There is a wealth of goodness, flair, pizzaz and daring at your disposal. Discovering it, marshaling it to your everyday purposes will give your life a direction and energy that may make a vast difference in your world.

• Michael Rawls, Spinning Straw into Gold

What was I thinking? : Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up.
~Pearl S. Buck

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 Life constantly presents me with obstacles, and a positive outlook provides a means of dealing with them in a constructive and effective manner... I am here to live, to love, to enjoy, to study and to make the most of my opportunities. A cold soul and a narrow mind will contribute nothing that will consecrate me to this glorious purpose.

• Michael Rawls, Labor With Love

What was I thinking? : It comes down to attitude, doesn't it?

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 Life or gardening, it amounts to pretty much the same thing — some thoughtful pruning, a bit of plowing ahead, removing the weeds and planting the seeds that will grow long after I have moved on, reaping the harvest when it has ripened, for good or ill, or simply enjoying the abundance of it all. The analogies are endless, but none of it happens without directed effort.

• Michael Rawls, Lessons Learned: Growing My Own

What was I thinking? : Bad times have scientific value. There are occasions a good learner would not miss.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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 We are not put here to audition one another, put someone on trial, or use other people to gratify our own ego needs. We are not here to fix, change or belittle another person. We are here to support, forgive and heal one another.

• Mmarianne Williamson, Possibilities: Illumined Love

What was I thinking? : Falling in love is not neurotic, but rather one of the few genuinely nonneurotic things we do on this earth.

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 Love is the key we must turn,
Truth is the flame we must burn,
Freedom the lesson we must learn.
Do you know what I mean?
Have your eyes really seen?

• Lesley Duncan, Love Song © 1969, as quoted in A Line In the Sand

What was I thinking? : You may not realize that 'no' is a complete sentence.

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 I am ready to blossom, to grow, to be free, to manage my time efficiently, to persevere in the midst of adversity. Through self-mastery, I become ready to take on the impossible.

• Michael Rawls, Take On the Impossible: The Gardener of My Soul

What was I thinking? : Hold fast to discipline, never let her go, keep your eyes on her, she is your life.
~Proverbs 4

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 What we actually want, what is true to our highest aspirations, what is an expression of the true nature of our consciousness, is always an expression of unconditional love.

• Peter Shepherd, Positivity, Potential and Failure: Fulfilling Your Potential

What was I thinking? : Be actively and creatively involved in the quality of the day, thinking positively of others and yourself. And go bravely into the world, prepared to learn, to grow and to accept.

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 Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely.

• From the animated feature, The Land Before Time, as quoted in Guided By the Heart

What was I thinking? : If Prayer is our way of speaking to God, then Intuition is His way of speaking to us.

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 God is love. God is the love inside of us. That Higher Power is the essence of what it means to be human.

• Marianne Williamson, Symbols, Images and their Alleged Victims

What was I thinking? : Where a fence separates me and a gate opposes me, I need only realize that I have the Key to it all and simply walk on through.

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 Some things just can't be fixed. Some are not worth the effort of fixing. Some will be fixed on their own, without our help. Leave them to the Cosmic Clean-up Crew. You have bigger and better things to move on to, don't you?

• Michael Rawls, Comparisons

What was I thinking? : Comparisons are irresistible but insidious, odious, and very often our self-torture of choice.
~Sarah Ban Breathnach

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 Whoever you are - I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.

• Blanche Dubois (Tennessee Williams), The Kindness of Strangers

What was I thinking? : It doesn't really cost us to be the object of another's kindness, and if we remember that here is another's chance to do good (unless we, because of some misplaced sense of pride, refuse...) it comes over us like a wave, instead of a small ripple, and benefits both giver and receiver.

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 The spiritual part of you can climb higher. But it will do so only if you allow it: only if you make time in your life to reflect; only if you give yourself the opportunity to see what has long been waiting for you; only if you allow yourself the chance to listen to what you've always been meant to hear.

• James E. Miller, Fadeless Splendour

What was I thinking? : Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.
~Abraham Lincoln

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 The people we are attracted to and who are attracted to us are the ones who volunteer to help us heal our unseen wounds.

• Iyanla Vanzant, Journey to Wholeness

What was I thinking? : Acceptance and forgiveness will draw us together... How you see one person, one relationship, influences how you see all people, and all relationships.

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 Act positively on your life... choose not only your response to a given situation but.. to deal with the consequences of your actions - whether they are good or bad... Your quality of life is the result of every choice you make... choosing to live by choice, not chance [means] taking full responsibility for your happiness.

• Edel Jarboe, as quoted in Dynamic Consequence

What was I thinking? : Don't take anything personally.
~Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements

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 If a man was to compare the single stroke of the pickaxe, or of one impression of the spade, with the general design and the last result, he would be overwhelmed by the sense of their disproportion; yet those petty operations, incessantly continued, in time surmount the greatest difficulties, and mountains are leveled and oceans bounded by the slender force of human beings.

• Samuel Johnson, as quoted in Roadblocks, Barricades, Detours

What was I thinking? : There is a lesson in each experience, and a detour may be the best way to get to the end of an experience for just that very lesson.

