In the pursuit of Knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Way, every day something is dropped. Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
Martha BeckPeace is more than just a feeling. It's the mental and physical frequency where you'll find all your real power.
Martha BeckThe difference between success and failure isn't the absence of fear but the determination to pursue your heart's desires no matter how scared you are.
Martha BeckDon’t worry that you’ve wasted time. Each moment -- no matter how frozen or confused -- was a useful and necessary lesson.
Martha BeckI explain to everyone I deal with-co-workers, children, friends-that I'm transitionally challenged and they should call me on my cell phone if I'm even a few minutes late. Such calls often come in when I'm happily writing or rearranging the furniture. The monochrones in my life are so organized, they have no trouble remembering to remind me to show up.
Martha BeckYou have the freedom to live and let live, to love and let love. Granting yourself that freedom is one of the healthiest, most constructive things you can do for yourself and the people who matter to you.
Martha BeckBe brave enough to turn away from shiny objects, and toward the light that makes them shine.
Martha BeckEvery aspect of your life, whether it's a task or relationship, personal or professional, will be based on love and joy. And when you get right down to it, nothing else really matters.
Martha BeckI'm not saying we have power over everything in our lives - if that were true, my hair would look so, so different - but I am saying that there's no circumstance in which we are completely powerless.
Martha BeckDon't fight fearful thoughts. Just match each one with an alternative thought that brings you more peace.
Martha BeckTiny steps will get you to your goal months and months sooner. A little is better than a lot.
Martha BeckHere is the crux of the matter, the distilled essence, the only thing you need to remember: When considering whether to say yes or no, you must choose the response that feels like freedom. Period.
Martha BeckOnly since the Industrial Revolution have most people worked in places away from their homes or been left to raise small children without the help of multiple adults, making for an unsupported life.
Martha BeckEverything always passes, and everything is already okay. Stay in the place where you can see that, and nothing will resist you.
Martha BeckMy deep belief is that all of us have the same lifelong work: to learn honesty, courage, and love. To learn, in other words, how to be our best selves.
Martha BeckThe really potent part of love is that it allows you to carry around beliefs about yourself that make you feel special, desirable, precious, innately good. Your lover couldn't have seen [these qualities] in you, even temporarily, if they weren't part of your essential being.
Martha BeckTo attract something that you want, become as joyful as you think that thing would make you.
Martha BeckWhat would you do if you knew that every good thing in your life depended on your getting enough rest? Because it does.
Martha BeckIf you're living completely on your own, break out of solitary confinement. Seek to understand others, and help them understand you
Martha BeckYour relationship is not supposed to be perfect all the time, your business is not supposed to do well all the time, your soufflés are not supposed to raise perfectly all the time. Everything is designed to go wrong so that you can gain the skills of rediscovering your tracks, even in difficult or frightening circumstances. Especially in difficult and frightening circumstances.
Martha BeckAnything you're trying to will is focused on the future; it's always associated with some sort of anxiety that makes the present moment somewhat uncomfortable.
Martha BeckAlthough beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, the feeling of being beautiful exists solely in the mind of the beheld.
Martha BeckLearning to let go of expectations is a ticket to peace. It allows us to ride over every crisis—small or large, brother-in-law or end-of-quarter office lockdown—like a beach ball on water. The next time a problem arises in your life, take a deep breath, let out a sigh, and replace the thought Oh no! with the thought Okay.
Martha BeckMost of our stress and suffering come not from events, but from our thoughts. Reframe from negative thoughts, and stress subsides.
Martha BeckTen bajillion product ads notwithstanding, your looks are another thing that's basically genetic.
Martha BeckImagine the choices you'd make if you had no fear-of falling, of losing, of being alone, of disapproval.
Martha BeckHumans only really learn from each other by storytelling. We didn't evolve to memorize things. We evolved to hear each other's stories and feel them in our heart. Your life is the most powerful story you can tell.
Martha BeckAllowing children to show their guilt, show their grief, show their anger, takes the sting out of the situation.
Martha BeckThere are things that can only happen through you when you are still. Silence is often the most important work you can do.
Martha BeckMenders of all times and places have taught that silencing the thoughts in our heads and opening to the experience of the body and emotions is the basis of all healing. It's the only means by which we can reclaim our true nature or feel the subtle cues telling us how to find our way through life.
Martha Beck