Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul Daily Inspirations (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (35 page)

Rhonda Brunea

Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.

Thomas à. Kempis

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
17

I
can do a great deal to impact my world for the better without making major lifestyle changes. I recognize that this world will change only when the people in it change. It is people who have the power to destroy or save this planet. Today I resolve to channel my personal power toward good, to open myself to be worked through and with. The world in which I live is my world; it is all that I have. If I see myself as powerless, it will only depotentiate me and make me feel impotent. That is a position I choose not to take today.

Tian Dayton

There is only one thing that is fully our own and that is our will or purpose.

Epictetus, 1st century A.D.

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
18

Y
ou hear the familiar voice and footsteps coming down the hall. The door opens and his voice breaks off, questions in his eyes as he scans the room. Confusion and fear, the very look you dreaded, erode his half smile and you struggle to look loving, yet firm. The intervention has begun. You wonder if he’ll ever again say, “I love you.” Several days later when you drop by the treatment center to pick up his dirty laundry, there is a note attached. Tentatively you open it, “Thank you. I love you. I’m Ted–and I’m an alcoholic.”

Jann Mitchell

I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail.

William Faulkner

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
19

T
ake time to discover the eccentricities of your personality. As you come to an understanding of yourself, rejoice in the knowledge that God created you on purpose, for a purpose. Be willing to share yourself with others so that they might open up and begin their own healing process. Spend time with them, speaking encouraging words while listening to their hurt and pain. Share dreams, emotions, disappointments and victories. There’s nothing more powerful in your own healing than comforting others and giving them the precious gift of your time.

Linda Mehus-Barber

The art of being yourself at your best is the art of unfolding your personality into the person you want to be.

Wilfred Peterson

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
20

T
he jangling of keys and slamming of gates brought me back to the reality of the cold, crowded cell. A prison guard bellowed, “Get out here, crack head!” I rose, along with forty other women, none of us certain to whom the guard was talking. It was not me. It would be two years before I saw my children again and once I was released from prison I entered a residential treatment program. I was no longer afraid to die, I was afraid of living my life the way I was. God works in mysterious ways. Recovering addicts know that better than just about anyone else.

Mary Barr

A friend is one who walks in when others walk out.

Walter Winchell

Footnotes for Life

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UGUST
21

W
hen I look out my window, I see the beauty of the world that God has created and the opportunities it holds.

His beauty includes me. I need to feel good about myself; I need to have hope. I must love myself and accept who I am.

I must succeed in order to be an inspiration to others, as others were for me.

Stacey Chillemi

Man is, and forever has been, God’s reflection.

Mary Baker Eddy

Footnotes for Life

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UGUST
22

W
hen we come into this world, the first thing we do is breathe in. Divine inspiration. When we leave this world, the last thing we do is breathe out. Everything in between is just gravy. It’s all been taken care of. We leave home and we go home. Children of God. And if we really believe he holds us in the palm of his hand for the journey, then anything can be endured.

Nancy Burke

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

Zenrin

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
23

W
hen life caves in on me and I feel like giving up, I force myself to list twenty things I am thankful for. Sometimes it can be as lame as “fingers,” or “a chair to sit on,” but I keep going until I reach my magic number. Somehow by then I find myself in a different frame of mind. When I am thankful, I move from being pitiful to being powerful.

Barbara A. Croce

An attitude of gratitude creates blessings.

Sir John Templeton

Footnotes for Life