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Posts from the ‘Happiness’ Category

Jul 3

New Day, Fresh Eyes, Open Heart

“Happiness compresses time, makes it dense and bright, pocketsized.”― Ann Patchett

“Never be so focused on what you’re looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find.”― Ann Patchett, State of Wonder

Rapt presence
Palpable gratitude
Unfinished and unfolding
At ease in uncertainty
Flowing like a river
Over, through, under, around rocks
Rhythm and current
Ebb and flow
In kindness rather than in-kind
Love, the question and the answer
Dense, bright, pocketsized
On the ground of this day
Let grace in, give it away
Channel of love.

“Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame.”― Ann Patchett, Bel Canto

Jan 15

1 Comment

Let the Sun In

“Everything is created twice. First in the mind and then in reality.”— Robin Sharma

“We are sitting under the tree of our thinking minds, wondering why we’re not getting any sunshine.” – Ram Dass

Some things do not need to be done.
Less production.
More being present in the day.
Be kind to yourself.
Deep breath.
Go with the flow for bit.
Let the sun in.

“Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment, not the gratification of inexhaustible desires for outward things.”― Matthieu Ricard, Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill

Apr 5

The Art of Just Being

“It’s not about getting over things, it’s about making room for them. It’s about painting the picture with contrast.”― Brianna Wiest

“The key to finding happiness in this life is realizing that the only way to overcome is to transcend; to find happiness in the simple pleasures, to master the art of just being.”― Brianna Wiest

Nuance.
Shades.
Shadows.
White space.
Hues.
Tones.
Muted.
Bright.
Contrast.
Rarely black and white.
Nor ordered perfectly.
Allow and enter the beauty, depth, mystery, color, unfolding, cadence, symphony and rhythm.
May you allow happiness to rise right where you stand now.
The beautiful art of just being, embracing and being held in gratitude and grace.

“Happiness is not something you can chase. It is something you have to allow. This likely will come as a surprise to many people, as the world is so adamant about everything from positive psychology to motivational Pinterest boards. But happiness is not something you can coach yourself into. Happiness is your natural state. That means you will return to it on your own if you allow the other feelings you want to experience to come up, be felt, be processed, and not resisted. The less you resist your unhappiness, the happier you will be. It is often just trying too hard to feel one certain way that sets us up for failure.”― Brianna Wiest, The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery

Dec 14

A Splash or More

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”― Martin Buber

“so long as you don’t mind
a little dying, how could there be a day in your whole life
that doesn’t have its splash of happiness?”― Mary Oliver, House of Light

Drop
Splash
Wave
Of happiness, joy, laughter, peace, gratitude, resilience, wholeness
In each day, moments that make up life
Someday is today
Be present while in it
No do-overs.

“The wholeness we seek lives here, with and within us, now, in reality.”― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Life Lessons

Sep 30

Simultaneously

“Love is the beauty of the soul.” – Saint Augustine

“But your ways of being in the world are not set in stone. It’s more like they are set in sand. Your childhood is not your fate. Your natural disposition is not your fate. The neighborhood you grew up in is not your fate. The research shows this clearly. Nothing that has happened in your life precludes you from connecting with others, from thriving, or from being happy. People often think that once you get to adulthood, that’s it—your life and your way of living are set. But what we find by looking at the entirety of research into adult development is that this just isn’t true. Meaningful change is possible.”― Robert Waldinger, The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness

May you be open to seeing the world and yourself in it differently.
Try new things.
Think fresh thoughts.
Make connections.
Foster relationships.
Life is hard and lovely at the same time.
Struggle and ease.
Light and shadow.
Gratitude and grace.
Keep the faith.
Trust the unfolding.
Begin again each day with optimism and hope.
A masterpiece and a work in progress.
Possibility always in bloom.

“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.” – Sophia

Jul 30

The Essentials

“Let the wild rumpus start!”— Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

“Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it… it’s just easier if you do.”― Byron Katie

Let your imagination roam, wander.
Uncharted territory.
Off path.
Allow unknowing, mystery.
Invite wonder, awe.
Embrace light, laughter.
It’s a big big big world.
Inside and out.
Explore, get lost, be found again.
Wild essential things.

