Three Thoughts for Thursday

Quote or Passage I’m Pondering and Appreciating:

“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.”

–George Herbert

Book I’m Reading:

I recently had the fabulous opportunity to hear Melinda Gates speak about her journey and the lessons she has learned along the way as she debuted her new book here in LA.  I am excited to finish reading her story.

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates

A debut from Melinda Gates, a timely and necessary call to action for women’s empowerment.

“How can we summon a moment of lift for human beings – and especially for women? Because when you lift up women, you lift up humanity.”

For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, you need to stop keeping women down.

In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she’s learned from the inspiring people she’s met during her work and travels around the world. As she writes in the introduction, “That is why I had to write this book—to share the stories of people who have given focus and urgency to my life. I want all of us to see ways we can lift women up where we live.”

Melinda’s unforgettable narrative is backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention—from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world—and ourselves.

Writing with emotion, candor, and grace, she introduces us to remarkable women and shows the power of connecting with one another.

When we lift others up, they lift us up, too.

Podcast I’m Listening To:

Tara Brach (Author or Radical Acceptance)

Taking Refuge from January 6, 2010

The Buddha taught three archetypal domains in which we awaken presence and realize freedom. In contrast to our habitual false refuges, these gateways of true refuge are dependable because they express the timeless truth of what we are. This talk shines a light on false refuges, guides us in exploring the meaning of each of the three Buddhist refuges and ends in a ritual of “taking refuge.”

Three Thoughts for Thursday

Quote or Passage I’m Pondering and Appreciating:

“There is an old saying that consciousness is like a container of water. If you take a tablespoon of salt and place it in a small container, say, the size of an espresso cup, the water most certainly will be too salty to drink. But if your container is much larger – say it is capable of holding many, many gallons of water – that same tablespoon of salt, now placed into this vast amount of liquid, will taste fresh. Same water, same salt; simply a different ratio, and the experience of drinking is totally different.

Consciousness is like that. When we learn to cultivate our capacity for being aware, the quality of our life and the strength of our mind are enhanced.”

~ AWARE by Daniel J. Siegel, MD, p. 5

Book I’m Reading:

AWARE: The Science and Practice of Presence by Daniel J. Siegel, MD

Aware provides practical instruction for mastering the Wheel of Awareness, a life-changing tool for cultivating more focus, presence, and peace in one’s day-to-day life.

An in-depth look at the science that underlies meditation’s effectiveness, this book teaches readers how to harness the power of the principle “Where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows.” Siegel reveals how developing a Wheel of Awareness practice to focus attention, open awareness, and cultivate kind intention can literally help you grow a healthier brain and reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in your life.

Whether you have no experience with a reflective practice or are an experienced practitioner, Aware is a hands-on guide that will enable you to become more focused and present, as well as more energized and emotionally resilient in the face of stress and the everyday challenges life throws your way.

Question/Quote I’m Thinking About:

I recently was listening to a podcast with Arianna Huffington entitled What Will Be Your Spiritual Wake Up Call? and she shared an analogy I’ve been thinking about.  She likened life to renting a car.  When you rent a car you are given the choice of returning the tank full or empty.  She noted she views life as a situation in which you have prepaid for the gas, so make sure you return the car with a tank that is empty.

How do you view life? Will you return the car with a tank that is full or empty? What if you consider you’ve prepaid for the gas? Do you play it safe or use every last drop and roll in on fumes?

 

 

Three Thoughts for Thursday

Quote or Passage I’m Pondering and Appreciating:

I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about my journey to find my voice.  The journey has been long and I have struggled to block out all the other external voices vying for my attention, along with the internal voice who likes to criticize, in order to hear and listen to this inner guiding voice.  As I’ve worked to train my ears to hear, the guiding voice has become louder, stronger and more distinct, easier to recognize and give my attention, undivided.  I recently read this passage in Tara Mohr’s book, Playing Big, where she quotes a consultant to nonprofits, Rochelle who puts it like this,

“I had long been aware of my inner critic. In therapy, you focus on the inner critic side of things. I knew about the snarky, wounded little girl voice in me, but I didn’t know about this other voice, the already whole part of me, the inner mentor.”