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 You may find it helpful to reflect on what you struggle against, but I caution you about lingering there too long. It is too easy to fall into the trap of explaining or blaming the "what" against which you struggle. Your struggle is not about the other person or thing; your struggle is about you.

• Jeanie Marshall, On the Wings of Joy

What was I thinking? : Make a conscious decision to let whatever happens be simply noticed, paying attention to the lesson to be learned from it, and you will be free to find the joy in it. Joy is our prerogative.

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 This is a time... to accept changes, to realize that the season of some things in my life are past, and to move on with hope for what the future holds. Let last year's toys be what they are: last year's toys. Remember them with fondness for the part they have played in life, then put them away and make room for the new.

• Michael Rawls, Miracles, Light Life: Endings and Beginnings

What was I thinking? : Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.

• Oren Arnold

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 There is a time for departure, even when there is no place to go.

• Tennessee Williams, as quoted in The Gift of Change

What was I thinking? : If there are to be changes, I want them to come with guaranteed happiness.

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 Connect from your whole self... The more you connect with the world as a whole being, the more you have to offer as well as receive.

• Helaine Iris, Connectedness: A Lesson From Stuffed Cabbage

What was I thinking? : connectedness with oneself
connectedness with others
connectedness with our living, learning, and working environments, and
connectedness with a larger meaning or purpose in life

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 Take full charge of, and responsibility for, all aspects of who and what you are, and don't let anyone else define or limit that for you. Be real, and never pretend to be what someone else needs you to be.

• Michael Rawls, Living Beyond the Opinions

What was I thinking? : If you need encouragement, praise, pats on the back from everybody, then you make everybody your judge.
~Fritz Perls

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 It is not enough for me... to simply love my job, my wife, and my kids. It is not enough to just pass through life doing no harm, waiting for the good stuff to come along, trying to keep everyone happy, hoping that I won't be punished for something I forgot I had done or for not doing something I should have done. There is more to life than that!

• Michael Rawls, Biophilia: Pure Love of Life

What was I thinking? : Love is the one thing that binds us despite the diversity of our human differences.

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 If I can understand that what I am experiencing is part of the mission of my life, these difficulties lose their power over me. Regardless of how bad a situation is, in the Grand Cosmic Scheme of Things, it is simply a learning opportunity. It is meant to teach me, not to control how I think or who I am... there is more to what I am experiencing, beyond the box it came in.

• Michael Rawls, On the Wings of Joy

What was I thinking? : If struggle has been your friend... celebrate the release of this energy. Thank struggle for being a teacher.
~Jeanie Marshall

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 The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.

• George Eliot (Marian Evans Cross, 1819-1880), Everywhere Angels

What was I thinking? : Angels really do exist, but not always in the form of heavenly creatures with wings.
~Mark Relova

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 Faith is priceless when you need it. If you believe that everything happens for a reason it is easier to look for anything good in a negative situation and find a way out of it.

• Sibyl McLendon, The Power To Endure: Do You Have a Solid Foundation?

What was I thinking? : The darkest of times only require from me enough patience to see the sun rise upon a new day, pregnant with new opportunities and hope. With patience, I can be strong.

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 Know how to choose. Most things in life depend on it. You need good taste and an upright judgment; intelligence and application are not enough... There is no perfection without discernment and selection.

• Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658) – Aphorism 51, The Art of Worldly Wisdom (A Pocket Oracle), as quoted in A Power of the Heart

What was I thinking? : The monsters we fear are often paper dragons left over from childhood.
~Charlotte Kasl, Ph.D.

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 Walk away. Stop playing the game. Unhook. Learn your lesson. Thank the other person for having taught you something valuable. And be finished with it. Put it behind you, with the lesson intact. Acceptance helps. So does forgiveness.

• Melody Beatte, Revenge

What was I thinking? : I understand that boundaries, coupled with forgiveness and compassion, will move me forward.

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 "What can I give you for your birthday, Beloved?" The answer came swiftly. "Your emptiness." I was puzzled. "Emptiness. What does it mean?" Then, I cupped my hands... As I looked into my cupped hands, it dawned on me - my emptiness is the willingness to receive all that God would give.

• Linda Kavelin Popov, Filling the Emptiness

What was I thinking? : Loving and enjoying life, full exertion of the talents wherewith God has blessed you, stepping up to daily responsibilities, and following through on obligations - each is a prayer and supplication to the Spirit of All.

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 None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.

• Fred De Witt Van Amburgh, Sowing Herbal Hopes and Wishes

What was I thinking? : Sweet Woodruff augurs well for health -
A blessing richer far than wealth.
~Rachel Page Elliott

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 Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.

• Bernice Johnson Reagon, The Challenged Life

What was I thinking? : To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist.
~Gail Sheehy

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 As steel is heated slowly and cooled rapidly in order to temper it's strength, so are we, at times, caused to walk through fire and deluged with the cold realities of everyday experience, in order to temper us and make us equal to the task... Go bravely into the world, prepared to learn, to grow and to accept.

• Michael Rawls, The Quality of the Day

What was I thinking? : Even when we're grief stricken, racked with pain, sick from worry, deeply depressed, squeezed by circumstances - how we greet, meet, and complete each day is our choosing.
~Sarah Ban Breathnach

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