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Posts tagged ‘Gratitude’

Nov 21

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Lean Forward into the Present Tense

“Lean forward into your life…catch the best bits and the finest wind. Just tip your feathers in flight a wee bit and see how dramatically that small lean can change your life.”― Mary Anne Radmacher, Lean Forward Into Your Life

“living eulogy.
she danced.
she sang. she took.
she gave.
she loved.
she created.
she dissented. she enlivened.
she saw. she grew. she sweated.
she changed.
she learned. she laughed.
she shed her skin.
she bled on the pages of her days,
she walked through walls,
she lived with intention.”
― Mary Anne Radmacher

Change it all to present tense – thoughts, words, actions
Dance, sing, take, give, love, create, dissent, enliven, see, grow, sweat, change, learn, laugh, shed, bleed, walk through walls, live with intention
Present tense, this day alone
Leaning, leaping, lunging into life – today
With joy, anticipation, grit, gratitude, grief, kindness, generosity, hope, fear, courage, laughter, faith, trust, enthusiasm, colors, sequins, confetti, sprinkles, persistence, grace, love.

“No such thing, the queen said, as too many sequins.”― Mark Doty

Nov 18

Color this Day

“As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.”― Mary Anne Radmacher

“what if
we just
acted like
everything
was easy?”
― Mary Anne Radmacher

Travel lightly
Easy
Unencumbered
Untethered
Put down rocks of yesterday and tomorrow
Grace for this day
Abundance in presence
Joy on purpose
Cast light, color too.

“Begin each day as if it were on purpose.”― Mary Anne Radmacher

Nov 17

New Day, Small Shifts

“Hoping to live days of greater happiness, I forget that days of less happiness are passing by.”― Elizabeth Bishop

“Who would you be if nobody told you who you were?” – Wayne Dyer

Comparison and counting
Speed and production
Someday when
I “should” do this or that
What will they think?
Own your life, one day at a time
Small shifts
Direct your time, attention, awareness, energy
Do something different
Get out of your own way
Inquiry and reflection
Awe and wonder
Kindness and love
Gratitude and forgiveness
Laughter and fun
Let go to take hold of joy, contentment, delight
New day, fresh air, deep breath.

“Should is an asshole.”― Jennifer Pastiloff, On Being Human

Nov 16

Forefront and Backdrop

“There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep. ”
― Elizabeth Bishop

“There are those fortunate hours when the world consents to be made into a poem.”― Mark Doty

Space and reflection
Curiosity and attention
Pause and praise
Spell of rest to notice
Forefront and backdrop
Magic of melody, flow
Music and poetry woven into this day
To be found, to be written
Joy, no slight thing

“What did you think, that joy / was some slight thing?”― Mark Doty

Nov 12

Unraveling Magic

“In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.”― W. H. Auden

“This is a reminder to let you know that you are not here just to do stuff, just to perform duties and complete tasks.
You are here also to feel happy, and content, and inspired and well within yourself.
You are here to have some fun, create meaningful moments and find the sparkle in your eyes again.
You are here to unravel the magic of being alive, the magic of being you. To heal, to feel whole again.
Do something today that lights you up. That activates your joy. That brings about a genuine smile from your heart.
You are worth the effort.” – S.C. Lourie

Permission granted
To pause
To not crowbar everything into a day
To have fun, the tail wagging kind
A call to joy
Answer the call
Unravel some magic today.

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”― Steven Pressfield

Nov 11

Cultivate, Wait, Flow

“In the continuous flow of blessing our heart finds meaning and rest.”― David Steindl-Rast

“Times that challenge us physically, emotionally, and spiritually may make it almost impossible for us to feel grateful. Yet, we can decide to live gratefully, courageously open to life in all its fullness. By living in a gratefulness that we don’t feel, we begin to feel the gratefulness we live.”― David Steindl-Rast

Wait or cultivate
A grateful heart when circumstances don’t warrant
When others don’t cooperate, go our way
Laughter amid “serious” business
Joy in dailyness
Gratitude forced to flowing
Platitude to planted
Cultivate and wait, tend
Deep breath
Thankfully rooted on the ground of this day
On the wave of presence
At-homeness.

“When we cultivate that gratefulness to life, we not only cultivate trust in life and openness for surprise, we practice again and again saying yes to our limitless belonging to this great Earth household. That roots us and makes us at home; it gives us that great at-homeness.”― Brother David Steindl-Rast

Nov 7

Dividends of Joy

“You may delay, but time will not.”― Benjamin Franklin

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”― Mother Theresa

Investment of time
Distribution of energy
Diversification of pursuit
Direction of attention, of noticing
Distribution of kindness, generosity, light
Dividends of joy, love, gratitude
Return on investment
Portfolio of days
Well spent
One day at a time.

“To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds,”― William James

Nov 6

Full of Magical Things

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”― W.B. Yeats

“The only place to begin is where I am, and whether by desire or disaster, I am here. My being here is not dependent on my recognition of the fact. I am here anyway. But it might help if I could learn to look around.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

For sharper senses
Quick laughter
Capacity for awe and wonder
To learn, relearn, learn anew
To look around
Sight to see sacred spaces
On the holy ground of ordinary days.

“May we find our foundation in the work of Love; demanding, tiring, true and human and holy.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community

Nov 4

Cultivate, Bear Good Fruit

“Solitude is the soil in which genius is planted, creativity grows, and legends bloom; faith in oneself is the rain that cultivates a hero to endure the storm, and bare the genesis of a new world, a new forest.”― Mike Norton, White Mountain

“Cultivating the power of presence comes from creating the space to observe one’s mind and one’s self.”― Dee Waldeck

Till soil
Cast seeds
Water roots
Look up to the sun
Tend to self and others
Cultivate joy, kindness, love
Garden well
Bear good fruit.

“We must cultivate our garden.”― Voltaire

Nov 3

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To See Today’s Beauty

“To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.”― T.S. Eliot, The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.”― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

For eyes to see the beautiful thing
Ears to hear the symphony
Words for today
Stamina and resilience to stay and participate
Gratitude to root and anchor
Grace of presence
Light to cast
Love to offer
Devotion to what matters
Joy on the journey
A life’s work.

“Be committed to creating a life’s work, not a season. If you get overexcited and rush everything for fear of missing out, you run the risk of being a flash in the pan and fading away fast. Have the stamina to stay in the game. To do it for the devotion and pleasure alone.” – Rebecca Campbell, Rise Sister Rise

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