To all the beautiful people 🌞

Words placed in a particular order can have a profound effect on us.

Words can bring us a moment of comfort, give us a different perspective, or change the course of our thinking and outlook entirely.

I would like this to be a space where we share quotes that have meaning to us or that have the potential to bring some comfort or encouragement to somebody, even if just for the moment in which they are reading it.

I will start.

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow." - Mary Anne Radmacher

Go gently with yourselves lovely people.

🌻birdy

Hello Birdy

Nice idea for a thread. I think there is another thread asking for favourite quotes, but perhaps we can expand this to include longer quotes and poems that hold some significance for us. Here is one I like.

The Trough

There is a trough in waves,
a low spot
where horizon disappears
and only sky
and water
are our company.

And there we lose our way
unless
we rest, knowing the wave will bring us
to its crest again.

There we may drown
if we let fear
hold us within its grip and shake us
side to side
and lead us flailing, torn, disoriented.

But if we rest there
in the trough,
in silence,
being with
the low part of the wave,
keeping our energy and
noticing the shape of things,
the flow,
then time alone
will bring us to another
place
where we can see
horizon, see the land again,
regain our sense
of where
we are,
and when we need to swim.
Judy Brown

I hope you also find a meaning in this.

Mary

Wow, Mary.

That moved me to tears.

I want that on my wall.

(Sorry if I've created a thread that already existed? I did search first to try avoid that ...)

Thank you for that powerful piece of poetry.

That spoke to my soul.

🌻birdy

l've been collecting them the last few years, some funny. One day l'm gonna write them all out on a big card and frame it and hang it on the wall.

Anyway ,this is just a new one l heard the other day and having foot in mouth at times well, l thought if only my dad taught me this one when l was a kid. The host on the show said ot was one of his dads sayings.

"Never pass up a good opportunity to shut up."

l like it.

Hey Birdy

Congrats on a an excellent thread topic :-) :-)

'Dont forget to affix your own oxygen mask first before attempting to resuscitate anyone else'

My Best and Nice1 Birdy!

Paul

Birdy77, I love that quote from Marry Anne Radmacher, thank you for posting it.

My favorite quotes are-

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. -George Bernard Shaw

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. -Dr Suess

They might not help anyone but to me they are special. I hope it was ok to post them.

Hi Birdy 🌻

I think this is a great idea :)

Personally, I like:

Beneath every strong, independent woman lies a broken little girl who had to learn how to get back up again and to never depend on anyone.

- unknown

Without action, the best intentions in the world are nothing more than that: intentions.

- Jordan Belfort

Pepper xoxo

Hi,

Back again...I feel respecting fundamental human rights underpin everything.

That being said:

Human rights is the only ideology that deserves to survive.

- unknown

If men care about women’s rights, the world will be a better place. We are better off when women are empowered - it leads to a better society.

- John Legend

Pepper xoxo

I haven't seen the other thread for a while so it may have just died away. There were lots of quotes in the same vein as above, but many of our newer posters may not have read them. I thought this thread could have a wider application than one-liner quotes, fantastic as they are.

The poem above is part of my collection of poems, quotes, extracts, songs that have touched me in some significant way. I keep saying I'm going to print them out and keep them in a book for handy reference. Getting into the computer isn't always possible. Besides it's good to hold the printed word and read from it in a way that sitting in front of a computer screen misses.

If you are happy to broaden the parameters who knows what hidden gems may come to life. Meanwhile this is great.

Mary

Birdy

The other quotes thread is in Forums / BB Social Zone / Quotes that I like

Some great stuff there. Started by CMF in Oct 2016. Perhaps short quotes could go in there and we could stay with those in your topic. Words of comfort, encouragement and wisdom. I think there is quite a difference between the two.

Mary

Thank you randomx, Paul and Pepper for sharing your thoughts and words here.

Mary, thank you for pointing out the other thread.

And yes, i guess i would like this to be a place we can come for a balm for our wounded spirits, somewhere we can read something that might soothe and calm or support and encourage and comfort our anxious, tired and troubled minds.

Sorry if i blurred the lines with CMF's thread at all. First time making a thread and it's an oopsy!

Hi Sapphire*

I'm glad that you have words that are special to you and for sharing them.

You never know which handful of words are going to bring peace or comfort to somebody who is in emotional pain.

Thanks for being here.

🌻birdy

Hello lovely people.

This blessing brought me much comfort during a time of intense emotional distress. It seems so gentle and forgiving to me. I hope it brings something loving to somebody else.

This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.

John O'Donohue

Birdy,

Great thread.

I was going to post a poem but I thought it would be nice to comment and reflect on your poem first.

I love the first line "this is time to be slow"

and the last lines

Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.

and the middle lines as I will be looking to find my feet again on fresh pastures of promise.

And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise.

This poem has rich imagery and is full of hope and renewal.

When will you find the time to be slow?

Quirky

𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒋𝒐𝒚; 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒔.

Exert from 'The Prophet' by Kahlil Gibran

This passage, (among many others from his book) helped me to understand that by accepting pain as part of life, I accepted my recovery had to include hardship; how else would I learn and grow?

For every thing there is a season...

Sez

Thank you Quirky.

You are right about the imagery and Hope and Renewal are precious concepts aren't they?

I hope the air is kind and blushed with beginning when you find your feet in fresh pastures of promise Quirky.

I think it is important to be reminded that there is an ebb and flow in life. That it's totally ok to be slow and lay low to the wall sometimes.

Life can be so frantic and oppressive and we can be so hard on ourselves.

It's ok & actually important to allow some time for slow, and to not be so harsh on ourselves.

