Archive for the 'Enlightened Quotes' Category
Dear Readers,
I have recently been neglecting my travel blog as I have focused my creative spirit on my new blog Enlightenyourday.com. My new blog encountered tremendous initial success lately by gaining well over 33,000 visitors in only three months of publication. I have listed below my top ten posts that readers have enjoyed and commented on over time. I hope you will take the time to explore this new endeavor with me and find yourself smiling, laughing and gaining useful information to brighten your day. A daily cup of enlightened Zen for the soul anyone? Interested, subscribe today!
Funny Zen story of two monks and a lovely girl
Timeless Relaxing Zen quotes to soothe your being 
Great lessons and a little Zen I have learned on Stumbleupon
Wise and inspiring Zen instructions on life from the Dalai Lama
Wonderful Proverbs complimenting Beautiful Photos
Use the power of positive affirmations to change your life
A photo definition of cute and some Winnie the Pooh wisdom
Deliciously Healthy Juice Recipes for the Heart and Soul
Shambhala the Sacred Path of the warrior Part 2
The Pink Bubble Technique a simply beautiful meditation
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Tags: , blog, enlighten, inspiration, zen
I recently wrote a post in Enlightenyourday.com that I wanted to share with my readers here on I Dream now. The post contains some insights and wisdom on creating a success strategy, or as I like to refer to it as: a battle plan for success. I have listed some steps and inspiring quotes on how to turn your dreams into obtainable goals today. “There is nothing like a dream to create the future.” Victor Hugo 1.) Do it today, not tomorrow, or on the weekend, nor next week. Today…Today…Today… “I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau. 2.) Start by writing an introduction stating why you’re writing this plan and what you hope to accomplish. “Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” Ashley Smith 3.) Break the list down into categories, such as: Body, Mind, Social, Work, Finance, Travel, Family, and of course Pleasure. “The most pitiful among men is he who turns his dreams into silver and gold.” Kahlil Gibran 4.) Be as specific as possible, but never be reasonable. Don’t limit yourself, no matter how crazy the dream seems, if you turn it into a goal, it becomes a possibility. “Some men see things as they are and say, “Why?” I dream of things that never were and say, “Why not?” George Bernard Shaw 5.) Write what you hope to accomplish, but don’t stop there. Keep writing about who you want to be, who you want to meet, what you want to feel, see, and smell. Let your imagination run wild on the page, this is your letter to do with whatever you desire. “Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” Goethe 6.) Conclude, by writing how you will accomplish this: hard work, will, desire, kindness, love, meditation, perspiration, etc. “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” James A. Froude 7.) Finally, sign it like it is a legal contract with yourself, then sit back reread the list and smile knowing you now have a plan for happiness and success. “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one, I hope someday you will join us, and the world will live as one.” John Lennon 8.) Put the letter someplace safe and forget about it. When the rollercoaster ride of life brings your spirits up or down, and you feel you need a boost. Pull out the letter and proudly check off all the dreams that have become accomplished goals. “A man’s dreams are an index to his greatness.” Zadok Rabinowitz 9.) Always remember….Write another letter…. “Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living.” Anais Nin The story behind this article: “Nothing happens unless first we dream.” Carl Sandburg The first life changing experience I encounter came in the mail. I was sixteen, it was the first real letter I received, and it changed my life. Coincidently, it was written by me and addressed to me at the same time. One year prior to this letter, a friend invited me to a leadership camp called YLCC, I wasn’t a leader at the time, nor did I ever participate in leadership functions. His catch was the girl to guy ratio, about 10 to 1, a great way to meet new girls and have some fun. I won’t delve to long in the details of the camp, but it was an oasis for the free spirit, a place to dance like no one is watching, be silly, and share everything you where afraid to share. Later, I would liken it to a Rave without the chemicals. “Dreams are the touchstones of our character.” Henry David Thoreau Before the three day charade came to a conclusion, we were asked to write a letter to ourselves with all our dreams and goals for the next year. So there I stood one year later with this letter in my hand, face to face with the power of the unconscious mind. I realized in one year almost every single one of my goals. Some were very farfetched and unlikely, but I achieved them nonetheless. People always write and talk about the power of goal setting, I experience it, and it was undeniable. “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” Michelangelo I still have that first letter, and the many that I have written since then. I call them my Battle Plan for success. Before I write a new one, I must reread all of the old ones again. Each time, I find myself checking off some forgot goal that I have since accomplished. With each new plan, the dreams that I turn into obtainable goals become more elaborate. “If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.” Martin Luther King, Jr. If you would like to contribute some insights, experiences or knowledge to this post, then please leave a comment below.
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Tags: , accomplish, dreams, goal, how, insight, inspire, reach, strategy, success, today
I love The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I have listed here my favorite quotes from this beautiful book. This book is an inspiring and motivational read that I love to share with everyone. I hope you enjoy!
- “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
- “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
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“Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life.”
