Blogging: Seneca

"Think for a long time whether or not you should admit a given person to your friendship. But when you have decided to do so, welcome him heart and soul, and speak as unreservedly with him as you would with yourself."

Be cautious when granting people admittance to your inner circle; but when you do grant it, do so without scruples.

 

 

 

"Fear keeps pace with hope. Nor does their so moving together surprise me; both belong to a mind in suspense, to a mind in a state of anxiety through looking into the future. Both are mainly due to projecting our thoughts far ahead of us instead of adapting ourselves to the present. Thus it is that foresight, the greatest blessing humanity has been given, is transformed into a curse."

As much as possible, stay in the present moment. That is where true healing awaits you.

"We who are recovering from a prolonged spiritual sickness are in the same condition as invalids who have been affected to such an extent by prolonged indisposition that they cannot once be taken out of doors without ill effects."

 

 

 

Depression is brutal and carries a venomous bite. Its devastating effects should never be underestimated.

 

 

 

"If God adds the morrow we should accept it joyfully. The man who looks for the morrow without worrying over it knows a peaceful independence and a happiness beyond all others. Whoever has said 'I have lived' receives a windfall every day he gets up in the morning."

 

 

 

Look to the future, by all means, but don't dwell on it. Exercise foresight with your feet planted firmly in the present.

 

 

 

"You rush hither and thither with the idea of dislodging a firmly seated weight when the very dashing about just adds to the trouble it causes you--like the cargo in a ship...Once you have rid yourself of the affliction there, though, every change of scene will become a pleasure. You may be banished to the ends of the earth, and yet in whatever outlandish corner of the world you may find yourself stationed, you will find that place, whatever it may be, a hospitable home. Where you arrive does not matter so much as what sort of person you are when you arrive there."

 

 

 

When there is a leaden weight on your conscience, there is no place on Earth that will grant you safe refuge. You must stay in the here and now--and stare yourself directly in the eyes without flinching.

 

 

 

"There is no need to raise our hands to heaven; there is no need to implore the temple warden to allow us close to the ear of some graven image, as though this increased the chances of our being heard. God is near you, is with you, is inside you."

 

 

 

Your questions are answered even before being asked. LISTEN.

 

 

 

"You've pledged to bring succour to the shipwrecked, to those in captivity, to the sick, the needy and men who are just placing their heads beneath the executioner's uplifted axe...All mankind are stretching out their hands to you on every side. Lives that have been ruined, lives that are on their way to ruin are appealing for some help; it is to you that they look for hope and assistance..."

 

 

 

So many people around you cry out for help. Use the compassion and understanding forged in your own suffering to help them.

 "Our whole universe is no more than a semblance of reality, perhaps a deceptive semblance, perhaps one without substance altogether."

Live with passion and determination, but avoid taking life too seriously.

 

 

 

"No moment is exempt: in the midst if pleasures there are found the springs of suffering. In the middle of peace war rears its head, and the bulwarks of one's security are transformed into sources of alarm, friend turning foe and ally turning enemy. The summer's calm is upset by sudden storms more severe than those of winter. In the absence of the enemy we suffer all that an enemy might wreak on us."

 

 

 

Within light, darkness; within darkness, light. Yin and yang.

 

 

 

"A setback has often cleared the way for greater prosperity. Many things have fallen only to rise to more exalted heights."

 

 

 

Pain gives birth to creativity and compassion. Do not spurn it; instead, gently embrace it--and, through a process of inner alchemy, transmute it into love.