Gloom Busters

This is the season to be jolly but I feel gloomy.  Probably it is the weather.  What the heck… it is time to bring out my reliable gloom buster.  I love quotes; they take the blues away, they encourage me, they lift me up.  Quotations are powerful that they change lives and even the world.  “I have a dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr. fueled the move to end racism.  “I think therefore I am” quote from Rene Descartes, the famous French philosopher and mathematician, ignites positive thinking or the connection between the mind and the body.

Here are some of my favorites whenever I gloom bug bites me.

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew." - Saint Francis de Sales. Sometimes, we are too hard on ourselves.  We count our mistakes and become frustrated with our progress.  But we need to remember that each day is a new beginning, an opportunity to begin anew and conquer.

"A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl." - Stephan Hoeller.  "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller. Treasure the challenges you face in your life journey as these will become your weapons to make you a better and stronger person. 

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." - Thich Nhat Hanh.  Smile even if you don’t feel like it because smile has the power to change your mood.  When your mouth stretches to give out a smile it changes your aura.  It lightens your face and people notice.  You too will feel the change!

Go a little farther than a smile; laugh. "Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keep friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment."  - Greenville Kleisser. 

Be compassionate and sensitive.  "The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being." - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. Also, Leo Buscaglia said, "Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

 

Change your thoughts.  I don’t think anyone wants to be sad.  If you don’t want to feel unhappy, change your thoughts.  "What you thought before has led to every choice you have made, and this adds up to you at this moment. If you want to change who you are physically, mentally, and spiritually, you will have to change what you think." - Dr. Patrick Gentempo.

I save the best for the last.  My best savior when I feel sad is a quote by Reinhold Niebuhr "Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness."

I hope I was able to touch you today with my favorite gloom busters.  Advance merry Christmas!