondered what you think of yourself from this point of view? Maybe we take it for granted that we are inherently good and all the other guys are wrong. But is this really true? Do you really think you are a good person? Why?
Question #2: How Old Are You?
You shouldn’t just open your ID and do some math. It’s not the number of years since you’ve been born that matter here. But mostly how old do you feel you are. What’s your perceived age? Because, believe it or not, this is your real age.
Question #3: Do You Think You’re Strong?
I would be really curious to know the answer to this one. I love strong people. They have this power to change their lives and to create incredible things. What does “strong” mean to you? It’s a question of force? Or endurance? Of speed? Or intelligence?
Question #4: What is Your Favorite Word?
You must have one; everybody does. It might be the one you’re saying all day long without realizing or it might be something that really makes you feel good when you’re telling it. Most of the time, there’s an unconscious link between your true self and this word.
Question #5: What is the Best Thing That Could Happen to You Right Now?
In this exact context, what’s the only thing that could shift your entire existence if it were to manifest right now? Many people tend to give a certain amount of money as a number, but in my experience this will only maximize the problems, not make them go away.
Question #6: What’s the First Thing You Do in the Morning?
Just after you open your eyes. Is it a thought? Is it a gesture? We all tend to create a morning routine and it seems that this routine is shaping our entire diurnal activity. Have you ever thought what is the first thing you do in the morning?
Question #7: Sum Up Your Life in One Sentence
If in the next 10 seconds your life will end, how would you describe it? Just one sentence for your entire life. Can you do that? You only have 10 seconds, so you can consider this a speed question.
And finally, the eighth, and in my opinion, the best question:
What is Your No. 1 Question to God?
Yes, it’s your interview, but if you would be able to address one question to God, assuming He will answer you, what would that question look like? What is the most important thing you want to know from God?
There you have it. Eight questions. Eight opportunities to share a bit of yourself with B Here Today. I can’t wait to read your responses!
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In July of 2009, I had an epiphany. For about a month prior, I was emotionally distraught, increasingly depressed and having serious thoughts of drinking again (after 18 years of sobriety).
I struggled to wrap my arms around what could possibly be wrong with me. I had all the trappings of a good life, one others would love to emulate--great job, dream house, traveling for a living, a life mate . . . the list goes on. 
