Jun 8
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”― Aristotle
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the wings.
Waiting.
Bound up tight.
Ready to bloom.
But not quite yet.
Timing and time.
Bud to bloom.
The in between space where we reside.
Waiting to cross the threshold.
Trust. Grace. Patience.
Seasons. Cycles. Transitions.
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” – Corrie Ten Boom
“Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.” – Rabindranath Tagore
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.” – Emily Dickinson
From before to after, hope remains.
Gritty and tough.
Light and persistent.
A thing with feathers.
Carrying us through.
“Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.”― Napoleon Hill
“Life reflects your own thoughts back to you.” – Napoleon Hill
What we see is filtered through our experiences, disposition, limiting beliefs.
Influenced by others, what we consume and let in.
Attitude to thoughts to words to actions.
All in your control.
Shift focus, attention and effort.
One filled with hope, awe, and wonder.
Rooted in beauty, goodness and light.
Optimism more than pessimism.
Expanse more than narrowness.
Today rather than someday when.
Mindfulness over autopilot.
Change your thoughts, change your life.
Choose well.
“Do not wait: the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.”― Napoleon Hill
“Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons, a possession for all eternity.” – Oscar Wilde
“Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.”― Edith Wharton, Artemis to Actaeon and Other Verses
Enter this day.
Fresh and new.
Blank canvas.
Empty cup.
Ready to be filled with shape, color and hue.
In the details, in the ordinary, in the moment.
Rid yourself of old and sameness.
Empty your cup to be filled again and again.
Hope, enthusiasm, joy, delight.
Ours for the taking, receiving, and sharing.
Enter this day new and come out changed.
Drink in the beauty.
Spill out awe.
“We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” – Ray Bradbury
“Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.”― Samuel Johnson, The Idler; Poems
“For so, surely you will cast a light of gladness upon his onward journey, and contribute your part towards the building of that kingdom of love which links our earth to heaven.” – Edward Carpenter
May gladness overflow from your heart.
To your words.
To your actions.
In each moment, or even just a few.
Moving through this day.
Grace. Gratitude. Gladness.
Linking earth to heaven.
“May your heart be filled with gladness.”― Lailah Gifty Akita
“The test of faith is whether I can make space for difference. Can I recognize God’s image in someone who is not in my image, who language, faith, ideal, are different from mine? If I cannot, then I have made God in my image instead of allowing him to remake me in his.”― Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations
May understanding be my first and last act.
Clearing the path for all.
Inviting and allowing difference.
A potpourri of belonging and hospitality.
Love well without rules or restrictions.
Love has none.
Gentle, kind, gritty and enduring.
It sticks.
A real Presence.
An anchoring.
Faith and truth into deed.
No more fear.
Still small voice that is never silenced.
Listen.
The answer will always be love.
“So meaning is made, not just discovered. That is what religion for the most part is: the constant making and remaking of meaning, by the stories we tell, the rituals we perform and the prayers we say. The stories are sacred, the rituals divine commands, and prayer a genuine dialogue with the divine. Religion is an authentic response to a real Presence, but it is also a way of making that presence real by constantly living in response to it. It is truth translated into deed.”― Jonathan Sacks, The Great Partnership: God, Science and the Search for Meaning
“In an age of fear, moderation is hard to find and harder to sustain. Who wants to listen to a nuanced argument, when what we want is someone to relieve us from the burden of thought and convince us that we were right all along? So people mock. They blame. They caricature. They demonize. In an age of anxiety, few can hear the still small voice that the Bible tells us is the voice of God.”― Jonathan Sacks, The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning
“As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can”.”― John Muir
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”― John Muir, The Mountains of California
Get lost then found in nature.
Explore, wander, be quiet to hear the symphony.
Waterfalls flowing, birds singing, a soft breeze on a summer’s day.
Restoration, rejuvenation, reclamation.
Soul, spirit, body.
It’s a beautiful world.
Go out into it.
“The sun shines not on us but in us.”― John Muir
“In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.” – John Steinbeck
“I realized
June had never been
just a month
music…
never just a tremble
on my lips
warmth was never
merely a blanket.”
― Sanober Khan, A touch, a tear, a tempest
June.
Long summer days.
The beginning of many more to come.
Take in each day, they go fast.
Slow down.
Immerse fully into each day, ablaze with color, light and bloom.
“Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.” – Al Bernstein
“The act of meditation is being spacious.”― Sogyal Rinpoche
“Welcome the life that takes you off course. A plan derailed, a life surrendered, a broken bondage”― Rebekah Lyons
Plans change, never happen, go in a different direction.
Lean in. Move through. Keep going.
You never know what is just around the corner.
Create space and margins for new places.
Ever unfolding and becoming.
Make new plans.
Keep dreaming.
Taking action, expend effort.
Accepting different endings.
Always beginning again and again.
“Act, and God will act.” – Joan of Arc
“In the age of speed, there’s something to be found in slowing down.”― Kristen Butler
“If you’re always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you’re in? Slow down and enjoy the moment you’re in and live your life to the fullest.”― Nanette Mathews
I haven’t picked up my golf clubs in years. This is the year, I am taking golf back up again. Part of my diversification plans – mix things up and play more. I went to the golf range yesterday afternoon to hit balls. Large bucket please. The first 10 balls – swinging fast and hard. Going faster and harder are our natural instincts.
Then it came to me. Slow down and follow through. When I listened, I got my rhythm and cadence. Hitting several balls 220+ yards. And it felt easy. Slowing down and following through – good advice for life too. We jam so much into an hour, our days. Busy, busy. Faster and wearing ourselves down. Autopilot and cruise control.
Slow down and follow through. Enjoy this day as you pump the brakes to take in the scenery. There’s joy to be found. Partake.
“Strange, what being forced to slow down could do to a person.”― Nicholas Sparks, The Last Song
