Category — Miscellaneous Inspirations

“The greatest gift we give ourselves or anyone else
is the quality of our attention.”

– Richard Moss

“We have not been called to change this crazy world.
We are called simply to love it.”

– Maithri Goonetilleke
Australian Doctor, Author and Poet
More ‘Change’ Quotes  Today’s Story: ‘One For
My Sister’

“When we serve, we see the unborn wholeness in
others; others may then be able to see their
wholeness for themselves for the first time.”

– Rachel Naomi Remen MD

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”

– Albert Einstein

When you first open your eyes in the morning, what is the first thought that crosses your mind?

“Good God, it’s morning!” or “Good morning, God.”

Especially if fatigue permeates you or the pressures nip at your heals, it may be a challenge to ignite your optimism for the day.

If you can embrace that your attitude shapes your outcome, and choose over and over the path of joy, even if step by step, soon sustainable joy will be a way of life, regardless of your circumstances.

I find great joy in passing along the reminders that come my way to keep me on course. I am delighted to promote those who I feel are authentic in offering their wisdom and information to serve in expanding joy.

Here is a meaningful nudge toward happiness I received today from a dear friend, ongoing mentor, and amazing women, Betty Lue Lieber. I trust it will assist you in having a beautiful day, even when there are storms all around you.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

When you cannot find the music in your heart,
When you do not hear the birds singing in the trees,
When you are not aware of how much you are loved,
When you are consumed with the business of life……….
Make up your own personal prescription list of how to heal.

When in doubt, Bless
When in fear, Love.
When angry, Breathe.
When critical, Forgive.
When alone, Listen.
When hurt, Comfort.
When lost, Pray.
When unhappy, Appreciate.
When confused, Open.

Life is filled with healing tools.

You are the Healer and the wounded.
You are the Reminder and the forgetful.
You are the Way Finder and the lost.
You are the Chosen One and the dismissed.

Each of us has the power and the purpose to find what is missing.
Each one of us has the inner knowing and the key to the door.
Each one of us has within us the strength and the opportunity.
Each one of us has been where we are before.

We know.
We have.
We are.
We can.

Let us take the time today to stretch our wings and fly.
Stretch our faith, open our heart, soar with joy and bless our lives.
“Birds can fly, so why oh why can’t I?” Somewhere over the Rainbow
Yes, I can.

Betty Lue Lieber, Ph.D. MFT and Robert Waldon, Ph.D. ND
Values-Centered Coaching and Counseling, Holistic Health Consulting
LovingReminders.org
CreativeSolutionsCoaching.org
BettyLue.org
UnityontheDelta.org

Dear Happy Travelers,

Parenting (and grand-parenting) has its bumps and detours, and through it all offers so much joy. Being a grandma is as much fun with less responsibility. Still, one of my greatest challenges is to balance self-care with my urge to care for them. I want to spare both my babies and grandbabies from any hurt and would like to think that I know best.

Here we walk a fine line between Divine Order and Ego Expectations. It is hard to discern sometimes  when to actively help, or when it is best to ‘help’ by ‘not helping.’ Sometimes we guess right and sometimes we guess wrong. Regardless, our intentions are most likely good, and this is important.

It has taken me years of practice to understand (most of the time) that those we love, especially our children, have their own lives. They need to learn from their own mistakes. It can be deceiving, but worry is not the same as love. Worry makes us feel like we are doing something when we feel out of control.

It is important for all of us to remember that it is not our job to fix anyone. It is our place to empower them to know that they carry that strength within themselves… as do I. All we must do is access it. It is so much easier to guide our children and feel we have to define their direction that offer our self the same care and nurturing.

I have always told my daughters that I would rather visit for a few fleeting minutes by choice rather than days and days of forced connection out of obligation. Love is not measured by time, but by authenticity. It is not as much about quantity, but quality of time spent in one another’s company.

As my two daughters continue on their individual unfolding adventure of relationship and parenting I experience a relief in observing that I have nudged them out of the nest with a sense of their own strength and magnificence. We lean on one another often, but know that we can travel the road alone without resentment and expectations. We all forget at times, but when things get tough, they dig deep and access the power that comes when you remember who you really are. As hard as it is, we must not deprive our children to gain the experience of their own power by interfering on their journey. This does not mean we don’t step in to help, but that we do so mindfully, and without guilt when we cannot assist them. We listen from within rather than push from without.

Though my ‘default’ used to be set to worry and fret many years ago, I recognize now (and sometimes day by day) that such concern is really counter-productive. Worry offers us a choice-point… to waste our energy and teach learned-helplessness, or to choose to trust they will find their own way to their magnificence so they can become fully who they are meant to be.

