Introduction

A quote is a distillation of someone else’s experience or an ancient truth. It is the wisdom of the ages bottled up in a few words that can have the power of a quote to wake us up.

“Don’t ever diminish the power of words. Words move hearts and hearts move limbs.” Hamza Yusuf

How many times have you heard a quote that stopped you in your tracks? How many times has a well-timed reminder from a friend, family member, or even a complete stranger given you just the perfect words you needed to get through a tough situation?

The power of a quote to wake us up is evident when one of the little treasures zing our awareness. We stop to take the essence of it in for a moment or endeavor to absorb it over a week, a month, a year, or a lifetime. It can literally shift our perspective.

How many of us have posted notes in and around our home to remind us of one wisdom pearl or another? In this blog post, we will explore the power of quotes and how they can wake us up, point the way ever inward and offer a reset button to inner peace, motivation, direction, and uplift our perspectives.

A few examples of the power of a quote to wake us up.

A renowned astrologer looked into my birth chart for a few minutes back in the day. He said that for my chart, it all came down to one thing. 

“You were born to let go.” Ted Sharp 

How little I knew then that I would eventually plumb the depths to which he spoke. In the moment, I was deeply disappointed to hear it. Born to let go? What the heck did that even mean? How does one let go? I was twenty-two years old. Born to let go? What? Why not a psychologist, archaeologist or something of value.

Fifty years later, I can tell you that Ted nailed it. Most of my life, I have felt inwardly  obsessed with the Love Consciousness that was gifted to me in my NDE (Near Death Experience). I’ve always stood up for Love to the best of my ability. All the while, my mind suffered greatly as to how very difficult this human life seemed. I seemed to missing something. No matter how sincere my intentions, I felt prevented from a life I knew called me.

It was a long, long time before I could see that my “practice” of letting go was intrinsically connected to my desire to apply Love in my world dream. In fact, a piece of it became crystal clear only while writing you this blog! Thank you! How I look at things now is that Love gave me the gift of consciously letting go of all that stood in the way of my very heart’s desire. Even though I was completely confused along the way Love knew what it was doing, and always does. Nothing or no one is broken. We’re all Love waking up to our Selves. 

“Relax . . . and it will all come to you.” Osho

 I realized that self-judgment, holding on, or resistance to the Love that is creates tension in the body. When I saw the above quote the first time, my initial  thought was, “If I could pull this one off, ‘relax and allow it all to come to me,’ it would be a miracle!” One can’t feel pressed, stressed and relaxed at the same time.

So I spent what turned out to be on a four year self-education “degree” in contemplation of the quote. I literally trained my body to relax and let go of my shoulders, let them sink, and to inhale and exhale mindfully. The rest of the body/mind would almost instantly follow. The quote was hung on the refrigerator in huge letters, and by my desk. I clung to it’s instruction as much as I did letting go. Relax. Let go.

The practice eventually became an automatic response to most stress and anxiety. It sounds so simple, but the power of it remains and deepens to this day.

Quotes can also help wake us up when we’re feeling down, give us hope when we’re struggling, and inspire us to be better people.

“Anger, sadness, and fear are simply love under pressure.” Jafree Ozwald

We all have our favorites. One of mine is from dear Nisargadatta, an outspoken sage of the advaita vedanta (non dual) perspective.

“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything, and it is between the two my life moves.”

Conclusion

Today, we explored the power of a few quotes to get our attention, heal us, teach us, calm us and point us in the direction of who we really are and what we are dealing with. The subject could be  volumes filled with many treasures out of which we might pick one or two to put in our backpack for our future journey.

What’s your favorite quote? I imagine we all would love to read them. Who knows? Your favorite could awaken one of us to a greater awareness! Thank you for your comments. See you next week. 

In service to your best,
Kaye