Jul 31
Gratitude does not require perfection.
Nor different circumstances.
Nor someday when…
A keen eye.
A shift in attitude.
Open hands to embrace.
Porous heart to let the good in.
Rapt attention to the present.
Ordinary days.
Hope with hip boots.
Laughter overflowing.
Music turned up.
Delight awaiting our awakening.
Joy in the simple.
Jul 30
“Attention is the beginning of devotion.”― John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
“Because what you give your attention to is the person you become. Put another way: the mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to.” ― John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Daily.
Depth.
Discipline.
Deliberate.
Practice.
Intention.
Focus.
Devotion.
To single-task.
To pause and look, longer.
To stay and stick.
To linger.
To be ever present.
Awake.
Aware.
Threshold to devotion.
Unforced rhythms of grace.
Portal to soul.
Be relentless, ruthless, radical to create space for being.
Gratitude, awe and wonder lives here.
“Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.”― John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Jul 29
“Die to everything of yesterday so that your mind is always fresh, always young, innocent, full of vigor and passion.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
“’Perennial,’ a term coined by tech entrepreneur Gina Pell to describe “ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages who live in the present time, know what’s happening in the world, stay current with technology, and have friends of all ages. Perennials get involved, stay curious, mentor others, and are passionate, compassionate, creative, confident, collaborative, global-minded risk takers, and who know how to hustle.”― Steven Petrow, Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I Get Old
Pep in your step.
A Tigger-like bounce.
Light spirit.
Enthusiasm.
Vim. Vigor. Verve.
To the young at heart.
Crazy optimists, hope warriors, life-long bloomers.
To delight, joy, awe and wonder, seeking the good in each day, in each human on the path.
Perennials who keep coming back anew.
In the midst of weeds, brilliant with bold color.
Deep springs of life.
May we all join the club.
Transforming noise into music.
“Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.” – Samuel Ullman
Jul 28
“I have spent many days stringing and unstringing my instrument
while the song I came to sing remains unsung.”― Rabindranath Tagore
“Rest is not for weaklings. Hollowing out space for rest is work. Finding time for rest is the hands and feet of the promises we long to claim. It means saying no. It means having limits with ourselves. It means having limits with others. It takes courage to rest in the midst of an outcome-driven society. It takes strength to walk away from good in the pursuit of better.”― Saundra Dalton-Smith, Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity
Busy work, checklists, transactions, speed, efficiency on hold.
Renewal in the pause.
Space to wander.
Not doing to create capacity for doing better.
Quiet your mind.
Enter rest.
Accept the invitation.
Welcome renewal.
Summer shows the way for all seasons, each day.
Follow her lead.
“Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it.”― Rabindranath Tagore
Jul 27
“We live in the world when we love it.”― Rabindranath Tagore
“So come to the pond,
or the river of your imagination,
or the harbor of your longing,
and put your lips to the world.
And live
your life.”
― Mary Oliver, Red Bird
Perch a bit.
Pause.
Look around.
Rest.
Delight with what already is.
Amidst the ordinary, extraordinary awaits.
“Let the world
have its way with you,
luminous as it is with mystery
and pain—
graced as it is
with the ordinary.”
― Mary Oliver, Red Bird
“In his magnum opus, The Nature of Prejudice, Allport reasoned that bigotry often boils down to a lack of acquaintance. Its antidote was just as simple: Bring people together, and they’ll awaken to their common humanity. A similar thought led Mark Twain to quip, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” In psychology, this idea came to be known as “contact theory,” and it caught fire. Allport’s book, published in 1954, became a bestseller; he delighted in spotting it at airports and malls alongside beach novels. Thanks to him, optimists everywhere came to believe that hatred was a misunderstanding and that contact could fix it.”― Jamil Zaki, The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World
When you think you know something, in some cases everything, think again and again,
Question assumptions.
Slow to judge.
Quick to extend a hand.
Get closer, ask more questions, don’t believe what you hear.
Check your sources on all sides.
Beneath the surface, complexity and nuance.
Make up your own mind.
Kindness, empathy, proximity.
Love well.
“The answer to growing complexity in the social sphere is renewed efforts at participation by each one of us, or else a progressive decline of inert and unquestioning masses submitting to government by an elite which will have little regard for the ultimate interest of the common man.”― Gordon Willard Allport
“After-comers cannot guess the beauty been.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins
“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”― Eckhart Tolle
Optimism.
Kindness.
Generosity.
Delight.
Joy.
Fresh eyes.
Wandering down unfamiliar paths.
Putting down old to make space for new.
Explore, inquire and listen
Guided by love, not stalled in fear.
Double down on these.
Hope with a blueprint.
“If you don’t become the ocean, you will get seasick every day.” – Leonard Cohen
Jul 24
“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.” – Saint Basil
“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.” – St. Francis of Assisi
Sow seeds.
Simple actions.
A call.
A text.
A smile.
A hello.
Laughter. Joy. Light.
Generosity. Kindness. Enthusiasm.
Sow. Nurture. Bear fruit.
“I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness around me.” – Sojourner Truth
Jul 23
“Always say “yes” to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? what could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.”― Eckhart Tolle
“Life is the dancer and you are the dance.”― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
We miss our days when we are actually in them.
Nostalgia, memories, stories embellished.
We them call them the “good ol days” when…
Glance for gratitude but do not stay there.
Stuck in the past.
These are the days.
Now. Present. This moment.
Steep in now.
The past is done.
Today is not.
Make something of this day.
Fresh, new, overflowing with possibilities.
Emerging awe and wonder.
Show up for your life today.
The past has had its turn, the future is being laid today, not a repeat of what was.
The “good new days” are at your feet.
Walk the path.
Enjoy the journey of today.
Drops to oceans.
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
“There lives the dearest freshness deep down things.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins
“At any moment, you have a choice, that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Not just another day.
This one comes, not to return nor repeat.
Do not speed by or shortcut it.
Walk the path.
Feet on the ground.
Deep well.
Fresh waters beneath the surface.
The fullness of this very day.
Be present, partake, participate.
“Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.” – Anne Sexton
