The other day walking through the library quickly, several book titles leapt out at me. The author of this book shares out of his practice and his life. He was a psychologist, on the faculty of Harvard Medical School at the time of writing this book [1997].

The Power of Empathy : A Practical Guide to Creating Intimacy, Self-Understanding and Lasting Love written by Arthur P Ciaramicoli, and Katherine Ketcham had a few gems of insight into ideas I like to learn more deeply about.

Here’s a smattering of quotes:

216 PRACTICING FAITH
217 Have Your Doubts
… with the goal of moving closer to what you are trying to understand rather than pushing it farther into the distance, with your mind opened to the possibility that you might be in for a surprise.

Beware of Cynicism
Cynicism and doubt are not the same experience. Cynicism is a state of disbelief, an active act of not believing. Doubt raises questions, but it is not close-minded. Cynicism shuts off possibilities; doubt leaves room for hope. Cynicism leads to pessimism; doubt leaves room for optimism. Cynicism contracts; doubt expands.

Doubt confronts the world full throttle and dares faith: Go ahead, show me! Cynicism turns its back and slowly wanders away.

Don’t Be Afraid to Talk Back to God
218 [Mela Svoboda in her book Everyday Epiphanies chastised God for being too tenderhearted. All she heard God say was, "You know, Honey, I really get a kick out of you!" [Which only proved her point.] [That made me laugh. Plus, I never had God call me 'honey' that I know of.]

220 EMPATHY’S DEFINITION OF HOPE
Hope is not the belief that everything will turn out all right, rather it is the conviction that even when things go wrong, as they inevitably will, somehow we will find our way through [both] resilient and tenacious. Hope is a way of taking heart … it means finding something to believe in and then resolutely working to make it happen… works to make things better day by day full of purpose and direction keeps us moving.

Hope is created through great effort, diligence, patience, and concentration. We earn hope by our commitment to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

225 PRACTICING HOPE
Argue with Yourself [don't just accept every negative thought about yourself that drifts into consciousness]

228 One pathway to hope is to choose your memories very carefully; put a frame around them. So many hopeful things happen day in and day out, but we lose them if we don’t stop for a moment, think about them, and consciously frame them.

Originally posted 2007-09-06 16:11:42.

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Books, Hope, Inspirational, Just thinking