Meaningful Monday: Compassion

Wendy need a break; and I needed the exercise of exploring quotes concerning compassion. Something lacking these days and a rallying cry for change.
Namaste

Picnic with Ants

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”

Dalai Lama

“The compassionate mind is the mind that transforms.”

Paul B. Gilbert

“True compassion means not only feeling another’s pain, but also being moved to help relieve it.”

Daniel Coleman

image:  quotesgram.com

Wendy just needs a break today so rather than her wonderful Mindfulness Monday, I am filling in with some thoughts on compassion.

View original post

Mindfulness Monday – Family (Ohana)

My ohana is not based on blood — if it was, well, then . . .
Wonderful quotes and sentiments. Wendy got a chance to spend quality time with her extended family the last few weeks. So good. So proud of her hosting the Father’s Day Feast!

Picnic with Ants

“I don’t care whose DNA had

recombined with whose.

When everything goes to hell,

the people who stand by you

without flinching-

They are your family.”

~Jim Butcher

“That’s what people do who love you.

They put their arms around you

and love you when you’re

not so lovable.”

~Deb Caletti

“You must remember,

family is often born of blood,

but it doesn’t depend on blood.

Nor is it exclusive of friendship.

Family members can be your best friends, you know.

And best friends, whether or not they are related to you,

Can be your family.”

~Trenton Lee Stewart

*photo taken at Wendy and Stuart’s wedding (I’m the one in yellow)

Thank you to all who are members of my Ohana.  I love you.  ( Part of Hawaiian culture, ʻohana means family (in an extended sense of the term, including blood-related, adoptive or intentional). The concept emphasizes that families…

View original post 42 more words

Meaningful Monday – Suffering

Wendy;s post is powerful — mindful and meaningful.

Picnic with Ants

“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching,

and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be.

I have been bent and broken, but

—I hope—

Into a better shape.”

~ Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

“There is the solitude of suffering,

when you go through darkness that is

lonely, intense, and terrible.

Words become powerless to express your pain;

what others hear from your words is

so distant and different from what you are actually suffering.”

~ John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

“We must look deeply in order to understand

the needs, aspirations, and suffering

of the person we love.

This is the ground of real love”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

*photo by W. Holcombe.  Baby Opuntia (prickly pear) Cactus.  Please do not use without permission.

I did things a little differently this week, the not all of the quotes would be…

View original post 11 more words

Mindfulness Monday: to be in the moment*

Quotes regarding the basic principle of mindfulness as I understand it.

Picnic with Ants

“In this moment, there is plenty of time. In this moment, you are precisely as you should be. In this moment, there is infinite possibility.”

Victoria Moran

“Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.”

Mother Teresa

“Welcome to the present moment. Here. Now. The only moment there ever is.”

Eckhart Tolle

* Wendy is settling into her new life in Tucson and asked me to fill in for her today. When she gets the chance, she’ll post about her adventures.

This week, I’m returning to the simple principal of mindfulness (as Wendy has taught me): be in the moment.

© Lorraine (detail of tile mosaic, Natural History Museum subway station, NYC)

View original post