All We Have Is All We Need: Daily Steps Toward a Peaceful Life

By Karen Casey

Simple messages and mindful meditations to transform your perspective and get you through hard times, by the author of Each Day a Renewed Beginning.

In All We Have Is All We Need, Karen Casey’s classic and simple wisdom is condensed into one and two sentence statements. Her concise teachings will help turn you away from trouble, chaos, and drama and toward peace in your everyday life.

When faced with what seem like calamities, what we need is a simple but true message to hold on to. And, at other times, when crises don’t loom quite so large, we can still find comfort in going back to the basics.

Karen Casey is the founding mother of daily meditation books for women, and a 12-step recovery workshop facilitator with over forty published titles in over ten different languages. In All We Have Is All We Need, she offers something different and unique. Her simple yet profound statements will help you reframe your thinking, practice positive affirmations, and find inner peace.

Praise for All We Have Is All We Need

“What a gem of a book! So much wisdom and peace in every paragraph and sentence. These inspirational, quotable thoughts constantly affirm the incredible fruits of simply shifting our perspective—through the uniquely human gift of choice.” —Stephen R. Covey, author of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 20, 2006
• ISBN: 9781609251178

Karen Casey

Karen Casey has sold over 3 million books that draw upon meditations, motivations, and religion to guide and support women throughout the world. Based in Minneapolis since 1964, Casey is an elementary school teacher turned Ph.D. Casey published the first of twenty-eight books, Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women, with Hazelden Publishing in 1982. Casey has spoken to tens of thousands world-wide over her forty years as a writer. Through each new experience, her gratitude and commitment grow to continue doing what brings joy to her life. Additional notable works from Karen Casey include 52 Ways to Live the Course in Miracles: Cultivate a Simpler, Slower, More Love-Filled Life, Let Go Now: Embrace Detachment as a Path to Freedom, and A Life of My Own: Meditations on Hope and Acceptance.

Book preview

Introduction

THESE DAYS, our lives can feel so hectic and out of control, so lacking in hope and joy. And yet every day, opportunities to experience joy and create peace-filled lives come our way. We have within us the enormous potential to create peace.

It's a matter of how we view the people and experiences in our lives. Being willing to see things differently is all that we need. Every time we respond to a situation with love rather than anger, or fear, or hatred, we take a step toward a more peaceful life, and each step creates its own momentum for positive change—small changes that ripple their way ever outward, influencing other people, other communities, and, ultimately, the world.

That's right. Your decision to act from a place of love contributes to the well-being of all humankind. No matter how crazy the rest of the world seems, we are neither helpless nor hopeless. And the power to effect peaceful change is as close as our next thought. We have within us all we need to do our part in making this a more peaceful world. I'm not just playing with words when I say, all we have is all we need.

All we need to do is shift our own perspective, and we can create the very miracles we seek. The world we see and experience is nothing more or less than a reflection of us, every one of us, and the way toward peace comes through such simple actions as responding with love to our spouse or child, behaving with courtesy toward the person sitting next to us in a meeting or on the bus, smiling at the person standing ahead of us in line at the grocery store. We offer nourishment to all of us every time we say a silent prayer for someone. It's all about what we send out from our hearts.

Perhaps you have heard this before. Even if you have, I believe you will find much value in the thoughts I share with you in the pages that follow. We often need to hear about an idea several times before we are willing to try it on for size. Here I give you lots of ideas to choose from.

It's important to remember, however, that it's not our job to change anyone else. Our job is to practice new behaviors. How lucky we are that we can do this. We can serve as the change agents that our families and communities need, that we need.

Let's not shy away from our responsibility. Instead, let's be grateful for the many opportunities to express more peace-filled lives that come our way every day. It's through our example that others will be inspired. Then and only then will we see the change that Margaret Mead expressed so long ago when she said, so eloquently, Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

How to Use This Book

This book offers ideas for baby steps we can take every day that will add up to a peaceful life and a peaceful presence in the lives of others. The daily thoughts are grouped into six parts, each dealing with a different aspect of the process.

I designed the book so that it can be opened to any page for inspiration. You don't need to read it front to back. You can, of course, read it all the way through, returning to those thoughts that are most meaningful for you. Or you can start with the part that speaks to you right now and work with those ideas, or open to any page at random and see what's there. Read one thought each morning for inspiration, or read several and select the ones that you need to practice today. You may want to write down the ideas that you would like to remember and post them around your home, car, or office where you are most likely to see them. Or tuck this small book into your pocket or briefcase or purse and read a few passages when you have a free moment during the day.

Throughout these pages I refer to God or to a Higher Power as my partner on this path. When reflecting on the thoughts presented here and bringing them into your own life, you may prefer to use another phrase— Creator, the Divine, the Universe—that encompasses a universal life force as you understand it. The word or phrase used isn't important—what is important is your willingness to take steps forward, every day.

So go ahead. Take one step toward a more peaceful life, and then another, and another. Creating peace is not about making sudden, big changes, but about the accumulation of many tiny changes. And it starts with us. But watch out!

Reviews for All We Have Is All We Need

[biunicorn_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

All We Have is All We NeedDaily Steps Toward a Peaceful Lifeby Karen CaseyI tend to see books as rectangular messengers from God, wonderful precious friends whose job it is to bring me helpful, amazing and many times exciting information that often times profoundly changes my life. In the case of this cheerful courier, as soon as I saw the cover I felt the warmth go through me, like a cup of tea on a cold day, and when I noticed the author also wrote Each Day a New Beginning I knew I was in for a terrific treat. This spiritual treasure has it all. I found it very easy to read and pull right into my heart. Basically this is a manual of deep, profound and simple suggestions on techniques to interact with others, playing nice here in earth school in ways that communicate love, peace, joy, and above all honor and respect. When I get in my spoiled bratty kinda moods all of a sudden the world is all about me and no one else, and this precious etheric emissary in just a short couple minutes can bring me right back to my usually buoyant self. I would recommend it to anyone who has a desire to learn the rules of this global sandbox we call home. Awesome job, Karen.Love & Light,Riki Frahmann