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PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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What happens within…….

The caterpillar with its soft furry coat holds an inner key, unseen, yet still present, that will allow it to evolve into the iconic orange and black Monarch butterfly, soaring to great heights, literally. The hungry young caterpillar eats and eats  until it outgrows its skin, forms the chrysalis, and ultimately, on its own time schedule emerges into a beautiful butterfly, signifying life.

So, it is with each of us. On the outside, we may be a little furry when we are young, holding within us many undeveloped talents that others are not aware of yet. Even we at younger ages have no idea how we will evolve, or who will mentor us along the path of the journey, facilitating our growth and finding our true PURPOSE.   Often, we will have to rise above what is going on outside ourselves to reach our ultimate adult ‘model’. We will internalize much as we grow into our best selves and have to choose wisely to emerge and ‘take flight’.

In Finding True Happiness, Fulton Sheen states, “What is really important is what happens within us, not outside us.”

What is happening within that is important and life changing for you?

 

 

 

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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CELEBRATION!!

What are we celebrating in life?

Perhaps it is a birthday, a new year, a new child or grandchild in our family, a new job or career, a new house,  a marriage, or a celebration of life. Any one of these events certainly calls for celebration. JOY!

So let’s say it isn’t a big event or a holiday that we are celebrating, but something else. Is it wealth, good health, opportunities that have come our way, a new path in life, a movement from one phase to an evolution of a new chapter in our lives? What about the little celebrations in our lives each day…..the new morning sun, ever awaited rain, gratitude for waking on this day feeling better than the day before, new beginnings, or any other number of blessings we experience and perhaps don’t even recognize.

Our  celebrations, monumental or minuscule, noticed or unnoticed, change our lives. They shape what we think, how we feel, and our vision of the future…..because they were important enough to celebrate, they have meaning to us.

Matthew Kelly in his Dynamic Catholic August Newsletter (2017) states: “We are becoming what ever it is we are celebrating. And we would be wise to listen attentively to the answers, because these answers will utter prophetic truths about our future. We become what we celebrate”. I like Matthew’s direction about what we celebrate. If it is important enough to celebrate,  then it is going to change things in our lives. So, yes, we should listen carefully to our inner thoughts about our celebrations.

What are you celebrating today and what does it mean to you and your future?

 

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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Changing the calendar from July 31 to August 1 represents a shift in our thoughts about the season of summer. That dateline moves us closer to the beginning of fall. We are heading in the direction of letting go of this beautiful warm summer, even with its rainy humid days. We still long to bask in the warm breezes, sit and enjoy the warmth of the sun, and enjoy the fragrance of sweet flowers in our yards.

It’s a challenge to let go of these things and to think about the prospects of windy, chilly days, including the bright-colored changing of the leaves. It’s easy to hang on to these “good old summer days” and not think too succinctly about the future season. Funny thing, we often do this with our past; we don’t want to let go; we would rather stay in the past and memorialize our selective memories, perhaps even embellishing them a little. The future can be daunting, uncertain with all of its relative questions about what is awaiting us and how we will manage.

In reality, all we have is today and this very real present moment. That is where we need to be; that is where our mission today is. That is where we need to be to best accomplish living well, finding JOY, and ensuring our success for all the tomorrows to come.

Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, says it well: “Life is available only in the present moment”.

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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Focus on your mission today.

This can be a monumental task, can it not?  So many distractions and so many other necessities to accomplish that the mission line can become blurred. When we think too far ahead about our mission, it may get murky, as in how am I going to get THERE from HERE. It starts to become a burden and feel impossible to accomplish. Just like trying to climb that thousand some foot mountain in the picture.

The mission has to be doable, reasonable, and PURPOSEful for you individually. It is wise to remind ourselves that there are steps in the mission, incremental steps that will take us all the way. Of course, there will be some struggles on that path. Who said this statement……. anything worth doing/gaining is not easy or simple?

John R. Wood (Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Mission) stated: “Focus on your mission and you will come to see the struggles of life not as a burden but as an integral part of the process”.  That is the key to our mission……..it is indeed a process, one which makes us stronger through the struggles.

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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Step back; enjoy the moment; breathe deep; smell the freshness of the morning breeze!

Over the past weekend, I had an opportunity to do these things. It’s amazing how much more one can feel ‘present’ in nature.  The beauty of nature can be nearly overwhelming if we watch and listen. That tiny bird chirping, which often goes unnoticed,  is a JOY to hear. The breeze is fresh blowing through your hair. Sipping the hot cup of tea, you savor the herb flavor. Early rays of warmth from the sun send inspiration and gratitude to the depth of your soul. The swaying leaves above seem to say—–wait, enjoy, don’t go yet; there is no real hurry. Take time to dream a little. Herein, lies the beauty.

Life can be put on hold in order to experience these little moments in nature. Whatever you thought you had to do immediately, truly can wait. Technology and social media can be non – existent for the moment, if only to give one a short respite from the constant drum beat of ‘let’s get it done and hurry on to the next to do’. These moments invigorate and revitalize one’s PURPOSE and bring relaxation and JOY into your being.

John Muir, Nature Philosopher, said: “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul”.

Where will you find your respite in nature this week to invigorate and revitalize your PURPOSE?

 

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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ART…..what a beautiful gift!

I recently returned to one of my passions…..water color painting after a leave of absence for about six years (one of those life things  got in the way). I am realizing each time I sit down to paint how deeply I missed my art practice. Even though not everything I paint is frameable, in my opinion, I feel a sense of my spirit up lifting as I look at a finished piece. Some I will sign and display, others I consider practice.

