HeartQuotes from November, 2002

Alfred Souza
For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin.....
But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.

Doc Childre
True creativity quite simply starts with balancing your emotions and activating the power of the heart. Through practicing emotional management from the heart, you tap into the highest form of creativity possible—recreating your perceptions of reality.

Morrie Schwartz, in "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Carl Jung
We should not pretend to understand the world only by the intellect; we apprehend it just as much by feeling. Therefore, the judgement of the intellect is, at best, only the half of truth, as must, if it be honest, also come an understanding of its inadequacy.

Helen Keller
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an unchartered land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.

Doc Childre, Self Empowerment
I realize it's hard not to churn your problems and I'm not idealistically saying you shouldn't. Still, you can learn to manage your non-efficient thinking and emotions. Just learn to be as conscious of your *mental and emotional energy expenditures and returns* as you are conscious of your dollar expenditures and returns. Remember the mental and emotional budget sheet. If you *halfway* play with this concept, it can give you a new perspective on energy economy.

Gail Sheehy
If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living. Growth demands a temporary surrender of security.

Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman, Overcoming Emotional Chaos: Eliminate anxiety, lift depression and create security in your life
With heart integrity and practice, it is possible for anyone, even in our chaotic society, to regulate their emotional energy and to manage overwhelm. Through the heart, we can find a new flow no matter what comes up. The choice is ours.

Leo Buscaglia
Too often we under estimate 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.

Charles Swindoll
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt.
He said, "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one."
The grandson asked him, "Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?"
The grandfather answered, "The one I feed."

The full story:
http://www.turtle-tracks.org/issue50/i50_3.html

Barbara L. Fredrickson
Positive emotions can have effects beyond making people "feel good" or improving their subjective experiences of life. They also have the potential to broaden people's habitual modes of thinking and build their physical, intellectual, and social resources. These processes can help people overcome current stresses faster and make them more resilient to future adversities.

Robert Cooper, Ph.D. coauthor Executive EQ
Feelings provide us with vital and potentially profitable information every minute of the day. This feed back from the heart, and not the head, is what ignites creative genius, keeps you honest with yourself, shapes trusting relationships, provides an inner compass for your life and career, guides you to unexpected possibilities, and may even save you or your organization from disaster.

Margaret Wheatley
The need to relinquish our certainty lies at the heart both of modern science and ancient spirituality. From the science of Complexity, Ilya Prigogine tells us that, "The future is uncertain. . .but such uncertainty lies at the very heart of human creativity." It is uncertainty that creates the space for invention. We must let go, clear the space, leap into the void of not-knowing, if we want to discover anything new.

Source: http://www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/pleasedisturb.html

Margaret Wheatley
In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.

Vaclav Havel
Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.

Morrie Schwartz, quoted by Mitch Albom, "Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man and the Last Great Lesson", Doubleday, 1997
The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.

His voice dropped to a whisper. "Let it come in. We think we don't deserve love, we think if we let it in we'll become too soft. But a wise man named Levine said it right. He said, 'Love is the only rational act.'"

Doc Childre, Freeze-Frame
With the guidance of your heart, you can make quality decisions and your life will be more fun. Being alive in the heart is what makes life worthwhile. When you are in touch with your heartfelt emotions, you find your true core values and enrich your life.

Rainer Maria Rilke
Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart. And try to love the questions themselves.

Albert Einstein
Out of clutter, find Simplicity.
From discord, find Harmony.
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises from 1959-1994
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends, and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.

Mother Teresa
There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.

Doc Childre and Howard Martin, The HeartMath Solution
Generally, appreciation means some blend of thankfulness, admiration, approval, and gratitude. In the financial world, something that "appreciates" grows in value. With the power tool of appreciation, you get the benefit of both perspectives: as you learn to be consistently thankful and approving, your life will grow in value.

Dag Hammarskjold
Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is again made clean.