Words of comfort, encouragement and wisdom

[Birdy77]

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

[Birdy77]

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!

[Birdy77]

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

[Birdy77]

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

[quirkywords]

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

[Just Sara]

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

[Birdy77]

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

[Birdy77]

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

[White_Rose]

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

[White_Rose]

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.

[White_Rose]

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.