Opportunities to Grow
“View all problems as challenges.
Look upon negativities that arise as opportunities to learn and to grow.
Don’t run from them, condemn yourself, or bury your burden in saintly silence.
You have a problem? Great.
More grist for the mill. Rejoice, dive in, and investigate.”
–Henepola Gunaratana (a.k.a. Bhante Gunaratana, a.k.a. Bhante G., Sri Lankan Buddhist Monk, 1927-)
Good Will, Light Hearts and Strong Values
“Almost anything can be dealt with if people are of good will and light hearts and strong values.”
–Robert Fulghum (American Author and Unitarian Clergyman, 1937-)
Facing Danger
“If a bird is flying for pleasure it flies with the wind, but if it meets danger it turns and faces the wind, in order that it may rise higher.”
–Corrie ten Boom (Dutch Watchmaker, Evangelist, Protector of Jewish Refugees and Holocaust Survivor, 1892-1983)
Problems Are Gifts
“There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands.”
–Sir John Marks Templeton (American-born British Investor, Philanthropist and Active Proponent of Reintroducing Spirituality into Day-to-Day life, 1912-2008)
“Worldwide Laws Of Life: 200 Eternal Spiritual Principles” (John Marks Templeton)
Through Crisis to Growth and Renewal
“This is the supreme purpose of the present human phase of terrestrial history; that the normal crisis which has struck us shall be compensated by the renewal and growth of our beings, in the double form of a necessity and an attraction, of a divine pressure emanating from the Absolute.”
–Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (French Jesuit Priest, Mystic, Paleontologist and Author, 1881-1955)
Growing Through Adversity
“The deeper we go into our own suffering and sorrow, the more we discover that the seeds of love and healing lie hidden under the pain.”
–Frances Vaughan (American Transpersonal Psychologist and Writer)
“Shadows of the Sacred: Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions” (Frances Vaughan)
Stretched By Adversity
“The human soul thrives on a challenge or a problem and, once it is stretched by struggling with any sort of adversity, it can never shrink all the way back to its original dimensions.”
–Guy Murchie (American Artist, Photographer, Member of the Bahá’í Faith and Author, 1907-1997)
Truths About Trouble
“Wise are they who have learned these truths:
Trouble is temporary.
Time is tonic.
Tribulation is a Test Tube.”
–William Arthur Ward (American Writer, Pastor and Teacher, 1921-1997)
Tansforming Adversity
“Of all the virtues we can learn, no trait is more useful, more essential for survival, and more likely to improve the quality of life than the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge.”
–Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Italian-born Hungarian American Psychologist and Author, 1934-)
Awakening Through Adversity
“Trials, difficulties, and challenges bring us to our senses about our lives. They can serve as vehicles of realization, helping us to understand why we are here and how necessary the spiritual journey is for us.
They awaken us to the serious purpose of life and inspire us not to waste this opportunity on a halfhearted existence.”
–Wayne Teasdale (American Catholic Monk and Proponent of Interfaith Dialogue, 1945-2004)
The Mystic Hours, A Daybook of Inspirational Wisdom & Devotion
