I have grace (Quotes about Grace), silence (Silence is Golden…and Pauses are Too), acceptance (Acceptance and Patience),  inner peace, and serenity on my mind and in my experience.  

Below is an excerpt from As a Man Thinketh by James Allen written over 100 years ago.  It speaks to professional and personal benefits of serenity. 

“Calmness of the mind is one of the most beautiful jewels of wisdom.  It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control.  Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.

A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought-evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought, and as he developes a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of cause and effect, he ceases fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater his success, his influence, his power for good.  Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greater sense of self-control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanor is strongly equitable.

The strong, calm man is always loved and revered.  He is like a shadow-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm.  Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balanced life? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings for they are always sweet, serene and calm.”

Very Smart Girls know that serenity is an inner reality with many outer benefits.

Comments welcome.

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Related posts:

1. Silence is Golden…and Pauses are Too

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∞ “Gracefulness has been defined to be the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul” William Hazlitt (1778-1830)

∞ “I know nothing except what everyone knows- if there when Grace dances, I should dance” W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

∞ “Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity” William Hazlitt (1788-1830)

∞  “Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life” John Updike (1932-2009)

∞ “Grace is to the body, what good manners are to the mind” Francois de la Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)

∞ “It is a rare and difficult attainment to grow old gracefully and happily” Lydia Maria Francis Child (1802-1880)

 ∞ “Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

∞ “By “guts” I mean, grace under pressure” Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

As for my quote:

∞ “Grace is the outer expression of your inner reality of peace and harmony” Jo-Ann Downey

Grace is a tall order indeed; it goes hand-in-hand with acceptance, forgiveness, patience, courage, faith, and wisdom.   Grace is a gift you give yourself and others, especially in the face of a storm.

Comments welcome!

photo credit: cuckove

Related posts:

1. Quotes about Acceptance
2. Quotes about Silence

110 words of pure wisdom!  It is interesting that the author of The Measure of a Man is unknown/anonymous.  Was this poem a gift to others without the need or expectation of anything in return?  As shared in “The Volunteer Wellness Effect”, the secret sauce of giving is to serve as if no one is watching; to come and go without the need for anyone to know you were there. The higher your serving consciousness (in other words, the less your ego is involved), the greater the wellness effect for others…and for you.

The Measure of a Man
Author Unknown/Anonymous

Not “How did he die?” But “How did he live?”
Not “What did he gain?” But “What did he give?”
Not “What was his station?” But “Had he a heart?”
And “How did he play his God-given part?”
Not “What was his shrine?” Nor “What was his creed?”
But “Had he befriended those really in need?”
Not “What did the piece in the newspaper say?”
But “How many were sorry when he passed away?”
Was he ever ready with a word of good cheer,
To bring back a smile, to banish a tear?
These are the units to measure the worth
Of a man as a man, regardless of birth

How do you walk through life?  What do you measure and how do you measure up?

Comments welcome!

photo credit: steven harris

Ah..isn’t it great to truly see a person and to be truly seen by someone?  As shared in, “Seeing from your Heart”, when you see someone primarily through your “thinking eyes” you tend to do things like compare, contrast, project past experiences into the future, play old stories in your head, insert your own preferences and judge. 

See people through your heart-center; judgments of others be gone!

When You Know A Fellow by Edgar A. Guest (1881-1959)

When you get to know a fellow, know his joys and know his cares,
When you’ve come to understand him and the burdens that he bears,
When you’ve learned the fight he’s making and the troubles in his way,
Then you find that he is different than you thought him yesterday.
You find his faults are trivial and there’s not so much to blame
In the brother that you jeered at when you only knew his name.

You are quick to see the blemish in the distant neighbor’s style,
You can point to all his errrors and may sneer at him the while,
And your prejudices fatten and your hates more violent grow
As you talk about the failures of the man you do not know,
But when drawn a little closer, and your hands and shoulders touch,
You find the traits you hated really don’t amount to much.

