Jan Denise Quotations

Watching the sun rise over the ocean is making it easy for me to wake up and get out of bed. I'm not jumping up to take a shower or go to work. I'm jumping up to greet the majesty of the day, of God, of me. The majesty reminds me that God's in his heaven ... and so am I. And, heaven is a lovely place to start the day, a lovely place to live.

When I'm tempted to do something that feels like giving up, I won't ... because love doesn't give up (I Corinthians, 13). But, lest I push love aside, I will make sure that what I'm holding on to can coexist with love.

When I'm not afraid to fail, I wont. When I'm not afraid to fall down, falling down won't feel like failure. I have fallen down enough to get more comfortable with it, to know how productive it can be, how necessary it is to growth. Still, when I sense the ground beneath me giving way, I have to remind myself that it's OK if I falter. I have to remind myself that it's more than OK!

Love really does make everything beautiful, from the inside out.

I was struck today with a realization that a friend had way ahead of me. I was equally struck by his ability to live his truth while still accepting me as I was ...a timely lesson for Jan.

If we quiet our minds, we can hear the truth discerned by the heart.

If we're not careful, we can get caught up in talking about what we don't know ...instead of acting on what we do know.

I don't have to be doing too much to avoid taking on more!

I cried, and cried some more. I told God that I was weary of trying. And, God told me to quit trying. It doesn't sound like a revelation, but it feels like a revelation. Because I got it on a deeper level. I'm going to quit trying. When I forget, I'm going to remind myself. I'm going to do what I want to do; and I'm going to quit trying to do the rest. It's not the doing that's exhausting; it's the trying. The doing is exhilarating!

I am learning to trust my instincts, rather than struggle too hard with reason ... because reason can get buried in misinformation, or too much information; and it can lack the miracle of love.

I am here again, in a familiar place feeling something I've felt before, wondering why it's still here, why I didn't deal with it more fully before. But I'm glad I have a second chance at it ... and I know that if I need a third chance, I'll get it. I also know that if it comes up again, I'll recognize it sooner and deal with it more readily. This is growth. And, I am happy to be alive.

I am sometimes disappointed, but I love my life ... and I must believe that the disappointments contribute something to what I love.

I have, in the past, seen settling down as a deterrent to growth. It doesn't have to be, though. It can be the launching of new growth.

If I nurture the newness while I have it, perhaps, I won't lose it at least not for something less. And if I nurture what I keep, perhaps, I won't miss what I have lost.

Today, I will know the unadulterated joy of giving with no strings. I acknowledge that sometimes I hope for praise or reciprocation when I give ... and that that detracts from the joy of giving. Today, the giving will be my joy. I know that I will sow what I reap, but I will not sow for the purpose of reaping. I will sow for the joy of sowing.

When I am me, I can see me in my space. My desk faces the window and an ocean. The flower on my desk gives off a wonderful aroma. The refrigerator has something in it I feel good about eating. When I am me, I can see me in my day. I am writing. I am talking from a heart of love. I am reviewing my notes, or editing, or walking, or something outside. I am connecting with nature and people.

Here I am again. And the familiarity feels more uncomfortable than comfortable. It's time to make a change. And, now, I have what we need to make it.

It is not only my right and my privilege to walk in the abundance God has for me, it is my responsibility...just as it is my responsibility to live the rest of my truth.

It is OK for me to hold out for what I want. It is OK for me to find a way to make it happen. As long as I am following my truth, as long as I am not invested in how or when it happens or who helps, it is more than OK. Trusting the outcome, trusting the laws of the universe, is different from being invested in the outcome.

Life's not about staying on your feet. It's about getting up when you fall. Thank God!

Living in the moment, yesterday is farther away than it used to be. And, so is tomorrow. They both matter less.

I still find myself walking away from the water's edge before I have what I need. I turn around and walk back toward the water ...sometimes two or three times, as if I can't decide whether to stay or leave. I will sit down more often and yield to the giver ...and when I return to my desk, I will have what I want to give.