Thanks again Quirky for your reflection.

🌻birdy

Hello Sez,

I too find The Prophet to be so helpful, and it is so true that our recovery must inevitably include hardship. Thank you so much for sharing.

It might just be my screen but i can't actually see the text you have quoted, it appears just as small boxes, everything above the line starting 'Excerpt from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran'. It could just be my android screen and hopefully it is clear for everybody else.

Thanks again Sez 😊

🌻birdy

Glad you enjoyed my offering Birdy. There are certainly many posts here already. I wonder what it is that speaks so directly to us when it's in verse. It is of course the imagery used and that's pretty powerful but I think there's more. As you said in your opening post.

Words can bring us a moment of comfort, give us a different perspective, or change the course of our thinking and outlook entirely. So true.

Some great stuff happening here.

Mary

I am a big fan of Leunig so here is something written by him.

God Help Us To Live Slowly by Michael Leunig

God help us to live slowly:
To move simply:
To look softly:
To allow emptiness:
To let the heart create for us:
Amen.

Now I have started reading through my collection I can't stop. Perhaps this can remind us of BB and what we do here.

Is My Heart Big Enough
Is my heart big enough to embrace life wholeheartedly.
Its joys, woundings, fragility, uncertainty?

Dear God, may it be so.

Is my heart big enough boldly to speak and embody my truth
when from all sides my fear assails me?

Dear God, may it be so.

Is my heart big enough for the desperate, despised, forgotten,
condemned, unwanted, infected, rejected, the violated and abused:

Dear God, may it be so.

Is my heart big enough to keep opening out to life
when the temptation to settle, be secure, feel safe grows evermore present?

Dear God, may it be so.

Is my heart big enough to sing Earth’s beauty,
to dance childlike her dawnings, to cry out with her – a mother distressed?

Dear God, may it be so.
Is my heart big enough, my commitment passionate enough,
to accompany You wherever Your love calls me?

Dear God, may it be so.

Thanks Birdy;

I didn't realise it wasn't appearing as it does for me. I tried a new font app.

The passage says;

'Could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy, and; would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields'

Sez

Hi Sez (waves to Birdy and all),

I know your last post was addressed to Birdy but if it helps in the slightest, I could read the excerpt. Although I was able to see it both times on my screen :)

As an aside, seeing as you mentioned the book, I still have my copy of the “The Prophet.” Although I must admit in my case, I find it comforting because it makes me think of you (more so than the words itself). I hope it’s okay for me to say that...

Anyway, this is just a quick visit and will be my only post this weekend.

Gentle and easy does it as I know you’ve been doing it rough ❤️

Sending you kindness this weekend...there’s never any pressure to talk or reply if you’re not feeling up to it. Just know that I’m always here for you...

Love always,

Pepper xoxo

Dear Pepper;

How lovely! Here's something for you..

'In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed'

It's morning and I've been refreshed..

Hearts..

Sez xo

Mary, thank you for sharing those poems, i hope you will find some more in your box of treasures. I like the reminder from Leunig to allow emptiness. I needed to be reminded of that again today.

Sez, thank you so much for re-typing that passage. It is beautiful (it must have just been my screen if others can see it). I remember a story of Kahlil Gibran's that i like:

Said one oyster to a neighbouring oyster, 'I have a very great pain within me. It is heavy and round and I am in distress.'

And the other oyster replied with haughty complacence, 'Praise be to the heavens and to the sea, I have no pain within me. I am well and whole both within and without.'

At that moment a crab was passing by and heard the two oysters, and he said to the one who was well and whole both within and without:

'Yes, you are well and whole but the pain that your neighbor bears is a pearl of exceeding beauty.'

Dear lovely people,

This is dedicated to anyone who has a feeling that they have lost themselves, lost their sense of their own identity or wholeness, perhaps as a result of an unhealthy relationship or giving too much of yourself & not taking care of you, or for some other reason. Time to take care of you and give yourself some love and care.

Love After Love by Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Hello Birdy. I only just stumbled upon this thread. As you said, a place to come to find a balm for our wounded spirits, somewhere we can read something that might soothe and calm or support and encourage and comfort our anxious, tired and troubled minds. Just what I need! So thank you for opening this thread.

I dont have anything to add right now, but hopefully I will in future. I just wanted to add this to My Threads so I can keep track of it, and find it when I need to read some of these words of comfort. Thanks everyone.

Amanda

Hi everyone,

Sez: thank you, that was beautiful and very meaningful. A heartfelt thank you...heart of hearts ❤️

Birdy: It’s lovely to see your thread is taking off 🌻

Pepper xoxo

Hi Everyone, 

We love this thread and want to keep it open however, just wanted to let you know that due to copyright laws, we are not able to approve entire lyrics to songs and poems. 

We are happy for single lines and quotes to come through but just be mindful that we can't continue to approve songs and poems in their entirety as we can get into trouble.

Hi Sophie,

What a shame!!

I do understand though.

It's disappointing we can't make a little treasure trove here, to soothe the soul.

Is there a way around it? Could we post half a poem in one post and the other half in another?

It just seems a pity, especially if we credit the original authors carefully?

But i understand if not ...

🌻birdy

Hi Birdy

I learned these words from a book from Dr Claire Weekes.......a psychiatrist that suffered from anxiety and depression.

'Fighting anxiety only increases the symptoms.....Using calm and true Acceptance of these awful feelings will take away their intensity/severity'

The book is 'Self Help for Your Nerves' and still in print decades after being published even though Dr Weekes passed away years ago

Anyhow...the more information the better :-)

My Kind thoughts

Paul