Wednesday 30 March 2011

Now

Dwell not on the past.  
Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind.  
Nothing really matters except 
what you do now in this instant of time.  
From this moment onwards you can be 
an entirely different person,
filled with love and understanding, 
ready with an outstretched hand, 
uplifted and positive in every thought and deed.
- Eileen Caddy

Monday 28 March 2011

Not Right

Every time I've done something 
that doesn't feel right, 
it's ended up not being right.
- Mario Cuomo

Friday 25 March 2011

Be

The chief happiness for a man 
is to be what he is.
- Erasmus

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Childishness

When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret 
and would have been ashamed 
if I had been found doing so.  
Now that I am fifty I read them openly.  
When I became a man I put away childish things, 
including the fear of childishness 
and the desire to be very grown up.
- C.S. Lewis

Monday 21 March 2011

Season

Live in each season as it passes; 
breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, 
and resign yourself to the influences of each.
- Henry David Thoreau

Friday 18 March 2011

March 18, 2011 Chautauqua

From the Editor's Computer



   The other day I read an interesting article on a study done in England to end homelessness (http://gimundo.com/news/article/researchers-discover-most-effective-way-to-help-homeless-get-off-streets/).  

   The fascinating part of the article was that the researchers - who used 13 homeless people for the study - discovered that their methods were successful if they gave the people themselves a choice as to what they needed in their lives to enable them to get off the streets.  Each person was treated as an individual with individual needs.  One person asked for a pair of shoes, another a camper van.  Each received £3,000 and was required to meet with a “broker” regularly to budget the money.

   By giving the people more choice and independence, 11 of the 13 in the study are off the streets and living new lives.

   Never underestimate the simple power of choice. 


Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DvlD7y8xd_L2aJBA7GUchDrYbXCxnbLK/view?usp=sharing

To contact The Chautauqua, email: thechautauqua@gmail.com.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Good Laugh

 A good laugh and a long sleep 
are the best cures in the doctor's book.
- Irish Proverb

Monday 14 March 2011

Change

 I wanted to change my life 
without changing my life.
- Gretchen Rubin

Friday 11 March 2011

Like

I do not like having to try to make myself like things; 
I like things that make me like them 
at once and no trying at all.  
- Samuel Butler

Wednesday 9 March 2011

My Response

I have come to the frightening conclusion 
that I am the decisive element...
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.  
I possess tremendous power 
to make life miserable or joyous...
In all situations, 
it is my response that decides...
- Goethe

Monday 7 March 2011

Improve

See everything.  
Overlook a great deal.  
Improve a little.
- Pope John XXII

Friday 4 March 2011

March 4, 2011 Chautauqua

From the Editor's Computer

   I enjoy reading self-help books of all kinds and subjects as I find them to be very entertaining.  I am usually fortunate to find one or two really good quotations that I can use too.

   Despite the many millions of dollars spent on self-help books each year, the books themselves are, for the most part, not helpful at all.  

   Many of the books encourage a person to not do or improve whatever it is that the book is about as most of the books have exercises galore that are nothing more than a means of distracting the reader from accomplishing whatever it is they want to accomplish.

   There is no self-help secret to life - it isn’t a secret because all of us know what it is and we don’t have to read a book to figure it out.

   It is actually doing whatever we need to do...one task at a time...one step at time...one day at a time...over and over and over again.  It’s pretty simple really.


Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gBK7Nc8t-C_hL866QNjS3MFjfcKNS5KQ/view?usp=sharing

To contact The Chautauqua, email: thechautauqua@gmail.com.

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Questions

What shapes our lives are
the questions we ask,
refuse to ask, 
or never think to ask.
- Sam Keen