virgin islands scene

The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.
-- Thomas Carlyle
 

 

Friday, November 24, 2000

Calm your thoughts

Have you ever noticed how much your own thinking can often interfere with your awareness? You’ve probably had the experience of failing to hear what someone is saying to you because you’re busy thinking of how to answer them.

There is a time for thinking, for questioning and judgment, for analyzing and strategizing, and there is a time for opening yourself up to experience the world around you. You are well equipped to think, and you are also equipped to listen, to feel, to see, to experience.

Thoughts can be powerful. The absence of thoughts can be powerful as well. Many things are annoying, for example, simply because you think they’re annoying. What grand and beautiful things might lie hidden underneath the relentless noise of your own thoughts?

Pursue your thoughts with vigor, and when the situation calls for it, let your thoughts be still. Strength and wisdom come not only from excitement and complexity, but also from a quiet and peaceful awareness of what is.

— Ralph Marston

previousThe little things       Move on aheadnext

Copyright ©2000 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.