Welcome to the Quote of the Week! Serving the Psycho-Spiritual Needs of People since 1984!!

Something different this week, One concept. Four voices.  From Aristotle's concept of Telos to modern philosophers, poets, and psychologists, thinkers across twenty-five centuries have been arriving at the same essential truth: We are called to become who we are meant to be. A question, I'll admit, I'm still sitting with myself.

Aristotle's Concept of Telos: Telos is the idea that every living thing has an inherent purpose—a direction it is naturally growing toward.  To live well is to live in that direction... deliberately

"Become such as you are, having learned what that is."

— Pindar, Greek lyric poet, 5th century B.C.

"What a man can be, he must be."
— Abraham Maslow

"Become who you are!"
— Friedrich Nietzsche

"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."
— Carl Jung

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CARE PACKAGE: Becoming Who You Need to Be

 Questions to Think More Deeply...

1. What challenge in your life right now is quietly asking you to grow into someone you haven't been yet?
2. Is there a quality — courage, patience, discipline, softness — that you know you need more of, but have been waiting for circumstances to hand you?
3. If the person you need to become is already possible, what is the one step — just one — that moves you toward them today?

Article: "You Are Not a Fixed Thing" — Maria Popova / The Marginalian
https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/

TED Talk: "The Psychology of Self-Motivation" — Scott Geller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sxpKhIbr0E

3 Songs That Echo the Theme of this week's quote(s)...

"The Climb" — Miley Cyrus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG2zyeVRcbs

"Hall of Fame" — The Script ft. will.i.am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk48xbyNuu0

"I Am Light" — India.Arie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBEDL0kFpI0

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The Big Takeaway...

Life will always present us with challenges. And those challenges often ask something of us: More courage / More patience / More resilience / More wisdom.  The question is never simply: Who am I? The deeper question is: Who is this moment asking me to become?

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!

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And remember... none of us becomes who we are meant to be alone...

We Are All In This Together.

 Welcome to the Quote of the Week — Serving the psycho‑spiritual needs of people since 1984. This week’s saying is an old phrase/saying that is often tossed out as a way to tell someone to stop worrying. But it’s actually a subtle reminder to stay present and not pre‑live disasters that may never come.

“Don’t cross that bridge until you come to it.”

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This week's Care Package:

 2 Questions to ponder:

• What future bridge are you trying to cross from here, draining yourself in the process?
• How might trusting your future self to handle future problems free up your present energy?

Article about the phrase:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_cross_the_bridge_until_you_come_to_it

A silly Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmlivgY_TZg

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!

 What if the key to a calmer week is channeling our inner Goldilocks and choosing “just right” instead of “too much”? This week, we turn to Sweden—with a warm shout-out to our Swedish Quote of the Week Members—for a proverb that captures the beauty of balance. The philosophy of lagom reminds us that satisfaction lives precisely between scarcity and excess, in the quiet wisdom of "enough."

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“Lagom är bäst.”

Just enough is best.

(The right amount is best / Enough is as good as a feast.)

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This week's Care Package...

Questions to Ponder:

• Where in your life are you chasing "more" past the point of actual benefit?

• What does "enough" look like for you in your work, consumption, or daily busyness?

Article 1: The Swedish philosophy of lagom: how “just enough” is all you need

Article 2: The Goldilocks Rule: How to Stay Motivated in Life and Business
https://jamesclear.com/goldilocks-rule

Video: How To Balance Your Life - Philosophy of Lagom;

Wikipedia:  The Goldilocks Principle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldilocks_principle

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!

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Be more like Goldilocks. ;-)

Ever find yourself quietly wishing for a little more peace and connection?  This week's quote (featured lyrics by George Harrison) offers an invitation to ground yourself—leaning into love, embracing hope, and finding light under a heavy load. 

"Give me love, give me love Give me peace on Earth

Give me light, give me life Keep me free from birth
Give me hope to help me cope With this heavy load 

Trying to touch and reach you With heart and soul"  

George Harrison

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This week's Care Package

A George Harrison Quote about how the song came to him and what it meant to him:

"Sometimes you open your mouth and you don’t know what you are going to say, and whatever comes out is the starting point... This song is a prayer and personal statement between me, the Lord, and whoever likes it."

A Song Insight:

George described this song as a "prayer and personal statement." When he sings "keep me free from birth," he’s drawing on Hindu philosophy—asking for ultimate peace and a release from the heavy, repetitive cycles of the material world.

Give Me Love Video

https://youtu.be/P0d_P11B6Tg

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BTW... Happy June 1st!  New month, new chapter, new opportunities.  

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!!

