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Posts tagged ‘Encouragement’

Mar 27

Gathering Counterweights

“When we take ourselves too seriously, we are at the risk of taking other things, including God, too lightly,”― James J. Martin, Between Heaven and Mirth

“This is not a ‘silver lining’ situation, where pain and injustice are minimized for the sake of flimsy optimism or playing nice. It’s not even about hoarding our favorite things. We are not guaranteed to have those things within our reach. The practice of gathering counterweights is about creating moments of sustenance from the raw materials of what we’re given. It is about holding everything in honest tension. Both/and. Our counterweights help us move forward and breathe through the heaviness.” – Shannan Martin

Goodness
Kindness
Generosity
Delight
Laughter
Flowers
A smile
Asking
Listening
Art
Music
Movement
Joy
Frolic
Counterweights
To gather and hold
A sense of imperfect yet palpable balance, ease
Atune, awake, off autopilot
Run the race, marathon not sprint
To fight the good fight
Of love, gratitude, peace
Precisely and on purpose
In the middle of the mess, chaos, noise, uncertainty
Long game, resilience, grit, grace
Make the world a little softer today for yourself and others
Cast light.

“What on earth can we do to make this sad and beautiful world a little softer for everyone?”― Shannan Martin, The Ministry of Ordinary Places: Waking Up to God’s Goodness Around You

Mar 1

Better Things Ahead

“Wherever you are, be all there.” – Jim Elliot

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”― C.S. Lewis

No map.
No list.
No destination.
But to be fully present.
Rapt attention.
Wander and wonder.
Imagination and anticipation.
The journey unfolding as you step into it.
To be here and awake.
Walk it out.
All of it.

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”― C.S. Lewis

Feb 12

Spell Against Stagnation

“May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden you.
May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams.” – John O’Donohue

“To begin anything — a new practice, a new project, a new love — is to cast upon yourself a spell against stagnation. Beginnings are notation for the symphony of the possible in us. They ask us to break the pattern of our lives and reconfigure it afresh — something that can only be done with great courage and great tenderness, for no territory of life exposes both our power and our vulnerability more brightly than a beginning.” – Maria Popova

New beginnings.
Small and big.
In between.
A step at a time.
Momentum and fidelity.
To not succumb to bland absences and stagnation.
Leap, jump, dance.
Pour some color on this day.
Cast light.

“Sometimes the greatest challenge is to actually begin; there is something deep in us that conspires with what wants to remain within safe boundaries and stay the same… Sometimes a period of preparation is necessary, where the idea of the beginning can gestate and refine itself; yet quite often we unnecessarily postpone and equivocate when we should simply take the risk and leap into a new beginning.” – John O’Donohue

Feb 10

Voice Under Silence

“Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star…”― e.e cummings

“may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it’s sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there’s never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile”
― e.e. Cummings, E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962

May you greet this day
With anticipation, delight, curiosity
A shift, a tilt, a deep breath
In an instant
The world is made new
By the renewing of your mind, heart, soul.
Fresh eyes, fresh day.

“We can never be born enough.”― E. E. Cummings

Jan 24

Awash in Hope

“And hope is like love…a ridiculous, wonderful, powerful thing.”― Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux

“Nothing is more terrifying to evil than joy.”― Kate DiCamillo, The Beatryce Prophecy

Joy. Hope. Expectancy.
Not fluffy, naïve, futile.
Powerful, practical, transformative.
Fight the good fight.
Radical love.
Ridiculous wonder.
Bold delight.
Beauty, light, color.
Fuel for the journey.

“You must be filled with expectancy. You must be awash in hope. You must wonder who will love you, whom you will love next.”― Kate DiCamillo, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Jan 17

Making Music Each Day

“Life’ wrote a friend of mine, ‘is a public performance on the violin, in which you must learn the instrument as you go along.”― E.M. Forster, A Room with a View

“Life never gives us what we want at the moment that we consider appropriate.”― E.M. Forster, A Passage to India

Life is life-ing
As it does
To not take it too lightly
To not take too heavily
To allow, invite, experience
So much we think we know but don’t
Assumptions and judgments to simplify and feel in control
False narratives for false comfort
To be awake, aware, at attention
Gratitude, grief, grace
In small things
Big too
Keep asking, growing, softening
Porous heart
Generous spirit
Curious mind
Plant seeds
Play often
Offer love, laughter, joy
Music in the making, written in the playing
Enjoy and participate in life in all of it’s life-ing
Cast light

“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.”― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Jan 10

When, How, Now

“Love does not dominate; it cultivates.”― Goethe

“When warmth is in our hearts
there is grace in us
When love is in our hearts
there is harmony in our souls
When silence is in us
there is peace in the world”
― Sir Kristian Goldmund Aumann

Peace. Love. Kindness.
Actions not fluff.
Plant seeds.
Cultivate and foster.
Steadfast and consistent.
Do the work.
Hope. Acts. Generosity.

“love rules without rules”― Thomas More

Jan 9

North Star

“One of the most beautiful gifts in the world is the gift of encouragement. When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a threshold you might otherwise never have crossed on your own.”― John O’Donohue, Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong

“It is a strange and wonderful fact to be here, walking around in a body, to have a whole world within you and a world at your fingertips outside you. It is an immense privilege, and it is incredible that humans manage to forget the miracle of being here. Rilke said, ‘Being here is so much,’ and it is uncanny how social reality can deaden and numb us so that the mystical wonder of our lives goes totally unnoticed. We are here. We are wildly and dangerously free.”― John O’Donohue

Compassion
Kindness
Generosity
Gentleness
Decency
Humility
Empathy
Humanity
Encouragement
Abiding
Accompanying
Gratitude
Grace
Love
Give, receive, repeat.
Cast light.

“If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.”― W.H. Auden

Dec 5

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Power of Beauty, Out and In

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.”― Louisa May Alcott

Put beauty in your path every day.
It’s not hard to be found.
Pause, look up and around.
Buy yourself flowers.
Take a walk in the woods.
Drive a different way.
Read poetry.
Turn off auto-pilot.
Turn up the music and sing.
Look within and find it too.
Kindness, compassion, humor.
Celebrate this day.
On the very ground you stand.
Imperfection and all.
This day shall not pass again.
Do not pass it by.

“The greatest illusion is that life should be perfect”― Charlie Mackesy

Nov 22

Stacking Stones

“We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.”― William Arthur Ward

“The adventure of life is to learn.
The purpose of life is to grow.
The nature of life is to change.
The challenge of life is to overcome.
The essence of life is to care.
The opportunity of like is to serve.
The secret of life is to dare.
The spice of life is to befriend.
The beauty of life is to give.”
― William Arthur Ward

Generosity of spirit
Deep well of gratitude
Overflowing awe and wonder
Kindness, laughter, love
Learning, grow, change, overcome, care, serve, dare, befriend, give
Stacking stones
Build some beauty, delight, joy today

“There is no small act of kindness.
Every compassionate act makes large the world.”― Mary Anne Radmacher

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