Monday ~ May 14, 2018

I will not die an unlived life.
I will not die in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom, goes on as fruit.

(Dawna Markova, b. 1942)

Sunday ~ April 22, 2018

Why, who makes such a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the of the water,
Or stand under the trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with anyone I love, or sleep in the bed at night with anyone I love,
Or sit at a table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or watch animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

(Walt Whitman, 1819 - 1892)

Friday ~ April 13, 2018

You are ruminating about the past, or worrying about the future, you will completely miss the experience... The past is finished. Learn from it and let it go. The future is not even here yet. Plan for it, but do not waste your time worrying about it. Worrying is worthless. When you stop ruminating about what has already happened, when you stop worrying about what might never happen, then you will be in the present moment.
Then you will begin to experience joy in life.

(Thich Nhat Hanh, b. 1926)

Thursday ~ February 1, 2016

Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars.
Gaze at the beauty of Earth's greenings.
Now, think.
All nature is at the disposal of humankind.
We are to work with it.
For without it we cannot survive.

(Hildegard of Bingen, 1908 - 1179)

Monday ~ November 13, 2017

I acknowledge the commonplace in my life and my surroundings. I have been letting life grow dingy on my sleeve. Often it is easy to take all things for granted. This I do with my friends; often also with the joys that are inherent in much of my living; also with the blessings and graces of life without which much of living would be utterly beyond the springs of my endurance. I acknowledge the commonplace in my life and my surroundings.

(Howard Thurman, 1900 - 1981)

Tuesday ~ April 25, 2016

We each we have the choice in any setting to step back and let go of the mindset of scarcity. Once we let go of scarcity, we discover the surprising truth of sufficiency. By sufficiency, I don't mean a quantity of anything. Sufficiency isn't two steps from poverty or one step short of abundance. It isn't a measure of barely enough or more than enough. Sufficiency isn't an amount at all. It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough.

in our relationship with money, it is using money in a way that expresses our integrity; using it in a way that expresses value rather than determines value. Sufficiency is not a message about simplicity or about cutting back and lowering expectations. Sufficiency doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to aspire. Sufficiency is an act of generating, distinguishing, making known to ourselves the power and presence of our existing resources, and our inner resources. Sufficiency is a context we bring forth from within that reminds us that if we look around u and within ourselves, we will find what we need.

(Lynne Twist, b. 1945)

Friday ~ March 3, 2017

It is often very difficult to make up one's mind. The difficulty may be due to complexities of the issues involved, or to the limited number of facts available for consideration, or certain fears that overshadow the horizon, or a general habit of indecision that has developed over the years... Of course, one must never forget that postponing a decision may be to decide by default. It is the nearest illusion to think that, if I do not make up my mind, events that are contingent upon me and my decision will await my pleasure.

( Howard Thurman, 1900 - 1981 )