There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope. – Baruch Spinoza  Hope was the one who encouraged me to try new things, to let go of the past when it was holding me back, and to persevere in the face of adversity. Fear, on the other hand, advised me to resist…

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths. – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross  Disability: a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses, or activities – The New Oxford American Dictionary I believe that every…

Help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown.    Give me the faith to leave old ways and break fresh ground with You. – St. Brendan  Thinking and writing about the ladder I envisioned encouraged me to set aside the familiar and take a step into the unknown, a realm in which…

Trust is the glue of life. It is the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It is the foundational principle that holds all relationships. – Stephen Covey  Surrender your fear. Something will come that is greater than what the fear is trying to protect. – Mooji    I have used these two quotes in previous…

Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. – Marianne Williamson  I have been the recipient of mercy countless times in my life; I have been its dispenser as well. Even for…

Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of things within, as on the state of things without and around us. – Charlotte Bronte  I used this quote in a previous blog; it is relevant again regarding my thoughts today. Good humor or cheerfulness can be incited in…

There’s something about being afraid, about being small, about enforced humility that draws me to climbing. – Jon Krakauer  Jon Krakauer is a writer and mountaineer. Presumably, his quote is in reference to mountain climbing. When I read it, however, my thoughts turned to the universal concept of Fear, its role in life, and the…

There’s something about being afraid, about being small, about enforced humility that draws me to climbing. – Jon Krakauer  Jon Krakauer is a writer and mountaineer. Presumably, his quote is in reference to mountain climbing. When I read it, however, my thoughts turned to the universal concept of Fear, its role in life, and the…

Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy. – Saadi The last two blogs dealt with surrender – surrender of my fears to the God I always believed in despite periods of considerable doubt and feelings of abandonment. In my battles with Fear and all of his children, I utilized a variety of…

Sometimes surrender means giving up from trying to understand, and becoming comfortable with not knowing. – Eckhart Tolle Surrender, like so many things in life, can be seen as either positive or negative depending on the circumstances and one’s perspective.   But when I was impatient, desperate to be in control, mistrustful, or insecure, I…