If I had my life to live over...

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television, and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

There would have been more “I love you’s.” More “I’m sorry’s.”

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute… look at it and really see it… live it… and never give it back.

Stop sweating the small stuff. Don’t worry about who doesn’t like you, who has more, or who’s doing what.

Instead, let’s cherish the relationships we have with those who DO love us.

Let’s think about what the universe blessed us with.

And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally, as well as spiritually.

Life is too short to let it pass you by.

We only have one shot at this and then it’s gone.

I hope you all have a blessed day.

I know I am imperfect. Wow, so imperfect. I still am in defect from time to time. I still want to give in to old beliefs and fears from time to time. And my old habits, man, they cling to me like a newborn baby to their mother. I can be aware of that and have compassion for myself at the same time. Tomorrow I will do better. Although I say that every day, it will be true for the rest of my life. Tomorrow I will do a little better job at opening my heart, softening my soul, clearing my mind, and keeping my side of the street clean. Its an endless project trying to work on myself, and I know sometimes I need to try a little harder to take the contrary action. Its difficult for me sometimes to give up the behavior that feels like second nature. I am struggling with letting myself off the hook tonight. I should have known better. I should have done better. So what?! I wasn't perfect. I didn't work a perfect program. So what!!! NO ONE IS DYING. i will do better tomorrow.

i love myself tonight exactly as I am. Defects, quirks, obsessions, compulsions and all...

ramblings

I don't worry about tomorrow because God has already been there and He has set the stage. I can only love myself as much as i believe I am lovable. The only way to have serenity is to become willing to accept the things I cannot change. You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to.

You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with

saturday quotations and buddha love

"On another occasion, over coffee, a woman said it was difficult to mix Zen with being a housewife. She felt she was trying to climb a ladder, but for every step up, she’d go down two. “Forget the ladder,” Suzuki told her. “In Zen, everything is right here on the ground."

"Everything is as it is. It has no name other than the name we give it. It is we who call it something; we give it a value. We say this thing is good or it’s bad, but in itself, the thing is only as it is. It’s not absolute; it’s just as it is. People are just as they are."

The real seeker of truth never seeks truth. On the contrary, he tries to clean himself of all that is untrue, inauthentic, insincere - and when his heart is ready, purified, the guest comes. You cannot find the guest, you cannot go after him. He comes to you; you just have to be prepared. You have to be in a right attitude.

Accept yourself
what a stupid boring world we would live in
if all humans were exactly same
learn acceptance of yourself just the way you are
existence has given birth to you
and accepts you unconditionally
you are breathing and alive with its aliveness…a miracle in itself
each and every individual in unique
and irreplaceable in this vast cosmos
the very beauty of you remains its unique signature
Swami Rajneesh

Aloneness is the joy of being just yourself. It is being joyous with yourself, it is enjoying your own company. There are very few people who enjoy their own company. And it is a very strange world: nobody enjoys his company and everybody wants others to enjoy his company! If they don’t enjoy he feels insulted — and alone he feels disgusted with himself. In fact, if YOU cannot enjoy your own company, who else is going to enjoy it?
Osho

Develop the mind of equilibrium.
You will always be getting praise and blame,
but do not let either affect the poise of the mind:
follow the calmness, the absence of pride.
Buddha

That which is threatening to the ego is liberating for the heart. By turning to face the inarguable facts of nature, the habit of investing in unstable realms is interrupted. It shines the light of wisdom on the issue, reveals that we’ve been looking for certainty in the wrong place, and thus frees up the attention to realize where security can be found.

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. It takes courage to endure the sharp pains of self discovery rather than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last the rest of our lives.

"Get rid of objects, thoughts or relationships that hold you back. Clear the energy in your life; allow the new to enter."

"Five minutes are enough to dream a whole life, that is how relative time is." — Mario Benedetti

"Remember that what people say to you is a reflection of who they are, how they perceive the world, and how they speak to themselves. They may criticize you because they are critical of themselves. See their actions and words as a statement of their beliefs and learn to remain calm and centered."

IT ISINT BY GETTING OUT OF THE WORLD THAT WE BECOME ENLIGHTENED BUT BY GETTING INTO THE WORLD...BY GETTING SO TUNED IN THAT WE CAN RIDE THE WAVES OF OUR EXISTENCE AND NEVER GET TOSSED BECAUSE WE BECOME THE WAVES

You have experienced moments in your life,
whether or not you are aware of them,
when you momentarily forget the “I” with which you have been identified.
It can happen spontaneously at a beautiful sight,
or it can occur from egoic forgetfulness.

