Unbecoming

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200 words, authentic, conform, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, Happiness, journey, judging, life, love, struggles, talents, true to yourself

Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.

If you’ve ever tried to please everyone at the same time, you probably know firsthand how utterly impossible it is to do so.

If you’ve ever tried to toe the company line when you didn’t necessarily agree with it, you are probably familiar with that unsettling feeling you get in your stomach when you are not being true to yourself.

Yet we spend a lot of our lives trying to squeeze ourselves into acceptable societal and familial moulds because it makes life easier, things just go more smoothly if we conform to the way things are.

We wonder what is wrong with us; that we don’t see things in the same way as the majority and we struggle to become who we think we are meant to be.

Are we actually struggling against ourselves?

Fortunately for me, the older I get, the less insecure I am about living my life authentically.

Maybe our journey is more about finally unbecoming everything we are not.

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

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Bonus Post: The Man with the Hat and the Sunglasses on

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Alberta, Bonus Post, Calgary, caring, Charity, compassion, Diana Schwenk, Erich Fromm, generosity, Happiness, joy, lottery ticket, love, passion, Tom Crist

I don’t usually post on Thursdays but I just couldn’t wait until Wednesday to share this story with you!

Usually the news breaks my heart.

Then along comes the man with the hat and the sunglasses on and blows my mind! He has enough and is satisfied. His children are taken care of.

The one person he loved above all others is gone. His wife, who died of cancer 2 years ago.

And this man with the hat and sunglasses on wins $40M on his lottery ticket. And declares that he will be giving it to charity; most of it for Cancer research.

He has the secret to happiness. He has enough. Having more doesn’t make you happier when you have what you need. I’m so happy for him!

“Giving is the highest expression of potency. In the very act of giving, I experience my strength, my wealth, my power. This experience of heightened vitality and potency fills me with joy. I experience myself as overflowing, spending, alive, hence as joyous. Giving is more joyous than receiving, not because it is a deprivation, but because in the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness.” ~ Erich Fromm

Tom, I have no doubt that your beloved wife is looking down with pride and love in her heart for you. May your generous act lead to a cure and spare many husbands, wives, parents, children from losing the ones they love.

related article $40M Lotto winner to donate to charity

To Love is to Suffer

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200 words, caring, compassion, courage, Diana Schwenk, generosity, Happiness, integrity, joy, kindness, love, passion, peace, Purpose, question, Suffering, Woody Allen, world issues

“To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then, one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness.” Woody Allen

LOVE

Whatever you do

Whatever you say

Wherever you go

LOVE

Before you do it

Before you say it

Before you go there

CHECK YOUR MOTIVES

If you are motivated by anger

Don’t do it

If you are motivated by fear

Don’t say it

If you are motivated by distress

Don’t go there

Just LOVE

Will you get hurt?

Probably

Will you be betrayed?

Likely

Will you be mocked and belittled?

Possibly

So should you love anyway?

Can your love make a difference to someone who is alone?

Is a life led by love worth the effort?

Absolutely!

 Lesson here: just stop over-thinking it!

And LOVE

~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~

What’s the worst that could happen?

That through it all you chose to love?