[AffirmationstoDe-Stress] MORNING COFFEE

"Welcome change." There is nothing more certain in our lives than change. Yet many of us fear change and make elaborate plans to avoid it. We fear the new and find comfort in the stability of the known and familiar. But to grow, you need to not only accept change, but to embrace it, joyfully. Think of a flowing stream as representing your life. In some places it flows smoothly, with barely a ripple as it travels on its journey. At other places along the way, obstacles create great turbulence; the water roars and thunders as it crashes through gorges and down steep falls. These represent both the easy and difficult times you experience. Yet, a stream may have a place where the water becomes banked up, stagnant, unhealthy. Here, nothing thrives and nothing changes. Welcome the rushing waters of change into your life, for change means growth, spiritual health and self-realization. Embrace each new direction you encounter with courage and enthusiasm. It's the key to a happier you. ©Jane Powell   Time to Wake Up? A Buddhist monk strode into a Zen pizza parlor and said, "Make me one with everything." The proprietor appreciated the Zen humor and, when the monk paid with $20 bill, the guy pocketed it. "Hey," asked the monk, "where's my change?" "Change," replied the owner inscrutably, "must come from within." And it's true: we can wait for things to change or we can change ourselves. One way rarely works while the other rarely fails. I have a friend who used to teach literature to high school students. He once told me how maligned the name of Ebenezer Scrooge has become. "Dickens never meant for Scrooge to be a villain," he once said, speaking of Charles Dickens' classic "Christmas Carol." Yes, Scrooge was a miser and disliked by pretty much everybody. But my friend reminds me that the story doesn't end there. It doesn't end with Scrooge dying a miserable and lonely death. The point of the story is that Scrooge WAKES UP. After the restless night of ghost visitations, he wakes up and decides that things truly can be different. He can choose to be compassionate, generous and happy. He understands that he can behave toward others in a different way. He can look at things differently. His miserable past does not need to determine his future. His life story illustrates the words of George Elliot: "It is never too late to be what you might have been." "To this day," my friend says, "the name of Scrooge is synonymous with somebody stingy and selfish when it should be just the opposite. Scrooge woke up and made different decisions. He lived the rest of his life a model of generosity and joy and goodwill toward all. Nobody ever "kept Christmas," Dickens tells us, like Ebenezer Scrooge. I regularly remind myself that it is not too late to be what I might have been. And I'm learning that anything can happen...when I wake up and make different decisions. Steve Goodier     Great progress The obstacle is not the problem. The problem is when you let it stop you. When there is one path that is blocked, most likely there are dozens of other routes available. You can choose to make excuses, or you can choose to make use of your imagination and your ability to innovate. Don't focus on what's stopping you. Put your focus on the eventual reward that's compelling you to move forward. You've already come a very long way, and it certainly hasn't been in a challenge-free environment. Even though there are more challenges now, you are most certainly capable of continuing to make great progress. Giving up might seem like the easiest thing to do right now. Yet if you give up, after this brief moment is over you'll continue paying the price with never-ending regret. Choose instead to do what you do best. Commit to make great progress, no matter what, and in each moment you'll find a way. Ralph Marston

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