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Posts from the ‘Friends’ Category

Apr 24

19 Comments

Seek Joy

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

“After every storm the sun will smile; for every problem there is a solution, and the soul's indefeasible duty is to be of good cheer.” - William R. Alger

“After every storm the sun will smile; for every problem there is a solution, and the soul’s indefeasible duty is to be of good cheer.” – William R. Alger

What you look for you will find. So if you’re looking for something to complain about or someone to talk about, there will be plenty to find. Cynicism, complaint and negativity are easy and decrease our capacity to see beauty and blessings. Adventure into joy every day. First step – SMILE. My “life coaches” Lily and Molly teach me this each and every day. Seek and find joy and good in all. Cheers!

Apr 21

6 Comments

Deep Gratitude

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” – Melody Beattie

Each and every day, pause the shallow chaos of busy and go deeper to gratitude. In simple moments with family, friends or by yourself, appreciate the goodness in your life, the gifts of people and place. In quiet awe and reverence, let joy permeate your being. Life is an ocean, deep and beautiful. Dive in.

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” – John Milton

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” – John Milton

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

Apr 19

11 Comments

Delightful Discovery

“Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed.” -Joseph Addison

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” - e. e. cummings

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” – e. e. cummings

Discover what’s new and delightful today. Not in searching in far off places, but in opening your eyes with curiosity, awe and innocence. Choose wonder over worldly, joy over jaded, delight over despair, light over dark. Look, breathe, hear anew, right where you are now in this very moment.

Mar 20

8 Comments

Spring Fling

“While we are living in the present, we must celebrate life every day, knowing that we are becoming history with every work, every action, every deed.” –  Mattie Stepanek

“Whoever is happy will make others happy too.” - Anne Frank

“Whoever is happy will make others happy too.” – Anne Frank

We welcomed Spring today in Minnesota with a temperature of 7 degrees, snow hip deep and a delightful breeze, often referred to as windchill. Last year, it was in the 70s. We then worried that it was too warm too quick. The topic of this week – the unseasonably cold weather and the longing for Spring after a long Winter. I’ve been an active participant in the weather chirping.

Every night this week, despite my initial, rational judgement, I ran 2-3 miles with the girls. Quite frankly, it wasn’t that enjoyable. However, it did shift my perspective from what “should be” to “what is” and to dive in and make the most of it. Like so many things out of our control, the weather is fleeting and temporary. The only true impact I can make is my view of the view.

So, it’s time to fling into Spring.

Mar 19

8 Comments

Found

We spend a lot of our time in the “hunt” – money, attention, advancement, approval – all passing, temporary. When we search deeper and through the lens of our heart, we discover that the real search centers on pursuit of purpose, happiness, contentment, peace, joy. All found in relationship and on the path of kindness, generosity, gratitude, faith and love, not defined by or in worldly transactions.

We have the capacity to have a tremendous impact on others and our own life in very simple and lasting ways. In the easy search for “more and quick”, the journey is never finished or fulfilling. The journey unfolds, transforms and is finished when we allow others to see us as we see them, to be found. The game of “hide and seek” becomes “seek and find”, “give and take” becomes “give and receive” without keeping score, being even or fair.

Travel well, risk completing the journey – search, find, give, receive, be found. Repeat.

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence . . . We need silence to be able to touch souls.” – Mother Teresa

Mar 17

12 Comments

Open Window

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” – Diane Ackerman

“In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us.” - Virginia Woolf

“In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us.” – Virginia Woolf

Like a window open for the first time as winter comes to a close, we can open up to fresh breezes of clarity and warm sunshine of hope. It’s never too late and we’re never too old to learn, discover, transform, to become new.

Our days are often about speed, velocity and distance. When we quietly and slowly go deeper and reach wider, our world expands to new dimensions and possibilities right where we are, no need to travel afar. As the fresh air comes in the window, the weight of the past and the burden of others defining us can drift out the window too. Our story is still being written and it need not be based on history.

Open the window wide, releasing the old to make room for the new.

Mar 10

2 Comments

Burst

“Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will.” – Thomas Carlyle

“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” - Rabindranath Tagore

“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” – Rabindranath Tagore

Let no one, no thing, no circumstance hold you back from who you really are deep down. Enthusiastically jump into each day with vigor, showing each beautiful petal without pause. Live proudly and loudly, like no one is watching, criticizing. Never, never, never let anyone take who you are away with their fleeting comments or judgments. Jealously is rooted in insecurity and fear – a weed, pull it. Boldly live the life you were born to live. Burst!

Mar 8

9 Comments

Joy Filled Days

“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” – Tecumseh

“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” - Mother Teresa

“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” – Mother Teresa

It’s Lily’s 3rd birthday today, reminding me that time moves briskly and there’s no time to waste. Each day, even the tough ones, have a deep capacity for joy, if we seek it fervently.

Lily and Molly give me joy each day, more than I give them. Dogs (four legged family) give and take joy from each moment without delay, getting more out of their short time here than many do in a life six times as long.

Pursue and find the joy in each day. Hold tight to the goodness and let go of the rest. The three F’s – faith, family, friends mixed with health (running), laughter, hobbies, work (most days) create intense light that overpowers any shadow that the world can cast. Joy filled days indeed.

Mar 3

12 Comments

GrOw Through It

“Yes, now I understood for the first time that my soul was not so poor and empty as it had seemed to me, and that it had been only the sun that was lacking to open all its germs, and buds to the light.” – Max Muller

“As long as we are persistence in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.” - Denis Waitley

“As long as we are persistence in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.” – Denis Waitley

We are doers – checklists, multitasking, moving fast, solving problems, busy, looking for the shortcut, the next big thing. Often times, life doesn’t require “doing” but rather “being.” In our challenging and difficult moments, we are called to not merely go through but to grow through, daring us to go deeper and to let go of our old selves.

With cultivation, patience and light, our bud will burst through to blossom anew. Spring always comes at just the right time. The promise of the blooming bud in all of us, ready to share our true beauty with the world. GrOw with it.

Feb 28

11 Comments

Find and Replace

“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” – Henry Drummond

When editing a word document, there’s shortcut to “find and replace” words in one command. Each day, we need to “find” the negative and “replace” it with the positive.

Listen and be aware of the conversations around you and choose the better way. We spend more time talking about each other than TO each other. Actively choose the positive instead of the negative.

Find: gossip, complaining, murmuring, angst 🙁
Replace:  encouragement, laughter, joy, delight 🙂

A simple yet profound shortcut.

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