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Posts tagged ‘Everyday Life’

May 16

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Restored

“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.” – Hippocrates

“Not in achievement, but in endurance, of the human soul, does it show its divine grandeur and its alliance with the infinite.” – Edwin Hubbel Chapin

“Not in achievement, but in endurance, of the human soul, does it show its divine grandeur and its alliance with the infinite.” – Edwin Hubbel Chapin

It looks like a resort but it’s actually Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury, Minnesota. Mom’s hip replacement that’s been up and down, left and right finally happened yesterday. When her leg turned purple on Wednesday night, we got her to the hospital where the x-ray and CT scan indicated that the hip was broken. Who knows how long she’s been walking around in sheer pain with a broken hip. A new hip “installed” yesterday. The healing, the restoration begins.

On Thursday, a nurse came in and offered a hand massage to relax her. She spent 20 minutes rubbing oil on her hands and arms in gentle conversation. Healing. While piano music plays in the background, the windows feature a beautiful view of the trees, a walking path and labyrinth. Healing.

Nature, music, art, faith, patience and kindness all promote and propel healing. And we need not wait to land in the hospital to start and foster the healing within ourselves and with others aound us. For when we heal, we move further and deeper into our potential – that which we are called to unfold and share with the world.

May 10

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Seeds

“The seed never sees the flowers.” – Zen Proverb

Today we celebrate not only Mothers but all that they foster, grow and model for the world. Unconditional love, endurance, faith, peace, resilience, joy, laughter, forgiveness, compassion, hope, grace, friendship and family – all the traits and ties that bind and remind us that we are not alone on this journey. They show us that the impossible is possible.

My family ran the Race for the Cure this morning in honor of my cousin Julie who has been recently diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. We ran for her but also for ourselves. When you can’t do anything to change the situation, you doing anything that shows support and love that words can’t come close to describing.

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.” – Dalai Lama

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” – Dalai Lama

As you enter each day, remember that you don’t know what others are going through and they don’t know what burdens weigh on you. Always act on the assumption that you can and should scatter and plant seeds of light, laughter and love. If you forget and need to be reminded how to do this, ask a Mom.

Apr 16

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Overflowing

“Life is full and overflowing with the new. But it is necessary to empty out the old to make room for the new to enter.” – Eileen Caddy

“Life is full and overflowing with the new. But it is necessary to empty out the old to make room for the new to enter.” – Eileen Caddy

“And our job – in finding God, in being God; in finding truth, in being truth, in finding love, in being love – is to meet the world at the surface where Spirit slips out through every cut.” – Mark Nepo, Reduced to Joy

In the circle of searching, finding and being, life is overflowing, filled with all of the ingredients for our happiness. In gratitude, we discover that we have all that we need here and now. More than enough.

Apr 5

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Partake

“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” – Mahatma Gandhi

May the hope, love, mercy, forgiveness, redemption and resurrection of Easter permeate your soul and free your spirit today and every day. Partake in the awe and wonder freely given. Each day offers a new beginning, a fresh start, a second, third and fourth chance.

“The True Self is not our creation, but God's. It is the self we are in our depths. It is our capacity for divinity and transcendence.” – Sue Monk Kidd

“The True Self is not our creation, but God’s. It is the self we are in our depths. It is our capacity for divinity and transcendence.” – Sue Monk Kidd

Say YES! to that still, soft, persistent voice calling you to your True Self. Let your light shine brightly, breaking the darkness.

Grace, joy and light – Happy Easter.

Mar 24

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The Marvelous

“Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.” – Bill Moyers

Enter today eager to create, transform, inspire. In turn, be ready to be created, transformed and inspired. All that is present this very moment longs and waits to be found with simple curiosity and childlike wonder.

Push beyond the mechanical motions, comfortable habits and seemingly mundane. Demand more of yourself. We are called to dive deep into the marvelous center of now. Learn, teach, learn again, every day. Create and be created. Cast light and the marvelous is revealed.

Nov 9

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Embrace

“We cannot stop the winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the spring or the fall or make them other than they are. They are gifts from the universe that we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we will contribute to life when each arrives.” – Gary Zukav

The rituals are the same each year. The final grass cutting, raking the remaining leaves, bring in the hose and check the snow blower. A 100 percent chance of snow tomorrow and the first snow of the season, winter officially begins. As if surprised by its return, we brace ourselves for winter.

Often we choose to brace for the worst rather than embrace the possibilities and promise in all that is before us. Wishing time away to move quickly past our “winters,” eagarly longing for our “springs.” Yet when we move through our winters fully awake, we find ourselves, our light in the cold and stark. Our resilience, our hope, our grit, our creativity. Winter brings a quiet time that slows us enough to listen, to hear.

So my wish for us all this winter eve is that we embrace our “Mondays” and “winters” with the vigor and anticipation of our “Fridays” and “springs.”

 

Oct 6

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Behind the Medal

“Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers, and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.” – Therese of Lisieux

There’s so much more behind the engraved medal at the end of the marathon. Traveling as light as possible, I don’t carry my phone so I can’t capture the beautiful scenes on the journey. But each mile has pictures engraved in my memory.

“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” – Matsuo Basho

“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” – Matsuo Basho

At the start line, thousands of runners gather hopeful and excited, sprinkled with a bit of fear of what’s to come, but starting just the same. My first marathon with my brother John and both of our third marathons.

From start to finish, people gather along the streets clapping, jumping, cheering for strangers – scattering flowers. A mom stops to kiss her husband and kids who are beaming with pride in her feat. Dads and daughters running along side each other.

Mile 17, questions on my sanity sneak into my thoughts then shift quickly back to what I said to myself at mile one – how do you run a marathon? – one mile at a time, break it up. Mile 21, I can make it, take it all in, walk when you have to, keep going. Passing runners at the medical stations exhausted and injured reminds me that there are no guarantees. Anything can happen on marathon day. Everyone does not finish.

I don’t visualize the finish line as much as mile 24.5 where family and friends are gathered, standing for over five hours in 40 degrees cheering thousands of runners on and waiting patiently for me to finally show up. Scattering flowers.

Mile 23.5, my niece Emily runs up to greet me with a hug and smile and starts running me home. She ran her Dad to the finish and came back out for me. My left calf knots up and she stops to rub it out. Scattering flowers.

We approach 24.5 to my cheering crowd – hugs and hoots all around as if I’ve won the marathon. Emily continues on with me and Linda, who has an injured knee, joins us to run me to the finish. Just down the road, Jeanne is waving her arms, doing jumping jacks and joins my finishing pack. Scattering flowers.

The finish line. The medal. The journey that started four months ago and hundreds of miles is complete with the final 26.2. And each mile of the journey, I’ve never been alone. I’ve been gathering flowers.

Sep 3

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To Be Found

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.” – Thomas Merton

Every once in a while, Lily or Molly quietly disappear from the living room. When I go look, I always find them lying on the bed waiting to be found. When I sit next to them and snuggle in, they always perk up – mission accomplished. That’s all they want. They just want to be found. A simple yet profound reminder that all of us just want to be found, to be missed, to be sought, to be seen, to be heard.

“Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.” – Eric Hoffer

“Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.” – Eric Hoffer

When we get out of our own head long enough and use our heart to find others with a smile, a compliment, a moment of attention, our world expands and grows richer.

And when we search and find others, we actually find ourselves, our best self. Shine a light, feel the warmth.

Aug 23

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Listen

“Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues.” – Rumi

Another early morning training run started at 5:45 am. One mile with the girls; nine miles by myself; the last three plus miles with friends at Como Lake. Another long run over, check it off the list, one step closer to the Twin Cities Marathon in October.

The last mile, a woman joined us that my friends had met last week. She was behind them and as my running friends do so well, they welcomed and invited her to be a part of the group – inclusivity and hospitality in action.

As Terry and I went to get coffee, Angie came in to share our new friend’s “story” that she shared with Lynn and Angie. We all have one. But when we are blessed to ask and hear others “stories,” our minor discomforts and irritations are rapidly put into perspective, put in their place.

Our new friend shared that her son was shot and killed. She started running to help herself heal. I thought about this all day long. Tonight, Angie sent an email with a link to the full story online.

The detailed story – two years ago, her son,  a 19 year old young man who was studying to become a computer engineer innocently met a man to buy a cell phone.  In the “transaction,”  he was shot and killed by the slug. This young man had held two jobs to help support his family as he excitedly started college to make something of his life. His family was from Burma and came to the United States to leave a refugee camp, only to find their dream become a nightmare. Devastating.

Each day, we know in depth and detail what we are going through- our irritations, frustrations, challenges. But we are called to move outside of ourselves and apply that same depth to others, to the world. We must be open to others, to listen, to be present, to be a gift. We know not what others are going through. Find out.

Cast your eyes, ears and light to others and search for the depth and width that life takes each one of us through at varying levels. We are not alone. Let others know that loud and clear by quietly listening.

It’s not all about us. It’s really about how we help each other muster the strength to make our way through the most difficult as well as celebratory moments of our lives. We need to ignite our limitless capacity for compassion, empathy and companionship. Be there and listen. You are needed in this world so much more than you know.

Listen, be present, welcome the world in with your heart.

Aug 12

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Arise

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius

Morning welcomes and invites us to begin anew, leaving yesterday to rest and tomorrow to rise in its own time. Completely present and alive, ready to be fully awake to each moment’s beauty.

“To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.” – Mary Oliver

“To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.” – Mary Oliver

The sun rises and so must I. To greet the day welcoming the work to be done in us and around us, for promises to be fulfilled. We are called to rise fully to shine our light that is but ours alone. To absorb, reflect and cast light. Anything less is not meant to be, so do not hesitate, hide or ponder any longer. Breathe, think, enjoy and love. Ah, the promise of morning and for the fortitude to carry it through to sunset.

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