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Posts from the ‘Spring’ Category

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 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 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.

Jan 13

9 Comments

Weeds and Seeds

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

“To see things in the seed, that is genius.” - Lao Tzu

“To see things in the seed, that is genius.” – Lao Tzu

In life’s garden, there are weeds and flowers. We can be overtaken by the weeds, those daily irritations, small minds and minor inconveniences. Pull weeds every day and plant seeds in their place, and sow twice as many seeds to hinder the weeds return.

What weeds will you pull and what seeds will you sow?

Weed varieties: complaining, gossip, pettiness, jealousy, entitlement, negativity, unforgiveness. PULL THEM.

Seeds varieties: encouragement, laughter, hope, enthusiasm, fun, gratitude, joy, patience, grace, generosity, compassion, service, faith, optimism. SOW THEM.

Grey doesn’t look good on you. Go color the world.

May 14

2 Comments

Praise

“Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit: we cannot flower and grow without it.” –  Jess Lair

Be grateful for the many gifts that we don’t see because we are too busy chasing the next “thing.” See the wonderment in each day and express appreciation to those right in front of you. It’s so simple and often too rare. Start today and repeat again and again and see what it does to your world.

“Wonder is involuntary praise.” - Edward Young

“Wonder is involuntary praise.” – Edward Young

May 10

12 Comments

Tree Funeral

“And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.” - William Shakespeare

“And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.” – William Shakespeare

For safety reasons, my sixty year old silver maple tree will be cut down and ground to its roots tomorrow. A large limb dropped off two weeks ago from no additional force – no wind, no lighting. Fortunately, no one got hurt when the limb fell, crushing the fence and taking down the power at 2:00 am.

I will miss swinging in the woven rope chair, listening to breeze flow through the branches and the sound of laughing leaves. I will miss the canopy of shade and the beauty it gave freely without condition. For so many sentimental and the practical reasons, the tree will be greatly missed.

So, I’m having a tree funeral – food (no casseroles), guests and all. Material things, even trees, can be replaced. Family and friends are to be treasured. So a tree funeral to say goodbye and to honor the gift of majestic nature in my backyard for so many years.

 

Apr 15

4 Comments

Buds

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of our thoughts, ideas and dreams remain as buds until risk that first step to open them up to the possibilities. We can also cast light on others so their thoughts, ideas and dreams can blossom as well. Imagine the fragrance of life if we nurtured more buds into blossoms.

Apr 9

2 Comments

Easter Fulfilled

“Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.”
– Clarence W. Hall

"He takes men out of time and makes them feel eternity." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"He takes men out of time and makes them feel eternity." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mar 31

Easter Anticipation

“See the land, her Easter keeping, Rises as her Maker rose. Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping, Burst at last from winter snows. Earth with heaven above rejoices…”  – Charles Kingsley

“The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.” —Harriet Ann Jacobs

“The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.” —Harriet Ann Jacobs

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