People usually discount these moments.
After experiencing the “nice moments”,
you then reconstitute your familiar sense of identity.
But actually these opportunities are like little peep holes
through which the Truth is experienced.
If you start to watch for them,you wil notice them.
All of a sudden the mind will stop thinking of its story.
You might notice that your separate identity or sense of me
took a break,and whatever you truly are didn’t disappear.
Then ask yourself,” What is the real me?
If my identity can take a break and I don’t disappear,
what am I then?”
or rather.
“What am I when I do disappear?”

I’m such an incredibly, stupidly sensitive person that everything that happens to me, I experience it really intensely. I feel everything very deeply. And when you feel things deeply and you think about things a lot and you think about how you feel, you learn a lot about yourself. And when you know yourself, you know life. Fiona Apple

The hammer belongs in the tool shed, not in my hand.

Happiness and suffering come from your own mind, not from outside. Your own mind is the cause of happiness; your own mind is the cause of suffering. To obtain happiness and pacify suffering, you have to work within your own mind.

— Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Don’t seek, don’t search, don’t ask, don’t knock, don’t demand—relax. If you relax, it comes. If you relax, it is there. If you relax, you start vibrating with it.

— Osho

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.

— Roald Dahl

A very long time went by, it seems. At some point I drifted into sleep. By the time I sensed the presence of something and woke, the light was already there… Almost unconsciously, I spread open both my hands and received the sun in my palms… In the light, tears poured out of me. I felt as if all the fluids of my body might turn to tears and come streaming from my eyes, that my body itself might melt away like this. If it could have happened in the bliss of this marvelous light, even death would have been no threat. Indeed, I felt I wanted to die. I had a marvelous sense of oneness, an overwhelming sense of unity. Yes, that was it: the true meaning of life resided in that light that lasted for however many seconds it was, and I felt I ought to die right then and there. — Murakami

Who needs faith when joy is right here?
• The earth is my temple
• Love is my prayer
• The present moment is my god
• I can step inside heaven whenever I choose

11:25

"Dear God, we know that only love is real. We know that love is who we are. And yet dear God at times we do not feel that way. And so each of us now surrender to you every thought and every feeling, everything we have and everything that we are. We open our minds as never before. We ask that your spirit now illumine our thinking. May every thought of fear now turn to love. May every thought of weakness now turn to strength. May every thought of blame now turn to blessing. May every withhold now turn to giving. May every false belief now turn to truth. Dear God, we surrender to you every aspect of our lives that our thoughts about our aspect now shall be lifted above and beyond the confines of thought and limitation and narrowness and fear of the past. Dear God, please purify my heart, purify my mind, that I might begin again. And so it is we say."

-Marianne Williamson

Your job in this world is just to change your mind.

I am alone, but I am not lonely.

Society is afraid of alonedom, like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements, like people must have problems if, after a while, nobody is dating them. But lonely is a freedom that breathes easy and weightless, and lonely is healing if you make it…‘Cause if you’re happy in your head, than solitude is blessed, and alone is okay…

Before I go to sleep tonight I will free myself through the use of forgiveness. I will see the love in all other beings, instead of the fear or the dysfunction. I know it is there, but I will not dwell in it. I will accept that others are walking where I have walked and will continue to walk. I will remember that all of the children of god are special and none of the children of god are special. I will forgive others for being themselves--even when it offends me. I will love them in spite of what I don't agree with, in spite of what rubs me the wrong way. I will love and accept them like god loves and accepts them--unconditionally. For I, in my daily life, pray that others love me the way god loves me. Unconditionally. Right now. Release.

Little Bee, who are we?

“There is a moment when you wake up from dreaming in the hot sun, a moment outside time when you do not know what you are. At first, because you feel absolutely free, as if you could transform yourself into anything at all, it seems that you must be money. But then you feel the hot breath of something on your face and it seems that no, you are not money, you must be that hot breeze blowing in from the sea. It seems that the heaviness you feel in your limbs is the weight of the salt in the wind, and the sweet sleepiness that bewitches you is simply the weariness that comes from the day-and-night pushing of waves across the ocean.

But next you realize that no, you are not the breeze. In fact you can feel sand drifting against your bare skin. And for an instant you are the sand that the breeze blows up the beach, just one grain of sand among the billions of blown grains. How nice to be inconsequential How pleasant to know that there is nothing to be done. how sweet simply to go back to sleep, as the sand does, until the wind thinks to awaken it again.

But then you understand that no, you are not the sand, because this skin that the sand drifts up again, this skin is your own. Well then, you are a creature with skin-and what of it? it is not as if you are the first creature that fell asleep under the sun, listening to the sound of waves pounding. A billion fishes have slipped away like this, flapping on the blinding white sand, and what difference will one more make?

But the moment carries on, and you are not a fish dying-in fact you are not even truly sleeping-and so you open your eyes and look down on yourself and say Ah, so I am a girl, then, an African girl.

This is what I am and this is how I will stay, as the shape-changing magic of dreams whispers back into the roar of the ocean. “

Experience life in all possible ways —
good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light,
summer-winter. Experience all the dualities.
Don’t be afraid of experience, because
the more experience you have, the more
mature you become.