When you get to know a fellow, know his every mood and whim,
You being to find the texture of the splendid side of him;
You begin to understand him, and you cease to scoff and sneer;
For with understanding always prejudices disappear.
You begin to find his virtues and his faults you cease to tell,
For you seldom hate a fellow when you know him very well.

When next you start in sneering and your phrases turn to blame,
Know more of him you censure than his business and his name;
For it’s likely that acquaintance would your prejudice dispel
And you’d really come to like him if you know him very well.
When you get to know a fellow and you understand his ways,
Then his faults won’t really matter, for you’ll find a lot to praise.

Comments welcome!

photo credit: hien it

Enjoy!

∞ “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”  Cicero

∞ “Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us.”  John N. Mitchell

∞  “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”  G.K. Chesterton

∞ “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”  Thornton Wilder

∞ “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”  Epictetus

∞ “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was “thank you,” that would suffice.”  Meister Eckhart

 ∞ “There are two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we receive, and the larger kind we feel for what we give.”  Edward Arlington Robinson

∞ “Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” Henry Ward Beecher

 ∞ “Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” French Proverb

For more on gratitude, see “The Unique Power of Gratitude”.

What are you grateful for?

photo credit: frances cominciotti

Related posts:

1. The Unique Power of Gratitude

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∞ “Do not speak unless you can improve the silence.”  Proverb

∞ “Silence is as deep as eternity; speech, shallow as time.”  Thomas Carlyle

∞ “Silence is the mother of truth.”  Benjamin Disraeli

∞ “Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself, and know that everything in this life has a purpose.”  Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

∞ “An inability to stay quiet is one of the most conspicuous failings of mankind.” Walter Bagehot

∞ “Silence is a source of great strength.”  Lao Tzu

∞ “Silence is a fence around wisdom.”  German Proverb

∞ “Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

∞ “Nothing is more useful than silence.”  Menander of Athens

∞ “Silence is a sounding thing. To one who listens hungrily.”  Gwendolyn Bennett

∞ “I have often regretted my speech, but never my silence.” Publilius Syrus

∞ “True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.” William Penn

For some thoughts on the power of silence, see “Silence is Golden…and Pauses are Too.”

Comments welcome!

photo credit: frances cominciotti

Related posts:

1. Silence is Golden…and Pauses are Too
2. Quotes about Grace

Enjoy!

∞ “The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

∞ “Happiness can exist only in acceptance.” Eleanor Roosevelt

∞ “Our entire life consists ultimately in accepting ourselves as we are.”  Jean Anouilh

∞ “Accept yourself as you are.  Otherwise you will never see opportunity.  You will not feel free to move toward it; you will feel you are not deserving.”  Maxwell Maltz

∞ “To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly.” Eckhart Tolle

∞ “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.  I will meet you there.” Rumi

∞ “Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps and unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.” Arthur Rubinstein

∞ “Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all of your heart.” Marcus Aurelius

∞ “If you’re in a bad situation, don’t worry it’ll change.  If you’re in a good situation, don’t worry it’ll  change.” John A. Simone, Sr.

You may want to read “Acceptance and Patience”.

Comments welcome!

 photo credit: frances cominciotti

Related posts:

1. Acceptance and Patience
2. 10 Quotes about Life & Purpose

Enjoy!

∞  “The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

∞  “Because how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Annie Dillard

∞  “Whether you think that you can, or you can’t, you are usually right.” Henry Ford

∞  “He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: Environment is but his looking-glass.” James Allen

∞  “Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it’s of no use.” Carlos Castaneda

∞  “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau

∞  “A human being is a deciding being.” Viktor Frankl

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

∞  “I shut my eyes in order to see.”  Paul Gauguin

∞ “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln

I welcome you to share your favorite quotes.

 photo credit: frances cominciotti

Related posts:

1. Quotes about Gratitude
2. Quotes about Silence
3. Quotes about Acceptance