Living Well

If we walk with sinners and fools,
we become foolish sinners.
Choose your friends wisely.
A good friend loves you for
who you are, inspires you to
do your best, and is faithful
to the end. To have such a
friend as this, you must
also be such a friend.

A quick retort
is seldom wise
and often best
left unsaid.

Give careful thought
before you speak
or better yet,
let silence be
your response.

We sometimes forget that
the commandment, “Love thy
neighbor as thyself,” says
that we must love ourselves
first before we can love
others. But what does it
mean to love one’s self?

It means having the humility
to admit when we are wrong,
and to forgive ourselves, to
accept our imperfections,
to let go of false pride and
ask for help when we need it.

Loving one’s self means graciously
attending to our needs, eating
healthy food, getting enough rest,
taking time for play, for doing
what we love to do. It means
attending to our spiritual needs. Self
love means honoring the gift of our life.

Where comes this burst of
strength when I thought I
could carry no more? What
mighty force ignores my
disbelief and fills me with
Divine grace to move forward
one more time?

How false is that deep sense of
loneliness, where I feel so alone
that not even a blade of grass,
or simple flower can be found to
share this isolation of my soul.
False, indeed, a lie planted in
my heart to make me turn from
the love of my Creator.

Oh, no, I will not fall for this
trickery. Take all you wish, Dark Ones,
for you do not have the power to
take what you most desire. My soul
rests firmly in the hands of my
Creator; no outrage will shake me
from that which is the essence
of me, for I am who I am, one
with the Divine Love Energy.

I stand on the edge of the
Universe, so tiny am I.
Why do I think my dreams
should come true, weep
when my expectations are
not met, feel frightened
about what tomorrow may
bring? So tiny I am, even
a grain of sand is larger
than I. Despairing, I sink
into my woe.

I stand on the edge of the
Universe, a point of Light
am I. The Creator has given
me the sacred gift, to
create realities without end.
I am a strand of the Web of Life,
might and strong when joined in
the matrix of All That Is.

The choice is mine.