Archive for May, 2018
Memorial Day 2018
I’m feeling the acceleration of time. How could it be the end of May already? Memorial Day weekend is here!
Many of us venture into Nature, plan events with family and friends, take a break from increasingly hectic routines, and most importantly, set aside some time to honor our military; active, retired and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for country and freedom.
This Memorial Day feels extra special to me. As the world moves steadily toward darkness and decay. The gap between the haves and the have-nots seems to be growing by leaps and bounds globally, and the very bastions of freedom throughout the world are being shaken to their foundations. On this Memorial Day the service and sacrifice of our noble military forces seems even more poignant and powerful.
I invite you to take a few moments today to celebrate this special Holiday.
Blessings!
Minutia
“…minute or minor detail.” It is a tricky balancing act to keep one’s focus on the big picture and tend to detail at the same time.
‘Not seeing the forest for the trees’ is a saying that reflects how easy it is to get lost in the minutia.
Betrand Malinowski coined the phrase, ‘…the imponderabilia of daily living.’ It is one of my favorite descriptions of the minutia of day-to-day life.
“Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know my self, to know it completely, to know its minutia, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms.” ~Khalil Gibran
I am not certain that we can completely know ourselves. But I do believe that the more I know my self the greater is my authenticity, freedom from worry and inner peace.
This quote from Deepak Chopra really got my attention.
“A risk-free life is far from being a healthy life. To begin with, the very word ‘risk’ implies worry, and people who worry about every bite of food, sip of water, the air they breathe, the gym sessions they have missed, and the minutia of vitamin doses are not sending positive signals to their cells. A stressful day sends constant negative messaging to the feedback loop and popping a vitamin pill or choosing wheat bread instead of white bread does close to zero to change that.”
Chopra’s use of food, water, air, vitamins and exercise exemplifies getting lost in the minutia of managing our health, our stress. These elements are essential for our physical survival, literally.
To have a healthy life demands cultivating a belief system that enriches our faith and promotes our capacity to trust the process. We need them both.
Surrendering ourselves to the care of the Divine Energy of Love is taking a profound risk.
This week I ask, ‘Are you a risk-taker?’
Positivity
Being positive, staying positive is really challenging. Yet, if we allow ourselves to entertain negativity we become depressed and not able to function at our highest potential. Living can become unbearably stressful. Negativity denies the ability to enjoy pleasurable experiences, to feel gratitude and happiness.
Learning to achieve and maintain a positive demeanor requires more than meditation, prayer and positive affirmations. It demands action. We must act to make changes, take action to stop doing whatever it is that is causing the stress.
“To act wisely when the time for action comes, to wait patiently when it is time for repose, put man in accord with the tides. Ignorance of this law results in periods of unreasoning enthusiasm on the one hand, and depression on the other.” ~Helena Blavatsky
I like the following quote from Gore Vidal, for, in my mind, I perceive ‘decadent’ as ‘negative’.
“As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.”
In her book, The Journey with the Master, Eva Bell Werber writes in the section ‘BE POSITIVE’, “Man often thinks that it is he, himself, that is good and generous, not knowing or caring that it is the Great Spirit of all good which is back of his acts. Then he fluctuates from day to day, and it is easy for him to change from good to evil if it suits his purpose best. He feels that the power is his, and his alone, to determine his actions.”
Maintaining a positive attitude, a positive outlook, has so many benefits; contributing significantly to good health, general contentment, peace of mind, and joyful living.
The primary action required is aligning the indwelling spirit of man with the Great Spirit of pure Love and Positivity. It is indeed hard work. Work which holds mighty rewards beyond our imagining.
I invite you this week to keep the positive energy flowing!
Integrity
In The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz lists being impeccable with your word as one of the four.
Honesty and integrity are values we cherish and strive to cultivate within ourselves and instill in our children.
Building a reputation of truthfulness is not as easy as it may sound. Telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, is not always in our best interest. There are things that are better left unsaid.
It takes courage to be honest about our feelings. It takes practice to learn how to communicate our truth with others in a loving, respectful way. It takes discipline to not call people names, to not hurl epithets and to stay focused on ‘I’ messages rather than, ‘you’, ‘you’, ‘you’.
In these tumultuous times it feels more important than ever to examine our impeccability.
“Be impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” ~Don Miguel Ruiz
“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” ~Bob Marley
“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” ~Douglas Adams
Wishing everyone a blessed week!
