Nov 4
“The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.”― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love …”― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
On today’s path
May colors blaze
Fresh air crisp, deep breath
Light stream through thoughts, words, deeds
Encouragement, kindness, grace
Love well.
“What we do now echoes in eternity.”― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“Small wins little things look for the beauty in everything.”― Donna Ashworth, I Wish I Knew: Poems to Soothe Your Soul & Strengthen Your Spirit
“JOY CHOSE YOU Joy does not arrive with a fanfare on a red carpet strewn with the flowers of a perfect life joy sneaks in as you pour a cup of coffee watching the sun hit your favourite tree just right and you usher joy away because you are not ready for her your house is not as it should be for such a distinguished guest but joy, you see cares nothing for your messy home or your bank balance or your waistline joy is supposed to slither through the cracks of your imperfect life that’s how joy works you cannot truly invite her you can only be ready when she appears and hug her with meaning because in this very moment joy chose you.”― Donna Ashworth, Wild Hope: Healing Words to Find Light on Dark Days
Thoughts of hope
Words of encouragement
Acts of kindness
Not for others or institutions to do
Small but mighty, adding up
Daily devotion
Showing up
No advice, mere presence
In the messy, flawed, imperfection
Joy to be found
Look longer
Offer it first, second, third
Cast light.
“Follow the flawed, the real, the messy. Follow the women who say it like it is, no filter, no glossing, no bull. Follow those people who accept themselves, and you, as you are. And leave the rest to edit their lives to perfection,”― Donna Ashworth, I Wish I Knew: Poems to Soothe Your Soul & Strengthen Your Spirit
“The thing about finishing a story is that finishing is really only the beginning.”― William Herring
There are days when it feels like we are finished.
It’s over, gone.
Some things are, they had their season.
Make space for new things, fresh seasons, for new buds to bloom.
Glancing back we see the path of finishing, becoming.
Change past tense to active present to witness and partake in the unfolding and finishing
“May you have the courage to begin; the patience to persist; and the strength to finish.”― Michael Bassey Johnson
“Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate
And though I oft have passed them by
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!” So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.”― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Onward
Enter this day
Anew
Blank canvas
Fresh start
Awe, wonder, beauty
Secret gate
Love, the journey
To be given
To be received
Cast light
“Love is the beauty of the soul”― Saint Augustine of Hippo
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”― Thich Nhat Hanh
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
May you participate in the miracle of this day.
If letting go feels impossible, put it down for an hour.
Do something spontaneous.
Drive a different route.
Laugh, play, delight.
Let light in.
Cast it back out.
“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”― Thich Nhat Hanh
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” – Simone Weil
“I will complain, yet praise;
I will bewail, approve;
And all my sowre-sweet dayes
I will lament, and love.” – George Herbert
Praise
Approve
Sowing
Love
To do these first, second, third
In the wilderness or plenty
Manna for this day.
“This entire planet is about wilderness, but God is about manna. The journey of life is not a matter of finding our way out of the wilderness but finding the manna inside the wilderness.”― Annie F. Downs, Remember God
“If you live in harmony with nature you will never be poor; if you live according what others think, you will never be rich.”― Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”― Seneca
This day
Overflowing with possibilities
Presence, curiosity, receptivity
A shift in view
Loosening grip
Open heart and hands
Same place, different person.
“If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.”― Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
“Don’t skip to the end,” he said, gently. “Don’t skip to the end.”― Kate Bowler, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved
“I have to remind myself not simply to look, but to behold. So let’s bless the gift of cultivated attention. May it bring us endless oooohs and aahhhhhs” – Kate Bowler
No skipping by
Going around
Shortcutting
Counting and comparing
Busy overwhelm
Task overload
Notice, pause, pay attention
Awake and aware
In this day alone
Behold, bemuse, be kind
Yep, even on a Monday, especially perhaps
Scatter seeds frivously
Joy, peace, laughter
Cast light.
“but I believe in joy. We can’t mistake it for anything less than what it is: one of the most powerful ways we experience the deepest and most healing forms of gratitude, delight, and hope. It is a kind of transcendence; joy is a glimmer of love and forgiveness and wholeness that lifts us out of reality for a moment and gives us back to ourselves, anew.”― Kate Bowler, Joyful, Anyway
“Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you’ve got. Love it with a passion because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it.”― Maya Angelou
“Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.”― Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now
Thoughts, words, actions.
The framework and foundation.
How we enter the day, the world.
Defeated or hopeful.
Kindness or criticism.
Past or presence.
Grateful even in the challenges or comparing and counting.
Hardened or porous.
Daily decision, choice.
May I choose well.
Praise, laughter, traveling light.
Fresh mind, new day.
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking.”― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”― John Lubbock, The Use Of Life
“Most of the things we need to be most fully alive never come in busyness. They grow in rest.”― Mark Buchanan, The Holy Wild
To slow, pause, pull over.
Daily rest.
Refueling, replenishment, regeneration.
Becoming, being, blooming.
Work, put it down, play.
Enjoy the fruits of labor.
“The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of room, not try to be or do anything whatever.”― May Sarton
