WEEK 3.1 (JANUARY 15-21)

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” – MLKjr

“Transformation is different for every person based on our constitution (what we are made of) and perspective to the world. The story of the potatoes, egg and coffee. Boiling water transforms the potato into something soft, the egg into something hard and coffee transform the water.”

The black dot

One day, a professor entered his classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They all waited anxiously at their desks for the exam to begin.

The professor handed out the exams with the text facing down, as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked the students to turn over the papers.

To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions–just a black dot in the center of the paper. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s faces, told them the following:

“I want you to write about what you see there.”

The students, confused, got started on the inexplicable task.

At the end of the class, the professor took all the exams and started reading each one of them out loud in front of all the students. All of them, with no exception, defined the black dot, trying to explain its position in the center of the sheet.

After all had been read, the classroom silent, the professor started to explain:

“I’m not going to grade you on this, I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot – and the same thing happens in our lives.

However, we insist on focusing only on the black dot – the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friend.

The dark spots are very small when compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds. Take your eyes away from the black dots in your lives. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you. Be happy and live a life filled with love!”

“Today I refuse to stress myself out over things I simply can’t control.”

“You cannot heal in the same environment that made you sick.”

“Sometimes in life it is better to cut a knot, for everything cannot be untied.”

“Detachment does not that you should own nothing. But instead that nothing should own you.”

“Detachment is an art of enjoying something while always being open to the possibility of losing it someday.”

“Every situation in life is temporary. So, when life is good, make sure you enjoy and receive it fully. And when life is not so good, remember that it will not last forever and better days are on the way.” Jenni Young

Martin Luther King Jr:

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” – Martin Luther King Jr

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” – MLKjr

“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” – MLKjr

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” – MLKjr

“Learning to say no is one of the hardest things to do, but also the most liberating.”

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Reinhold Niebuhr

“In order to change, we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

“Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.”

“At some point, you have to realize that some people can stay in your heart, but not in your life.”

Learning to unlearn is the highest form of learning. —Buddhist proverb

“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” – Mother Teresa “The hunger for love is much harder to satisfy, than the hunger for food.”

“We will never know the good a simple smile will do. Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” – Mother Theresa

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” – Mother Theresa