develop my spiritual life

In her open letter to Barak Obama, Alice Walker points out that personal happiness is a primary responsibility for Obama. She says:

A primary responsibility that you do have, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate.

One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

This is a point for us all to remember. It’s very easy to get caught up in the problems and stresses of life and lose sight that it’s only when we have a well-balanced and happy frame of mind that we can effect change. Or this is a selfish point of view?

What do you think?

Comments
I personally love this, and I hope our new President enjoys his life, and does not leave him juiceless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0DRk8dFjI

Sometimes we wish things could be better, or wonder if the experiences we have are the most important ones for our development as human beings. But this may not be the case at all. Experiences that seem insignificant at the time, or ones that are not at all what we want, might prove to be key to our future growth. We are unfolding purposefully. Where today’s experience takes us is quite by design.

I must remember God is always with me and everything that comes to us is intended to contribute to the person I am becoming.

Our perspective can lead to appreciation or dread. Deciding to see every situation as a blessing would significantly change us and what happens in our lives.

Today I pray to see that I am living an adventure. God will give me experiences that I need. I may want other experiences, but God’s love guarantees I’ll get what I need

Try to be thankful for whatever vision you have. Try to perform, in the little things, faithful service to God and others. Do your small part every day in a spirit of service to God. Be a doer of God’s Word, not a hearer only. In your daily life try to keep faith with God. Every day brings a new opportunity to be of some use. Even when you are tempted to rest or let things go or to evade the issue, make it a habit to meet the issue squrely as a challenge and not to hold back.

I pray that I may perform each task faithfully. I pray that I may meet each issue of life squarely and not hold back.

This struck me, this sentence ,I read in a day-at-a-time book because it feels so hard sometimes to keep fighting. To be creative, to be less fearful, to analyze ….do the right thing. Maximize your health physically, mentally, spiritualy..it takes everything I got! And I see all the time so many ways I could be better!

But life is infinitely richer when we fight to do our best.

I do not wait for bad news to make me appreciate my life, and I do not take the small miracles for granted. I am deeply grateful for laughter, friendship, beauty, fresh air, and the sun shining through the trees.

There is an eternal springtime in my soul. Always rising but never setting the sun of my destiny. I refuse to worry about anything. I have complete confidence that the God who is always with me is able and willing to direct everything I do, to control my affairs, to lead me into the pathway of peace and happiness.

I release every sense of condemnation, either against myself or others. I loose every feeling of animosity. I now understand that there is a Principle and a Presence in every person gradually drawing that person into the Kngdom of Good. I know that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and I am resoloved to enter it, to possess it, and to let it possess me.

of good at work in my life. I will let go and let it unfold.

By keeping still you gather the resources you need to progress. The way will be shown when the time is right, and not before.

Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace. Job 22:21

Not to go back is somewhat to advance, and men must walk, at least, before they dance.

Our life is frittered away by detail… simplify, simplify.

Henry David Thoreau

I need to continue to pursue Jesus and get my life back on track.