The Official Website of Michael Corthell

If we want positive things to happen, we should do positive things to make them happen. Voting for good, positive, empathic people is part of ensuring a better country, and a better world.  Bad people don't give a damn about good people  —  they care about themselves  —  they care about turning good people into bad people  —  they enjoy the pain caused in doing so.  Nothing comes from nothing and evil doesn't birth good.

“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” ― Marilyn vos Savant As the saying goes, we will believe it when we see it, or what we believe is what we see. If we take those idioms at face value, we had damn well look closely. AND take note: the act of observation changes the thing that was observed as well as the observer.  [That is quantum-ness !] “To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees.” ― Paul Valéry

 

“Your life must now run the course that's been set for it.” ― Kazuo Ishiguro The lucky few(in my view) who are fully woken and self-actualized just know what they're doing is the only thing to be doing. They believe that the world is conspiring all around them to make it happen, and not just giving them permission, but driving them in the direction they need to go, even giving them secret nods, winks and clear hand signals. Yes, these folks believe that fate is getting everything out of the way so they have the clearest path possible toward their destiny. “We are forced to fall back on fatalism as an explanation of irrational events (that is to say, events the reasonableness of which we do not understand).” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved,  and believes in the goodness in people. What people want, what they really need is kindness shown to them when they feel they don't deserve it. That simple act, of seemingly undeserved consideration, can start a chain reaction of kindness. Nothing so rewarding and important as to make people realize that they are worthwhile. That's how one act of charity can change the world, and put us on the path to peace. “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson Kindness has no religion. Religions are narrow, but kindness is like a wide open sky.

Mindless fear is greater than mindful fear. “You can't possibly be afraid of death, really, you can only be afraid of life.” ― Carl R. Rogers Looking at graveyards is good. I think about all those lives that are recorded in eternity. It gives me perspective, I think about what's important in life. Thinking about all those lives and eternity is where I get most of my inspiration for wisdom and life. So, it would be wise to remember that everyone dies a day at a time. I think there's some equality in that truth. “Though we are terrorized by death, it's not different from birth, it just happens” ― Bangambiki Habyarimana

“Miracles surround us at every turn, if we but sharpen our perceptions to them.” ― Willa Cather I have to stop right here and inject some realism into the miracle discussion I'm presenting this morning. Let's consider this: When we read in the news that someone was saved from certain death by a strange set of circumstances, most will say, ''It was a miracle he wasn't killed.'' But, if someone is killed by some weird chain of events ― say oil was carelessly spilled, the safety device was turned off or broken ― that must also be a miracle. Just because it's a negative event doesn't mean it's not a miracle too. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ― Albert Einstein

“Intimacy is the capacity to be rather weird with someone - and finding that that's ok with them.” ― Alain de Botton In a committed, loving and intimate relationship two hearts grow together and wrap themselves around each other, so that they spiritually make one heart with one common thought. That's why separation is is so painful. “The opposite of Loneliness is not Togetherness , It's Intimacy” ― Richard Bach

by Michael Corthell Only during the past generation have we discovered that babies need to be held and touched. We now know that they cannot grow and that they will literally fail to thrive unless they share physical and emotional closeness with another human being. Growing up doesn't alter that need either. We are social creatures. ''True marital intimacy depends, in large part, on truth that is lovingly told while laying in bed.'' In a close personal relationship such as marriage, it is 'hurt feelings' that very often set the union toward the divorce cliff and set it crashing to the rocks below. How do the hurt feelings get a foothold? It all starts with the 'illusion of perfection'. ''We are going to live happily ever after!'' This is often said as an end all, because the new bride and groom don't know, or don't understand that any relationship needs to be tended to and cultivated. Time passes and then they beco

''Love is not patronizing and charity isn't about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same -- with charity you give love, so don't just give money but reach out your hand instead.'' ― Mother Teresa 'Who is like God?' When I ask for the gift of charity, I'm not asking for warm, fuzzy feelings toward someone who has injured or taken from me. Rather, what I'm actually asking for is to have my very nature changed, to have my character and constitution transformed to become more and more like God's, so that I actually feel as He would feel and behave as He would behave in any given situation.   ''Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.'' ― Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

by Michael Corthell The dictionary says that to 'forgive' means to stop being angry or resentful toward someone or something. That, of course, would also include yourself. In fact, that should be your first stop on any spiritual journey. And today, in 2021, that forgiving spirit could be the one thing that saves our world. ''...if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins...'' —Matthew 6 Forgiveness is about dissipating negative energy (self-loathing, grudges, victimization, etc.). These things can severely harm your health and wellbeing. (Forgiveness is not 'letting someone else or yourself 'off the hook' for harm caused, however.) Forgiveness is an act of love — first yourself and then others. First ,  you have to learn how to love and accept yourself for who and what you are by be

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” ― William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well Just an observation and a warning: What profession could be more suited to a narcissistic personality than politics, where the spotlight of attention is constant?  Narcissists feel entitled to gain power because of their sense of superiority and self-importance. Those with narcissistic personalities tend to crave attention and admiration and feel it is right that other people should be subservient to them. Their lack of empathy means they have no qualms about exploiting other people to attain or maintain their power. So, be wise before you vote. Always vet the candidate you are drawn to. There is only one way to determine that. You have to know if  they are trustworthy.    Here are the 10 most important traits that the trustworthy share.