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Posts tagged ‘journal’

At Peace

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Teresa

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way.” - Dr. Seuss

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way.” – Dr. Seuss

Seek, commit and work for real peace, starting with you. The world will have peace when we create it first in our heart and home. A kind word, the gift of forgiveness, an unselfish act. Be at peace and offer it to others without condition, actively and on purpose.

Search, find and accept peace this season and each day of the new year. Peace be with you and peace start with you. Be at peace.

“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Winter Solstice

“People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” – Anton Chekhov

“In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” - Albert Camus

“In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus

Winter solstice reminds us that all of our days are short. Choose your thoughts, words and actions with careful consideration and careless generosity.

Each day, there are people who need our kindness, compassion, attention, patience and understanding. Without judgment, measurement or reserve, give yourself away to make each moment better, filled with joy and delight.

Shine your light bright through every season.  Our love is depleted when we don’t give it away. The more you give away, the more will return to you.

 

“Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.” – Bill Morgan, Jr.

Choose Happy

“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.” – Earl Nightingale

“The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.” – Isaac Asimov

“The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.” – Isaac Asimov

What’s in a Name?

“Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.” – Henry James

When I was traveling last week, I noticed something different right away as I approached the gate to get on the plane. The gate agent was smiling and as she scanned each ticket, she welcomed each passenger by name. You could see each person’s demeanor change as she recognized each individually. Some days, it’s easy to feel like a number, a transaction. But she gave the gift of undivided attention, choosing relationship over transaction.

When I got in the cab in Austin, I sat silent for a moment and then chose to start a conversation with the driver. It started with the weather and the local economy and then moved to how proud he was of his family, in particular his grandson who calls him G-pop. A simple encounter, a short conversation, a few moments.

We have a choice to check out or check in to these moments, to be more human, more alive. To be called by name and do the same in return. To see and be seen. What’s in a name? So much more than you know.

Ripple Effect

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” – Mother Teresa

“A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching.” - Sivananda

“A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching.” – Sivananda

We are here for a purpose. Each thought, word and action offered has power, mulitplied and magnified. Between making a living and really living, we oscilate between “going through the motions” and a search of the “extraordinary and lofty.” Our true purpose unfolds in the simplicity of living each day well, right in the midst of the ordinary.

Author Caroline Myss in Entering the Castle beautifully and susinctly summarizes – “… you are measured by the quality of attitude you bring to all your tasks, by your capacity to be a model of generosity, and by challenging the fear that there is not enough to go around in world – whether that is money, love, food, fame, power, attention, success, or social position. Mystical service means modeling calm in chaos, kindness amid anger, forgiveness at all times, personal integrity – to live, in other words, mindful that every second offers a choice either to channel grace or to withhold it.”

Channel it. Each drop, one by one, ripples through the world. A drop is enough.

More Than a Glance

“Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.” – Thomas Merton

On Friday, I went to the mall to buy some new clothes for upcoming meetings. Like many activities, my intention was to get in and out quickly without delay, without notice, to get it over with.

Head down, thinking about what’s next, I placed the clothes on the counter. Slide check card, sign, transaction done, receipt in the bag, ready to say a quick thank you and go, go, go. But this time I stopped, looked up directly in the clerk’s eyes, smiled and said a sincere thank you. Moving the moment from a mundane transaction to undivided attention and acknowledgement. A simple yet profound reminder to be in the moment completely. Instead of passing by or around, we can choose to pass through aware and engaged, giving more than a glance.

We are called to go deeper in and reach further out.

“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.” – Thomas Merton

Between Sunsets

“If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

“If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

“Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal.” – Elbert Hubbard

Carefully choose how you spend the hours between each sunset. When you have chosen the path made for you, carelessly give yourself to the journey.

“Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.” – Marian Wright Edelman

Lost and Found Smile

“Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.” - Dr. Seuss

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss

THE Sole Sisters rode again for our annual “run a half marathon by the ocean” vacation. This year’s mini-escape – Malibu, California. The subtitle could be the “find your lost smile” excursion. Mission accomplished. Vacation breaks our daily patterns, whacking us in the head to wake up and enjoy this short life. The trick is to carry the vacation calm forward. It’s not about a permanent escape, but living each non-vacation day with that same joy and enthusiasm.

Carve out time each day, week, month to stay fresh and engaged, despite the odds. Laugh about silly things until your stomach hurts, taking yourself much less seriously. Eat food that looks like art with a sunset as your backdrop. Smile from your heart and soul, giving your mind a rest. See the good in all, even when not evident or rational. Go deeper, walk lighter.

Slow down and listen to your internal GPS, which like our GPS in our rental car told us several times to “recalculate.” Take the long cut and enjoy the journey, living to your fullest potential, giving your best. Smile like you mean it.

“Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa

Know the Difference

“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” - Abraham Lincoln

“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” – Abraham Lincoln

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” – Reinhold Niebuhr

What can we effectively affect? What can be impacted by our effort and energy? What we can do to make a difference? a real one – not the busy work of worry, anxiety and distress. True discernment. Clarity.

“The supreme end of education is expert discernment in all things – the power to tell the good from the bad, the genuine from the counterfeit, and to prefer the good and the genuine to the bad and the counterfeit.” – Charles Grosvenor Osgood

Succumb to Optimism

“There are only two ways to live your life. One as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.” – Albert Einstein

GIVE in to your aspirations and dreams, achieve them through your actions. Hope without discipline is hollow.

GIVE up following the pack mentality of cynicism. Start and end with yourself and what you can do. The only real control that you have is over yourself.

GIVE out the best of yourself without measure or conditions. It’s counterintuitive to the common view, but it will change your corner of the world.