Ups and Downs

[olmate]

Advice for Dealing with Ups and Downs

 Everything that irritates you about others can lead to an understanding of yourself.

 Your life is like a butterfly... you go through changes before you become something beautiful.

 The closer you are to being the best, the more likely you are going to be unsatisfied about not being the best.

 Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.

 Experience is a harder teacher because she gives the tests first, the lesson afterward.

 Discovery consists of seeing what everyone has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.

 It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers.

 The things we know best are those we have not learned.

 No one knows what he can do till he tries.

 Don't let the past define who you are today, rather, use it to create who you want to be tomorrow.

 It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts.

 A diamond is a chunk of coal that is made good under pressure.

 To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are.

 You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note.

 It is easier to go down a hill than up, But the view is from the top!

 When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.

 Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.

 People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction.

 A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

 It is in solitude when we are least alone.

 One who has never tasted what is bitter does not know what is sweet.

 As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.

 A mind that has been stretched will never return to its original dimension.

 Life has ups and downs, has left and right curves, and has a balance position – but that is not the point. The point is to hold on to life no matter what and where you are.

 In the game of life, it's a good idea to have a few early losses, which relieves you of the pressure of trying to maintain an undefeated season.

 Life is like an onion; you peel off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep.

 If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Wayne Dyer

 Everyone has inside of them a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is! Anne Frank

 The central benefit of Zen, in the context of ordinary ups and downs of life, is not in preventing the minus and promoting the plus, but in directing people to the fundamental reality that is not under the sway of ups and downs. Muso Kokushi (1275-1351)

 When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. Helen Keller

 You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety. Abraham Maslow

 Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Mary Manin Morrissey

 We are continually faced with great opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems. Margaret Mead

 True love doesn't happen right away; it's an ever-growing process. It develops after you've gone through many ups and downs, when you've suffered together, cried together, laughed together. Ricardo Montalban

 We create our own unhappiness. The purpose of suffering is to help us understand we are the ones who cause it. Willie Nelson

Enjoy!!

Olmate

[Ramai]

Thanks Olmate. Great advice as usual 

My life has been quite rich in experiences and that evidently brought many ups and downs. I’ve learned that when I am down it helps a great deal to read inspirational quotes, listen to beautiful music, admire paintings etc. For me it’s also important to analyse and identify what brought me down. That usually gives me an indication on what type of action I will take – sometimes something minimal like a change in diet, a few hours in the sun or some vitamin B does the trick.
Another thing I do is I start saying to myself as often as I need to, mantra like - this too shall pass, nothing stays the same.
When I had enough of feeling sorry for myself I “will” myself to get “up” and I use that willpower to do so. Usually my body starts manifesting symptoms of disease if I stay down for too long and that’s when I know I better start moving up or ... else.
I’ve noticed that a lot of people feel that willpower is something they haven’t got and choose to go to therapists or self- development courses in the hope that they will get some. IMO willpower is not something that anyone can give to anyone else and there is no place it can be bought from either. Willpower is something that we all have and use all the time. We use it for the most menial tasks to the most highly regarded accomplishments and achievements in our lives.
We have the freedom of choice.
Love,
Ramai

I thought this is worth sharing:

Two Wolves - A Cherokee Parable
An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life...

"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

"One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.

"The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

"This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
"Which wolf will win?"

The old chief simply replied,
"The one you feed."

Author Unknown

and the “Fable of the porcupine”

It was the coldest winter ever. - Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other. After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

Moral of the story: The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities

The Moral of the story.......

LEARN TO LOVE THE PRICKS IN YOUR LIFE

[olmate]

Hi Ramai,

I know exactly what you mean. It wasn't until I was fortunate enough to observe this life from the "quiet" that much of the perceived turbulance started to make some sense.

With persistence, patience and practice, the connection between the "quiet" and the theatre of life has grown strong.

Take care,

Olmate