BEST of PONDER on THIS for Thursday, July 1st, 2010 by Jeff Maziarek in SPIRITUALITY SIMPLIFIED

Posted on July 1, 2010 by jmaz479

“The past only has an impact on the present when you continue to waste your powerful thought and feeling energies on something that no longer exists at all, other than in your own mind. Whatever it was that happened is finished now, and no matter how uncomfortable it was for you, you need to come to the understanding that at some level you chose it, and that it helped to build your character and make you a stronger individual.

Whenever you do find yourself wondering why something turned out the way it did, I suggest calling to mind the old adage that often times “God does work in mysterious ways.” The truth is, you really don’t know the “big picture.” So, even though you might be inclined to feel sad about a certain event in your past, make the decision to accept the realization that there is a higher order to things, and that something good will eventually come of it.”

Jeff Maziarek, in “Spirituality Simplified”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 by Donald Altman in THE MINDFULNESS CODE

Posted on June 30, 2010 by jmaz479

“There is a story of how the Buddha once gave a talk to hundreds of monks, only to have them disagree and walk out on him. Did the Buddha then try to spin his message to get high approval ratings and win the monks over? No – he stood by his teaching rather than trying to make his talk more agreeable to his audience. Did he take the monks’ response personally? If he had, the conflict could have driven the monks away for good. The Buddha instead trusted that if the monks found his words valuable, they would return. And they did.

When we crave approval, we may never find our authentic voice or establish honest relationship. As Lao Tzu taught, Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. Trusting your feelings, though, does not mean bludgeoning another over the head with your version of truth. Being genuine is not about winning or losing.”

Donald Altman, in “The Mindfulness Code”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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BEST of PONDER on THIS for Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 by Eckhart Tolle in THE POWER OF NOW

Posted on June 29, 2010 by jmaz479

“If you are one of the many people who have an issue with their parents, if you still harbor resentment about something they did or did not do, then you still believe that they had a choice – that they could have acted differently.

It always looks as if people had a choice, but that is an illusion. As long as your mind with its conditioned patterns runs your life, as long as you are your mind, what choice do you have? None. You are not even there. The mind-identified state is severely dysfunctional. It is a form of insanity. Almost everyone is suffering from this illness in varying degrees. The moment you realize this, there can be no more resentment. How can you resent someone’s illness? The only appropriate response is compassion.”

Eckhart Tolle,  in “The Power of Now”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Monday, June 28th, 2010 by Richard Blackstone in NUTS & BOLTS SPIRITUALITY

Posted on June 28, 2010 by jmaz479

“Many people think that they are just one person and by themselves they won’t make any difference in changing the world. That is wrong thinking. Each and every one of us makes a difference. The whole is made up of the parts. Each part is critical to the creation of a fully functioning whole.

If you don’t think that one person makes a difference think about this. It is rush hour traffic at 7:30 a.m. and one car breaks down in the middle of the freeway. Does that one car make a difference? Has that one car affected the traffic patterns of all the other cars behind it? One lady refused to leave her seat on a bus in Mobile, Alabama and created a catalyst of change throughout this country. Do you think that Rosa Parks was in collaboration with a freedom movement at the time? Or do you think a freedom movement evolved from this woman’s one act of defiance?

One person makes a difference. What makes you think that you don’t have something to contribute? Do you think of yourself as being so small that you don’t matter in this world? I tell you this. Your thinking small does not serve the world.”

Richard Blackstone, in “Nuts & Bolts Spirituality”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Friday, June 25th, 2010 by Alan Cohen in RELAX INTO WEALTH

Posted on June 25, 2010 by jmaz479

“When you focus on lack and smallness, you hamper your ability to see solutions. As you relax and trust in universal supply, you expand your vision to discover your next step to success. Your actions demonstrate what you believe. If you want to know what you believe, observe how you are living and feeling. When you hoard or hold back from letting your resources flow, you attest that there is a limited amount available to you and you must protect yourself from loss. When you stay in the current of expressing and sharing your wealth – even if it appears to be small – you affirm there is enough for yourself and everyone. Then life can and will manifest your affirmation.

Master metaphysician Florence Scovel Shinn explained: “All sickness is due to congestion and all healing is due to circulation.” This principle applies to prosperity as well. When your mind is congested with thoughts of lack, resistance, and struggle, money cannot come to you or through you. Prime the pump of your consciousness by giving freely, and the universe will give freely to you.”