When I keep asking myself the same question over and over, maybe it's not because I don't have the answer, but because I don't like the answer.

Walking away from something means believing for something more. And if I want something more, I must believe it's out there (or in here). Would God give me a desire that he could not fill? Or am I to suppose another source?

There can be a fine line between determination to see the best in somebody and expecting him to change.

I've been getting rid of some clutter anything that doesn't serve a positive purpose in my life and making room for things that feel happy to me. Because I get to make my life whatever I want it to be. I get to make the room feel however I want it to feel. I get to make the closet as full or as spacious as I want it. And, if I have more clutter to get rid of after Christmas, I'm not going to wait a year, or two or three to do it.

I've been getting rid of some clutter ù anything that doesn't serve a positive purpose in my life ù and making room for things that feel happy to me. Because I get to make my life whatever I want it to be. I get to make the room feel however I want it to feel. I get to make the closet as full or as spacious as I want it. And, if I have more clutter to get rid of after Christmas, I'm not going to wait a year, or two or three to do it.

Somewhere along the line I decided that if I had something or did something that maybe it wasn't so great after all. I don't believe that anymore, but I realized today that in some areas I still act as though I do. I won't anymore. Smile. Sigh. Smile.

Sometimes less is more. Our quest for more, then, keeps us from it.

Anytime I am looking to somebody else as my source, I'm coming from scarcity. I am no longer trusting God, or the Universe, for my harvest. It's reasonable for me to have expectations based on what somebody I trust has committed to. And it's natural for me to feel disappointed when that somebody doesn't come through. But when I feel more than disappointment, when I also feel anger, it's because I deviated from my truth. It's because I compromised my truth to get what somebody else promised. Because when I'm really following my truth, I will be at peace with the consequences ù whatever they are. I can accept somebody else's truth, but I must live my own truth. And sometimes that means walking away from a relationship.

As I was snuggling back into my bed after getting up to use the bathroom, I breathed a little, ""This must be like heaven."" I love my bed. I love the ""ahh"" that comes with getting warm and smelling fresh sheets. I also love how it feels to get clean when I'm dirty and eat when I'm hungry. So, I'm thinking that maybe we still get cold, and dirty, and hungry in heaven. And, that's going to help me enjoy getting cold, and dirty, and hungry in earth (or in this body) just a little bit more.

Abundance doesn't follow giving until giving becomes its own reward.

It's easy for me to have a relationship with God. I know I can trust him ... to be there, to do the right thing, to love me. And, it's easy for me to have a relationship with me. I know I can trust me ù not to be perfect, but to keep growing in that direction. And when I find somebody else I can trust, I have a strong foundation for a loving relationship.

I took a day of solitude today. We know what we need. Taking it is delightful.

The best advice we can give ourselves is the loving advice we'd give somebody else. I can get some great clarity during my own workshops.

It's amazing how my words, I am not determined to do good, but to be good, from The Person I Don't Have Time To Be have struck me on a deeper level. When I am good, I don't have to try to do good. When I am love, I don't have to worry about coming from love. I simply need to be who I am.

I want to let things unfold, without trying to reach a conclusion prematurely. I will remind myself that it doesn't matter what the conclusion is ... and that if it seems to matter, I'm not living MY truth.

I love words ... so I can be a sucker for eloquence. Sometimes I assume that there is substance behind the words. Sometimes I am right. And, sometimes I am wrong.

I needed his lack of concern for the insignificant as much as he needed my mindfulness. But I had a tough time getting it ... I was busy pushing my mindfulness, and he was unconcerned about pushing anything.

In my ideal life, I am ... If there's something on the list that I am not, I must ask myself if it's really me. And if it is, I must ask myself why I'm not manifesting it. When I see what's standing in my way, I can move beyond it.

How often my fear and ambivalence are rooted in what somebody else may think. But I need not present my actions, my words, myself for somebody else's approval. And basing my decisions on somebody else's approval or making my own approval contingent on somebody else's only postpones what I really want.

Am I holding on, thinking that surely he's going to figure out that I'm right? Is there some possibility that I'm not? :-)