Thought for the day

[pramanisa]

'Your task is to build a better world,' God said. I answered, 'How?... this world is such a large, vast place, and there's nothing I can do.' But God said, in all His wisdom, 'just build a better you.'

One of the best ways to worship God is simply to be happy.

Where there is faith, there is love;
Where there is love, there is peace;
Where there is peace, there is God;
And where there is God; there is no need.

The kingdom of God is within you.

Your worth is not established by teaching or learning. Your worth is established by God. Nothing you do or think or wish or make is necessary to establish your worth.

My people? Who are they?
I went into the church where the congregation
Worshiped my God. Were they my people?
I felt no kinship to them as they knelt there.
My people! Where are they?
I went into the land where I was born,
Where men spoke my language...
I was a stranger there.
"My people," my soul cried. "Who are my people?"
Last night in the rain I met an old man
Who spoke a language I do not speak,
Which marked him as one who does not know my God.
With apologetic smile he offered me
The shelter of his patched umbrella.
I met his eyes... And then I knew…
'Who Are My People,'
Everyday, God gives us the sun - and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything…

When you clean your house... clean it as if God were going to be your special guest. Because He is.

[pramanisa]

When you prepare a meal... prepare it as if God were going to be sitting at your table. Because He is.

When you work... work as if God will be your customer. Because He is.

And when you speak with another... speak as if you were speaking with God. Because you are.
Never place a period where God has placed a comma.
To love another person is to see the face of God.

Look at the birds above your head
they neither plant nor reap
they neither store nor hoard
yet day by day God gives them food
Look at the flowers beneath your feet
they neither card nor spin
they neither sow nor weave
yet King Solomon shone less brightly than they
So why worry about your life
what you will get to eat
what you will have to wear?
I thank God for this most
amazing day;
for the leaping greenly
spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything
which is natural, which is
infinite, which is yes.

I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God.
No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy the sunlight today, mix good cheer with friends today, enjoy it and bless God for it. Do not look back on happiness -- or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated out of it.

[pramanisa]

I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

The mother eagle teachers her little ones to fly by making their nest so uncomfortable that they are forced to leave it and commit themselves to the unknown world of air outside. And just so does our God to us.

The wise man in a storm prays to God, not for safety from danger; but for deliverance from fear.

If you can find the God inside of yourself, you can find the God inside everybody.

"The little plans I tried to carry
Have failed
O' Dear God.
But, I will not sorrow
I will pause a little while
And try again tomorrow."

Walk slowly, pause thoughtfully. There is much to be gleaned from these creatures God has made.

[pramanisa]

We are all here for a single purpose: to grow in wisdom and to learn to love better. We can do this through losing as well as through winning, by having and by not having, by succeeding or by failing. All we need to do is to show up openhearted for class

[pramanisa]

And I said to the one who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the Unknown.'
And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.'

God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches you by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly - not one.

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet tired of the man.

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.

I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.
I believe in love, even when i do not feel it.
I believe in God, even when He is silent.

Your talent is God's gift to you.
What you do with it is your gift back to God.

So many gods, so many creeds, so many paths that wind and wind,
while just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs.

Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better or happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile; kindness in your warm greeting

Be such a man, and live such a life, that if every man were such as you, and every life a life like yours, this earth would be God's Paradise.

Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them...he cried, "Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?"...God said, "I did do something. I made you.

Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods

[pramanisa]

All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving
may be yours and not your inheritors.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most.

If nature has made you a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart. And though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that.

You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged.

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.

And while it takes courage to achieve greatness, it takes more courage to find fulfillment in being ordinary. For the joys that last have little relationship to achievement, to standing one step higher on the victory platform. What is the adventure in being ordinary? It is daring to love just for the pleasure of giving it away. It is venturing to give new life and to nurture it to maturity. It is working hard for the pure joy of being tired at the end of the day. It is caring and sharing and giving and loving…

Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.

When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.

There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life - happiness, freedom and peace of mind - are always attained by giving them to someone else.

Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. And if per chance you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured the fault is in yourself.

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.

[pramanisa]

The four hardest tasks on earth are neither physical nor intellectual feats, but spiritual ones: To return love for hate; to include the excluded; to forgive without apology, and to be able to say 'I was wrong.'

Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realizing you were the prisoner.

The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.

The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.

Language does have the power to change reality. Therefore, treat your words as the mighty instruments they are - to heal, to bring into being, to remove, as if by magic, the terrible violations of childhood, to nurture, to cherish, to bless, to forgive - to create from the whole cloth of your soul, true love.

Do more than belong: participate.
Do more than care: help.
Do more than believe: practice.
Do more than be fair: be kind.
Do more than forgive: forget.
Do more than dream: work.

Last Minute Gift Suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To every child, a good example.
To all, charity.
To yourself, respect.

[pramanisa]

How could our hearts be large enough for heaven if they are not large enough for earth? The only country I am certain of is the one here below. The only paradise I know is the one lit by our everyday sun, the land of difficult love, shot through with shadow. The place where we learn this love, if we learn it at all, shimmers behind every new place we inhabit.

Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that.

Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.
There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer, no disease that enough love will not heal, no door that enough love will not bridge, no wall that enough love will not throw down, no sin that enough love will not redeem... It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble, how hopeless the outlook, how muddled the tangle, how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. If only you could love enough, you could be the happiest and most powerful being in the world…
Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to the end, requires some of the same courage which a soldier needs.
The lesson which life constantly repeats is to 'look under your feet.' You are always nearer to the divine
and the true sources of your power than you think.
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive.
The great opportunity is where you are.
Do not despise your own place and hour.
Every place is under the stars.
Every place is the center of the world.
The Winner is always a part of the answer;
The Loser is always a part of the problem
The winner always has a plan
The loser always has an excuse
The Winner says "Let me do it for you"
The loser says "That's not my Job"
The winner sees an answer in every problem
The loser sees a problem in every answer
The winner sees a Green near every sandtrap
The loser sees a sandtrap near every green
The winner says "It may be difficult but its possible.
The loser says 'It may be possible but its difficult"
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

[pramanisa]

Go down to the beach before the tide comes in,
And write your worries on the sand.
Then watch the ocean come in and wash them away.

Now
That
All your worry
Has proved such an
Unlucrative
Business,
Why
Not
Find a better
Job.

If you are doing something you would do for nothing - then you are on your way to salvation. And if you could drop it in a minute and forget the outcome, you are even further along. And if while you are doing it you are transported into another existence, there is no need for you to worry about the future.

Do not worry about whether or not the sun will rise. Be prepared to enjoy it.

Look at the birds above your head
they neither plant nor reap
they neither store nor hoard
yet day by day God gives them food
Look at the flowers beneath your feet
they neither card nor spin
they neither sow nor weave
yet King Solomon shone less brightly than they
So why worry about your life
what you will get to eat
what you will have to wear?

How simple it is to see
that all the worry in the world
cannot control the future.
How simple it is to see
that we can only be happy now.
And that there will never be a time
when it is not now.

We worry about what a child will be tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

[pramanisa]

“Smile at each other,
smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other -- it doesn't matter who it is -- and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.”

"If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give."

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. 

"All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving
 may be yours and not your inheritors."

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.

That best portion of a good man's life; his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.

Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.

At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.

We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in."

Hungry not only for bread - but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing - but naked of human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a home of bricks - but homeless because of rejection.

You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.

By the accident of fortune
a man may rule the world for a time,
but by virtue of love and kindness
he may rule the world forever.

It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.

So long as we love we serve;
So long as we are loved by others,
I would almost say that we are indispensable;
And no man is useless while he has a friend.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Even if I knew that tomorrow
the world would go to pieces,
I would still plant my apple tree.

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.
Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack if you help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

From what we get, we can make a living;
what we give, however, makes a life.

Nothing is so strong as gentleness,
and nothing is so gentle as true strength.

How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.

The greatest good you can do for another
is not just share your riches,
but reveal to them their own.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

[pramanisa]

“If all our time belongs to God, how can we afford to waste even a single moment? Likewise, if we belong to God, why should we devote even a part of our being to the pursuit of the vain pleasures of life?”

[pramanisa]

Who said "Open" n "Close" are words with opposite Meaning.   
You will always be open to the person who is close to you. 

[pramanisa]

Victory is guaranteed to the ones who are constantly loving.
 
Expression:
The ones who are loving are able to involve others in everything they do with their love.  So whatever the task maybe, they find it to  be very easy and are able to accomplish the biggest task with ease.  Also each task done by them is with love and so everything is done with lightness and so victory is guaranteed. 
 
Experience:
When I am loving and do everything with love, I constantly experience lightness, based on the blessings from others.  I am carefree as there is no heaviness of the task to be performed. Love transforms labour into entertainment.  My internal lightness enables me to do the biggest task with great ease, involving everyone with love.

[pramanisa]

'A tough lesson in life that one has to learn is that not everybody wishes you well.
                                                                -Dan Rather
 
The ones who are constantly happy are truly fortunate. 
 
Expression:
Whatever the kind of situations needed to be faced, whoever the people and the different kind of personalities they come into contact with, the ones who are fortunate constantly enjoy. They also continue to take benefit and bring benefit to others too. Their fortune lies in their ability to perceive the positive aspect in everything and take benefit accordingly.
 
Experience:
When I am able to be happy under all circumstances, I am able to make the best use of whatever I have with me. I then find myself full of all resources. I don't think of what I don't have but I am aware of and make the best use of what I have. So I find myself to be always lucky. I constantly move forward.

[pramanisa]

To accept advice is to ensure self-progress.
 
Expression:
The natural state of the self is to ensure progress. Everything that is done by the self is for its progress. But the one who rejects advice rejects the progress of the self. To accept advice means to take the chance for whatever benefit that comes my way.
 
Experience:
When someone corrects me or gives me an advice or suggestion, if I accept it in the right spirit, I'll constantly learn from it. This will enable me to experience constant progress. I am also naturally able to give regard to everyone I come into contact with and remain in constant happiness.