Page 91 of 92

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 5:02 am
by Gawain
Three Feet

During the gold rush, a man who had been mining in Colorado for several months quit his job, as he hadn’t struck gold yet and the work was becoming tiresome. He sold his equipment to another man who resumed mining where it had been left off. The new miner was advised by his engineer that there was gold only three feet away from where the first miner stopped digging.

The engineer was right, which means the first miner was a mere three feet away from striking gold before he quit.

The Moral: When things start to get hard, try to persevere through the adversity. Many people give up on following their dreams because the work becomes too difficult, tedious, or tiresome–but often, you’re closer to the finish line than you may think, and if you push just a little harder, you will succeed.

Blessings to all

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Thu May 28, 2020 3:18 am
by Gawain
Stop stressing

Once upon a time a psychology professor walked around on a stage while teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled with students. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the typical ‘glass half empty or glass half full’ question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the professor asked, ‘How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?’

Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds.

She replied, ‘From my perspective, the absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me.’

As the class shook their heads in agreement, she continued, ‘Your stresses and worries in life are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to ache a little. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed – incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.'

Blessings to all.

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 9:39 am
by Gawain
Seeking Happiness

There were 200 people attending a seminar on mental and physical health. At one point, the speaker told the group they were going to do an activity. He gave each attendee one balloon and told them to write their name on it. Then, the balloons were collected and moved into a very small room.

The participants were then asked to go into the other room and were given 2 minutes to find their balloon.

It was chaos. People were searching frantically for their balloon, pushing each other and running into one another while they grabbed a balloon, looked at it, and inevitably tossed it to the side.

At the end of the 2 minutes, no one had found the balloon that had their name on it.

Then, the speaker asked the participants to go back in the room and pick up one balloon at random, look at the name, and return it to its owner. Within minutes, everyone had been reunited with their original balloon.

The speaker then told the group, “This is what it’s like when people are frantically searching for their own happiness in life. People push others aside to get the things that they want to believe will bring them happiness. However, our happiness actually lies in helping other people and working together as a community.”

The Moral: You will get your happiness if you help other people find theirs. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. Helping others makes us happy because it gives us a sense of purpose. 

Blessings to all.

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 4:38 pm
by Gawain
Be kind to others even if it hurts you

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

‘How much is an ice cream sundae?’

’50 cents,’ replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it.

‘How much is a dish of plain ice cream?’ he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient.

’35 cents,’ she said brusquely.

The little boy again counted the coins. ‘I’ll have the plain ice cream,’ he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed.

When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw.

There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were 15 cents – her tip.

Blessings to all.

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2020 5:38 pm
by Gawain
Letting Go

In exactly the same way that birds have to find the courage to let go of a branch in order to actually fly, we must also let go of our emotional branches if we are to experience the exhilaration of soaring to our highest potential in life!

The branches we hold on to are our innermost attachments: our beliefs, our bad habits and those memories which keep us stuck. And then there are the outer attachments: they are people, possessions, positions and privileges - to name but a few. We must be aware that as long as we hold onto them, we will actually live in fear (of letting go and loss) and we will never feel the freedom that we all deserve. Once you become aware of those birds and the initial courage they display when they let go of their branches just prior to flying, you will be capable of experiencing life in a totally different way.

This can be your new recipe of how to live a life where you learn to let go of one branch at a time, and learn to have new experiences, one at a time. The birds have found that by letting go of one branch, they are then able to spend the rest of their lives trying many other branches, one branch at a time, and they can enjoy the view from each new vantage point. What a way to live!

Are you actually flying and soaring in your life, or are you stuck on one branch, resenting others as they fly past?

You can do it, go on, just try letting go!

Remember this - not letting go of old stuff is the same as driving through life with a flat tyre on our cars; not stopping to change it; hoping that it will fix itself; pretending that the ride is smooth; knowing that it isn't; until one day it gets so loud and bumpy that we are forced to stop and take a look, and actually get help!

Blessings to all!

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2020 5:55 pm
by Gawain
Promise yourself

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear; and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

Blessings to all.

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 6:24 am
by Gawain
Wednesday's Mass:

Geese

A flock of wild geese had settled to rest on a pond. One of the flock had been captured by a gardener, who had clipped its wings before releasing it. When the geese started to resume their flight, this one tried frantically, but vainly, to lift itself into the air. The others, observing his struggles, flew about in obvious efforts to encourage him; but it was no use.

Thereupon, the entire flock settled back on the pond and waited, even though the urge to go on was strong within them. For several days they waited until the damaged feathers had grown sufficiently to permit the goose to fly.

