"What is your core unmet need? Maybe when you were young you needed someone to tell you that you were special, smart or lovable, and you're still looking for that today. Maybe you need to be validated; to be told that "you did it right". (Just think of the amount of time many of us spend trying to be right. And when they don't acknowledge that we're right, we're hurt and angry.) Perhaps you need to know that you belong, that you're important, or that you're good enough. For some of us, it is the need to be heard or seen.

"Although there is a fine line distinguishing the subtle differences between some of our needs, the particularities and specific nuances are significant in getting to the core of what your wounded self is asking for. Look with total honesty and sincerity for the unmet need that drives you, and then turn your attention fully toward that - giving that to yourself with a whole new level of passion and commitment. After all, we are designed to meet our own needs. And when we finally begin to meet them ourselves, we are free to interact with the world without hidden agendas.

"Take Action Now!

"Once you distinguish your core unmet need, look through the lens of 100% responsibility - "I'm responsible for fulfilling this need. Not God. Not my parents. Not my spouse. Not my children." From this place of honesty and empowerment, ask yourself the following questions:

- What do I need on a daily basis to meet this need? What would I need to know? What would I need to say to myself?
- What are the boundaries I need to put in place - internally or externally?
- Are there certain people I feel better around than others?
- What kind of support do I need?
- What kind of compassion and understanding do I need?

"Give yourself whole-heartedly to the fulfillment of your core need over the next 30 days, and watch your world transform."

-- Debbie Ford, DebbieFord.com

Never give a party if you will be the most interesting person there.
-- Mickey Friedman

"I'm not busy. A woman with three children under the age of 10 wouldn't think my schedule looked busy".
-- Garrison Keillor


Image from UALR.

"I'll have to get back to you on that..."
-- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, when asked by a reporter if he would like to be "gay for a day", as he had served as an honorary "Puerto Rican for a Day" during the NYC's recent National Puerto Rican Day festivities. Carefully Studying Politics of Supporting Gay Rights, The New York Times.


Image from Columbia University.

"Ventriloquism today is in a slump. Children today haven't been exposed to it... Edgar Bergen was an enormous hit in radio. But I think television defeats ventriloquism. Children are so used to seeing puppets that when they see a real ventriloquist they don't understand it. On television, everyone talks and they don't care about the mechanics."
-- Paul Winchell, 1922-2005, as told to the AP in 1988.


Image from PaulWinchell.com

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it".
-- Aristotle, QuotationsPage.com

"There are those who believe that the best idea is to give everyone one big refund on their government - divvy it up into individual portions, hand it out, and encourage everyone to use their share to go buy their own health care, their own retirement plan, their own child care, education and so forth. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society. But in our past there has been another term for it - Social Darwinism, every man and woman for him or herself. ... This isn't us. This isn't how our story ends - not in this country. America is a land of big dreamers and big hopes. ... So let's dream. Let's imagine what we can do to give every American a fighting chance in the 21st century. ... Every one of us will have to work more, read more, train more, think more. We will have to slough off bad habits - like driving gas guzzlers that weaken our economy and feed our enemies abroad. Our kids will have to turn off the TV sets and put away the video games and start hitting the books. We will have to reform institutions, like our public schools, that were designed for an earlier time. Republicans will have to recognize our collective responsibilities, even as Democrats recognize that we have to do more than just defend the old programs. "
-- Barack Obama, United States Senator from Illinois, Commencement Address at Knox College, as quoted in The New York Times.

"My work is the result of a need to follow my creative spirit, to develop it and use it, fearlessly at times, to bring a sense of energy, depth and joy to my life and to those around me. In doing so I am constantly finding the same need in others. That is why I do what I do, and love what I do. I invite you to join me in this great adventure called life...squeeze the juice out of it!"
-- Violette Clark, ViolettesFolkArtcom.

"Imagine waking up each day knowing that you are standing on a clean slate. Your past is behind you, your tasks are up to date and your projects are complete. What could you create if there were no unresolved issues, projects or relationships to divert your attention?

"In order to create the best year of your life - one that will inspire you to create each year as your very finest - it is essential to take some time to clean your slate by bringing completion to the past before trying to move ahead. Many of us skip this step because we are anxious to get on to the next idea, goal or project. But there is great value and insight to be extracted from the process of honestly reflecting on where we've been, where we are now, and where we hope to go. By honestly examining the areas where we've fallen short, we can avoid similar pitfalls in the future. And by wholeheartedly acknowledging ourselves for what we've done well, we build our confidence and set the stage for even greater success and fulfillment".

-- Debbie Ford, DebbieFord.com

"Only as high as I reach can I grow. Only as far as I seek can I go. Only as deep as I look can I see. Only as much as I dream can I be".
-- Anonymous

"Nothing is real to us unless we make it real. Nothing can touch us unless we let it touch us."
-- The Science of Mind, pg 307.

"We must not be lukewarm in our conviction. We must know that we know".
-- The Science of Mind, p 159.

