Ripples v1.30: Ripples of YOU!

Ripples, version 1.30 [8/9/99] ©1999 Stone Soup Seminars

PEBBLE ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

To be yourself, in a world that tries, night and day, to make you just
like everybody else - is to fight the greatest battle there ever is to
fight, and never stop fighting.
Original Source: e.e. cummings
Submitted by: James L. Cissell

BOULDER ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves: Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightening about shrinking
so that others won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And, as we let our light shine,
we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Original Source: Marianne Williamson, Return to Love
Submitted by: John H. Ainslie & Haley Helgeson

PONDER ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was last year at about this time that I really started kicking around an
idea to create a weekly email newsletter. The original intent was a
marketing piece that would remind people to bring me to their organization!
It wasn't until January that Ripples was finally ready to begin circulation
and by then it had changed its focus. 60 people received Ripples v1.01
despite some technical difficulties that had not been worked out. And
thirty weeks later this issue will land upon the computers of 1436 readers
who are FABULOUS at submitting poems, quotes and warm fuzzies every week.

Initially, several colleagues warned me that this might be a time
commitment that would be difficult to maintain during the peaks and valleys
of my schedule. Instead, it has become a ritual that I enjoy almost as
much as giving a workshop or delivering a keynote address. Every Sunday
night and Monday morning, I am reading through your many wonderful
submissions to choose a pebble and a boulder. I also get to reflect upon
my week as I develop a piece for this section.

As I prepare to launch into an exciting round of speeches, and workshops,
will you please take a moment to accept my THANKS for being a part of
Ripples that just keep on flowing!

Enjoy today!

Paul