Mohr goes on to share her thoughts on the topic, “In part, we are more familiar with the inner critic than the inner mentor because we hear the inner critic voice more loudly. The inner critic demands our attention. The inner mentor waits to be paid attention to. Where the inner critic rants and raves, the inner mentor speaks softly. The inner critic interrupts and invades our thinking. The inner mentor almost always waits to be asked for input before she speaks.”

~Playing Big: Practical Advice for Women Who Want to Speak Up by Tara Mohr, p. 43

Have you found your inner mentor?  Have you learned to hear the soft voice over the loud and demanding inner critic?  How can you get more intentional about listening for the guiding voice of your internal mentor this month?

Photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash

Book I’m Reading:

Becoming by Michelle Obama

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As first lady of the United States of America – the first African American to serve in that role – she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the United States and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites listeners into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her – from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it – in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations – and whose story inspires us to do the same.

 

Check out my latest blog: My Stroke – Happy Anniversary!

Three Thoughts for Thursday

Quote or Passage I’m Pondering and Appreciating:

A strong emotion is like a storm. If you look at a tree in a storm, the top of the tree seems fragile, like it might break at any moment. You are afraid the storm might uproot the tree.  But if you turn your attention to the trunk of the tree, you realize that its roots are deeply anchored in the ground, and you see that the tree will be able to hold.

You too are a tree. During a storm of emotion you should not stay at the level of the head or the heart, which are like the top of the tree.  You have to leave the heart, the eye of the storm, and come back to the trunk of the tree… Then you will survive the storm of strong emotion.

~ Thich Naht Hahn, You are Here, p. 72

Photo by Mahkeo on Unsplash

Book I’m Reading:

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck M.D.

Written in a voice that is timeless in its message of understanding, The Road Less Traveled continues to help us explore the very nature of loving relationships and leads us toward a new serenity and fullness of life. It helps us learn how to distinguish dependency from love; how to become a more sensitive parent; and ultimately how to become one’s own true self.

Recognizing that, as in the famous opening line of his book, “Life is difficult” and that the journey to spiritual growth is a long one, Dr. Peck never bullies his readers, but rather guides them gently through the hard and often painful process of change toward a higher level of self-understanding.

Podcast I’m Enjoying:

Coaching For Leaders, 376: How to Become the Person You Want to Be, with James Clear

James Clear: Atomic Habits James Clear is an author and speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. He s the author of the new book, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Question I’m Reflecting On:

 How does boredom contribute to creativity, and what have we lost in a world in which we don’t allow ourselves to experience true boredom?

 

Happy New Year!  On this 3rd Thursday of January, I thought I would start this year off with my first trial edition of “Three Thoughts for Thursday.”   For the time being, these emails will only come on the 3rd Thursday of each month and will feature a quote, a book and a podcast or article or question I’m considering. So, to kick us off, here are my three thoughts for this 3rd Thursday of 2019.

Three Thoughts for Thursday

Quote or Passage I’m Pondering and Appreciating: 

“Flowers and garbage are both organic in nature. So looking deeply into the nature of a flower, you can see the presence of compost and the garbage. The flower is also going to turn into garbage; but don’t be afraid! You are a gardener, and you have in your hands the power to transform garbage into flowers…The same thing is true of your happiness and your sorrow. Sorrow, fear, and depression are all a kind of garbage. These bits of garbage are part of real life, and we must look deeply into their nature….  All you have to do is learn how to transform your garbage into flowers” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

What are you going to cultivate and grow this year?

Photo by Sushobhan Badhai on Unsplash

Book I’m Reading:

You are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh

In this book Thich Nhat Hanh, the renowned Zen monk, author, and meditation master, distills the essence of Buddhist thought and practice, emphasizing the power of mindfulness to transform our lives. “Mindfulness is not an evasion or an escape,” he explains. “It means being here, present, and totally alive. It is true freedom—and without this freedom, there is no happiness.”

Podcast I’m Enjoying:

Brene Brown Part 1: Daring Greatly

What is the real catalyst for human connection and can we make our lives more meaningful through vulnerability? Oprah asks Dr. Brene Brown, a professor, New York Times best-selling author and nationally acclaimed speaker.

Brene Brown Part 2: Living with a Whole Heart

How to conquer shame and live with a whole heart.  This is Part 2 of Oprah’s interview with renowned researcher Dr. Brene Brown. Oprah calls this an “aha-a-minute conversation!”

Your feedback is much appreciated! 

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