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Lynne Twist Quote on Feelings of Lack and Inadequacy (and How To Combat It)

    “For me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is ‘I didn’t get enough sleep.’ The next one is ‘I don’t have enough time.’ Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it. We spend most of the hours and the days of our lives hearing, explaining, complaining, or worrying about what we don’t have enough of… We don’t have enough exercise.  We don’t have enough work.  We don’t have enough profits.  We don’t have enough power.  We don’t have enough wilderness.  We don’t have enough weekends.  Of course, we don’t have enough money—ever.  We’re not thin enough, we’re not smart enough, we’re not pretty enough or fit enough or educated or successful enough, or rich enough—ever.  Before we even sit up in bed, before our feet touch the floor, we’re already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something.  And by the time we go to bed at night, our minds race with a litany of what we didn’t get, or didn’t get done, that day.  We go to sleep burdened by those thoughts and wake up to the reverie of lack… What begins as a simple expression of the hurried life, or even the challenged life, grows into the great justification for an unfulfilled life.”

    Lynne Twist, The Soul of Money

    Beyond the Quote (92/365)

    How do we combat chronic feelings of lack?  By deploying chronic gratitude.  It’s no secret that gratitude is a cornerstone piece of a fulfilled life.  Gratitude is, in fact, what fills a person’s life.  When we are grateful for our family, our family fills our lives; when we are grateful for our friends, our friends fill our lives; when we are thankful for food, water, shelter, clothes, health, etc., then those things fill our lives, too.  Gratitude fills us up and the more gratitude we can deploy, the more fulfilled we will feel.

    Read More »Lynne Twist Quote on Feelings of Lack and Inadequacy (and How To Combat It)

      “The people we have won’t always be here, so let’s not deprive ourselves of their presence simply because we’re too caught up in wanting more of some other stuff.  That other stuff won’t last either—nothing does.  So let’s appreciate who and what we have while we still have it.  If we’re not happy with what we have, we won’t be very happy with all that we get.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 22)

        “Remembering that the people in our lives won’t be here forever is the best way to motivate us to be as wonderful to them as possible, while they’re still here.  It’s tricky, since we’re not really wired to remember this fact, but when we make the active effort to keep it in mind, beautiful choices come from that effort.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 22)

          “We’ve been born in a time and place where we have the luxury of hearing, contemplating, and putting into action teachings that awaken us to our enlightened mind.  We’re relatively healthy, we have a roof over our head and food in our mouths.  We have family and friends.  We’ve encountered someone who can teach us how to train our mind and open our heart.  Being threatened by nuclear war, terrorism, and global warming is a reminder that we can’t take such conditions for granted.  We’re just these tiny vulnerable beings riding on a blue dot in space.  Yet sometimes we act as if we’re the center of the universe.  The enlightened alternative is to appreciate how incredibly rare and precious human life is.  The enlightened alternative is to appreciate everything.  By appreciating whatever we encounter, we can use it to further our journey of warriorship.  We are good as we are, and it is good as it is.  Once we have this understanding, we’ll see that we are living in a sacred world.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 143)

            “I know many parents whose children, when they are eighteen or nineteen years old, leave home and live on their own.  The parents lose their children and feel very sorry for themselves.  Yet the parents did not value the moments they had with their children.  The same is true of husbands and wives.  You think that your spouse will be there for the whole of your life, but how can you be so sure?  We really have no idea where our partners will be in twenty or thirty years’ time or even tomorrow.  It is very important to remember every day the practice of impermanence.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear

              “So much of what makes us wealthy is free.  The secret to wealth is gratitude.  It’s not just what we achieve or accomplish.  It’s what we appreciate.  It’s not just the adventure of a cruise.  It’s what we take the time to enjoy.  You can find an adventure and joy in those you love, in the dancing eyes of your children, or the joyous faces fo those you love.  There are jackpots everywhere if you wake up to the beauty of your life today.  So don’t vow to someday get beyond scarcity; start beyond it.  Realize how lucky you are and all the wealth you possess in love, joy, opportunities, health, friends, and family.  Don’t get rich. Start rich.” ~ Tony Robbins, Money: Master the Game

                “You don’t possess the stars; still you can enjoy them.  Or do you first have to possess them, and only then will you be able to enjoy them?  You don’t possess the birds in the sky, but you can enjoy them.  What you need is not more possessions.  What you need is more sensitiveness, more aesthetic sensibility, more musical ears, more artistic eyes.  What you need is a vision that transforms everything into something significant and meaningful.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition

                  “Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.” ~ Søren Kierkegaard, via How To Live A Good Life

                    “To truly appreciate something, you must confine yourself to it.  There’s a certain level of joy and meaning that you reach in life only when you’ve spent decades investing in a single relationship, a single craft, a single career.  And you cannot achieve those decades of investment without rejecting the alternatives.” ~ Mark Mason, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck