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Posts tagged ‘Happiness’

May 11

Real Devotion

“Real devotion is an unbroken receptivity to the truth. Real devotion is rooted in an awed and reverent gratitude, but one that is lucid, grounded, and intelligent.”― Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

“The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion . . . open your eyes wide and actually see this world by attending to its colors, details and irony.”― Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red

Tend to this day alone.
Engage, enter, attend fully.
Dimension. Color. Beauty.
Devotion rooted in awe and reverence.
The sacred and holy of the ground that is now.
Pause. Look. Pay attention.

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

May 4

Know Joy

“The key to knowing joy is being easily pleased.”― Mark Nepo

“The further I wake into this life, the more I realize that God is everywhere and the extraordinary is waiting quietly beneath the skin of all that is ordinary. Light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond, and music is in both the flowing violin and the water dripping from the drainage pipe. Yes, God is under the porch as well as on top of the mountain, and joy is in both the front row and the bleachers, if we are willing to be where we are.”― Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have

As you walk and wake into this day, feel your feet touch the earth.
Pause and be still.
Look around.
A new angle and perspective.
See in new ways.
Listen and observe.
Praise and sing.
Present on all levels – physical, cognitive and spiritual.
Be where you are fully, easily pleased to know joy.
In each step along the way.

“We work so hard to get somewhere, to realize a dream, to arrive at some destination, that we often forget that though some satisfaction may be waiting at the end of our endurance and effort, there is great and irreplaceable aliveness in the steps along the way.”― Mark Nepo

Feb 2

Mission Fun, Accomplished

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.” – Dr. Seuss

“Success is not like a cake that needs to be divided. It’s more like a heap of stones – a cairn. If someone is successful, they add a stone to the cairn. It gets very high and can be seen from all over the world. That’s how I see it.” – Maeve Binchy

By lunch the temperature broke 10 degrees.
An invitation to get some fresh air and crisp sun.
A sliver of warm sandwiched before the next dip.
After five days of mall walking, invitation accepted.
The girls needed to get out to chase some joy too.
Without delay, recess is in session.
Mission Fun for 30 minutes triggered.
From one end of the wooded park to the other, ball chasing and frolicking with other dogs who got the same invitation to the party.
Walking the hill to the car, Abby proudly carried all three balls she came with.
Gently placing them down, she created a tennis ball cairn.
Cairn is a Gaelic term meaning “heap of stones.”
There are several meanings to cairn in different cultures across centuries.
Balance, marking, peace, prayer.
All seem to fit our quick adventure.
Mission Fun, accomplished.
Take a recess or two and go stack some fun today.

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” – Maya Angelou

Jan 2

Great Triumphant Joy

“Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.”― Aeschylus

“What was love but a lifetime of conversations. And silences. Knowing when to be silent. Above all, knowing when to laugh.”― Bernard MacLaverty, Midwinter Break

May you partake in laughter often
Opt in to lighten up
Frolic and dance in silliness
Take life serious enough to not be so serious.
Gratitude. Grace. Joy.
Life, to the fullest extent.
In simple delights.

“It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God it’s great to be alive! Thank you. Thank you.”― Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

“Listen, whatever you see and love—
that’s where you are.”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs

Dec 23

Yes, Virginia

“Oh, Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a frame of mind.” — Kris Kringle from Miracle on 34th Street

“Dear Editor— I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? – Virginia O’Hanlon

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.” – Letter to Santa, New York Sun in 1897

May the wonder of these coming days break through and open delight.
May love, generosity and devotion expose beauty and joy.
And may Santa Claus and Jesus be born in your heart.
Peace, hope, light to you and to all.

“Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.” – Francis B. Church Editor, New York Sun

Nov 25

A Big Scoop of Joy with a Side of Wonder

“Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.”― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

May we only go backwards to rediscover the innate joy of childhood.
We need not look far to find the PhD’s of delight and wonder.
Sparkle in eyes, anchored in the moment, inviting us to partake.

“Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.” – Khalil Gibran

“A flower blossoms for its own joy.”― Oscar Wilde

Nov 6

Already There

“The funny thing about the mind is that if you ask a question and then listen quietly, the answer usually appears.”― Yongey Mingyur, The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness

“Let your own experience serve as your guide and inspiration. Let yourself enjoy the view as you travel along the path. The view is your own mind, and because your mind is already enlightened, if you take the opportunity to rest awhile along the journey, eventually you’ll realize that the place you want to reach is the place you already are.”― Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness

Enjoy the path you are on today.
Go off trail, wander a bit.
Look around, listen quietly, inquire with openness.
Your thoughts, assumptions and opinions are your compass.
Choose them well, invite change, allow unknowing.
Beauty, flow and blessings amplified with new eyes.

“The opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available.”― Yongey Mingyur, The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness

Sep 23

Never Enough Sunsets

“True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.”― Antoine De Saint-Exupery

“This equation has helped many people I know identify the difference between practicing happiness and pursuing it. When my happiness feels elusive, I tend to ask myself, “What am I not being grateful for, and what am I pursuing that’s distracting me from that gratitude?”― Chip Conley, Emotional Equations: Simple Truths for Creating Happiness + Success

Gratitude interrupts scarcity, broadens horizons, expands perspective.
Practice over pursuit.
The daily work of attention and awe, a new math.
Acceptance and joy amidst imperfection, detours and delays.
Transforming ordinary, sometimes difficult days into perfect love, overflowing with abundance.

“So blessed are you who say this did not add up. I had hoped these choices I made. The life I tried so hard to pick would add up to something meaningful. But now I’m left without many choices at all. Left wondering, did I pick? Right. Did I waste my days? What should I have done differently? This limited life is what it means to be human in our failures and bad, bad math, in our best intentions and hardest work, in our waylaid hopes and far off dreams. In the love that is never, ever too late to give or receive. Maybe success and happiness can mean something different now. On the other side of a life changed when minutes become moments and there will never be enough sunsets or handholds or jokes shared. But there is never, ever too much love.” – Kate Bowler

Sep 2

Reciprocity

“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” – Samuel Smiles

Summer Sun by Robert Louis Stevenson

“Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven without repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad,
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles,
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy’s inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the World, he goes.”

May you be touched by the sun
Warmed
Softened
Held
In return, share your light with the world
Reciprocity.

Jun 3

Long Summer Days

“Aaah, summer – that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It’s a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends.” – Darell Hammond

“Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James

Vibrant colors, sun lingering, soft breeze.
Days when glory shows its face in bloom.
Play, wander, watch.
Somersaults and cartwheels.
Crisp vegetables, sweet fruit.
Soak in these days.
No place to be but here.
In the balm of long summer days.
Do not let them pass you by.

“We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.” – Jenny Uglow

“In summer, the song sings itself.” – William Carlos Williams

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