Just for Today, The Expanded Edition Quotes

“Saying a prayer can be as simple as thinking positive thoughts about someone—it’s not an act that needs to be tied to any particular religion or system of beliefs. I can say a prayer just by saying “I wish you peace” after someone becomes angry with me for something trivial; I can say a prayer for the woman who is always cheerful (or gloomy) at the store where I shop by thinking “I wish you all the best in life—good health, good relationships, and all of your true needs fulfilled.” Of course, if you want to pray to God in the form in which you conceive of God, that’s fine, too—and your prayer will not be wasted. Think about it. Is the world a better place when you walk away from someone either forgetting them immediately or thinking negative thoughts about them? This world of ours can use all the positive thoughts we can contribute to it, and our simple and heartfelt prayers are some of the most positive thoughts we can create and share. And they affect us as much as, if not more than, they affect the objects of our prayers.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“It seems that many of us have the goal of making other people conform to our desires and expectations, whether or not we would admit to such a thing. We see this especially in parents who get upset because their children don’t conform to their expectations, but instead follow a pattern of development that is unique and individual. We often use language with peers and colleagues that encourages them to change their ways of doing things to our ways of doing things: “You should” and “You ought to” are usually presented as advice, but in the end they really are about changing someone else’s ways of doing things. And we may offer this “advice” in a spirit of love and helpfulness, but we can be much more helpful when we help them to find their own ways of changing things.

