Archive for August, 2016
Positive Inspiration
It is not just important to maintain a positive attitude, it is essential to our physical, mental and spiritual health. It is also a challenging task.
Today, I share with you a few pearls of positive inspiration.
“Successful people maintain a positive focus in life no matter what is going on around them. They stay focused on their successes rather than their past failures, and on the next action steps they need to take them closer to the fulfillment of their goals rather than all the other distractions that life presents to them.”
~Jack Canfield
“But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful.”
~Elizabeth Edwards
“Live your days on the positive side of life, in tune with your most treasured values. And in each moment you’ll have much to live for.”
~Ralph Marston
Sustain
I am blessed to live in an area of California that Luther Burbank referred to as, “God’s chosen place in all the world, as far as nature is concerned.” Farm to table is commonplace; sustainable farming practices are taking hold. Farmer’s Markets and Community Supported Agriculture flourish in this verdant environment.
My question to you this week is, ‘Does your spiritual practice sustain you?’ ‘Does it provide you with clean, nourishing sustenance that maintains your overall health?’ ‘Does it provide daily support?’ ‘Does it support you in a crisis?’
We each must find our own way. A way that is appropriate to us. A way that sustains us through good times and bad.
It is a process, not an event. Our spiritual body grows, changes and matures just as our physical and emotional bodies do. As in our food diet, there is an ebb and flow in our spiritual diet. There are days when we eat really healthy, and days not so much. So, too, with our spiritual diet. There are days when we act from love, and days, not so much. If our physical diet and/or our spiritual diet are out of balance, so are we.
Luther Burbank said many profound things. One of my favorites is, “Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.”
Part of my practice is to keep fresh flowers in my home…always. When I came across the above quote I felt a deeper connection to my spiritual practice.
This week I invite you to review your spiritual diet. ‘Is your daily bread sustaining you?’ ‘Do you enjoy flowers in your daily life?’
Generosity
It feels good to give. I find it more difficult to receive. Generosity is one of humankind’s greatest characteristics. The following quotes are expressive of this trait.
“There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity.”
~Nathaniel Branden
“Religion is a complex and often contradictory force in our word. It fosters hope and comfort but also doubt and guilt. It creates both community and exclusion. It brings societies together around shared belief and tears them apart through war. However, what unites the faithful, whatever their religion, is the unshakeable force of generosity.”
~Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen
“Money is not the only commodity that is fun to give. We can give time, we can give our expertise, we give our love or simply give a smile. What does that cost? The point is, none of us can ever run out of something to give.”
~Steve Goodier
This week, I invite you to bask in the glow of generosity.
Shooting Stars
As a young person, and a young adult, I loved to wish on shooting or falling stars. I always felt a sense of cosmic wonder at the sight of them. At the time I knew nothing about meteor showers.
Beginning mid-July and peaking August 12, the Perseid Meteor Shower, which is debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet entering our atmosphere, will rain down shooting stars at a top rate of 60 or more per hour.
The Perseids and Leonids (which peak around November 17) are my favorites. I have been known to frequently venture onto one of the many ridge tops in Sonoma and Napa County, to spend the wee hours of the morning waiting and watching for the shooting star spectacular. Sometimes being profusely rewarded, and other times being shut-out by cloudy, foggy weather.
The Greeks believed shooting stars were human souls rising and falling. Jews and Christians believed them to be angels or demons. Wishing on a shooting star is thought to have originated with Ptolemy, the Greek astronomer around AD 127-151. The act of wishing on a shooting star makes the wish come true.
The child within me never ceases to delight in the heavenly spectacle. This year, if you chance to see a shooting star, make a wish. May it come true.
Summer 2016
Today we enter the ‘dog days of summer’. Gardens are beginning to peak with vegetable and flower bounty. Blackberries and pears, apples and grapes are ripening, BBQ’s and air-conditioners are getting a workout. Cool salads, cool drinks an cool breezes are gladly welcomed and enjoyed with relish.
Outdoor living, camping, concerts, baseball games, swimming and hiking are just a few activities that move into high gear in summer.
To enjoy the fullness of the season, there are some precautions to take: sunscreen, hydration, moderation and pacing are important.
This is a good time to begin preparations for the fall harvest and for the coming of winter. Like ants, bees and squirrels, it is a good time to stock up on batteries, emergency food and water, replace furnace filters, and do necessary repairs.
Wishing you all a rich and vibrant August, full of the magic and wonder of the season.
