contrast

percolating thoughts

"People see the world, not as it is, but as they are."

                      - Paulo Coelho

“Now I know the secret of making the best person: it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.”

          - Walt Whitman

a new thing grows

I read this last night:

"You have given me something... But you've taken something away.  In its place a new thing has grown and I must be alone to discover what it may be."
-Keith Miller, The Book of Flying

It got me thinking-- Every experience we have has some ratio of positive and negative outcome on our lives.  Sometimes one far outweighs the other, but they are always both there.  After each experience ends, something new grows within us.  We can always direct that new growth as long as we take time to discover it.

weakness to strength

Turning weakness to strength is one of life's greatest challenges.  When we make an error, we can feel a range of things: anger, hurt, embarrassment, a drive to do better, determination, etc. When we point that energy inwards toward ourselves, we can become swallowed up by negativity.  But when we can turn it outwards, we can find grace and a hope to be better.  We have a hand in what we can learn from our mistakes.  What we learn from them must drive us forward.