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“When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision. “
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“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
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“Every search begins with beginners luck and ends with the victor’s being severely tested.”
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“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
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“The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.”
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“When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It’s always a positive force.”
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“Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World.“
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“To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.”
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“I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now.
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“When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you.”
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“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity
- When you are in love, things make even more sense, he thought.
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Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You’ve got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense. “
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“All you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation. Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there.”
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“The alchemists spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. They spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. They discovered that the purification of the metals had led to a purification of themselves.”
- “I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things. I learned that many alchemists realized their destinies, and wound up discovering the Soul of the World, the Philosopher’s Stone, and the Elixir of Life. But above all, I learned that these things are all so simple they could be written on the surface of an emerald.”
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“In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path.”
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Tags: book, coelho, favorite, inspiring, list, paulo, quotations, quote, the alchemist
A second Treasury of Kahlil Gibran
Loneliness
“Life is an island in an ocean of loneliness, an island whose rocks are hopes, whose trees are dreams, whose flowers are solitude, and whose brooks are thirst.”
Merit
“A man’s merit lies in his knowledge and in his deeds, not in his color, faith, or descent. For remember, my friend, the son of a shepherd who possesses knowledge is of greater worth to a nation that the heir to a throne, if he be ignorant. Knowledge is your true patent of nobility, no matter who your father or what your race may be.”
ON LOVE
“I was eighteen years of age when love opened my eyes with its magic rays and touched my spirit for the first time with its fiery fingers, and Selma Karamy was the first women who awakened my spirit with her beauty and led me into the garden of high affection, where days pass like dreams and nights like weddings.”
OF THE FIRST LOOK
“It is that moment that divides the intoxication of Life from the awakening. It is the first flame that lights up the inner domain of the heart. It is the first magic note plucked on the silver string of the heart. It is that brief moment that unfolds before the soul the chronicles of time, and reveals to the eyes the deeds of the night, and the works of conscience. It opens Eternity’s secrets of the future. It is the seed cast by Ishtar, goddess of Love, and sown by the eyes of the beloved in the field of Love, brought forth by affection, and reaped by the soul. The first glance from the eyes of the beloved is like the spirit that moved upon the face of the waters, giving birth to heaven and earth, when the Lord spoke and said, “Let there be.”
OF THE FIRST KISS
“It is the first sip from the cup filled by the goddess of with the nectar of Life. It is the dividing line between Doubt that beguiles the spirit and saddens the heart, and Certitude that floods the inner self with joy. It is the beginning of the song of Life and the first act in the drama of the Ideal Man. It is the bond that unites the strangeness of the past with the brightness of the future; the link between the silence of the feelings and their song. It is a word uttered by four lips proclaiming the heart a throne, Love a King, and fidelity a crown. It is the gentle touch of the delicate fingers of the breeze on the lips of the rose-uttering a long sigh of relief and a sweet moan. It is the beginning of that magic vibration that carries the lovers from the world of weights and measures into the world of dreams and revelations.” Take from A Second Treasury of Kahlil Gibran
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Tags: beautiful, Gibran, kahlil, kiss, loneliness, love, merit, passages, poetic, poetry
An open heart Let everything in without fear; an open heart will always lead to beauty. Open you heart to the people around you, the sun, the stars, and the wonderful experience of life in general. There is only one friend who can never betray you in life; your heart. It will lead you to your smiles, treasures, and true love. Take a moment each day and listen to the sound of its rhythmic beat; and ask it what the best plan is for today. Limited or no expectations Don’t limit yourself with expectations of the grandiose. The less you expect the more you get. If you want to be pleasantly surprised time and time again, expect nothing, want nothing, and just be. Make a point not to plan everyday out, or like me don’t plan anything at all, just step outside and follow your heart to the next pleasant surprise in your life. It’s when we least expect it that our heart fills us with the white light that brightens the day. Virgin Eyes All children are Zen Masters because everything is an eye opening experience. They’re seeing, tasting, feeling, and most important; loving the world for the first time. Try saying to a child with all the enthusiasm in your heart, “Wooowwwwwww Look at that Bridge”, their eyes will light up with wonder and inevitably have a complete Zen response like “AAAHH”, WOW, and so on. There is nothing mundane or boring in life for a child, everything possesses beauty: a Cat sitting peacefully in a window, a Bird singing in a tree, even a little Ant crawling along just trying to make it home alive. When or where we lose this wonder, I don’t know, but it seems to me when we travel a little sense of this child like wonder comes back to us. We want to gaze at Churches, buildings and monuments with delight. Yet, the same delight can always be found right in our own backyard on a cloudy day. Choose virgin eyes and see the world again for the first time. The present moment There is no tomorrow and yesterday is never coming back! Ask yourself each morning, “What do I want to do today; what will make me happy now!” That is the beauty of the journey. When all the routines, expectations, and obligations fall to the wayside; all that is left is your desire; follow this desire in the present moment. Start the day off with that which will make you happy and leave the rest open to new experiences. There are infinite possibilities of happiness; no one can ever hope to obtain them all. If you can gain even a few specks of what will make you happy; then you have done a good job. A journal A journal will bring you back to the thoughts and feeling in your mind. It will show you how your soul has grown and that you have become a different person. Rereading my journals is always fun because it shows me how my heart and mind has changed. This reminder is comforting; change is the only constant in the world. Embrace change and you will always continue to become a better person.
