As we approach December 21st, the winter solstice, the end of the Mayan calendar, and approach the 1st of January 2013, I thought I'd share one of the poems that has been inspirational to me since I began walking into my new life nearly 7 years ago.
For a New Beginning
In the out of the way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
that is at one with your life's desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be at home in a new rhythm
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.
(John O'Donahue)
I hope it inspires and comforts you as well as it has me!
Your challenge for Thanksgiving Weekend: Choose five questions from this list and work them casually into the conversation. My personal favorite? What act of kindness has made the greatest difference in your life? My best friend (before I knew her well) gave me a ride back from my brother's state track meet to a beach retreat, and we bonded on the road. She became one of the most positive influences in my life and is a very dear friend some 20+ years later!
"If many people do small acts of love ..." love will grow! Everybody wants to love, Everybody wants to be love ...!" Click here for an example of one small way to make a difference in the world!
http://youtu.be/TlFCfkyuQM
Weekend Challenge: This weekend, Take a Stand for something you believe in. This 8 year-old girl took a stand against slavery. What --big or small-- will you take a stand for this weekend?
Weekend challenge: Appreciate the Unappreciated. Make a list of people and things you normally take for granted. For example: garbage collectors, mailmen, check-out clerks, evergreen trees, (creating oxygen for us to breathe,) bees (pollinating fruits and flowers). Make it a point to thank them this weekend! (Yes, you can thank trees and bees too ...)
"Being
truly thankful makes you infinitely more resourceful ..." --Ralph Marston (writer, philosopher)
Weekend Challenge: Listen deeply. This weekend, challenge yourself to listen deeply ... to birds singing and frogs croaking, to quiet and solitude, to yourself, to one another. The Prayer of St. Francis states: "... grant that I may not so much seek to be understood as to understand." Franklin Covey says, "seek first to understand, then to be understood."
Often, we are so busy with our own agendas that we forget how to listen. Listening deeply to one another, to nature and to ourselves is a practice that can truly change lives.
For indigenous practices of deep listening ...
For the neuroscience of deep listening ...
For Good News on deep listening ...
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Often, we head into the weekend still carrying our load of responsibilities and "to-do's" with us. This weekend, cross everything off your "to-do" list, and go find something silly to laugh about! Better yet, include your friends and family in this silly quest! But even if you just laugh out loud with yourself in the mirror, you will boost your endorphins and infection fighting antibodies, and increase your positive mood.
