CHANGE IS A CONSTANT: Quotes and Poster Art

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Quotes and Poster Art

Purposeful Path

Photo: The halfway point in any fundraising campaign is pivotal and we are almost there. With another $1,580 we will reach that important marker in our year-end appeal. Can you make a contribution to help us reach this goal? We would be so appreciative.

Anyone who makes a contribution of any amount will receive a free digital copy of our revised New Year's Naikan booklet -- a truly unique collection of reflections to help make the New Year's transition as meaningful as possible.

We call our work "a natural approach to mental wellness". If it is "natural", why do we need to study and practice it? Because we have forgotten some of what we once knew. Because coping well with the ups and downs of life is not at all easy. Because we have been misguided and confused. Because much of what we naturally do requires effort and practice if we are to do it well. Please help us to continue sharing this profoundly empowering material with the world.

Our sincere appreciation to those who have already supported our year-end campaign. Your New Year's booklet will be sent out on Monday.

May we all fall in love with life again in the new year. May we look for win/win solutions and live as though our days were numbered.

https://www.crowdtilt.com/campaigns/the-todo-institute-yearend-campaign/description

Photo: Attention is a skill of great value, for it shapes the experience of our lives. Once we become conscious of what we are paying attention to, we have the opportunity to direct our attention. We can pay attention to our disappointment, or we can pay attention to a butterfly in the afternoon breeze. We can pay attention to our anxiety, or we can pay attention to delicate flavor of our cup of tea.

In the end -- of a moment, a day, a life -- it is our attention that offers us the experience of joy or sorrow, of worry or gratitude. If you don't want to sink into a life of depression, anxiety, and complaint, learn to work with your attention.

A Natural Approach to Mental Wellness with Gregg Krech
Starts September 19th
http://www.todoinstitute.org/natural-approach-mental-wellness-program.html

Photo: What's the difference between what you say is important and what you do with your time?

Photo: Don't just stay busy.
You can stay busy with things all your life that will be meaningless when you are about to die.
Find something important -- something meaningful to do.
And do it today.
For just 15 minutes. Or even just 5 minutes.
Those few minutes may become a seed,
and blossom into something that you will be proud to leave
as your legacy to the world.

http://www.todoinstitute.org/takingaction.html

Photo: I'm excited about our annual Taking Action online course which starts on Wednesday (tomorrow). It's amazing to see how much people can get done in 30 days when they have great tools, a supportive community and clear intention. Please join us:

http://www.todoinstitute.org/takingaction.html

Photo: Taking Action Starts May 29th
- 30 days Distance Learning Course
- Online course with video, audio, discussion forum, readings, daily assignments
- Supportive community
- Conducted by Gregg Krech, author and leading authority in Japanese Psychology

Is there something in your life that needs to happen?
Register today (don't procrastinate, that's the problem)
http://www.todoinstitute.org/takingaction.html

http://www.thirtythousanddays.org/procrastinating-to-get-things-done

Photo: We can't think our way to competence.
We have to practice.
http://www.todoinstitute.org/ldlp_attention.html

Photo: Wandering without a plan can be amazing. No agenda to consult, goal to chase, plan to follow -- just intuition and whim at the helm. Punctuating our busy days with mini breaks can make a huge difference in our stress level and our enjoyment of life.

But living every day without a sense of purpose can be altogether different. Rather than enjoying our explorations, we may feel lost and confused about what to do with our time. We can become stressed and fatigued without an inner compass to guide us.

The Living on Purpose program begins on Thursday, Jan. 9th. For 30 days we will explore the question of purpose together, not from an objective perspective but from a very personal one. Each day you will have an opportunity to examine this issue for yourself, through daily exercises, readings and online discussions.

Join our global classroom as we each explore how we want to spend our 30,000 days. Call us if you have any questions -- 1-800-950-6034.

http://www.todoinstitute.org/ldlp_purpose.html

Photo: Many of us look forward to the fresh-startness quality of the new year. We can feel inspired and hopeful by the clean slate of the next 12 months. Whether we rally around well thought-out resolutions and goals, or just turn our minds and hearts in a positive direction, the new year can help us to make some positive changes.

But ending the year on a positive note can be the first step toward a good new year. What steps will help you to wrap up 2013 in a satisfying way? Greetings, surprises, and kind gestures of all sorts lift the spirits and set a friendly and upbeat tone for the transition. And charitable giving is often done during the very final days of the year as well.

With only two days left in the year, we hope that you will make time to contribute to the organizations that you value. The ToDo Institute has been promoting an empowering approach to mental wellness for over 20 years. If you have found value in our work, please support our efforts with a tax-deductible contribution today. Thank you!

https://www.crowdtilt.com/campaigns/the-todo-institute-yearend-campaign/description

With warmest new year wishes from the ToDo Team!

Photo: Look not at the faults of others,
at what they have done
or left undone;
rather, look at what you
yourself have done
or left undone.
[verse 50]
Buddhist Dhammapada

photo credit flickr.com Samuele Storari

Photo: In ordinary life we hardly realize
that we receive a great deal more
than we give, and that it is
only with gratitude that life becomes rich.
It is very easy to overestimate
the importance of our own achievements
in comparison with what we owe others.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In ordinary life we hardly realize
that we receive a great deal more
than we give, and that it is
only with gratitude that life becomes rich.
It is very easy to overestimate
the importance of our own achievements
in comparison with what we owe others.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Photo: Only that day dawns to which we are awake.
-Henry David Thoreau

“If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.”
― Thomas Merton

Photo: “Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).”

– James Baraz”

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the thing you didn’t do then by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
- Mark Twain