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What do you believe?
“What you believe yourself to be, you are.” ~Claude M. Bristol, The Magic of Believing World War I veteran Claude Bristol (1891-1951) was a pioneer of the positive thinking movement. He wrote The Magic of Believing to help his fellow veterans adapt to civilian life — yet his book also resonated with others who struggled to overcome trauma, self-limiting patterns, or negative attitudes. Bristol was convinced that success in any realm depends on dedication, belief, and character. His philosophy explains how some people triumph over adversity while others remain stuck. Bristol’s “magic” was about unleashing the power of the subconscious mind. You are what you believe. You achieve what you…
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Time management
“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is like saying ‘I don’t want to do it.'” ~Cheryl Richardson How many times have you heard the phrase, “We’ll have to get together sometime” — but nobody ever follows through on the suggestion? There are so many things we postpone because we claim we don’t have time for them. For instance, we might put off scheduling certain medical tests, finding a better job, cleaning a closet, or reading all those epic novels that everyone says we should read. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we realize that it’s not really a matter of time management. We often postpone…
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Just before the bloom
“The garden has taught me to live, to appreciate when things are fallow and when they are not.” ~Jamaica Kincaid Longtime “Life Lines” readers will remember “Apollo” from previous posts. In those photos, he was sporting a wild headdress of colorful annuals or spiky succulents, depending on how I dressed him at the time. Apollo has been featured in several garden magazines and newspaper articles over the years, always enjoying his moments in the sun. Earlier this week, I took this photo of Apollo without his blooming chapeau. I was struck by the barren beauty of the surrounding April landscape — a landscape that’s still waiting for perennials to emerge…
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Willing to stand out
“You’ve got to be willing sometimes to stand alone. You’ve got to be willing to piss some people off. You’ve got to be willing to look different. Sound different. Be different. And those are risks that many of us are not willing to take.” ~Iyanla Vanzant Human beings are wired to belong. We want to feel accepted by our family. We gravitate toward friends who share our lifestyle, moral standards, and viewpoints. We thrive in a tribe. Yet each of us also has a different set of experiences and personal opinions. One of the gifts of maturity is learning to value authenticity — and individuality — in ourselves and others.…
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Make a note of it
“In this era of email and voice mail and all those things that I didn’t grow up with, a plain old paper letter takes on amazing intimacy.” ~Elizabeth Kostova Hand-written notes and cards can enrich our relationships. There was the time I found a thank you note in my snail mail, penned by a neighbor who was recovering from joint-replacement surgery. I had dropped off a container of chili at her home a week earlier, knowing how hard it is to cook meals when you’re barely able to walk. This thoughtful neighbor had extended the same kindness to me when I had surgery years earlier — and I certainly didn’t…
