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Nov 20

Take Delight

“Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.”― W. Somerset Maugham

“Exquisite beauty
is often hidden
in life’s fragile,
fleeting moments.”
― John Mark Green, Taste the Wild Wonder: Poems

To be where I stand.
Fully awake and aware.
Not losing today looking back or too far ahead.
Steeped in now with gratitude, awe and thanks.
Color. Light. Beauty.
Balm and binding.
Take delight in this day.
Fleeting and full.

“We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.”― Harry A. Ironside

Nov 19

Eucharisteo

“Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle.”― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite – only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next ten thousand years, and exhaust it. How sweet to think of! my extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”― Henry David Thoreau

May thanksgiving be perennial rather than annual.
Rooted deeply, ever-present.
A perpetual harvest.
A framework, attitude, lens to living every day, not a mere day.
Recognizing what is already present.
Abundance over scarcity.
Multiplication over subtraction.
Praise over comparison.
Gratitude. Contentment. Peace.
May these be your daily companions.

“Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.”― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Nov 18

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A River Moving in You

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”― Rumi

“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

Downshift
Slow down
Feel the weight of time
The gravity of presence
The current of the river
In both joy and sorrow
Often woven together
Lean on joy, hope, love
Laughter and tears, more laughter please
You can hold it all
And put it down
Idle, accelerate, coast
Inquire, observe, hear
Remember to wonder and seek awe
Found in beauty
In other
In self
In ordinary days
Given freely and abundantly by God
A peace that passes understanding
Awaiting your awakening and attendance
Tend to joy
A river moving in you

“Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.”― Jonathan Swift

Nov 17

Megaphone of Love

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”― C.S. Lewis

“Back on the caregiving roller coaster, I struggled to remember the lesson I had just learned so painfully with Mom: the end of caregiving isn’t freedom. The end of caregiving is grief.”― Margaret Renkl, Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss

A friend’s Mom passed away yesterday.
Another friend’s Mom in July.
Mine in March.
Others a few years ago, some decades.
Grief is both individual and communal.
Same and different.
Fresh and lingering.
Deeper than platitudes.
Beyond the words of a Hallmark card.
Not a process but a winding, rocky, sometimes beautiful journey.
A bi-polar SOB.
Depths and heights.
Laughter and tears.
Drops and waves.
Never over, merely changing its form.
Do not go around it, avoid, or run from it.
Right through the middle.
Loss is overwhelming and always overcome by love.
Friends and family, show up.
Not just in the beginning, but months later too.
Simply be there and available.
Don’t assume, always ask and listen.
Actions over words.
Peace, love, light on this journey friend.
Love walks beside you softly, quietly, fiercely.

“Friendship … is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Nov 16

Walk in Peace

“The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

“Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…It’s something we make inside ourselves.”― Corrie Ten Boom

Pause and pursuit.
Quiet and clarity.
Slow and motion.
Space and place.
Look around on the path you walk today.
Seek beauty, color, delight.
Inside and out.
Focus attention, intention, direction.
Plant seeds along the way.
Joy, awe, kindness.
Walk in peace.

“waste time wisely, my friend. Time spent in rest, joy, company and kindness is never wasted. As for everything else, just do it. You won’t regret the things you tried and failed at. But you will regret a life spent waiting. Those who wait, wait. You have a life to live.”― Donna Ashworth, I Wish I Knew: Poems to Soothe Your Soul & Strengthen Your Spirit

Nov 15

Softly and Tenderly, Held

“Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.”― Corrie Ten Boom

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”― Corrie Ten Boom, Clippings from My Notebook

May you find ease today.
Rhythm, flow, peace.
Put worry down to lighten up.
Find hope in the corners and crevices.
Small and big.
Joy in a smile, in laughter on an ordinary day.
Assured that what comes you will always be held, carried, accompanied.
Entering a place, space, being, presence, undefinable, nearness, depth.
A warmth, love and grace bigger than self and other.
Weaving all of the threads together in to a beautiful tapestry of color and texture.
Give into this hope, grace, love and light.
No fear, only trust.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”― Corrie ten Boom

Nov 14

In the Present Moment

“Life is available only in the present moment.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, Taming the Tiger Within: Meditations on Transforming Difficult Emotions

“May you live every day of your life.”― Jonathan Swift

Drop anchor.
Pause.
Hover.
Look longer.
Color, nuance, hue.
Breathe deeply.
In and out, repeat.
In the slowing, witness beauty.
Partake in quiet.
Put down the unnecessary.
Tune out to tune in.

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

Nov 13

Gravity and Flight

“Hope is a verb with its shirtsleeves rolled up.”― David Orr

“Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

May peace be your path today.
Hope the work.
Rigorous joy.
Earth the playground.
Feet anchored.
Eyes up and around.
Gravity and flight.

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

Nov 12

Just Add Fun, Daily

“When God created dogs He just sat back and smiled.”― Will Rogers

“True Fun is the confluence of playfulness, connection, and flow. Whenever these three states occur at the same time, we experience True Fun.”― Catherine Price, The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again

May you discover the value, utility and necessity of fun.
Of play and frolic.
Of awe and delight.
Of ease and optimism.
Of laughter and lightness.
To know all of the “facts” and to choose joy.
Get to know fun again.
To feel alive.
Daily.

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”― C.S. Lewis

Nov 11

Flowers and Blessings

“Every day, bring some flowers to your life. Every day bring some blessings in someone’s life.”― Amit Ray, Walking the Path of Compassion

“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”― Will Rogers

Clear out the clutter.
Open a window.
Create some space.
Let fresh air into your thoughts and perspective.
Choose the path of goodness, forgiveness, forgetting, generosity, kindness, joy, delight.
A daily decision, not by accident.
Intention followed by action, practice, commitment.
To see the world anew, I need to change, not the world, not the other person.
Do not waste any more time offended, judging, assuming.
Today is it.
Be present, grateful and participate.
Find beauty and light.
Plenty in reach.
Gather it up then cast it far and wide.

“Open the window of your mind. Allow the fresh air, new lights and new truths to enter.” ― Amit Ray, Walking the Path of Compassion

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