It can be incredibly freeing to spend an entire day not looking to try to change the behaviors, beliefs, or attitudes of other human beings. If we approach life in this way, we may learn much about the other people in our lives instead of trying to make them be like us.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“The world is in sore need of good listeners. And in our own lives, it’s amazing to recognize just how valuable listening can be for us. How many mistakes have you made because you didn’t listen well? Personally, I’ve made many—and I’ve missed out on some wonderful opportunities because I was more interested in sharing what I had to say than I was in listening to what someone else had to say.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“Thinking ahead often seems to be a lost art.  Many people are so caught up in instant gratification that they never stop to think about the long-term effects of some of their actions.  They also don’t see the connections between today’s actions and tomorrow’s results—and this causes an awful lot of pain and frustration in life.  Whatever I do today, I should be aware of the possible effects—negative and positive—that can show up in the future, near or far.      Of course, we can’t let the fear of what might happen in the future keep us from acting today.  But we can make our lives much easier if we just remember the law of cause and effect, and realize that some of what we do today will be the cause of effects that won’t show up until later.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“The world never lacks beauty.  We sometimes lack the awareness necessary to notice and appreciate it.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“Today, I am glad that I’m me—I’m glad that I was born who I am, that I’ve learned what I’ve learned, and that I’ve become who I am.      I am happy and grateful for my life, and I shall not waste time comparing it with the lives of others, for I am I, and I am very glad of that fact!”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“We often spend tons of time trying to get people to believe the things that we believe, because we think it will be better for them.  We try to convince others that our religious or political views have more validity than theirs do, for we think that we’re doing them a favor by steering them in the right direction.  But each of us has our own unique way of looking at this world of ours, and it’s important that we accept and respect the fact that someone who has a different brain than we have and a different background than we have just may see the world in different ways than we do.      One of the most beautiful results of this type of realization is seeing just how much we can learn from each other and grow together when we stop trying to make someone else believe our truths.  When all the time that we have spent trying to convince someone they’re wrong is spent instead on getting to know that person better and letting them get to know us better, we can truly develop a stronger and deeper relationship.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“just for today, i’ll focus on the people i’m with. . . .        In this day and age, it’s astonishing to see how many people feel that it’s not rude to ignore the people they’re with while they talk on their phones to other people who aren’t even there.  When we start focusing on someone who isn’t with us, we send a message to the people who are with us that they aren’t as important as those other people, and that what I have to talk about with this person on the phone is much more important than what I have to talk over with you.      Most of us can’t remember what it’s like to give our undivided attention to someone else—or to have someone else give his or her undivided attention to us.  Some of us never have experienced this at all, and that’s quite a shame, for it’s one of the most important ways to develop relationships that we have.  Just for today, let’s turn off the cell phone when we’re with friends, and live in the moment with the people who are with us.  We can catch up with the others later (as we used to do with no problems).”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“just for today, i’ll remember that my thoughts help to shape my day. . . .”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“What do we do when things just don’t seem to be going the ways that we think they should, the ways that we want them to, the ways that we try to make them go?   It’s very frustrating sometimes to feel that the world is doing its own thing without considering our needs and wants—but sometimes, when we trust life, we start to see that our “failures” are simply life’s way of pushing us in new and exciting directions—not always gently, of course, but pushing us nonetheless.      The problem arises when we start to feel the need to know just what this larger plan is.  That’s not necessarily for us to know, though—sometimes it’s important just to trust, to let go of the need to try to control outcomes, and start to look for the hints that will tell us how to contribute to the world in the ways that come to us most naturally, the ways in which we’re the most strongly gifted.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“How we like to hold on!  Sometimes we’re unwilling to let things go just because we know them, and they feel “safe” to us, even if we’re talking about something like behaviors that harm us, like defensiveness or addictions.  We hesitate to let go because doing so will expose us to the unknown in our own lives, and we’ll have to deal with life without this part of ourselves that we’ve grown so accustomed to.  But if we’re ever to move on to the next thing in life, if we’re to grow and develop as people, we may have to let go of things that are holding us back—behaviors and beliefs and sometimes even people.      There is no formula that can tell us what we should let go of and what we should hold on to.  But if we listen to our hearts, we can know what still serves us well, and what is keeping us from moving on and becoming better people.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“We’re making a choice every single time we put something into our mouths.  And it’s a much more important choice than most people make it out to be.  Today, make the choices that are positive ones for your body—and if you stay in the habit of doing so, you’ll find that you benefit greatly from those choices.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“When someone does something that hurts us, it’s easy for us to think that if we forgive that person, we’re doing so for his or her sake.  The truth is, though, that we ourselves benefit the most from our forgiveness.  That forgiveness can rid us of the poisons of anger and resentment, two emotions that hold us prisoner and keep us from moving on with our lives in happy and fulfilling ways.  When we carry a grudge, we’re really carrying around a weapon that we’re using against ourselves.  Our negative feelings rarely affect the other person all that much, but they keep us in a deep dark hole that keeps us from seeing the sunshine and feeling the fresh air.      Do yourself a favor:  forgive.  As Morrie Schwartz said shortly before his death, “Forgive everyone everything” before it’s too late to do so.  Your life will take a turn for the better when you can truly forgive anyone who has done you wrong.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“Hurry is a thief, pure and simple.  And sometimes when we complain about the absence of certain things in our lives, we really aren’t missing those things at all—rather, we just don’t notice them when they’re there because we fly right by them on our way to something else.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“Day Thirty-five   just for today, i'll remember that kind words accomplish much more than harsh words. .”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“But no matter how life looks at the moment, if we trust that it looks this way for a reason that will help us and others in the future, we can deal with this moment with a much stronger sense of purpose and acceptance.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“How much time do we spend searching for happiness, hoping to find it in the new relationship or the new car or the new friendship or the new cell phone that has everything I’d ever want in a cell phone?  Yet when these things come into our lives, we feel a sense of gratification for a while, but no real happiness.  Person after person in history tells us that happiness is indeed an inside job, something that comes as a result of our attitudes and our perspective—not something that causes them to change to something better.  The new boyfriend or girlfriend isn’t going to make us happy, for the happiness we feel can come only from ourselves.      Our cultures tell us differently sometimes, but that’s usually because someone has something to sell us, and if they can promise us happiness through what they sell, we’ll be more likely to buy.  (Use our toothpaste and you’ll get a new girlfriend, and then you’ll be happy!)  Life doesn’t work that way, though advertisers want to convince us that it does.  Trust that happiness will come only as a result of our own attitude shifts, and then we’ll see the importance of learning all we can about happiness so that we can make that shift in our minds and hearts, and become happy and healthy human beings when we do so.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“Some of us waste a lot of time waiting for teachers to come along, telling ourselves that we can’t learn anything important on our own.  But learning is something that we easily can do on our own—sometimes we just get caught up in thinking that we have to learn everything about a topic or it’s not worth our while, but when we approach our learning with patience, we’re able to see that learning a little today and a little tomorrow and a little next week eventually will lead to us knowing a great deal.  And today I can start that process with something small, simple, and important.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“Resentment causes us to stay in the past, our minds focused on the wrongs that have been done to us.  It really is time to let go of it just as we would let go of something that’s too hot and that would burn us if we held on to it too long.  If we hold on to resentment even slightly too long, we’re risking great injury—emotional and spiritual—not just to ourselves, but to those we resent, too.  So let’s let it go.  Just for today.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“Let’s not judge others for chances that they’ve not had—in fact, let’s not judge them at all.  Let’s accept them right now for who they are”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“There’s an elegance to simplicity.  Keeping things simple allows us to enjoy things more fully, without raising our expectations to unrealistic levels.  Very often the most important thing that we can do in our lives is to keep things simple, yet we tend to complicate our lives and situations—often with the best of intentions—adding stress and work and many more details to our lives.  Keeping things simple can certainly be a liberating force in our lives, and it can also help us to see the beauty of simplicity, and to learn its value.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“It is well said that we’re just borrowing this planet from our children—and what kind of condition are we going to return it in when we pass on?”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“It’s important to distinguish between needs and wants.  Sometimes we spend so much time chasing after our wants that we neglect our true needs, and that’s a course of action that over time is bound to harm us.  Today it’s important to determine what exactly our needs are, and then attend to them so that we can make sure that we’re not going to burn out or hit a wall because we haven’t taken care of ourselves.      Wants are important, too, but it’s obvious that in the long term, our needs should take priority.  And when we identify a need, it’s important that we don’t brush it off without taking care of it, and today I’ll have chances to at least work on making sure that some important needs of mine are met.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“just for today, i’ll allow many things to be out of my control. . . .        This can be very difficult for many of us.  When someone tells us about something bad going on, we tend to want to solve the problem, to exercise some level of control over it.  If someone is misbehaving, we often feel obligated to make that person change his or her behavior.  But many, many things in this life are not under our control, nor should they be—and we shouldn’t try to exert our influence trying to control them.  Sometimes we need to accept that this is someone else’s problem, and that person is able to deal with it, or that this is an issue that’s going to take some time to resolve, or that this really, truly is none of my business.      There are plenty of things in life that go on quite well without our involvement, and when we try to push ourselves in, we can add stress to our own lives and complicate the situations.  So today, I’m going to let some things go, for they aren’t my affair.”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“for today, i'll hold on to my dreams and respect them. .”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“just for today, i'll do something nice for someone who's not expecting it. .”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition

“just for today, i'll try to maintain a positive perspective, no matter what the situation. . .”
― Tom Walsh, Just for Today, The Expanded Edition