"When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself".
-- Wayne Dyer

"Be humble in your perpetual uncertainty".
-- Paul Pearsall

"Pay attention to the truth. It's not an intellectual thing. It's a gut thing. My truth is that I love real, honest, passionate, intense experiences. Experiences that don't apologize for themselves or claim to be something they aren't. ... You want a recipe? Boil some spaghetti in well-salted water. While you're doing that, heat up some good extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet and throw in some thin slices of garlic and some red pepper flakes. When the pasta's cooked, toss it in the skillet. Throw in some chopped parsley and a little of the pasta water. Toss it around. Put it on a plate. Grate some Parmigiano Reggiano on top. Congratulations, dude. You've just made spaghetti all'aglio e olio. One of the greatest simple truths of humankind - and a damn good emergency dinner. That's a recipe. It's an idea. It's a dish. It's an icon. It's an experience. It's not rules. And as you cook up your life, I hope you never let anyone else's recipe for success intimidate you or get in your way. Rules are overrated. "

-- Mario Batali, Chef, Commencement Address, Rutgers College, as quoted in The New York Times.

"And here we see the invisible boy
In his lovely invisible house
Feeding a piece of invisible cheese
To a little invisible mouse.
Oh, what a beautiful picture to see!
Will you draw an invisible picture for me?"

-- Shel Silverstein, as quoted on Dharmabums.net.

"The only thing that was a little distracting was that I walked through the door and there was applause, you know. So that was a little distracting. Other than that, the work is still the work. Don't try to be fierce now, just do what you were doing. Don't try to start acting all of a sudden."
-- Adrianne Lenox, on performing on Broadway after winning the Tony Award for her role in Doubt. In New York Magazine, June 20, 2005.


Image from DoubtOnBroadway.com.

"If you want to see the brave, look at those who can forgive. If you want to see the heroic, look at those who can love in return for hatred."
-- The Bhagavad Gita

"Life is a teacher to the wise man and an enemy to the fool".
-- Anonymous

"One has to be grown up enough to realize that life is not fair. You just have to do the best you can in the situation you're in".
-- Stephen Hawking

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succees, but I am bound to live up to whatever light I have."
-- Abraham Lincoln


Image from Photomosaic.com

"The U.S. continues to suffer terrible embarrassment and a blow to our reputation because of reports concerning abuses of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo."
-- Jimmy Carter


Image from Al-Jazeera.

"Film critics said I gave a voice to the fear we all have: that we'll reach a certain point in our lives, look around and realize that all the things we said we'd do and become will never come to be, and that we're ordinary."
-- Anne Bancroft, 1931-2005


Image from Iris Illustration.

"If you don't have the wound of a broken heart, how can you know you're alive? If you have no broken heart, how do you know who you are?"
-- Edward Albee


Image from Northeastern Illinois University.

"I feel like crying... Because there's no way in the world that a guy with my name from South St. Louis, Missouri, ends up in Radio City holding one of these without some divine intervention."
-- Norbert Leo Butz, at last night's Tony Awards.


Image from Broadway World.

"I've never been proposed to or engaged. Never, never, never. Not even close. I've never been an active partner seeker".
-- Renee Zellweger


Image from American Photo.

"Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change..."
-- Dr. Wayne Dyer, The Power of Intention.


Image from the NAEB.

"Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results."
-- Rollo May

"We can't relate to the rest of the world only through a negative prism, and only through telling them to do things. Why? Because if you live in a world where you can't kill, jail or occupy all your enemies, security will never be enough. You've got to make a world where you've got more friends and fewer enemies, where you make partners."

-- Bill Clinton, as quoted by The Washington Post.


Image from DHM.

"Discontent occurs when our outer experiences aren't matching our inner desires. It usually begins as a subtle awareness - a gnawing feeling that we are capable of something more than we are actually creating in some key area of our lives or we are tolerating circumstances that are below our standards. In its early stages, discontent is fairly easy to overlook or conceal from ourselves. But like a glowing ember, the heat of discontent builds slowly over time until it becomes a blazing fire that can no longer be ignored. By then our discontent captures our full attention and, hopefully, we are motivated into action...

"Whether it shows up in the area of our jobs, our bodies, or our relationships with our spouse or our kids, the sensation of discontent blows past our egos and our logic, insisting that we are destined for much, much more than we are currently living. The natural human reaction when faced with such a powerful and uncomfortable emotion is to blame it on someone or something else in order to ease our own pain... But I'd like to offer you another, more empowering way to perceive it: Your discontent is a tap on the shoulder from your most magnificent self, awakening you to your true potential and revealing a part of yourself that is ready to be expressed. In fact, discontent may be your most powerful ally on your journey to a life of greater fulfillment.

"What if you listened to the subtle urgings of your discontent, rather than making it someone else's fault or keeping it at bay? What if you could penetrate the denial of your own actions and choices and took radical responsibility for where you are right now? What if you not only listened to your discontent, but courted it, took it to lunch or out for an afternoon stroll and received full-heartedly the messages it is trying to convey? What you will inevitably find is that your discontent is ushering in a more expanded, more powerful version of yourself that is wanting and waiting to be born. It is the proverbial messenger whispering in your ear...

"Once we crack the code of our discontent and receive the message it has been trying to send us, we can embrace it, and move in the direction it is guiding us...

"This week, look to see in what area(s) of your life your discontent is trying to get your attention, and create a structure that will enable you to grow with it, rather than fight against it..."

-- Debbie Ford, DebbieFord.com