"Complete responsibility means accepting it all--even the people who enter your life and their problems, because their problems are your problems. They are in your life, and if you take full responsibility for your life, then you have to take full responsibility for what they are experiencing too."
"The idea isn't to achieve results, but to achieve peace. When you do that, you often get the results you wanted in the first place."
There is so much to this book - so many deep and powerful ideas, but this "awakening," as the author calls it, is what I have experienced in the last year of my life:
"1. You are a victim. We are virtually all born feeling we are powerless. Most of us stay that way. We think the world is out to get us: the government, neighbors, society, the bad guys in whatever form they seem to take. We don't feel we have any influence. We're the effect of the rest of the world's cause. We gripe, complain, protest, and gather in groups to fight those in charge of us. Except for a party now and then, life sucks.
"2. You are in control. At some point, you see a life-changing movie, or you read a book, and you wake up to your own power. You realize the power of setting intentions. You realize the power you have to visualize what you want, take action, and achieve it. You begin to experience some magic. You start to experience some cool results. Life begins to look pretty good.
"3. You are awakening. At some point after stage two, you begin to realize your intentions are limitations. You begin to see that with all your newfound power, you're still not able to control everything. You begin to realize that when you surrender to a greater power, miracles tend to happen. You begin to let go, and trust. You begin to practice, moment by moment, awareness of your connection with the Divine. You learn to recognize inspiration when it comes to you, and you act on it. You realize you have choice, but not control of your life. You live in a constant state of amazement, wonder and gratitude."