My mom always was the first to remind me that “experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” Although we all want the road to be smooth, challenges are often our greatest teacher. The reason I want to jump to their aid is because I’ve gained a bit of wisdom through my mis-steps. Still, there is no better unforgettable lesson learned than through our own experience.

There is nothing more important than to give your child than the courage to know  that they are capable. No one needs to be rescued or fixed… only bathed in the light of encouragement in order to connect with their own wonder.

When we learn how to take full accountability and responsibility for our own happiness and connect fully with our magnificence, the gifts we offer become more true, our happiness is more durable, and blessings become more evident. Life is an incredible dance, an intuitive adventure, where those with hope experience more durable happiness.

After all, would you rather be accused of false-hope or false-pessimism? [Read more →]

“You start dying when you have nothing to live for.
You start living when you find something worth dying for.”

– Mark Batterson (author, Wild Goose Chase)

Whew! I don’t know about you, but my life has been very full. It has been said that life is a banquet. Well, my plates are very full!

I have at times felt that my life is split. I feel pulled between the needs of my grandkids (one boy with autism, two with ADHD, and a 7 month old grand-daughter on the brink of crawling, all living in Los Angeles), my passion for developing my work and sustainability in a way that is congruent with who I am and in the service of making the world a better place, other worldly demands, my friends in Port Townsend, WA, and my longing for stillness to connect with my spiritual core and rejuvenate.

What if  I tweaked my vision to see this as a whole, rather than divergent parts? What if I shelved any resistance and opened my arms to what is, seeing it as an invitation, rather than an inconvenience?

Happiness calls us. It is a constant, just like the sun, even when sometimes hidden by the clouds. It is not the circumstances that matter most.

To expand my happiness, this week I will practice opening my arms to it all that feeds my intuition rather than my logic. I seldom slide into feeling a slave to it all, although I can get a bit weary. I just wish each day had more hours. But really, what if … what if it were all as it is meant to be? What if these compartments of life are not cages? Who would I be if my energy did not fight what seems to be unfolding and instead expected miracles? What if the adventure is to opportunity to see the blessings in the cracks in the sidewalk and the calling to access all that we are?

I am most alive and joyful when I stretch in reply to an inkling, following an intuitive call into the unknown in a way that defies logic, but feels right.

I don’t see life as the pursuit of playing it safe. Some people really cling to their comfort zone. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate a chance to rest and retreat from time to time, but I know not to get attached to the predictable. Passion and growth come from stepping into the unknown, listening within, welcoming the adventure, and trusting that all is well.

I love when synchronicities find me. I consider them miracles that I have magically attracted. They are a delightful delivery form of the next pieces of the puzzle.

A dear kindred friend and life-coach, Shannon Bruce, referred me to a wonderful book, Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. I decided to download a sample chapter from the author’s website.

After being drawn into this tidbit with no time to spare, I felt soothed and relieved. I am OK. It’s all OK. My Renaissance Spirit is OK.

I suggest you run, don’t walk, to download your chapter of Wild Goose Chase, too . I love the way Mark Batterson writes. The description and story of a Wild Goose connected with me in a powerful way.

So, what used to feel like being pulled in too many directions now feels like an adventure so many women I know are on. I feel reasured that I am most certainly on the road of conscious happiness.

This simply amazed me!!! I had to share.

What pure joy to see such talent!

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes.
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Floodwaters await in our avenues.
Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche.
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and gray and threatening.
We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We interrogate and worry God.
Are you there? Are you there, really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?
Into this climate of fear and apprehension,
Christmas enters
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.
It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner. Floodwaters recede into memory,
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us.
As we make our way to higher ground.
Hope is born again in the faces of children.
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth, brightening all things,
Even hate, which crouches breeding in dark corridors.
In our joy, we think we hear a whisper. At first it is too soft.
Then only half heard. We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. Louder than the explosion of bombs.
We tremble at the sound.
We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war.
But true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.
We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait awhile with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you to stay awhile with us
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.
It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All earth’s tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.
We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace.
We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace.
We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And say without shyness or apology or hesitation:
Peace, My Brother. Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.

– Maya Angelou

“We have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.

And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in the right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast
It is so great and swift that there are those who will
be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart and they will
suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, and push
off and into the river,
Keep our eyes open, and our head above the water.
See who is in there with you and Celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing
personally.
Least of all ourselves.
For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and
journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over, Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your
vocabulary.
All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner
And in celebration.”
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for…”

The Elders, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona