Spirit In Gear

Best Things in Life

The best things in life are nearest:
Breath in your nostrils, light in your
eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at
your hand, the path of right just before
you.  Then do not grasp at the stars,
but do life's plain, common work as it
comes, certain that daily duties and
daily bread are the sweetest things in
life.

- Robert Louis Stevenson

I hesitate to expound on the quote above.  It stands on its own.  No explication needed.

I can tell you that this quote touches me more deeply than I would imagine. 

I recall moments of ironing my father's shirts during my adolescence, and the quiet sense of accomplishment with each finished shirt hanging startched in a row with the others.  Sometimes it's the ordinary things, captured in a moment of awareness, that brings a sense that everything really IS okay.

This morning as I drive home from church I take a moment to look up at the blue sky laced with white wisps of clouds and smile.  The white puffs look like they are dancing in the sky, reminding me to chill and relax on this day of Sabbath.  Reminding me of the freedom and joy that are always available to me.

Yesterday, on 9/11, I call my brother up on the phone to wish him a "Happy Birthday!"  How wonderful to remember that something positive happened on 9/11 besides tragedy.

Hearing my younger daughter's voice on the phone, as she talks about her new job of 1 month, and realizing that she can thrive in spite of challenges.  Soon to turn 25, she is in charge of her life and doing just fine without Mom being involved day to day.  I bask from afar on the woman she has become.

Happiness has been on my mind of late.  I learn that there is a distinction between choosing to be happy and deciding to be happy. 

I am deciding to be happy - a decision I intend to renew each day.  Here's a meditation that I am using to help me, taken from the book, Wokini, A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding, by Billy Mills, with Nicholas Sparks:

Do this meditation three times a day.

1.  Find a comfortable place to relax.

2.  Close your eyes, and count from one to ten, exhaling with each number.

3.  Relax further as the count progresses.

4.  Once you reach ten, feel the relaxation spread through  your body.

5.  Think of anything that makes you happy.  Make it as real as possible.

6.  Say aloud ten times, "I am happy."

7.  Count from ten back to one and open your eyes.

8.  Smile

The best things in life can be found in the moments.  If we are paying attention.

What "best things" have you noticed lately?

[Photo Credit:  Morten Hoeye]

Nonviolent Approach

 
  
   
The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor.  It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it.  It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage they did not know they had.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Photo Credit:  Thomas Brauchle

Great Love

Where there is great love there are always miracles.

- Willa Cather

How to Treat Everyone You Meet

 

 

Treat everyone you meet as if he or she were going to drop dead by midnight.  Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do so with no thought of reward.  Your life will never be the same.

- Og Mandino

Photo Credit:  Sean Kearney

True Credibility

There are those who believe you must find your credibility before people will want to read what you write and what we want you to understand is that when you tune in to who you really are that's where your true credibility comes from----and that's attractive to anyone who's a vibrational match to it. In other words anyone who finds you not credible, wouldn't understand what you've written anyway.
- Abraham

It's been over two weeks since my last post.  I wonder to myself why I haven't felt moved to write ( my inner censor not withstanding).  A few minutes ago a special friend sent me this quote.  As I read the words in the quote, I find my courage emerging from the shadows. 

Now it's okay to share with you what I've been grappling with of late to understand.  In my middle-aged years I sense the passage of life more deeply.  Themes of loss seem to dominate at times.  In the space of several weeks, my cousin died unexpectedly; my best friend's sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died within weeks; another friend's mother died over the weekend, fanning the flames of grief over my own mother's death 18 months ago.  I still miss my Mom every day.

Living several states away from friends and family, we can't make it to all the weddings and funerals.  I feel torn about that.  I call my 83 yr old Dad up on Father's Day, wishing I could be with him.  He no longer has an endless number of Fathers Days ahead of him.

I experience an identity crisis of sorts.  I ask myself why I live where I live.  Am I creating enough of a positive impact to justify living here in South Carolina?  Am I allowed to live my life the way I see fit?  Will our adult daughters ever live close to us again?  Will I ever move off the topic of middle-age?