Meanwhile, the unethical gardener, having been converted by the ethical geese, gladly watched them as they finally rose together and all resumed their long flight.

Blessings to all.

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 6:24 am
by Gawain
Today's Mass:

The Stone Soup

Many years ago three soldiers, hungry and weary of battle, came upon a small village.

The villagers, suffering a meagre harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three at the village square, wringing their hands and bemoaning the lack of anything to eat.

The soldiers spoke quietly among themselves and the first soldier then turned to the village elders.

'Your tired fields have left you nothing to share, so we will share what little we have - the secret of how to make soup from stones.'

Naturally the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was put to the town's greatest kettle as the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones.

'Now this will be a fine soup', said the second soldier; 'but a pinch of salt and some parsley would make it wonderful!'

Up jumped a villager, crying 'What luck! I've just remembered where some's been left!'

Then off she ran, returning with an apron full of parsley and a turnip. As the kettle boiled on, the memory of the village improved: soon barley, carrots, beef and cream had found their way into the great pot, and a cask of wine was rolled into the square as all sat down to feast. They ate and danced and sang well into the night, refreshed by the feast and their new-found friends.

In the morning the three soldiers awoke to find the entire village standing before them. At their feet lay a satchel of the village's best breads and cheese. 'You have given us the greatest of gifts - the secret of how to make soup from stones', said an elder, 'and we shall never forget.'

The third soldier turned to the crowd, and said: 'There is no secret, but this is certain, it is only by sharing that we may make a feast', then off the soldiers wandered, down the road.

Blessings to all.

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2020 2:11 pm
by Gawain
Letting Go

In exactly the same way that birds have to find the courage to let go of a branch in order to actually fly, we must also let go of our emotional branches if we are to experience the exhilaration of soaring to our highest potential in life! The branches we hold on to are our innermost attachments: our beliefs, our bad habits and those memories which keep us stuck. And then there are the outer attachments: they are people, possessions, positions and privileges - to name but a few. We must be aware that as long as we hold onto them, we will actually live in fear (of letting go and loss) and we will never feel the freedom that we all deserve. Once you become aware of those birds and the initial courage they display when they let go of their branches just prior to flying, you will be capable of experiencing life in a totally different way. This can be your new recipe of how to live a life where you learn to let go of one branch at a time, and learn to have new experiences, one at a time. The birds have found that by letting go of one branch, they are then able to spend the rest of their lives trying many other branches, one branch at a time, and they can enjoy the view from each new vantage point. What a way to live! Are you actually flying and soaring in your life, or are you stuck on one branch, resenting others as they fly past? You can do it, go on, just try letting go!

Remember this - not letting go of old stuff is the same as driving through life with a flat tyre on our cars; not stopping to change it; hoping that it will fix itself; pretending that the ride is smooth; knowing that it isn't; until one day it gets so loud and bumpy that we are forced to stop and take a look, and actually get help!

Blessings to all.

Re: Temple of Paz

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 5:06 am
by Gawain
Sunday's Mass:

Three Simple Words that Change Everything

How wonderful it would be if there were a simple formula for success.‘Follow these steps and you will be successful in business, as a parent, as a student, in your vocation or in any endeavour you attempt.’ Only if it were that easy. I think of the man who was honoured as ‘Businessperson of the Year.’ At the presentation dinner, a newspaper reporter asked him . . . ‘To what do you owe your great success and prosperity?’

‘Five things contributed to my success’ . . . said the man.‘First, I always treated people fairly. Second, I always offered a fair price. Third, I was always honest. Fourth, I was always generous to my employees. And fifth, my aunt died a few years back and left me two and a half million dollars.’

Certainly, the top four items on his list are well worth following - fairness, sound business principles, honesty and generosity. Each contributes toward success and the aunt's infusion of money certainly helped. But there is one behaviour that will almost always guarantee that we will succeed at most everything we do. And it is especially important if we want to build whole and happy lives.

A university professor points us to that behaviour. He sums it up in three simple words . . . ‘and then some.’

Most people do what is expected of them. But some do what is expected and then some.

- They meet their obligations and responsibilities fairly and then some.
- They are good friends to their friends and then some.
- They build bridges; they mend fences and then some.
- They can be counted on in an emergency and then some.
- They are considerate and kind and then some.
- They donate money, expertise and time and then some.

There are many paths to getting what you want out of life and becoming the kind of person you want to be in life. But the surest way of succeeding is to remember those three words . . . ‘and then some.’

They are only three simple words, but they change everything.

Blessings to all.