Alan Cohen, in “Relax Into Wealth” 

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Thursday, June 24th, 2010 by Robert Mack in HAPPINESS FROM THE INSIDE OUT

Posted on June 24, 2010 by jmaz479

“Expectation is the source of all misery in the world. In order to be happy, therefore, you must give up your expectations; you must detach from the need for having specific outcomes or specific or specific results. You must not expect anybody to do or not do anything in particular and you must not expect anything in particular to happen or not happen. This is the law of expectation. When you learn to accept and love what is, you open yourself up to a world of possibilities. You must learn to let the present be what it is – a gift in its own right – without wrapping it and coloring it with expectations of what it might become, good or bad.

You can tell you’ve violated the law of expectation when you feel negative emotion.The moment you feel disappointed, angry, frustrated, or resentful is the moment you’ve traded unconditional happiness for conditional happiness.You feel negative emotion only because you’re comparing what you think should be or could be. Every time you make that kind of comparison you’re jeopardizing your present moment. And as you jeopardize your present moment, you jeopardize your future moments too, because unhappiness now leads to greater unhappiness later.”

Robert Mack, in “Happiness from the Inside Out”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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BEST of PONDER on THIS for Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 by Sanaya Roman in LIVING WITH JOY

Posted on June 22, 2010 by jmaz479

“Many of you are too humble, wearing the cloak of self-doubt, of wondering who you are. You who are so kind and loving are full of light; you have so much to offer the world. It is important for you to take off your veil, for it hinders you in serving on a larger scale. When you pay attention to your doubts and fears, to that little voice saying, “You’re not good enough,” you are simply giving heed to your lower self. You have the ability to change your focus.

You do not need to pay attention to these voices within you that create pain, or make you feel less competent, smart or able. You can simply act as if that part of you were a small child; hold it, reassure it, and move on. Do not let those voices attract too much of your attention, and do not think that you are them either. Learn not to pay attention to the little voices within that would have you think you are not great.”

Sanaya Roman, in “Living with Joy”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Monday, June 21st, 2010 by Misa Hopkins in THE ROOT OF ALL HEALING

Posted on June 21, 2010 by jmaz479

“Blame is not the same as accountability. When someone has done something inappropriate that has directly caused you to be injured, they have responsibility. It is appropriate to hold that person accountable for their choices. Blame occurs when you had some responsibility too and you want to punish them for their share of responsibility as well as your own. You can even blame yourself by punishing yourself for your share of responsibility, plus the responsibilities of others. Blame also occurs when you are making someone else responsible for your feelings and reactions. Perhaps you were abused as a child and now as an adult your blame your abuser for how you feel about yourself today.

Of course you have a right to feel hurt and anger; however, blame is toxic because it usually feeds the anger with guilt and resentment. When you are blaming, every time you talk about what someone did to you, even if what happened was truly awful, the flames of blame get fanned locking in your anger and keeping you at a distance from healing.”

Misa Hopkins, in “The Root Of All Healing”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Friday, June 18th, 2010 by Suzanne Scurlock-Durana in FULL BODY PRESENCE

Posted on June 18, 2010 by jmaz479

“Because of life experiences over time that have caused us to stifle or shutdown our own connection to the fullness of life, most of us have to relearn how to access it. We reclaim that connection through an engergetic awareness of the internal landscape of our body, which reveals our inner wisdom. Like an inner compass of deep knowing, our innate cellular intelligence informs us constantly. It is a hunch that something is off in a relationship or a sense or rightness about a project that makes no sense logically yet makes our heart sing. It might be a direction we somehow know we need to take, or it might be someone we instinctively know we should avoid at all costs.

This deep wisdom emerges from all parts of us. Sometimes we will feel an ache in our heart or a tightening of our gut. At other times, we might hear it as a whisper of instruction about a confusing person or situation. Wisdom might come as a memory of an event that reminds us of something we need to learn in this moment. The body’s inner compass of wisdom is always with us – though we don’t always listen or immediately know what it is saying.”

Suzanne Scurlock-Durana, in “Full Body Presence”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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BEST of PONDER on THIS for Thursday, June 17th, 2010 by Karol K. Truman in FEELINGS BURIED ALIVE NEVER DIE

Posted on June 17, 2010 by jmaz479

“It’s okay to make a mistake, it’s okay to be wrong, if that’s what we choose to call it. We’ve grown up in a culture that has programmed us to be right for SO long that changing this mind-set may be a frightening and painful adjustment. The reason we may have a difficult adjustment is due to our mind thinking it always has to be right and justified.

Allow yourself to make a mistake. Give yourself permission to be wrong. That’s how we all learn! If we as human beings, could just let go of the unconscious belief that we had to be right and replace that word right with the word correct, maybe the transition would be a little easier to live with. Perhaps the ego wouldn’t be so traumatized at having to give up being right and justified.

“Does it really matter?” would be a good question to ask yourself when you feel the need to be right above all else.”