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”—The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Mar 7

Winter Pioneer

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu

“Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted.” – Deepak Chopra

Rain followed by temperature drop followed by trees painted in gorgeous white brilliance.
A magical wonderland on display, inviting awe and amazement.
By March, we get weary of winter, and yet, days like yesterday remind us of the beauty of winter.
In the waiting, wandering and going through is life awaiting our participation and attention.
Rather than reacting about the length of winter, we can enter the depth of quiet, preparation and slowness of the season.
Prisoner or pioneer.
We choose daily.
Take the adventure in front of you rather than the trail you’ve already been on.

“Every time you are tempted to react the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” – Deepak Chopra

Jul 3

Praise and Glory

“Nature is one song of praise that never stops singing.” – Richard Rohr

“Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune.” – Sam Walton

Open arms
Eyes to the sky
Release to the possible
Let your imagination roam wild and free
Praise, glory and awe
Balm to the soul
Flight to spirit

“It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.” – Amelia Barr

Mar 21

1 Comment

Fresh and Refresh

“Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you.” – Hafez

It’s a daily job, an obligation, a calling. Letting go.

Letting go of our opinions, judgment, complaints, our rightness and others wrongness to open up to love, to optimism, to fresh expansive boundless territory. Pursuing light and not stopping until we find it. We find what we pursue and expect. Be intentional and pay attention. The light remains whether we seek it or not. Seek it.

Self-awareness is the first step to self-mastery, empathy and hope – a mighty trio. Be open to surprise, expansion, depth and growth woven through ordinary days.

One of my daily non-negotiable rituals is meditation using Insight Timer. This morning I chose, or perhaps it chose me, the poem She Let Go by Safire Rose as spoken and composed by Jac Godsman.

She Let Go
by Safire Rose

She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear.
She let go of the judgments.
She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.
She let go of the committee of indecision within her.
She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.
Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice.
She didn’t read a book on how to let go.
She didn’t search the scriptures.
She just let go.
She let go of all of the memories that held her back.
She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.
She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.
She didn’t promise to let go.
She didn’t journal about it.
She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.
She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.
She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.
She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.
She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.
She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.
She didn’t call the prayer line.
She didn’t utter one word.
She just let go.
No one was around when it happened.
There was no applause or congratulations.
No one thanked her or praised her.
No one noticed a thing.
Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort.
There was no struggle.
It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.
It was what it was, and it is just that.
In the space of letting go, she let it all be.
A small smile came over her face.
A light breeze blew through her.
And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…

 

Feb 21

Come, Sit for a While

“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Anybody can observe the Sabbath, but making it holy surely takes the rest of the week.” – Alice Walker

For so long
Day after day
Running fast and furious
Checking the box
New list, new boxes
Task after task
Problem solved, another takes its place
Transactional living

For who?
For what?
Why?
To What end?
Ask the questions
Inventory what stays and what must go and then release it

Money
Power
Ego
Legacy
Expectations and assumptions
Quantity over quality
Examine how time is being spent or given

On sabbath, God’s day, He calls us to rest as He did after 6 days creating the world
The Author of Life, asks us to pause
To ask the questions, to listen, to pull off the racetrack to rest, nothing to check off, no problem to solve, to just be so we can carry Sunday into the week

God chases us as we chase everything and everyone but Him
Patiently, lovingly, mercifully, gracefully, generously
He chases, calls and waits for us to see Him in the threads of ordinary moments, always present, whispering, “Come, sit for a while”

You have earned your rest
There is nowhere to go
Nowhere to be than right now
On a bench, taking in the depth and beauty of this very moment
Sunday was created to linger, to laugh, to lounge, to live so the rest of the week makes sense and is lived on purpose, gratefully and with intent, not accidentally

Right here, right now.
Come, sit for a while.

“If you keep the Sabbath, you start to see creation not as somewhere to get away from your ordinary life, but a place to frame an attentiveness to your life.” – Eugene H. Peterson

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