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Posts tagged ‘Encouragement’

Miracle of this Day

“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

Sowing, Tending, Reaping

“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

Harmony Woven in Presence

“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, Behold

“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

Fresh Mind, New Day

“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

Fruits of Labor

“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

Unencumbered and Bright

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson

To being yourself
Loud and soft
Authentic, brilliant, imperfect
To allow others the same grace
New day, clean slate
Useful, honorable, compassionate
Unencumbered and bright
Blooming in all seasons.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Muddled, Messy, Unedited

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes… Including you.” — Anne Lamott

“I’m not impressed by efficiency. That’s the truth.
And just because it’s quick, it doesn’t mean that it is masterly.
When it comes to poetry, I don’t think speed has ever really been the goal.
I think sometimes it takes ages
to find the right words for that small piece of your soul.
We are slowly mining language, searching for a gem.
And besides, everything I love is a little bit lumpy.
In this life, the things I most adore
are all so fabulously flawed:
The green corduroy coat, for example,
that patiently waits for winter in my hall—
the one that used to keep my mom warm, and now does the same for me,
with padding peeking out of the cuffs
and pockets clinging on for dear life;
Or the accidental butt-dial left by my friends—
the voicemail where I can hear them chanting for ABBA,
demanding one more song;
Or the dinner that’s burnt at the edges;
Or the apology typed mid-cry;
Or the way my trousers hug my belly;
Or texting, “Sorry, I forgot to reply.”
I really like—I love, actually—living in a way, in a place,
where nothing lines up quite right.
I want more of it. I want all of it:
The muddled. The messy.
The bits AI might edit out.
I am always going to opt for the higgledy-piggledy heartbeat,
the world with its cardigan on backwards,
covered in fingerprints, thumb-smudged, and warm.
I want an awkward pause.
I will choose the unedited pulse of things every single time.
The beauty of the almost,
the nearly there,
the not quite.
The things that remind me I am not sparkly or shiny,
or even really getting it right.
But I am.
We all are.
Undoubtedly alive.” – Georgie Jones

To an unedited, non-curated, honest, messy, fun day.
Steeped in the silly, ordinary, delight.
Flavors rising, colors deepening, light brightening.
The beauty of the almost and unfolding.
Undoubtedly alive and so much more than well.

 

Walk Out Love Daily, Cast Light

“Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing”― Dolly Parton

“Cause I am strong and I can prove it
And I got my dreams to see me through
It’s just a mountain, I can move it
And with faith enough there’s nothing I can’t do

And I can see the light of a clear blue morning
And I can see the light of brand new day
I can see the light of a clear blue morning
And everything’s gonna be all right
It’s gonna be okay
[lyrics from “Light of a Clear Blue Morning”]”― Dolly Parton

Be kind, bright, generous.
Offer encouragement without measure.
Spread enthusiasm, joy, laughter.
Simple, we make it hard.
Do it anyway.
Love well, thoughts, words, actions.
Self and others.
Cast light.

“I always just thought if you see somebody without a smile, give’em yours!”― Dolly Parton

Hovering Sweetness

“Breathe the sweetness that hovers in August.” – Denise Levertov

Don’t Hesitate by Mary Oliver

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.”

Clenched, curious, attentive.
Joy woven in presence.
In the small and seemingly ordinary.
Unfolding and unfurling.
Stance of awe.
Leap of wonder.
Deliverance of love.
Do not hesitate.
Inhale and exhale.
Sweetness, beauty and light.
Hovering next, around and in you.
On this ground of this very day.

“Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.”― Susan Sontag