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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Attitude of GratitudeHave you ever had one of those
days? You know, where nothing seems to go right, or maybe you just wake up feeling down. We
all face these days, but I have been using a little book in my own life and my coaching that really helps.
Attitudes of Gratitude:
How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life (1999) by M. J. Ryan is a fast read, but more importantly it is one
of those books that you can just open and it feels like it was written for you, for a specific moment in your life.
Today I was feeling the weight of being behind on a major project
and was looking for that “something” that would move me beyond this moment and help me get back in touch with
me. I opened Ryan’s book, skipped over a few page and then begin to read.
Leave a Trail of Happiness
Appreciation makes immortal all that
is best and most beautiful…It exalts the beauty of that which is beautiful…It strips the veil of familiarity
from the world, and lays bare and naked sleeping beauty, which is in the spirit of its forms… Percy Byssh Shelley
Leave a trail of happiness….can’t
do that when I am letting my procrastination stop me from being productive or being who I really am. As
fast as you read that last sentence I was back! Take a look at your day today – did you leave a trail
of happiness?
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Unwrapping a Day I just
returned from a short vacation where I rode a bike each day for transportation and exercise. Biking was
not only good for my muscle tone and weight, but it also moved me far from the hustle and bustle we tend to set up as our
lives. After just a couple of days I begin waking to the excitement of a morning ride across the island
with only the sounds of the waves or sea birds as companions. Each day brought a new mindfulness of how
important it is to cultivate an awareness of a day unfolding. Many of us get so caught up in our work or
tasks to be completed we fail to fully experience the touch points to others and ourselves that we create each day.
Sue Silvermarie’s poem “Calling in Sick” is about a day away from work, but its message reminds us that
each day is a gift we should mindfully experience.
The day is a gift without time
Moment after moment I unwrap her I
move through her in grace, no more ahead of myself, or behind, than a tiger, than a seagull. Let
me remember I can open tomorrow the same way. A slow present lived as free
of time as the life of a tiger, a seagull.
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