The Heart of the Matter August 31, 2014
Posted by nrhatch in Gratitude, Happiness, Humor, Mindfulness.trackback
Listen to your heart, it’s calling to you.
Be guided by the heart in all you do.
To handle yourself, use your head. To handle others, use your heart. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
LOVE is such a big word . . . it really should have more letters! ~ Kobi Yamada
You have not lived a perfect day unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you. ~ Ruth Smeltzer
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused. ~ Unknown
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. ~ Helen Keller
The first duty of love is to listen. ~ Paul Tillich
If you can’t be with the one you love, dive headfirst into a box of chocolate!
Aah . . . that’s better!
Spirit Lights The Way 
Did Eleanor Roosevelt ever say anything that wasn’t worthy of inscribing on a monument somewhere? What a woman she was.
I was thinking the same thing.
My favorite Eleanor Roosevelt quote:
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
I’m listening …. 🙂 lovely reminders!
Thanks, Val. When we LISTEN, anything in life can be our guide.
Re your last comment about chocolate: You’ll know for sure if she loves you when she gets back and finds out you put on 15 pounds from all those Hershey bars.
Your comment reminded me of this “litmus test” for love:
Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to our own. ~ Robert Heinlein
* If we’re focused on THEM and adding to THEIR happiness . . . it’s probably LOVE.
* If we’re focused on wanting THEM to make US happy . . . it’s probably not.
Can’t argue with that!
But your litmus test works too . . .
If she loves you AND the extra 15 pounds derived from consuming chocolate, it’s probably LOVE.
“Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused. ~ Unknown”
On Friday I accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and subsequently uploaded my video to Facebook. And then I watched it. …I looked like a hot mess (freshly off a 5k run = best time to get doused with ice water/hot and sweaty!) and with muffin top in full exposure, courtesy of my spandex workout shorts cutting into my mid section. Initially I shuddered when I realized what I looked like, but then… burst out laughing. My video is really cute and really funny. The ability to laugh at ourselves is a truly amazing feeling!
Yes! Laughing at ourselves liberates us from being held prisoner to our illusory reputations. We are FREE to be who we want to be.
Plus it feels great to . . . let it ALL hang out!
And I did! 🙂 Muffin top be damned!
That’s the ticket!
I love all of these quotes, Nancy! I especially like the one by Ruth Smeltzer…so true. 🙂
Me too. We aim to do a “good deed” every day ~> a bucket is filled drop by drop.
My favorite Eleanor Roosevelt quote is something like “You must do the thing of which you are most afraid.” Yeah, that takes some guts and she had them.
Do you mean this one: You must do the thing you think you cannot do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Good advice . . . provided “the thing we think we cannot do” is a thing we want to do for our own growth and development.
That’s it! I read that one of her great challenges was fear of public speaking and she forced herself to overcome it….by doing it. So sometimes it is doing something we don’t particularly want to do, but have to.
Yes. I guess I meant “want to” in the sense of knowing that it is something that would benefit us in some way.
Other fears (like jumping off tall buildings, snake wrestling, or alligator wrangling) are best avoided. 😛
Is that your crocodile/alligator proffering the flower of love?
That alligator lives in downtown Sarasota. But I wouldn’t mind adopting him.
The other theme of your post is…listen.
“Listen to your heart, it’s calling to you,”
“The first duty of love is to listen.”
It’s another way of saying be open to love, to other people and to your purpose in life.
Yes! We can LISTEN only if we are awake and aware, present to the present of the present, open to the infinite possibilities.
In that state of present moment awareness, we are in the flow of life and always know which way to turn as the path unfolds before us.
Another great set of quotes!
Thanks, Janna. It was a toss up between “Humor” and “Heart” ~ so I featured both.
Great advice, Nancy 🙂
My happy center expands when I read quotes with “heart.”
Nancy love your favorite quote by Eleanor Roosevelt!
Our reality is based on the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening ~ how we relate to the issue IS the issue. So many people waste their time and energy getting upset when someone looks at them cross-eyed. Silly rabbits! 😎
I am constantly amused by the silly things I do. It’s good to travel light for the journey.
I often find myself laughing at myself (or other silly rabbits). We travel best when we travel light.
Needed this today! Wonderful quotes! Thanks!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed, Kate.
What beautiful quotes, Nancy! I love Eleanor Roosevelt and Kobi’s quote put a big smile on my face 😀
Yay! That’s why I love sharing quotes like these ~ it’s hard to resist feeling good while reading them.