Tag: growth

“When you know, teach. When you get, give.” —Maya Angelou

Happy 2020! I wish you a new decade beyond what you have imagined. I hope what you have imagined for yourself is big, real big.

In reflecting on 2019, I have compassionately closed its chapter in order to open myself fully to a limitless new one in 2020. With this gained insight, I would like to share some inspiring reflection pieces that have expanded my inner and outer self. Both poignant pieces by the master of inner spiritual growth and wisdom, the one and only Oprah. Below is a thoughtfully edited compilation video of Oprah’s profound speeches as well as some of my favorite quotes from one of my top 2019 books, Oprah’s The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose.

Just like Oprah, I relish an aha moment. In her book she shares quotes and stories from her conversations with an array of seasoned individuals. It bestowed many ahas for me and I wish for you the same.

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands resistance.” —Steven Pressfield

“The more important an activity is to your soul’s evolution, the more resistance you will feel to it.” —Steven Pressfield

“[Stephen Pressfield] explained that no matter the dream, the shadow of resistance is inevitable. If’s like the yin and yang—you can’t have the dream without the shadow. So, the more importance I placed on the Harvard speech, the stronger the resistance. It meant that there was no point in blaming myself for my anxiety, because what I was experiencing was actually a spiritual law. The worries running around in my head were nothing more than the natural force of negativity at work, the shadow that lives in all of us trying to convince us of our unworthiness: You’re not good enough. What do you think you’ve got to say to the kids at Harvard? Understanding this changed everything. Steven’s theory was a totally new way of looking at fear: For every dream, there is automatically going to be resistance. But your sheer will and desire can be stronger than the shadow. You get to decide. You get to declare, I want this, and confront the fear head-on.” —Oprah, excerpt from The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose.

“The ultimate care of the soul is being identified with the life that wants to live through you. So at any point, your life may give a hint that you should be moving on—maybe to a different job or even a different marriage. And if you hold back on that and say, “No, that would disrupt me,” you would be deciding to say no to life. I think that’s where the soul gets wounded most. Your individuality comes from your soul. Not from your head. It comes from allowing life to live through you.” —Thomas Moore

“If you are in a place where you’re more powerful than the people around you, listen as much as you talk. And if you’re less powerful, talk as much as you listen.” —Gloria Steinem

“Deep listening is the kind of listening that can help relieve the suffering of the other person. You can call it compassionate listening. You listen with only one purpose: Help him or her to empty their heart. Remember that you are helping him or her to suffer less, and even if they say things full of wrong perceptions, full of bitterness, you are still capable of continuing to listen with compassion. If you want to help them correct their perception, you wait for another time; at this time, you just listen with compassion and help him or her to suffer less. One hour like that can bring transformation and healing.” —Thich Nhat Hanh

“It’s a sort of prayer of intention, Please let me bring forth something that will help heal.” —Carole Bayer Sager