Art is a way of expressing  feelings, sharing one’s vision of beauty, or bringing a reflected experience to the  light. It presents in many forms….painting, sculpture, ceramics, pottery, drawing, graphics, poetry, music, dancing…….to name a few. Art is in the eye of the beholder, however we may see it, true beauty or not. One’s mind and heart must be open to seeing art in perhaps the simplest of things. I have this thing I say to myself when I ‘see’ art/beauty……THIS  is paintable, or I really want to capture this emotion in color. Sometimes, I am successful and sometimes it escapes what my skill level can do. But I still see the art in my mind. With practice, I know I will POSITIVELY get it right.

Pablo Picasso said: “The PURPOSE of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”

What form of art would you like to experience to express yourself? It doesn’t have to be perfect, just art as you see it. Have fun with it!

 

 

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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Having your cake and eating it too! What DOES that even mean?

It is an idiom or a figure of speech that suggests that you use all of something now; it is gone; and yet, you want to be able to have it in the future. But it is all gone!

So, you can’t use all your paycheck to go shopping this week, when you need that money to pay the bills next week. Can’t use all the PTO days at work this month because there might be an emergency and you could desperately need a PTO day in the future. It is so tempting to just do it all; forget about what you might need in the future. OH, this is going to take a lot of patience……..and then some more of that thing we call ‘self-discipline’.

So, I suggest just eating a slice or two of the cake, and then you WILL have some for later when you want it. And you will relish it even more perhaps later.

What is your CAKE that you want to have now and still more of in the future?

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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Summer solstice has just passed and so we are now officially in the JOYous season of summer!

Along with summer comes picnics, swimming at the lake, trips to the beach, biking, beautiful flowering plants, vacationing and hopefully some rest and relaxation. Remember when you were a kid and your parents said “it’s time for a nap”? Now as adults, we may often wish there was some nap time. No one for sure is going to ‘give us permission to nap’, so we just need to give ourselves that permission.

Some  research  has reported that each of our brains does different things during rest mode. For example: some experience “inner seeing”; others noted emotions/feelings bubbling up; some report a greater sensory awareness; while others experienced ‘inner speech’. (Hurlburt, R.T., Alderson-Day B., Fernyhough, C. & Kuhn, S. 2015, Frontiers in Psychology, #6.)

What ever our brains do experience during rest can only happen IF we take that much needed rest. It is a rest away from TV, social media, movies, iPhones, running errands, cleaning, (YES) and all the other things that encompass our daily responsible lives. Even just a few minutes a day of true relaxation with eyes closed, not specifically thinking of anything, and some calm deep breathing in and out, can produce remarkable results in rejuvenation of body, spirit and mind.

I think that William Wadsworth said it well: “Rest and be thankful”.

Plan some rest time for yourself today and everyday.

 

 

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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A lighthouse near the banks of the shore or at sea is the guiding light to bring ships to safe harbor, amidst rushing waters, reefs, or other dangers that are in the path of safety. Before lighthouses, our ancestors built fires high up on the hills to guide the ships, warning of dangers, guiding those at sea.

So it is with fathers or the important people in our lives whose role it is to be our father figure. Sometimes, they don’t show up when we are born, but may present themselves later in our lives, biological fathers or maybe not.  Sometimes, the going may be rough until that father figure appears. Sometimes, they may disappoint us deeply, but they are still our father. We may have to grow to the age of being able to forgive.

These figures are the guiding light to help us on our life path, to warn us of dangers, to show us a safer road, to help us avoid the pitfalls that could crush us, to hold us up when we fall. They can be our superhero’s one day and the next week the strictest person of discipline we have ever encountered. One day we may admire them as our role model and the next week we might wish we had our best friend’s father. Through it all, the one we call ‘father’ in our life is human and will make mistakes; yet, he means only the best for us and will go above and beyond to bring PURPOSE, JOY and POSITIVES into our lives. He is only a man, with his own limitations and skills. And sometimes, it takes us a long long time before we can acknowledge his  role in our lives……maybe not until one day when we become a father.

To each of you who are fathers, father figures, step fathers, grandfathers, foster fathers: May you have a wonderful day of celebrating you, counting your blessings and knowing that you are appreciated and loved. As a father, you may never know how many children you influence, just by your actions and your commitments. You may never know how many lives you touch.

This quote reflects my father. “My father didn’t tell me how to live: he lived, and let me watch him do it”  (Clarence B. Kelland).

 

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES

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Interesting Road Sign! Made me stop and think about what humility is and is not….. and if I am humble in life.

Fulton Sheen in “Finding True Happiness” said: “Humility is the pathway to knowledge.” As I thought more about this quote, I interpreted it to mean that if we are not all filled up with ourselves and our worldly possessions, we have open spaces in our hearts and minds to take in the things that are really important about life, leading to true knowing.

The Latin meaning of humility literally means low. Examples could be  putting others before yourself; remembering to think of others each day and what they might need; not drawing undue attention to oneself; and maybe even not having to be right. Ohhhhhh, the last one is interesting because we all WANT to be right, sometimes even at the expense of another’s feelings. Someone very wise once told me that the words ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ have no place in relationships. Funny, when you take those words out of your conversations, attitudes shift. Humility has a place to come into your heart. It would seem that having true humility leads to greater contentment with oneself and greater JOY in life.

“Pride is concerned with who is right: humility is concerned with what is right” (Ezra T. Benson).

Have you assessed your humility quotient?