Thirty-Six for Thirty-Six

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I survived the semester and finals. We survived several work trips and we're gearing up for a few more. But first, my birthday.

Not me, not my birthday, but definitely a happy thought.

 

Biodegradable packing peanuts as art supplies. Also not me or my birthday.

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A couple of years ago, I shared a collection of words of wisdom for my birthday, and thought this year I'd do the same. 

So here is Thirty-six quotes and tidbits that have made me think, made me laugh, or helped me to be a better person.

Thirty-six for Thirty-six:

1.) Spend your money on the things money can buy. Spend your time on the things money can’t buy. -Haruki Murakami

2.) If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning. -Vincent Van Gogh

3.) Clarity comes from engagement, not thought.  -Marie Forleo

4.) To be aware of a single shortcoming within oneself is more useful than to be aware of a thousand in someone else. – Dalai Lama

5.) But your kids see you too. And someday, when you are a bit grayer, and your kids have cars and mortgages and babies of their own, they will probably realize all you were doing. They will be grateful, and they will wish they could go back in time and pick up their own socks. -Kara S Anderson

6.) The more you help people find their light, the brighter you both will shine. -Shawn Actor

7.) Self-acceptance is my refusal to be in an adversarial relationship to myself. -Nathaniel Brand

8.) You can choose comfort or you can choose courage. You cannot choose both. - Brene Brown

9.) A woman in Harmony with her Spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretense... and arrives at her destination, prepared to be herself and only herself. - Maya Angelou

10.) You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known, and even that is an understatement. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

11.) A potato is a potato no matter how much I want it to be a carrot - Bunny Buddhism

12.) Today I decided to forgive you. Not because you apologized, or because you acknowledged the pain that you caused me, but because my soul deserves peace. - Najwa Zebian

13.) I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. - Mary Oliver

14.) Be content with what you have ; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. -Lao Tzu

15.) Every Woman who heals herself helps heal all the women who came before her and all those who come after her. - Christiane Northrup

16.) Pronoia: The opposite of paranoia; the belief that the universe is conspiring in your favor.

17.) Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning. -Mr. Rogers

18.) It's not your job to stop your child from having a tantrum, it's your job not to have one of your own. 

19.) When we numb the darkness we numb the light - Brene Brown

20.) Always be a little kinder than necessary -J.M. Barrie

21.) Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. -C.S. Lewis

22.) Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. -Dalai Lama

23.) Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye

24.) Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. -Albert Einstein

25.) By being yourself you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.

26.) The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. -Socrates

27.) You must do the things you think you cannot do. -Eleanor Rosevelt 

28.) I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. -Mother Teresa

29.) Adventure is worthwhile in itself. -Amelia Earhart

30.) The obstacle is the path. -Zen proverb

31.) Forgive yourself for not being at peace. The moment you completely accept your non-peace, your non-peace is transmuted into peace. Anything you accept fully will get you there, will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender. -Eckhart Tolle

32.) Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know. -Pema Chodron

33.) If you want to find happiness, find gratitude. -Steve Maraboli

34.) Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci

35.) 

So here's to a another year! May we all learn to be a little kinder, may we breathe more deeply, cherish more, love more, and in the words of a favorite song - 

36.) "And until I return again, may our foes have turned to friends, and may peace and joy be with you until then."