Inspiring (and truthful) words from one of my favorite authors…

May you be at peace. May your heart remain open. May you awaken to the light of your own true nature. May you be healed. May you be a source of healing for all beings.

~Joan Borysenko

(Photo credit: Peaceful Path by Jessica Jenney)

I'm trying to embrace peace. To become more peaceful in my thoughts and actions. To show my children peace is the way.

Becoming more peaceful isn't just about feeling calmer within yourself or learning to control your temper outwardly - although that's part of it. It isn't just about reducing stress and thus feeling more happy and healthy- though they are certainly benefits of being more peaceful.

I find the most amazing benefit of learning to be more peaceful with yourself is that you will naturally project more peace and be calmer in your interactions with people around you. And, because we humans are inclined to mimic what we see (think: yawning in response to a yawn - we can't help it, we just do it), the people around you will be more peaceful - not only towards you, but to others they encounter. That means more joyful interactions with your children, your partner, your friends, your coworkers, even strangers. It works. It can be challenging. But…

Peace resonates.

When you find peace in your heart, it spreads outwards, and heals not only you, but everyone around you, and around them. You are teaching your children through your actions more than you ever could through your words. Why not teach peace?

So how can YOU begin cultivating peace within yourself? Here are a few tips:

Learn to meditate.

Take a moment to think before you speak.

Practice gratitude.

Visualize how you'd like to feel and act.

Find things that you love to look at or listen to or read that are soothing - and then, look, listen, and read them.

Breathe deeply, whenever it occurs to you, but particularly when you're not feeling at peace.

Forgive.

Understand that being kind is more important than being right.

Empathize.

Make time to do things that you enjoy - don't neglect what inspires you.

Hug your children and your partner, even when - ESPECIALLY WHEN - it feels difficult to do so.

Love. Love. Love.

So... Are you at peace? What helps you become more peaceful?

Right here, right now, all we are brothers and sisters on this planet, here to make the world a better place. And in this moment we are perfect. We are whole. And we are beautiful.

~Jill Bolte Taylor 

Do you ever feel like there is MORE to your life than just your every day motions, appointments, responsibilities? Are you striving for peace - in yourself, your home, in the world?  I do, and I am. The other evening, I experienced Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's TED Talk on her experience with coming face to face with what so many of us are searching for in life.  

Dr. Taylor describes in eighteen short (I promise, when you start watching this, the time will fly by) minutes why we're not just who we think we are, or see ourselves as, or how others see us, but also, much, much larger, integrated, and interconnected with everyone and everything in the universe; AND how we - each and every one of us - have the ability and the choice to "step to the right of our left hemispheres" and experience more of the amazing  potential we all have; to experience and create and share real peace.

Look, I know you probably feel like you don't have 18 minutes handy - with work, home, children, life. And maybe you're not into the whole spiritual, woo woo, new age stuff.  But... remember - Dr. Taylor didn't go looking for a spiritual  connection to the universe; she was a neuroanatomist, studying brain disorders, who found herself suddenly in a position to study her OWN brain, through a stroke as it was occurring - and in that experience, discovered something far more amazing and important than what she expected.

I picture a world filled with beautiful, peaceful, compassionate, loving people who knew that they could come to this space at any time. And that they could purposely choose to step to the right of their left hemispheres and find this peace.

This video is one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen. So, for whatever that's worth, please try to find time - you won't be disappointed. Maybe you'll just find it interesting. Or maybe it just might give you that bit of incentive and  approval you've been looking for to reach that MORE that PEACE that CONNECTION that you know is there - inside of us. Please watch.

ps - you may find that the timbre of her voice is, at first, challenging to experience; but the message she's sharing soon outweighs any discomfort. Make it through the first four minutes, and you'll be hooked. Please let me know if you watch this & how you liked it. I'd love to hear. 

Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.

~Eckhart Tolle

 
Artist: Lori Portka 

Hello friends! I'd like to share this simple suggestion:

May you wake with gratitude.

What is gratitude, exactly? The dictionary tells us it is, "The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness".

Certainly it is both of these things AND recognizing the gifts we have. Gratitude is the ability to see through what may ail or bother us, getting beyond things troublesome, to view more clearly the truth under the emotions or judgments we reserve for our life and moment; and acknowledging the awesome beneath the ugh.

An example of gratitude?

We may wake feeling tired from a poor night's sleep, yet, we can be thankful for waking.

This is gratitude.

We may be troubled by our children's behaviors yet, we can recognize our fortune at being challenged and allowed to learn and grow with them.

This is gratitude.

But… why WAKE  this way?

I've found that the first thoughts I have on waking often set the tone of my day. When I wake thankful, things just feel better, lighter, easier throughout the day.  I can handle more challenges when I greet the day with thanks.

