“I am not quite sure when we decide that bringing our gifts to the world isn’t worth the trouble. It could be around the age of 12, when we have heard the word “no” thousands of times. Or by age 14, when we have witnessed so much of the world chaos that the media sends our way. Or maybe we’re the products of the old “children should be seen and not heard ” way of thinking. Somewhere in all of this and countless other moments, we lose sight of our core gifts and allow the erosion of life to silence us. We settle for less than we can be and become mute to the challenges we face in the twenty-first century.

The truth, however, remains unchanged – no matter what “circumstances” or “effects” you have experienced or endured. I learned long ago that “challenges” are there, in fact, to drive you inward – to your core – and the gifts you have forgotten. Webster’s Dictionary defines “gift” as a “notable capacity, talent, or endowment that is given voluntarily without thought to compensation.” Ironically, though, if you focus on your gifts, the odds are that someone will eventually compensate you for your notable capacity and talent. That compensation comes in many forms, and once you recognize your core gifts and align your life with them, you become a magnet for everything and everyone in the world that is part of your talent.”

John St. Augustine, in “Living an Uncommon Life”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

     

“It is impossible to feel worry, anger, depression, or any negative emotion of any kind in the presence of genuine gratitude. A beautiful sunny day and a dark, stormy day cannot occur in the same place at the same time. So does the practice of gratitude redirect our minds away from fear and toward the truth, clearing out all negativity, pain, and suffering.”

James Eubanks in “The Awesome Design of Life” excerpted from “Gratitude: A Way of Life”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

     

“I will say this to you as clearly as I can: If you do not know how to take care of yourself, and if you are not willing to do so, nobody else will take care of you. Your lack of love and commitment to yourself attracts people with similar lessons into your vibrational field. Then you will simply mirror back to each other that lack of self-understanding and self-commitment.

Commitment to another is impossible without commitment first to self. This is important. Those who try to act in a selfless way are putting the cart before the horse. Embrace the self first and then you go beyond it. What I am suggesting is not selfishness. It is the ultimate surrender to the divine within.”

Paul Ferrini, in “The Silence of the Heart”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

     

“You remember the movie Toy Story?”
“Of course I said.”…
“Well, we are all like the toys in that movie. We are on the shelf, and God knows we are there. But sometimes he prefers Woody and sometimes Buzz. We have different things to offer, and we don’t all get used at once. We have to trust in perfect timing and divine order, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said rolling my eyes.
“God knows you’re on the shelf, waiting to get back into the game. He’ll come and get you when he’s ready for you.”

Jenniffer Weigel, in “I’m Spiritual Dammit”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

     

“Loving the self, to me, begins with never ever criticizing ourselves for anything. Criticism locks us into the very pattern we are trying to change. Understanding and being gentle with ourselves helps us to move out of it. Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”

Louise Hay, in “You Can Heal Your Life”

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“We almost never think of the present, and when we do, it is only to see what light it throws on our plans for the future.”

Blaise Pascal

Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.