“We should all enjoy the day as much as a hot dog rolling on wet grass.” –Jeni Winterburn
Christmas day is my favorite day of the year. I enjoy the spirit of generosity and tolerance of fellow man, Christmas songs and old movies, wood fires and snow, and of course the company of people I love. Today and in the new year to come, I wish you joy. Namaste.
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Flexibility: the quality of bending easily without breaking. –Oxford Dictionary
Yoga is about flexibility, but not just the stretching type. In class we move our bodies and we improve our awareness and control. Through the body, we exercise the mind and gradually the mind finds flexibility. How easily can you bend today? Are you willing to sway without breaking?
“Now faith, hope and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.” –King James Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:13
“What is love?” was the most searched phrase on Google in 2012. We are confused by love, I think, because it’s made up of many emotions that come together: devotion, compassion, kindness and unconditional acceptance.
But perhaps the most confusing is how we use the word. “I love chocolate.” “I love my job.” Watch how you use the word love today, and reserve it for the people in your life who mean the most to you.
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“Hope is the pillar that holds up the world. Hope is the dream of a waking man.” –Pliny the Elder
I enjoy the idea of hope holding up the world. At this time of year, reflection is inevitable — the media looks back and we see the sorrows and the successes. Then we hope on. But hope is not a life strategy, so if you are more than hoping, set an intention — a direction for hope — then walk on that road.
“Our intention creates our reality.” –Wayne Dyer
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Do you know the limits of your own influence? Really the only person you can fully influence is yourself. This is both empowering and disempowering (in a good way). The actions of others are frequently out of your control; your wise response to their actions is the greatest tool of influence.
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.” –Confucius
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Through functional MRI research, scientists have found that certain areas in the brain light up when we identify with and experience the world from another’s perspective. Empathy lets us see the world through the eyes of another without experiencing it for ourselves. Can you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes today?
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” ― Leo Buscaglia
My husband likes to make lists because he enjoys the satisfaction of crossing off the things he’s completed. I have a different approach. Lists make me stress over the amount of things I need to get done. When I feel the buzz of anxiety, I spend some time focusing and I ask myself, “What is the most important thing right now?” Then I do that.
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” –St. Francis of Assisi
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There’s an advertisement on television that I really enjoy. It portrays a series of events where one act of kindness promotes another and another. Holding the door for someone, then that someone helps another person who dropped a bag, then that person helps another person, et cetera. How many small random acts of kindness can you perform today?
“We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.” –Charlie Chaplin
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“The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.” –Pema Chodron
As you are reading this, be in the moment. Be in the spaces between the words. Be in the shape of the type, the dot over the i, the comma, the period. Rest your projections of future events. They have not yet happened. Rest your reflections of the past, you can only learn from them, they can’t be changed. Instead live richly in this moment.
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We find it, we lose it, we don’t have enough of it; and when we get it, we waste it. Time is in the mind of the beholder. When you catch yourself saying, “I don’t have time,” ask yourself if that’s really true. Isn’t it just that you don’t want to do it?
“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” –Dr. Seuss
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