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Posts tagged ‘optimism’

Double Down

“After-comers cannot guess the beauty been.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins

“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”― Eckhart Tolle

Optimism.
Kindness.
Generosity.
Delight.
Joy.
Fresh eyes.
Wandering down unfamiliar paths.
Putting down old to make space for new.
Explore, inquire and listen
Guided by love, not stalled in fear.
Double down on these.
Hope with a blueprint.

“If you don’t become the ocean, you will get seasick every day.” – Leonard Cohen

Seeds to Fruit

“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.” – Saint Basil

“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.” – St. Francis of Assisi

Sow seeds.
Simple actions.
A call.
A text.
A smile.
A hello.
Laughter. Joy. Light.
Generosity. Kindness. Enthusiasm.
Sow. Nurture. Bear fruit.

“I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness around me.” – Sojourner Truth

To Choose Well

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” – John Muir

“To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe—to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it—is a wonder beyond words. Gratitude for the gift of life is the primary wellspring of all religions, the hallmark of the mystic, the source of all true art. Furthermore, it is a privilege to be alive in this time when we can choose to take part in the self-healing of our world.”—Joanna Rogers Macy

As in nature, may I see the commonality and connectedness in humanity.
To choose kindness rather than angst.
To choose whisper rather than shouting.
To choose generosity rather than guarding.
To choose hope rather than cynicism.
To choose including rather than excluding.
To choose love rather than fear.
To participate fully in the dance of life and invite others onto the floor to join in.

“Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life.” – Rumi

Pastures Still

“As you get older, you want less from the world; you just want to experience it. Any barriers to feeling emotions get dismantled. And ordinary things become beautifully poetic.” – Richard Linklater

“All things therefore are charged with love, are charged with God and if we knew how to touch them give off sparks and take fire, yield drops and flow, ring and tell of him.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Letters of Gerard Manley Hopkins to Robert Bridges

May we hone our senses sharp to see the bigness in small moments while we are in them.
To live twice and then some.
In the moment and memory.
From doing, busy, checklist to being, slowness and connection.
A shift in perspective.
Present and awake.
May gratitude pull up a chair next to you today to chat awhile.
Pastures still, filled with music of praise.

“ELECTED Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.”
― Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems and Prose

Good Work

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” —  Walt Disney

Not sure what to do, where to go?
Start moving.
The road unfolds before us.
A step at a time.
Direction rather that detailed map.
Compass, pull of true north.
Detours, delays, rerouting all parts of the journey.
When interrupted, be present and see where you can contribute.
Generous of spirit and presence.
Flooded by marvelous light.
Do good work.

“You can’t steer a parked car.” – Joyce Meyer

First Step, Repeat

“The distance is nothing; it’s only the first step that is difficult.” — Marquise du Deffand

“I just want to say three things. One, never, ever give up. Two, you’re never too old to chase your dreams. And three, it looks like a solitary sport, but it takes a team.” – Diana Nyad

Yesterday, three decades into my career in nonprofit management, I launched my own business after five months of planning and doing the work to arrive to this day. I am so grateful for family and friends who have encouraged and challenged me along the way. And for not listening to those who say, “you’re too old” or “it’s too late,” often woven in our own thoughts and limiting beliefs.

Life leads us down paths we didn’t expect. Twists, turns, delays, detours, losses and wins. A soft whisper, a pull, seeds planted within. Calling each of us to try new things, to keep growing, to stay in the game, to bloom. Try, dig in, stumble, get up and keep going. Never ever give up, never too old, and it takes a team but ultimately you need to take the leap when the plane door opens. Pack your shoot well and leap.

To new adventures, helping others and having fun along the way. KP Connections is up and running.

“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” – Albert Einstein

Make Room for Joy, Plenty of It!

“Remember these two things: play hard and have fun.” – Tony Gwynn

“I want to unfold. Let no place in me hold itself closed, for where I am closed, I am false.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

In each footfall.
On the ground beneath and before.
On the road ahead.
Anticipation, hope, enthusiasm.
Make room for joy.
Every single day.
Plenty, not a mere teaspoon.
Cup overflowing.
Follow the path of children and dogs.
Masters of short memories, rapt awareness of the present moment, believing the best in all, love unconditional.
Open to delight, possibility, fun.
Hot pursuit of now.
Not only a room, but a house full of joy.
Clear space, open the windows and doors.
Joy awaits entry and occupation.

“Believing takes practice.”― Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time: With Related Readings

“Life isn’t about learning how to weather the storm. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”― Vivian Greene

To Wake Up

“When we become fixed in our perceptions, we lose our ability to fly.”― Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Joyful Wisdom

“Get yourself out of whatever cage you find yourself in.”― John Cage

A tilt, turn, new angle.
Pause, stillness, reset.
From autopilot to flying the plane.
Do something different.
A new way to the same place.
A greeting to a passerby.
A smile that makes people wonder.
Enthusiasm, optimism, energy despite the “facts.”
The extraordinary sewn in the ordinary.
May you learn something new each day.
Big sky.
Take flight.

“Our intention is to affirm this life, not to bring order out of chaos, nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we’re living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and desires out of its way and lets it act of its own accord.”― John Cage

Widening Pool

“Hope is the hardest love we carry.”― Jane Hirshfield, The Lives of the Heart

“What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp — praise song for walking forward in that light.”― Elizabeth Alexander

Do not believe the cynics.
Do not join them.
They have plenty on their team.
Be courageous in hope, love, joy.
Eternal optimist despite the “facts.”
So much more below the surface of first impressions.
In proximity and connection.
Be a light bearer.
Do, create, build.
A new canvas with each wave of love.
Walking forward in that light.

“Art replaces the light that is lost when the day fades, the moment passes, the evanescent extraordinary makes its quicksilver. Art tries to capture that which we know leaves us, as we move in and out of each other’s lives, as we all must eventually leave this earth. Great artists know that shadow, work always against the dying light, but always knowing that the day brings new light and that the ocean which washes away all traces on the sand leaves us a new canvas with each wave.”― Elizabeth Alexander, The Light of the World

Look Ridiculous, Daily

“Dreams ask for commitment. They require a running leap. They require patient waiting.”
― Christie Purifoy, Placemaker: Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peace

“The next time
you refuse to sing
because you’ll never
fill a stadium
or decline the joy of dance
for fear of looking
ridiculous
or you resist risking
the new adventure
because you’re
not entirely ready or
you dim your shine
because you’re not
completely healed and whole

the next time
you hold yourself suspect
because you’re not
entirely qualified

just remember

a bird doesn’t sing
because it’s talented
a bird sings because
it has a song

the moon doesn’t only shine
when it’s whole
it can show up with
a single sliver of itself
and still light an entire
night sky

show up. sing. shine.
the world needs you
as you are.” – Daniell Koepke

Anyone who has seen me dance knows I can bust a move.
And look ridiculous too.
Therein lies the joy.
Uninhibited. Fun. Delight.
Do not underestimate the power of joy, awe and wonder to flip your perspective upside down and sideways.
Dance. Sing. Big open heart.
No permission slip required.
Be yourself.
The only one that can fill the job of you.
Bright, beautiful, ever-blooming you!