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Posts from the ‘Inspiration’ Category

Feb 26

9 Comments

Worry Less

“The burden of self is lightened when I laugh at myself.” - Rabindranath Tagore

“The burden of self is lightened when I laugh at myself.” – Rabindranath Tagore

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” – Corrie Ten Boom

How much of your day is filled with worry? What may come? What has gone by? Worry steals way too much of our life, our daily capacity for joy. Caring does not equate to or require worry. Put in the effort and work, then let go of the results, of what may come. Worry less and free your spirit. There is depth in light. Go easy, lighten up.

“Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” - Hans Christian Andersen

“Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” – Hans Christian Andersen

Feb 21

8 Comments

Forgetting the Unforgettable

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” – Woodrow Wilson

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” - Marcel Proust

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust

In the daily details of the unimportant, we forget the unforgettable moments – life changing events. Marriages, births, anniversaries, deaths – mournings, milestones, celebrations and victories.

Last week, Linda sent me an email to commemorate my 14 years cancer-free of melanoma (wear sunscreen, you look good in white). I forgot. This past week, running buddy and awesome friend Terry celebrates 12 years cancer-free. And today, my cousin, traveling companion, hero, babysitter (in the past and still today), and friend, Jeanne celebrates 10 years cancer-free of breast cancer.

Each of us have, are or will go through “life-changing” experiences that put what’s truly important in crystal clear view. The little things are exposed for how really little they are. Family, friends, faith, purpose, generosity, love and joy grow in proportion, to the size they are meant to be.

Remember those unforgettable moments that are meant to shift our life, our perspective, our path. Celebrate each day, for it is the only promise each of us has, so spend each well.

Jeanne, Terry and me – happy anniversary! Remember that life changing moment, share it with others and keep celebrating each day to fullest! Never forget the unforgettable. Remember, remember.

Feb 19

4 Comments

Search

“It is not in the pursuit of happiness that we find fulfillment, it is in the happiness of pursuit.” – Denis Waitley

Seek and wait. Persistent and patient. Words form, questions answered. Search and find meaning as your life unfolds. Often not as planned but part of the plan. No regrets, no rear view mirror. Moving forward, finding your way.

“In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.” – Ansel Adams

“In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.” – Ansel Adams

Feb 17

Old Things New

“Living is the constant adjustment of thought to life and life to thought in such a way that we are always growing, always experiencing new things in the old and old things in the new. Thus life is always new.” – Thomas Merton

Actively seek to give and receive joy each day, each moment. Do not get distracted by the mediocrity of complaint and apathy. New eyes, ears, thoughts, transforming the mundane. Rising above the fray, old things are new.

Feb 15

5 Comments

Friendship

“In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” – Khalil Gibran

Be kind and considerate to each person you meet. There is a reason for their presence on your path, either for a moment or a lifetime. Some will become true friends. Others a brief encounter, a smile. Call an old friend, make a new one, heal a broken friendship. The journey is a short one and we need not travel it alone. Be grateful for the friends you have and mindful of the friend you can be.

“A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.” - Leo Buscaglia

“A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world.” – Leo Buscaglia

Feb 13

2 Comments

Prepare

“Whatever we are waiting for – peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance – it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach

As we wait in the desert, we can prepare and take inventory in peaceful solitude. Drowning the silence, the world shouts “MORE, MORE, MORE.” In the quiet of our heart, we discover that we already have more than enough,  abundance overflowing. No mirage, a real oasis in the middle of the desert.

Feb 11

15 Comments

Gentle

“Don’t Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.” – Miguel Angel Ruiz

We too easily let others get to us, to our core, with a simple dig, heavy sigh, thoughtless comment. Let others own what’s theirs to own. Focus on what you own – your actions, responses and attitude. Let positive words, thoughts and actions take hold and replace those old ones that are holding you down and back. Despite what others say or do, be and show gentleness. Negativity may be loud. But a positive spirit is stronger and will endure long after it’s given away.

Feb 8

5 Comments

Grace

“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” – Anne Lamott

Every one of us has challenges and difficulties, some big, many small. Some people have the grace not to show it as much as others, to quietly move through unshaken. We can’t control “what” is handed to us, but we can control “how” we go through it. We let the same situations and people get to us again and again, expecting them to change. When we change, suddenly the “what” isn’t as important as the “how.” I guess that’s accepting the grace that is there for each one of us.

“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.” – May Sarton

Jan 29

10 Comments

Go Far

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong.  Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.” – George Washington Carver

“We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” - Isaac Newton

“We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” – Isaac Newton

Start building and crossing bridges, reaching out to others. When we move outward, we see the reflection of ourselves in others’ smiles, tears, joys, struggles. Pay attention to each day, each person, with compassion and love. Go the distance.

Jan 26

4 Comments

True Measure

“God and Nature first made us what we are, and then out of our own created genius we make ourselves what we want to be. Follow always that great law. Let the sky and God be our limit and Eternity our measurement.” –  Marcus Garvey

“Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.” - Abdul Kalam

“Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.” – Abdul Kalam

How do you measure success? Money, position, education, knowledge (different than education), health, family, friends, faith, relationships, love, joy? If we pause long enough to ask these questions and are quiet enough to hear the answers whispered, we can begin to give ourselves to what’s truly important. And the true measure of our success will be what we leave behind and not what we take.

We live many of our finite hours merely going through the motions, getting by, manuevering around, moving swiftly to the next thing, “killing time.” The world teaches scarcity so get your share first. There’s infinite abundance in giving ourselves away to our dreams, giving our gifts and blessings out, not keeping them in.

Find your true measure. Live well.

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