Several days ago I retreated from the daily struggle to spend a day at the New Jersey beach, connecting with the ocean, the birds, the sun, sand, wind and clouds, as well as the people I passed during my 3 hour, glorious walk. It was a needed and strengthening day.
While there I took the time to look through the wallet I carry with me every time I leave my house. For the first time in years, I read through a number of little pieces of paper in there with inspirational messages of guidance from a mix of people and sources that I have come across over the course of my 73 years on this planet.
Definitely moved by doing so, I thought to myself as I walked along the boardwalk, why not share these with others? Everyone needs inspiration to have the strength to live their lives, day after day, as well as possible.
So here they are, the words that I try to live by:
Do not worry about a holding high position; worry rather about playing your proper role.
from a fortune cookie
Four things to learn in life:
To think clearly without hurry or confusion;
To love everybody sincerely;
To act in everything with the highest motives;
To trust God unhesitatingly.
Helen Keller
To awaken each morning with a smile brightening my face; to greet the day with reverence for the opportunities it contains; to approach my work with a clear mind; to hold ever before me, even in the doing of little things, the Ultimate Purpose toward which I am working; to meet men and women with laughter on my lips and love in my heart; to be gentle, kind, and courteous through all the hours; to approach the night with weariness that ever woos sleep and the joy that comes from work well done–this is how I desire to spend wisely my days.
Thomas Dreier
Limit chaos and cultivate order
By singing, dancing,
And talking with each other.
Realize life is short,
Respect your elders,
And recognize that death
Is part of living.
Creation Story, by Harry Fonseca
Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism and militarism.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am firmly convinced that the passionate will for justice and truth has done more to improve (the human condition) than calculating political shrewdness which in the long run only breeds general mistrust.
Albert Einstein
What history is calling for is nothing less than the creation of a new human being. We must literally reinvent ourselves through the alchemy of the Spirit or perish. We are being divinely summoned to climb another rung on the evolutionary ladder, to another level of human consciousness.
Fr. Paul Mayer
At the center of the universe is a loving heart that continues to beat and that wants the best for every person. Anything we can do to help foster the intellect and spirit and emotional growth of our fellow human beings, that is our job. Those of us who have this particular vision must continue against all odds. Life is for service.
Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers)
Grandfather, look at our brokenness.
We know that in all creation
Only the human family
Has strayed from the Sacred Way.
We know that we are the ones
Who are divided
And we are the ones
Who must come back together
To walk the Sacred Way.
Grandfather,
Sacred One,
Teach us love, compassion and honor,
That we may heal the earth
And heal each other.
an Anishinabe prayer
Ted Glick has been a progressive activist, organizer and writer since 1968. He is the author of the recently published books, Burglar for Peace and 21st Century Revolution. More info can be found at https://tedglick.com.
Ted Glick 