 It is Memorial Day in America. Today, we pause to honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to our nation. Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, a tradition of placing flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers — a simple act of remembrance that grew into a national day of reflection. This week’s quote/poem comes from In Flanders Fields, written during World War I by Canadian physician Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae after losing a close friend in battle. The poppies he describes soon became a symbol of remembrance across the world.

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In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
     That mark our place: and in the sky
     The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
     Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
          In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
     The torch; be yours to hold it high.
     If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
          In Flanders fields.

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Explore Further 

Flanders Field Reading

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTfkH4PFTP0

Video; Decoration Day in Brooklyn, NY (you may see my Uncle and Grandmother)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxfoFrSP9Pc

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Wishing you a most beautiful day, wherever this may find you!

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 What do you do when you’re no longer the person you used to be? For some reason, that thought has crossed my mind lately ;-). Tennyson wrestled with it after losing his closest friend. He realized he wasn’t the hero who once “moved earth and heaven.” But what mattered wasn’t the fading of old strength. It was the stubborn, steady will to keep going, even changed by time and loss. That’s the spirit behind this week's quote...

"Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses"

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This week's Care Package...

A Question to ponder: 

Will I focus on what's gone, or on what abides?

Poem (full text): 

Tennyson's "Ulysses" at Poetry Foundation

Article: Search for Alfred Tennyson's "Ulysses"

https://victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/ulysses.html

YouTube: "Ulysses Tennyson reading" on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqagmU4Fais

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A Couple of Mantras to Carry Forward...

Remember: The horizon still calls!

Still striving. Still seeking. Still me.  

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!

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 What if the very thing you’re afraid to risk is the doorway to the version of yourself you’ve been trying to grow into?  This week’s quote reminds us that a meaningful part of being human requires stepping into uncertainty, not away from it:  

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"To laugh is to risk being a fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. 

"To reach out to another is to risk involvement. To express feelings is to risk exposing your true self. 

To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd is to risk their loss. 

To love is to risk not being loved in return. 

To live is to risk dying. To hope is to risk despair. 

To try is to risk failure. 

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing. 

They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love or live. 

Only a person who risks is free." 

Leo Buscaglia  

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This week's Care Package

Two Questions to Explore

• Which of these risks are you currently avoiding, and what is it costing you?
• What would become possible if you accepted that risk is the price of aliveness?

TED Talk:  The Power of Vulnerability | Brené Brown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o

Who is Leo Buscaglia?

Felice Leonardo Buscaglia (1924–1998), widely known as "Dr. Love," was an American author, motivational speaker, and a professor at the University of Southern California (USC). 

He became a cultural phenomenon in the 1980s for his heartfelt teachings on the necessity of love, human connection, and physical affection.

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Wishing you a most vulnerable day wherever this may find you!

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“To risk is to live, and to live is to be free.”  

Serving the Psycho-Spiritual Needs of People since 1984!! Welcome to the Quote of the Week. This week, an old phrase found me again — three simple words with deep philosophical roots that I first discovered years ago. They arrived at just the right moment, offering me the perspective I need for something I've been working through. 

 "Is that so?"

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This Week's Care Package

The Story Behind the Quote Three options:

• Kannon Do Zen Center — "Is That So?" (Deep, contemplative)
• Zen Kindle — "Is That So? Zen Story" (Clear, accessible)
• Inquiring Mind — Personal Reflection on the Story (More personal and reflective)

A Podcast: Finding Equanimity

"Finding Equanimity in Chaos" — Sam Harris on the 10% Happier Podcast 

A Song: "Let It Be"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDYfEBY9NM4

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Bonus Care Package:  The Story of Hakuin

The most famous philosophical use comes from the Zen master Hakuin (1686–1769). When a young woman became pregnant and her parents accused Hakuin of being the father, he responded simply: "Is that so?" He accepted the child and raised it without protest. A year later, the woman confessed the real father was someone else. When the parents came to retrieve the child with apologies, Hakuin again said only: "Is that so?"

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  Stay open, don't cling, don't resist, and let reality be what it is.  

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!

 Welcome to the Quote of the Week!  Serving the Psycho-Spiritual Needs of People since 1984!!  Thinking about getting on a path to enlightenment??  This week's quote is a reminder that enlightenment is simply remembering that you already have what you need to begin!  

"The path to enlightenment isn’t really a path at all.
It’s a metaphor for the moment you finally allow yourself to be at peace with who you already are,
where you already are, and what you already have — no matter what."

