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Posts tagged ‘Everyday Life’

Jul 29

Reach

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?” – Robert Browning

It is in the effort and action of reaching that we are simultaneously pulled and pushed. Motion transforms to momentum. Dreams released to unfold. The effort soon becomes effortless and the action natural.

“But for each of us, isn't life about determining your own finish line?” – Diana Nyad

“But for each of us, isn’t life about determining your own finish line?” – Diana Nyad

Change is our friend not foe. Growth is our calling. And reaching our potential is not only for oneself but is the gift that the world needs from each one of us. Our purpose is to leave this world with no regrets or doubts that we became our best and most sacred self. And the world is better for it.

Reach, and keep reaching.

Mar 14

The Light of a Smile

“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” – Lord Byron

Should you forget your blessings, pause for a moment;
Should you lose your way, pause for a moment;
Should you be tossed about by the winds, pause for a moment;

For in the quiet moments of repose, we shall be gently reminded of the abundance abound, the path will rise to meet us and we shall discover the depth of our roots and the freedom and light of a smile, both given and received.

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” – Nhat Hanh

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” – Nhat Hanh

An Old Irish Blessing
“May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!”
– Source: islandireland.com

Mar 6

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These ARE the Days

“I get those fleeting, beautiful moments of inner peace and stillness – and then the other 23 hours and 45 minutes of the day, I’m a human trying to make it through in this world.” – Ellen DeGeneres

It quietly occurred to me on the drive home last night from my brother’s birthday dinner, these are the days. We struggle, we work, we overcommit, we jump from one thing to the next in the hunt for the time and place that we’ve conjured up in our head called “someday.”

Someday is the place where there are no problems, we love what we do every minute, everyone gets along, there’s pure peace, we’ve magically lost that last 10 pounds, our work and efforts have paid off and it’s all come together at once and we’ve arrived. While we experience moments like these, this place of perfect “someday” doesn’t exist. The hunt is for naught.

Our life is happening right now in this very moment. In celebrations with family as we talk over each other, laugh and argue as well as in our daily, life-changing struggles, disappointments and tears.

What and who we choose to spend our time make up our days and write our life’s story. And when we stop the hunt for someday and enter today, we witness, share and awaken to the joy that can only be found and built in the small moments of each and every day.

Feb 26

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Plans

“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” – Henry David Thoreau

“The most important lesson that I have learned is to trust God in every circumstance. Lots of times we go through different trials and following God’s plan seems like it doesn’t make any sense at all. God is always in control and he will never leave us.” – Allyson Felix

As I drove through the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus, this sculpture that I’ve seen many times jumped out at me this time. It captured what life has felt like lately. As we meticulously work on plans in search of the shortest and straightest line from point A to point B, life ensues. And our path detours, swirls, circles and strays, not according to plan at all.

Our path is never quite as simple as our plans. Understanding occurs in the rear view mirror after we go through. When we go beyond the why and when questions, we realize that we are where we are needed and meant to be. When we trust, let go and start to enjoy this ride, we realize the futility of our plans.

With time and distance, we discover that the swirls and twirls of our journey have created a beautiful piece of art, a sculpture that only we can create with the guidance and grace of the Master artist.

Feb 7

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Life Heals Itself

“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” – Michelangelo

As we weave through celebration and sorrow, diving and surfacing, pushing and pulling, time passes. Whether we see it sooner, later or ever, through the yin and yang of it all, life balances, goes deeper to rise higher again and heals itself. Only to start all over again, but from a new place, leading us to what’s next.

Our blessings and burdens both serve to shape, sustain and make the fragments whole again. Life, the very force that hurls us forward, breaks us open and binds us up resides in each day, each moment and in each one of us.

Sometimes we are the stone being sculpted and sometimes we are the sculptor. Chip by chip, we reveal and do the revealing, discovering the beauty that patiently waits to be found. Both light and dark move us further into our blooming, burgeoning and becoming. Life, indeed, heals itself and each of us in the very living of it.

Feb 1

The Butterfly

“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.” – Gary Zukav

“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.” – Gary Zukav

“Too many of us go to our graves with our music still inside.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

As I looked at my house light tonight at dusk, I noticed the image of a butterfly as the light spread its wings. What we choose to see guides our day, our way.

To release our music before we go to our graves, we must keep pushing through the cocoon to go from the caterpillar to the butterfly. Transformation takes time and then suddenly, it enters softly like a whisper.

Keep pushing. You never know when that last ounce of pressure and persistence will be your breakthrough, the tipping point. Release your light, your music, your true self – the butterfly.

Jan 26

The Folly of Control

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” – Maya Angelou

How many days, years, wasted pondering, pining, worrying about that which we have no control? Thoughts, assumptions and judgments creating stories that aren’t real, illusions. He said/she said. She thinks/he thinks…What if, why?

Do and give your best and let the results take care of themselves. Look for the best in others and the best is drawn out. Think good thoughts and goodness presents itself. Slow down, lighten up, take it in, let it go and most importantly enjoy the ride. It is but a short one at that.

Dec 18

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Stuck in the Mud

“There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.” – Carl Sandburg

We often get stuck in the mud of moments of turmoil and the dailyness of living, losing the 360 degree view. Whether longing for the past, worried about the future or thinking what’s happening now will last forever.

Surface over depth.

Being present in the moment gives us acute awareness of and appreciation for all that is, the entire three dimensional picture of blessings and challenges, vivid color and hues of gray, faith and doubt, light and dark.

Abundance over scarcity.

When stuck in the mud, keep moving, digging your way out so your world can come back into full height, width and depth of all that is in the now and the promise of all that is to come, little by little, step by step.

Delight over delusion.

“I made all my generals out of mud.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

“I made all my generals out of mud.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

Nov 10

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As It Should Be

“What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them. My life depends on ignoring all touted distinctions between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul. What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.” ― Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

As I speed through the days, I long for inspiration, for words and deeds that bring me back to the spirit, to the soul, to what life “should” be. Only to find that right in the middle of every day, of real life in the real world, the spirit and soul remains, anchoring me to what’s real and true. As we pendulum from right to left, bounce up and down, race between busy and busier, all that we need remains right where we are. Wake up. It’s all mixed together, as it should be.

Oct 31

4 Comments

When

“Every day, the heart keeps beating and the lungs keep breathing. Likewise, the endless practice of bringing our soul into the world lets us keep unfolding. It’s a limitless journey of coming alive, which entails messy, joyous, unfathomable drama of being human.” – Mark Nepo, The Endless Practice

When heaviness hovers, release;
When tired, rest;
When self-pity enters, give;
When consumed with work, play;
When answers are sparse, patience;
When tomorrow is uncertain, faith;
When gravity pulls you down, rise;
When everything is serious, laugh;
When darkness looms, light;
When alone, look;
When in a rut, move;
When overwhelmed, pray;
When everything is complicated, simplify;
When you forget your blessings, gratitude;
When, Now

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