The DAILY SPARK Blog

STARTING OVER

Don’t be afraid to start over.  This time you are not starting from scratch, you are starting from experience.

Quote by James Wedmere

REFLECTION:

  • Is there something that needs to “start over?”
  • What experience have you had that can support you in this new start?
  • What previous learning can you apply?

Lessons on “FAILURE”

RULES FOR BEING HUMAN

Rule #1:  You will learn lessons.

Rule #2:  There are no mistakes – only lessons.

Rule #3:  A lesson is repeated until it is learned.

Rule #4:  If you don’t learn the easy lessons, they get harder. (Pain is one way the universe gets your attention.)

Rule #5:  You’ll know you’ve learned a lesson when your actions change. 

This list is attributed to Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior.

REFLECTION:

  • What have been your biggest life lessons?
  • Are there mistakes you can re-label “lessons?’
  • What lessons did you need to repeat?  Continue to repeat? 
  • What actions do you need to change to ensure you’ve learned the lesson and no longer need to repeat it?

STAYING OPEN

‘The whole world could praise Sung Jung-Tzu and it wouldn’t make him exert himself.  The whole world could condemn him and it wouldn’t make him mope.  He drew a clear line between the internal and the external.” – Chuang Tzu

We cannot live without being affected by others.  We are only real when we let truth and love shape us from within. Our want to be liked, our want to avoid conflict, our want to be understood – all these traits tease us away from taking the voice within seriously.

FROM:  THE BOOK OF AWAKENING Having the Life You want by Being Present to the Life You Have by Mark Nepo.

REFLECTION:

  • Do you listen to your own voice?
  • Are you able to draw a line between your internal voice and the external voice of others?
  • Which do you act on most readily?  Observe and adjust as needed!