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Tags: beauty, changing, experience, eye, heart, journal, journey, life, moment, opening, present, wonder, zen
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt
It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. Confucius
If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all? Joe Namath
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
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Tags: , Confucius, costa rica, inspirational, inspire, Joe Namath, pictures, quotes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Roosevelt
Kahlil Gibran writes with unparalleled beauty. I wanted to share with my readers all of my favorite quotes. So I decided to combine them into a little poem for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy! “Love is trembling happiness”
Sitting in the meadow, the old man suffered with all his heart; shouting into the wind with these words “Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.”
Hearing a desperate cry, a butterfly slowly descended and whispered; “To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already acheived, but what he aspires to do”.
“We fear death, yet we long for slumber and beautiful dreams.” “Just living isn’t enough,” said the butterfly, “one must also have freedom, sunshine, and a little flower.” “And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
The old man replied; “I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires.” “In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.” ’But now; all is lost.’
Resting upon his shoulder it whispered in return;” What difference is there between us, save a restless dream that follows my soul but fears to come near you?”
‘My heart’, he replied, ‘for I have given it long ago to both my true love and my work; now they are gone’. The gentle whisper continued; “The giving and receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.” “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” “Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.” To be able to look back upon ones life in satisfaction, is to live twice”
The old man went on to say; ‘my saddened heart can no longer dream of a new day.’ “Of life’s two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart and the second in a laborer’s hand.”; ‘now I have neither’. And so the butterfly replied: “Yesterday is but today’s memory, tomorrow is today’s dream.” ”Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.” “Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.” “… joy and sorrow are inseparable . . . together they come and when one sits alone with you . . . remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.”
The old man spoke; “When you work you fulfill a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born. And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life, And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.” Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.” ‘My work is now done’.
Be happy with yourself old man, for “It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” ’Listen to the sound of my music’; “Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.” ‘For me’, said the old man; ‘my sorrow is too much to bare my friend’. ‘Always remember’, said the butterfly, “When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” “All that spirits desire, spirits attain.”
Reflecting upon time; the old man smile at his previous delights; looking around the man could no longer see his friend; he could only sense his presence.
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Tags: , beauty, butterfly, delight, favorite, Gibran, happiness, kahlil, kahlil Gibran, love, old man, poetry, quotes
Zen habits and practices creatively combined to brighten your day. Today, I found an amazing website on Mixx called, Zen habits, which I found both inspiring and enlightening. The post that caught my eye was “75 simple pleasures to brighten your day”. I took this post and made it my own by creatively combining my favorite simple pleasures together. This way, the post is both shorter and livelier. I hope you enjoy reading and begin to think about what combination of simple pleasures can brighten your day.
1. Taking a long, warm and relaxing shower, gradually cooling the temperature until you feel completely refreshed. Now, hop right back into bed and snuggle closely with your loved one. 2. Walking barefoot in grass while listening to good music and smelling the fresh-cut grass permeating the air. 3. Playing hooky to have a picnic and blow bubbles into the sun while forgetting completely about your things to-do list. 4. Dancing like you are crazy because no one is watching, feeling great for doing it, like a revitalizing workout. 5. Taking a hot bubble bath with the window cracked open to feel the gentle breeze caress your skin. 6. Kiss in the morning rain and come home to a soothing message and comfortable nap. 7. Eating Fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and telling jokes till your sides ache. 8. Watching the sunrise to a surprise breakfast in bed. 9. Walking on the beach with a friend to watch the sunset; enjoying the art of conversation as the sun sinks below the horizon line. 10. Snuggling together under the covers on a stormy day with all your favorite chocolates and wine to keep you company. 11. Staying up all night talking between making slow and sensual love to your partner. 12. Being lazy on a Sunday with Fries, a chocolate milkshake, and Reese’s peanut butter cups for dessert. 13. Floating in the water and watching the ebb and flow of the ocean. 14. After dancing in the rain and stomping in puddles, singing loudly in the shower to clean your body and mind. 15. Making someone smile and helping someone in need on the same day. 16. The smell of a new Moleskine notebook, the feel of the fresh crisp pages, and the flow of a good pen to drain your creative thoughts. 17. Swimming at night after a long day of just being you. You can find the original article at the following address: http://zenhabits.net/2007/07/75-simple-pleasures-to-brighten-your-day/ This website, http://zenhabits.net/ is amazing check it our today! If you enjoyed reading this post, let me know and leave me a comment below.
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Tags: , brighten, day, enlighten, enlightened, habit, habits, philosophy, pleasure, practices, smile, zen