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.
Thich Nhat Hanh

You are only responsible for your sidewalk

"suffering is not holding you. you are holding suffer. When you become good at letting suffering go, then you'll come to realize how unnecessary it was for you to drag those burdens around with you. You'll see that no one else other than you was responsible. The truth is that existence wants your life to become a festival."

Dream pillowww

“Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on.”

“Sometimes you gotta just take things for what they are and appreciate them, not try to label it or explain it. Explanations take the mystery out of it, you know?”

Hippie Yogi

It's no mystery that thinking can make us happy or miserable. Let’s say you’re sitting under a tree one fine spring day. Nothing particular is happening to you, except perhaps the breeze is ruffling your hair, yet in your mind you’re far away. Maybe you’re remembering another spring day several years back when you were feeling terrible. You had just lost your job, or failed an exam, or your cat had wandered off. That memory turns into a worry. “What if I lose my job again? Why did I ever say such-and-such to so-and-so? No doubt this or that will happen, and I’ll be out on my ear. Now I’m really in for it! How will I pay my bills?” One worry brings up another, which brings up another. Soon you feel your life is in shambles — but all this while you’ve been sitting under the tree!

It is OK to be who you are and to choose what you have.

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival,
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your home
Empty of it's furniture.
Still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be cleaning you out
For some new delight.

When all your ships have sailed one by one and you stand again on the shoreline, you may ask yourself is it the sea I fear, is it the journey, the destination or is it I believe I can only have this sand?

"In life nothing is permanent, nothing can be permanent. It is not within your hands to make anything permanent. Only dead things can be permanent. The more living a thing is, the more fleeting."

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself"

OWN YOURSELF. OWN YOUR ACTIONS. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE LIFE YOU ARE LEADING.

Wednesday Words

Objective conditions are always neutral. It is how you react to them that makes them appear sad or happy. Work on yourself: on your reactions to outer circumstances. This is the essence of yoga: to neutralize the waves of reaction in the heart. Be ever happy inside. You will never be able to change things outwardly in such a way as to make them ever pleasing to you. Change yourself.

Fruity and Tribal- Tuesday FLB trends

TUESDAY'S FASHION WISH LIST!

1. Grey toms

2. Brown/Silver oxfords

3. Tibetan inspired boho bag

4. White lace/eyelet skirt

5. Lip Stain

Liana, I forgive you for being imperfect. For doing things you wish you hadn't. For saying things you wish you hadn't. You did the best you could in those moments, to handle your feelings, and now with more perspective you are able to see that maybe you could have made wiser choices. But this is how you learn. This is how you learn what sits well with your soul and what doesn't. What behavior feels good, and what behavior doesn't. Truth is, there always may be consequences from our mistakes, but those are out of our hands. If there are consequences, in due time, we will know of them. However, there is something for us to take from our mistakes. Take away how it makes you feel. Remember that whats most important is to be on good terms with yourself. More important than the external consequences and your terms with others, is how you feel in your own skin when you go to sleep at night. Of course you feel lonely when you don't like yourself. And of course you don't like yourself when you take actions that come from a place of low self-esteem. So what, it happens. Make a living ammends to yourself and stop the behavior that makes you feel bad about yourself. Let the outcome go. It is too late to control what was done yesterday, or the day before. But you can control what you do in this moment. So step into your sunlight, take responsibility for your actions, and trust that your higher power only beseeches on you the consequences that will ultimately be for your higher good. Do not fear consequences. The universe is not here to punish you. It is here to teach you. Make you bigger, more whole, more accepting, more loving, less harsh, less judgemental and negative. For today, take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space. Set all the negativity aside. It only creates toxic energy within you, which breeds anxiety, resentment, and loneliness. Bring positive and constructive energy into the universe. Own the times your energy was not at an esteemable level but let it go. Do not dwell in negative pasts. They are past. Done. Finished. Move on. We cannot move forward until we forgive ourselves. For our imperfection, for our growth process. Sometimes dealing with feelings is messy. That's okay. Just take care of yourself the best you can.

And m o v e f o r w a r d. Love, Liana

“I have no need for the past, I thought, like a child. I did not consider that the past might have a need for me.”

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

My Friday Inspirations

You are a perfectly acceptable human being right now, this minute. You are just as valid as any other human being, without changing a single thing about yourself. That doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to want to grow, evolve or improve yourself, or you can’t do better sometimes, it just means right now this instant, you are worthy of your own self love. Even if it is hard to love yourself sometimes (and boy, is it!), or you’re struggling with some really difficult stuff in your life, you still deserve it.

So dearest you, be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and give the best version of you that you can give, but know that even in the tough times, you are still valid, worthy and deserving of your own self love.