Harry Soosaar

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CARE PACKAGE: Being at Peace With Who You Already Are

3 Questions to Think More Deeply

1. Where in my life am I still acting as if I need to “arrive” somewhere before I can feel at ease?

2. What parts of myself or my life are already enough — even if I rarely acknowledge them?

3. If enlightenment is permission rather than progress, what permission do I most need to give myself today?

Article: “The Disease of More” — Mark Manson

https://markmanson.net/do-we-ever-feel-we-have-enough?utm_source=ForTheInterestedNewsletter

TED Talk: “The Art of Being Yourself” — Caroline McHugh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEQQ-N9xWU

3 Songs that echo the quote...

“Unwritten” — Natasha Bedingfield
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7k0a5hYnSI

“Let It Be” — The Beatles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDYfEBY9NM4 

“Brave” — Sara Bareilles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQsqBqxoR4

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!

Choose your next step with courage.”

Are you like me and sometimes spend too much time waiting for life to start, rather than actually living it? We often worry about how short life is, but the real mistake is how long we wait to dive in. This week's quote by W.M. Lewis offers a perfect reflection on this dilemma.

"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."

W.M. Lewis

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Care Package

3 Reflective Questions

The "Wait" Audit: If I knew for a fact that the "perfect conditions" I’m waiting for would never arrive, what small version of my goal would I start today?

The Energy Check: Which part of my daily routine am I doing because I want to, and which part am I doing just to "get through the day" to reach a future point?

The Eulogy Test: If I look back from the end of my life, will I be more grateful for the risks I took to live fully now, or the safety I maintained by waiting?

Article: The Overlooked and Misunderstood Arrival Fallacy

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindfulness-insights/202503/the-overlooked-and-misunderstood-arrival-fallacy

 

Song: What are you waiting for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtBPPr_GVUg

2 Mantras to help you live this week's quote

  "The time is now; the person is me." |  "Start before you’re ready."

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!

 What if the peace we’ve been searching for isn’t somewhere down the road—but in the way we treat people today? Novelist, Jack Kerouac had a thought on that with this week's quote.

"Practice kindness all day to everybody and 

you will realize you're already in heaven now."
Jack Kerouac

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This week's Care Package

A Song: What the World Needs Now Is Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUaxVQPohlU

A Kindness Reflection...

Kindness isn’t just something we give—it’s something we experience.
Every smile, every kind word, every moment of patience… it all adds up.
Maybe heaven isn’t a destination. Maybe it’s a daily practice.

A Call to Action...

Today, offer one unexpected act of kindness—and notice what it does for you.

Questions to ponder:

• How would your day feel different if you treated kindness as your primary objective?
• What if "being in heaven" is simply a matter of attention and behavior, not belief or circumstance?

Explore Further:

Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/the-science-of-kindness

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!

 Sometimes you hear something that makes you pause and look at your own life a little differently. This week's quote by Jane Goodall made me think and maybe it will do the same for you. It’s not about perfection — it’s about noticing your “reason” and simply doing your “bit.”

"Every day you live, you make a difference.
You matter. You're here for a reason.
Find the reason. And do your bit.
Then, we can save the world."

Jane Goodall

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Care Package for your consideration

Questions to Ponder

What's your unique "bit" that only you can contribute?
Have you been waiting for permission to matter, when you already do?

More about Jane Goodall...

A youtube short https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2GKxZ6NGKXs (Youtube short)

Article: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/jane-goodall/

Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LAnn1nRp0M

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Wishing you a most beautiful day wherever this may find you!

PS An Action-Oriented Mantra''...

“Each day, I do my part to make the world better.”

 

In the US, our culture is of hustle and urgency, however this Italian wisdom offers a different mathematics: speed often leads to burnout or error, while steady patience ensures you actually reach the destination. The tortoise understood what the hare did not. (BTW ~ This quote is dedicated to our Quote of the Week friends in Italy~ Silvia, Raffaele, Michaela, Stefania, Elena and Gian!! ~ "Buon cammino a tutti"

Piano piano, si va lontano."  
(Slowly, slowly, one goes far.)

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Care Package; Questions to Explore | 

• Where are you trying to sprint a marathon?
• What long-term goal might benefit from a slower, more sustainable pace?

Explore Further:

• Article: "Slow productivity" - Cal Newport's work on sustainable achievement
• Video Topic: Search for "Italian philosophy of slow living" - la dolce vita and life pacing

April 13, 2026

Quote: "Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you're already in heaven now." - Jack Kerouac

Intro: Kerouac, the restless wanderer always searching for enlightenment, eventually realized that paradise isn't a destination to reach but a practice to embody. Heaven isn't somewhere we go when we die—it's what we create through how we treat each moment and each person.

Questions:

• How would your day feel different if you treated kindness as your primary objective?
• What if "being in heaven" is simply a matter of attention and behavior, not belief or circumstance?

Explore Further:

• Article Topic: Random acts of kindness research - effects on giver and receiver
• Video: "The Science of Kindness" - psychological and physiological benefits