Living for Today

I sometimes have to remind myself that it doesn’t matter how clean my house is, how manicured the garden is, or how much items we may own.  Any day could be your last and we all need to live life as though you may not wake up tomorrow.  Be happy, fall in love, and live your life…you only get one chance…

“For years I wanted to be older, and now I am.”

-Margaret Atwood

“There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

-Epictetus

“We are new every day.”

-Irene Claremont Castillego

“Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly.  Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end.  What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind.”

-Henry Miller

Words from Robert Pirsig

 I read “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” about seven years ago.  The book is one of my favorite books, even though I literally had to read most pages a few times to grasp the meaning.  Even so, the book has a deep-rooted meaning of life and the pursuit of finding one self.  Here are a few of my favorite quotes.  And if you have some time, I highly recommend this book.  I promise, the book is worth it.

 

“To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.”

-Robert Pirsig

“We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone. ”

-Robert Pirsig

“Programs of a political nature are important end products of social quality that can be effective only if the underlying structure of social values is right. The social values are right only if the individual values are right. The place to improve the world is first in one’s heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there. ”

-Robert Pirsig

Living Your Life

“We are given one life, and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.”

-Omar Nelson Bradley

“I try to extract something positive from [every] situation, even if it’s just learning not to make the same mistake twice.”

-Claudia Schiffer

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”

-Anatole France