Mindfulness and living in the present

"Look at your life as your main career and your divine classroom." Judith Orloff

"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle." Thich Nhat Hanh

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future." Thich Nhat Hanh

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” - Buddha

" Soak in as much of today as you possibly can – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the emotions, the triumph, and the sorrow." Joshua Becker

Self Compassion

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete." ~ Buddha ~

http://www.self-compassion.org/index.html    Dr Kristin Neff

Self Esteem

It is in giving to others that we build up our self-esteem, because we can only give to others if we are convinced that we have something valuable to give.  Fr Peter McVerry

You cannot be lonely if you like the person you are alone with.  Dr Wayne Dyer

The truth is that as wonderful as our believers are, they cannot give us self-esteem. It is called self-esteem, not other-esteem, spouse-esteem, parental-esteem, or friend-esteem. Nobody can hand it to you or tell you where to find it. You have to build it, earn it, create it, and nurture it from somewhere inside of yourself.   SelfEsteem4Me

You  tend to treat yourself like your parents treated you. If they were kind, encouraging and supportive, even when you made mistakes, you will treat yourself the same way and feel good about yourself. On the other hand, if your parents were harsh, critical and demeaning, you will tend to do the same thing to yourself and feel badly about yourself.Stan Mann

Emerging From Broken -  I thought my high self esteem would come from others.. I guess that is because my low self esteem came from what others taught me about myself. Today I seek to define myself and never accpet the definitions others try to place upon me as truth. ~ Darlene Ouimet

The Past

One problem with gazing too frequently into the past is that we may turn around to find the future has run out on us.  ~Michael Cibenko



Everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today.  I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great.  If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time.  ~Art Buchwald


Trust no future, howe'er pleasant!Let the dead past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present! 
Henry Wadsworth Longfello


Finish each day and be done with it.  You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.  Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.  Ralph Waldo Emerson


We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it. Lyndon B. Johnson

Persistence

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan, 'press on' has solved, and always will solve, the problems of the human race." Calvin Coolidge

Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out. ~ James Bryant Conant

When you feel depressed, jealous, sad or angry, understand that these are the things that you must heal in order to go where your wholeness is calling you to go. Gary Zukav

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful. Welocome it in evey face, in every sky, in every flower - Ralph Waldo Emerson

You are not accidental. Existence needs you. Without you something will be missing in existence and nobody can replace it... The stars and the sun and the moon, the trees and birds and earth--everything in the universe will feel a small place is vacant which cannot be filled...by anybody except you... Once you are clean and clear, you can see tremendous love falling on you from all dimensions. ~Osho

Love and Happiness

Love is always open arms. If you close your arms about love you will find that you are left holding only yourself.   Leo Buscglia

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

Thomas Merton

Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.  ~Jacques Prévert

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.  ~Joseph Addison

Introduction

This is a page full of sayings, poems, videos and things that are helping me to lead a more positive life.They come from people alive and dead and from all corners of our world.

I wanted to have somewhere to put everything that has touched my heart and to share it with others. I called the site 'The Casket of Gems' after an old book of poetry that was given to me by my brother.  He found it while helping to clear out a house. It was going into the trash but thankfully he saved it for me!  The book is called 'The Casquet of Gems' (old spelling) and was printed in the 1800s.  There is an inscription inside from a father to his daughter on her 21st birthday dated 1898.  I find it fascinating to have this book which belonged to someone who has now passed on. There are some beautiful poems inside and I will probably quote excerpts as I go through it.

'We are all on our own journey. No one journey is the same and we cannot presume to fully understand anyone else’s' but our own. Understanding our own journey is a life's work in itself. So I imagine the road less travelled, also called the road towards enlightenment, becoming busier as more people begin to wake up.'  Abby Wynne - Healer, Psychotherapist and Reiki Master