Articles That Support Self-Awareness
and Personal Growth

Some Things to Think About
Author Unknown)

• Slow down. You are not responsible for doing it all yourself right now. And many of the things you think need to be done, don't.
• Remember a happy, peaceful time in your past. Rest there. Each moment has a richness that takes a lifetime to savor.
• Set your own pace. When someone is pushing you, it is okay to tell them they're pushing.
• Take nothing for granted: watch water flow, the corn grow, the leaves blow, your neighbors mow.
• Embrace your food. Its purpose is to delight as well as to nourish.
• Notice the sun and the moon as they rise and set. They are remarkable for their steady pattern of movement, not their speed.
• Quit planning how you are going to use what you know, learn or possess. Gifts just are; be grateful and their purpose will be clear.
• When you walk with someone, don't think about what you'll say next. Thoughts will spring up naturally if you let them.
• Talk and play with children. It will bring out the unhurried little person inside you.
• Create a place in your home, at your work, in your heart, where you can go for quiet and recollection. You deserve it.
• Allow yourself time to be lazy and unproductive. Rest isn't a luxury, it's a necessity.
• Listen to the wind blow. it carries a message of yesterday and tomorrow, and now. Now counts.
• Rest on your laurels. They bring comfort whatever their size, age or condition.
• Talk slower. Talk less.  Don't talk. Communication isn't measured by words.
• Give yourself permission to be late sometimes. Life is for living, not scheduling.
• Listen to the song of a bird . . . the complete song. Music and nature are gifts, but only if you are willing to receive them.
• Take time to think. Action is good and necessary, but it's fruitful only if we muse, ponder and mull.
• Make time for play . . . the things you like to do. Whatever your age, your inner child needs re-creation.
• Watch and listen to the night sky.  It speaks.
• Listen to the words you speak and think. Are your words and thoughts leading you to the outcomes you want?
• Learn to stand back and let other take their turn as leaders. There will always be new opportunities for you to step out in front again.
• Divide big jobs into little jobs.
• When you find yourself rushing and anxious, stop! Ask yourself why you are rushing and anxious. The reasons may improve your self-understanding.
• Take time to read . . . inspirational works, poetry, great books. Thoughtful reading is enriching reading.
• Direct your life with purposeful choices, not with speed and efficiency. The best musician is one who plays with expression and meaning, not the one who finishes first.
• Take a day off alone; make a retreat.  You can learn from monks and hermits without becoming one.
• Pet a furry friend. You will give and get the gift of now.
• Work with your hands. It frees the mind.
• Take time to wonder. Without wonder, life is merely existence.
• Sit in the dark. It will treat you to see and hear, taste and smell.
• Once in awhile, turn down the lights, the throttle, the invitations. Less really can be more.
• Let go. Nothing is usually the hardest thing to do . . . but often it is the best.
• Take a walk . . . but don't go anywhere. If you walk just to get somewhere, you sacrifice the walking.
• When things are in chaos and you are in a frenzy, ask yourself: What is right about now? Chances are, you already know what is wrong.
• Count your blessings one at a time and slowly.

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