Karol K. Truman, in “Feelings Buried Alive Never Die”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 by Don Miguel and Don Jose Ruiz in THE FIFTH AGREEMENT

Posted on June 16, 2010 by jmaz479

“Many masters have said that every mind is a world, and it’s true. The world we think we see outside of us is actually inside of us. It’s just images in our imagination. It’s a dream. We are dreaming constantly, and this has been known for centuries, not only in Mexico by the Toltec, but in Greece, in Rome, in India, in Egypt. People all over the world have said, “Life is a dream.” The question is, are we aware of it?

When we aren’t aware that our mind is always dreaming, it’s easy to blame everyone and everything outside of us for all the distortions in our personal dream, for anything that makes us suffer in life. When we become aware that we are living in a dream that we artists are creating, we take a big step in our own evolution because now we can take responsibility for our creation. To realize that our mind is always dreaming gives us the key to changing our dream if we’re not enjoying it.

Who is dreaming the story of your life? You are. If you don’t like your life, if you don’t like what you believe about yourself, you are the only one who can change it. It’s your world; it’s your dream.”

Don Miguel and Don Jose Ruiz, in “The Fifth Agreement”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 by George Anderson and Andrew Barone in WALKING IN THE GARDEN OF SOULS

Posted on June 15, 2010 by jmaz479

“No matter who we are, no matter what we do, and no matter what reason we are sent to the earth to struggle, each of us has meaning. And whether we realize it or not, each of us has incredible value to the world around us and the Infinite Light. The hereafter asks us to try and find that value—not just in each other, but in ourselves. To love ourselves for who we are, and, even sometimes, who we aren’t, is one of the most profound challenges we will face. We grow where we are planted—and use the gifts we have to make that happen…

Stay away from the people on the earth who act like “spiritual vampires,” the ones that tell you that you are worthless unless you are this tall, or this beautiful, or this rich, or this smart…We are all perfect in the eyes of the Infinite Light, and our struggle to come to the hereafter pure of heart and soul will reward us with riches we could never have imagined.”

George Anderson and Andrew Barone, in “Walking in the Garden of Souls”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Monday, June 14th, 2010 by Laura Alden Kamm in INTUITIVE WELLNESS

Posted on June 14, 2010 by jmaz479

A wonderful movie called Auntie Mame has one of my favorite lines: “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” Life is full of experiences that can remind us to let go of the things keeping us from the banquet table and more fully embrace the love of God. I urge you to let go of the things to which you cling. If you are meant to have something or someone in your life, they will not leave you. People, objects, and situations are woven like the threads of a fabric; the nature of the weaving will determine whether it holds or not. You can mend and patch, but if a tear is meant to be, it will happen. So be at peace with the way people and objects weave through your life.”

Laura Alden Kamm, in “Intuitive Wellness”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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PONDER on THIS for Friday, June 11th, 2010 by Chérie Carter-Scott in IF LIFE IS A GAME, THESE ARE THE RULES

Posted on June 11, 2010 by jmaz479

“Have faith in yourself that you will remember your truth and the knowledge stored deep within your soul. There may be moments in which you cannot see your way clear to your truth – moments of darkness and uncertainty. Life can be difficult, and there may be times when you cannot make sense out of it or stay afloat. These are the moments that require faith.

Faith is the lone candle in the darkness when you feel jettisoned out into space, and the invisible net that lies beneath you when you feel as though you may stumble. It is what carries you through those patches of temporary amnesia. Faith is simply believing, without any tangible proof, that although the truth may seem eclipsed at times, it does not disappear forever. It simply lies dormant inside you until you reconnect with your innate wisdom.”

Chérie Carter-Scott in, “If Life Is A Game, These Are The Rules”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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BEST of PONDER on THIS for Thursday, June 10th, 2010 by Jeff Maziarek in SPIRITUALITY SIMPLIFIED

Posted on June 10, 2010 by jmaz479

“The reality is that many of us human beings have the tendency to be much harder on ourselves than we are on anyone else. We commonly feel remorseful about things we have said or done in the past, and at times those feelings become so intense that we actually begin to condemn ourselves. The fact is however, that most of the guilt and the feelings of self-condemnation we experience are, in my view, a complete waste of energy, for what’s done is truly done.

The solution is therefore very simple: Learn to forgive yourself just as you forgive others, for you, too, were merely doing the best you knew how to do at that particular time. Equally as important, you need to develop the understanding that whatever did occur needed to happen for you to become the person you are today.

“Easier said than done” you might say, as self-forgiveness is not always a simple task, especially in the case of acts that caused significant pain or distress to other people. Nevertheless, if you aren’t willing to release all of the resentment you feel toward yourself, how can you expect to be forgiven by whomever it is that you harmed?”

Jeff Maziarek, in “Spirituality Simplified”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

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