“You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”

-Jim Rohn

“Life is Delicious. Devour it with joy in every cell of your body, mind and spirit.  You will see it’s perfect qualities reflected back to you in many ways, seen and unseen.”  -Debra Oakland

I like to remind myself that my life is the sum of my choices, and the more I enjoy life, the happier I am.  It’s simple, yet can take a lifetime of self awareness to embrace life with open arms. Quite a journey we all share!

Use Courage to expand each and every day. Smile more often, be kind and loving to others, gossip less, let criticism of yourself and others go, be the joy you want to experience.  Life WILL respond back to you. – Debra Oakland

Pablo Casals the famous Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor said “Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that never was before and never will be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know who you are?  You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.”

The children are our future, and what we teach them matters. By reminding children of who and what they are, we are teaching them to live from the inside out as the marvelous beings they each are. Sometimes we forget our uniqueness and the power in that individuality. Let’s all remind young children who they are, so they can pass it on for future generations who want to live in a marvelous world.

Debra Oakland

Frederick Buechner wrote “The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you.  Here is the world.  Beautiful and terrible things will happen.  Don’t be afraid.  I am with you.  Nothing can ever separate us.  It’s for you I created the Universe.  I love you.  There’s only one catch.  Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you’ll reach out and take it.  Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”

How often do we miss opportunities, relationships, partnership and all that life has to offer because we did not have the courage to reach out?  Like the gift of grace, it is our choice to live the life we have been given.  I hope you are enjoying co-creating with the Universe!  There is a whole world full of marvelous gifts to choose from.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage

The people we are in relationship with
are always a mirror, reflecting our own beliefs,
and simultaneously we are mirrors, reflecting their beliefs.
So… relationship is one of the most powerful tools for growth….
If we look honestly at our relationships,
we can see so much about how we have created them.

~ Shakti Gawain ~

]]> http://www.livingincourageonline.com/quotes-that-rock/mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/feed/ 0 http://www.livingincourageonline.com/quotes-that-rock/a-profound-quote/ http://www.livingincourageonline.com/quotes-that-rock/a-profound-quote/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:00:44 +0000 Debra Oakland http://www.livingincourageonline.com/?p=1616

“Most people can look back over the years and identify a time and place at which their lives changed significantly. Whether by accident or design, these are the moments when, because of a readiness within us and a collaboration with events occurring around us, we are forced to seriously reappraise ourselves and the conditions under which we live and to make certain choices that will affect the rest of our lives.”  – Frederick F. Flack

What a profound quote…..

People around the world are reappraising their lives.  How have we been living?  What changes can we make in our own lives to leave Mother Earth a better place for future generations?  Towns, villages, communities and cities are going through global change .  What affects one, affects all.  People are concerned for the future of their children, and grandchildren.  As well they should be. Changes are happening rapidly around the planet.  People are speaking up, exposing old corrupt systems that have not been for the highest and greatest good of the people. Grassroots movements are cropping up everywhere.  It’s like the 60′s with more focus and enlightenment. I did so love the 60′s!

Have you noticed how many people are planting their own food?  I know people all over the world are growing organic gardens, looking for cleaner water, choosing to live a more simple, peaceful life.  There is a reconnection with Nature.  She has amazing gifts to share with those who acknowledge her presence with love and respect.  The damage that has been done can be repaired, but it will take many coming together individually and collectively for the beautiful shifts we dream of.  This is a time of significant change for all of us.  It can be by design if we each step in to do our part.

There is a need to look beyond color, nationality and class.  There is a pecking order that does not serve anyone. We are all a part of life, all connected.  A creation of  the Universe….our existence depends on us.  Striving to have a better home, car, job or more money than your neighbor, when coming from a place of ego, is not neighborly!  It is ego driven identification. We are God beings in physical bodies expressing ourselves in every moment through thought, feeling and action.  We are creators who create in every single second.  Let’s be vigilant about what we are creating for ourselves and others.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online

“Loving can cost a lot but not loving always costs more, and those who fear to love often find that want of love is an emptiness that robs the joy from life.” -Merle Shain

Take every chance on Love – Eliminate every Fear

Love is who we are.  More specifically, Divine Love is who and what we are, when we are free of the duality that exists in the world.  The frequency of this planet is increasing its Love Vibration.  Divine Love is making a return visit to bestow her blessings to those who are ready to receive. This can be unsettling for many people.  Fear of love never serves the soul.  Releasing old patterns is essential to move onward and forward.  The power of Love is the ONE Universal Principle and Law to live by.  Can you connect with it and feel it?

Marianne Williamson says  “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online

A Poem from Mark Rhoads

Say Yes to Love

Once upon a time
A child was born
Joining several billion
Brothers and sisters
Born of love, precious
Loved by the ancestors
Destined for the dance of
Everyday life.
Growing up, growing old
And the question is
Did anything really happen?
Other than love, sweet love?
Kindness, peace and joy?
Love is the only thing
Remember, that one day
You will join the ancestors
Fear not, for
Everything is conserved
Nothing is destroyed
Live your life in love
Someday a rainbow will be
Painted across the sky
A sign perhaps?
Or a reminder, to us all, to
Say yes to love.

“The only place you can live in the land of not enough, is in your own mind.”

Debra Oakland