Amidst these loss-related issues, my husband and I laugh and relax with good friends over the weekend; my business partner and I enjoy a recent, tremendous business success; and I move through my day without getting needlessly stuck.  It just goes to show you that life goes on side by side with the angst.

Raising the above questions brings both discomfort, and relief.  Unlike the game show, Jeopardy, answers usually don't first show up without a question to pair up with.  Now that I've tossed these questions out to the great Universe, I can wait.  The answers I need will find me in time, or lead to better questions!

 

Words That Give Me Pause - There is No Path

I realized meditation was not about chasing states of consciousness or following a path, but about letting go of the path.  It's a long journey to realize there's no path.

- Peter Russell

I find this passage in the latest issue of Ode Magazine, in an article entitled "Good Morning World, This is Your Wake-up Call," about physicist-turned-futurist Peter Russell.  Letting go of the path resonates for me now that I am in my middle years.  I take quiet comfort in these words, while letting out a deep sigh.  I can't articulate to myself why these words settle so deliberately deep inside of me.  My analytical mind wants to know why, while I hear my spirit say it doesn't matter.

Yet I do know that it is in the letting go, the allowing, the focus on the now moment that I, we, can experience real peace, true contentment, joy,happiness . . . rather than through the material consumption we believe will give us these.  Not having to be on a path feels liberating!

Speaking of now, you'll find Peter Russell's site The Spirit of Now filled with a wealth of resources ranging from science and consciousness, spiritual awakening, earth and environment, and meditations.  The site offers articles, audio, and video, including meditations that can be downloaded.  I learned there that I am 21,015 days old - and you can learn your age in days here.

For an additional perspective on paths - see Dick Richard's recent post The Mythic Pull of Pathways.

Between the Years

I stand between the years.  The Light of My Presence is flung across the year to come - the radiance of the Sun of Rightousness.  Backward, over the past year, is My Shadow thrown, hiding trouble and sorrow and disappointment.

Bury every fear of the future, of poverty for those dear to you, of suffering, of loss.  Bury all thought of unkindness and bitterness, all your dislikes, your resentments, your sense of failure, your disappointment in others and in yourselves, your gloom, your despondency, and let us leave them all, buried, and go forward to a new and risen life.

Remember that you must not see as the world sees.  I hold the year in My Hands - in trust for you.  But I shall guide you one day at a time.  Leave the rest with me.

- God Calling, edited by A.J. Russell (1930's)

I think I'll go get my shovel.  I have a few things to leave behind . . .

[Photo credit - Emil Bacik]

Wholeheartedness

The third in a series of inspiring quotes focuses on the mysterious ways of the heart.  It reminds us that the ultimate truth cannot be found in a book!

Wholeheartedness is a precious gift, but no one can actually give it to you.  You have to find the path with heart and then walk it impeccably . . . It's like someone laughing in your ear, challenging you to figure out what to do when  you don't know what to do.  It humbles you.  It opens your heart.

- Pema Chodron, The Wisdom of No Escape

Photo Credit - Michal Koralewski

Nature's Energy

The following quote is the 2nd in a series of inspirational messages.  What if we greeted the start of the new week in a different way?

First thing in the morning, before you meet or greet anyone, remember to greet all of nature, all visible and invisible creatures.  Say to them, "I am grateful for your work, I love you and I want to be in harmony with you!"  At this very moment, in response to your greeting, all of nature will open to you and send you energy for the entire day.

But hey, if talking to nature is not your thing, try addressing your gratitude to whatever Source works for you.  It's about recognizing and aligning ourselves with the life energy surrounding us.

Photo Credit - Daniel Reis

Grace

Over the next few days I am posting short uplifting quotes.  In these times of economic uncertainty, and political unrest around the world, we need to sustain ourselves with sources of hope and faith.  I find these words touch my spirit and stir my soul.

The first in this series of quotes is on grace -

The winds of grace blow all the time.  All we need to do is set our sails.

- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Photo credit:  Alex D. (Stockxpert)