10 Quotes for 2012 and a Nugget of Wisdom

May this new year be filled with a sense of the preciousness and value of your life and the lives of all people. Here are 10 quotes to ring in the new year, including a couple of my own.
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Here's what I'm thinking about for 2012:

"May we all recognize in this New Year that the moments of our lives are rare and precious. Open to them, bask in them, we are alive."

The reality is we often hold things that are rare in our world to be precious. These rare things are held to a high value, whether it's gold, an unbroken sand dollar on a beach, or the short time that a baby is a baby before growing up.

If you peel the lens back for a moment you can see our lives in this very same way. We're a blip in time in relation to the life of this planet we stand on and this universe we live in. All the moments of our lives are rare and precious and it's incredibly important to bring that awareness back to our lives.

What happens when we start seeing our time on this planet as rare and precious?

The small stuff that makes up the majority of our sticky worries tend to slide off us and our minds open up to what really matters. We begin to notice more compassion for ourselves and others and we begin to play. We gain a sense of humility and perhaps begin to recognize that what is most important is who you love and how you love them.

Try taking this quote into the new year and see what happens.

May this new year be filled with a sense of the preciousness and value of your life and the lives of all people.

Here are 10 quotes to ring in the new year (including a couple of my own from The Now Effect):

  1. "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." -- Dalai Lama

  • "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." -- Dalai Lama
  • "There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way." -- Thich Nhat Hanh
  • "It is what it is, while it is." -- Elisha Goldstein
  • "If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher." -- Pema Chodron
  • "As soon as we wish to be happier, we are no longer happy." -- Walter Landor
  • "The fact is, we are not islands and we are far more connected than we know" -- Elisha Goldstein
  • "There is no enlightenment outside of daily life." -- Thich Nhat Hanh
  • "Realize that this very body, with its aches and it pleasures... is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive." -- Pema Chodron
  • "After the ecstasy, the laundry." -- Jack Kornfield
  • As always, please share your quotes, thoughts, questions and stories below. Your interaction creates a living wisdom that we can all benefit from.

    For more by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D., click here.

    For more on inspiration, click here.

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