Of course, that's not to say that waking with gratitude is easy itself - at least, it's not easy at first; particularly when we're not feeling physically well, or when we're worried, or when we're used to waking with sleepy eyes, heavy limbs, and worried hearts about our expectations for the day. But I promise you, the effort it takes to say thank you in the morning is so very worth it.

How to start?

Start by simply saying thank you. :)

Your thank you doesn't have to be to anyone, or for anything specifically. Just a quick thank you before you climb out of bed. At first it may be a bit of a struggle; maybe you don't actually feel thankful. But… you will. You'll find it becomes habitual, and then… natural. Once you've established the habit, you can start to think about directing your thank you. Perhaps a thank you inwards --- something as simple as thanking yourself for waking. Then, when you're comfortable with that, maybe direct a thank you outward --- thanking the sun for rising. Or, give your thank you a physical presence ---- like a hug to your children for their natural ability to express joy at any moment. You'll find the more you express gratitude, the easier it becomes to FEEL grateful, and when you feel grateful, it's difficult to share that moment with feelings of resentment or worry or pain or frustration.

When you start your day feeling grateful, you're naturally directing your thoughts towards lightness and joy. Think about how good it feels when someone acknowledges YOU with a thank you. Why not do this for ourselves, too, in our everyday lives? Even if the feeling only lasts a short while, we can then be thankful for those moments of joy we have created. That something so simple can change our day, our lives, and the lives of those around us is inspiring! A cycle of gratitude, lightness, and joy... we all can use more of that!  :)

Please let me know if you try waking with gratitude. How did it work for you? I'd love to know. And… THANK YOU for reading. 

I recently watched Stranger than Fiction (Yes, it was been six years since this film came out. I like to watch movies way after they come out. Okay, it's not strictly purposeful; it just happens that way when you have kids, a job, [insert excuse for less free time here]. Although it's nice in a way, to come late to a film, as you don't have the wave of publicity distracting you from your actual impression of it. In fact, if you're like me, the distance from pop-culture means you have no idea what you're in for. Of course, I have varied from that trend when the stars align - i.e. babysitter and free time is available when desired movie is still in the theatre.). It stars Will Ferrell, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman  (who, ohmygod is 75 years old. I am currently refusing to believe that, regardless of evidence to the contrary. He's still 20-year-old Ben in my eyes.) and Maggie Gyllenhaal. 

On to the film:

It was funny, light, sweet, and yet... incredibly intense, somehow, all at once. I didn't want to move from my spot during watching. 

The writing was so funny - Will Ferrell cracked me up continually - and yet...

so. poignant.

--- if you haven't watched the film yet, the following will be a bit of a plot spoiler, so, consider yourself warned ---

Plot Synopsys:  Famous serial fiction writer Karen Eiffel is suffering from writer's block. Chiefly, she can’t find the close of her story; ending the life of her main character, Harold Crick. Harold, it just so happens, is more than a character - he exists outside of her imagination and page; living his life, as narrated by her. How Harold's life unfolds - with order, routine, sameness - is predicated on how Karen writes the story - mostly. At essence; what happens to him is dictated by a greater force - and thus, he comes to believe the ending of his life may already told; destiny writ, like a puppet. Only, it isn't, and he isn't. He starts to break away from his routine, change up the sameness, tries to figure out whether his life is a comedy or a tragedy, discovers love, and who he really is, and begins to look for her (God). Upon meeting, each telling the other who he is; they find they are each, in their own way, searching for the right ending. Harold reads the ending of his story and lets her know that it's okay for her to dictate how his life will end:

"I read it and I loved it and there's only one way it can end."

Only... she doesn't agree.

Because, you see, life just isn't like that.

As Karen varies from her path of killing off her hero, she shines a light on the importance of the time we spend alive; how we shape our lives, and what we choose to do in our day-to-day - matters:

"Sometimes when we lose ourselves in fear & despair, in routine & constancy, in hopelessness & tragedy... we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture or a subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort...

and we must remember that all these things: the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties which we assume only accessorize our days are in fact here for a much larger & nobler cause: they are here to save our lives."

I took away from the film that our lives aren't already written, no matter how much it might feel that they are. Our destinies aren't sealed, and no one is pulling all the strings. If we want to effect change on our path, we can. In fact, the path our life story takes is perhaps far more important than the ending or where we might go when our story is complete.

This film is sweet, funny, and definitely worth a watch. I loved the chemistry between the characters - all of them, interwoven and complex in their own rights. If for no other reason, you should see this so I won't be the only one who is stunned by how young Dustin Hoffman looks (gratuitous photo of Ben in The Graduate).