Joy and Twinkle Lights

This is a timely re-post for the Holidays. Whenever you see twinkle lights, let your joy in that moment come to life … and share it ✨🙏✨

“Twinkle lights are the perfect metaphor for joy. Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments – often ordinary moments.

Sometimes we miss out on the bursts of joy because we’re too busy chasing down extraordinary moments. Other times we’re so afraid of the dark that we don’t dare let ourselves enjoy the light.

A joyful life is not a floodlight of joy. That would eventually become unbearable.

I believe a joyful life is made up of joyful moments gracefully strung together by trust, gratitude, inspiration, and faith.”

~ Brené Brown

What a lovely reminder to find some twinkle today ✨

Inspiration – Joy

Inspiration is always worth repeating and sharing. I hope you enjoy this one.

“Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are”. ~ Marianne Williamson

autumn sunshine We humans have a built in default of negative thinking. Its part of our survival mechanism that the ego has reenforced ever since we were little. As we grew up we became alert to scarcity and threats.

So for many of us, it feels natural to go around looking for what is wrong and criticizing things, other people … and of course, ourselves. We may not even be aware of it.

Negativity feels acceptable and normal. Being safe becomes our preferred state. Even when it makes us miserable. After all “better the devil you know … ”

When we are in this state, the idea of positive thinking is likely to be rejected as ridiculous and fake. Remember, this inner critic is our ego wanting to protect that ways things are. If we were to be more positive and less fearful, it would lose its power over our thinking and behavior.

Yet, neuroscience shows us that we can change our thinking by reenforcing new neural circuits in the brain. With practice, our brains are able to grow and change.
We are not hard wired in our thinking but we can be hard headed.

Here are some ideas to inspire you into shifting your thinking and creating new neural pathways:

Instead of looking for what’s wrong. Look for what’s right. For example, write a post it note and keep it with you all day as a reminder. Or catch one of your children or an employee doing something right.
Take time to look at something ordinary as something to be grateful for. For example, sitting at the table with your family tonight. Or watching the sun shine through the leaves.
Before going to sleep reflect on 3 things that you are grateful for.
Keep an achievement journal. Write down everything that you accomplish, including the small stuff. We usually filter out our strengths and accomplishments and focus on our losses and weakness. Balance out your thinking by writing down the good times. You will be surprised.

Recognizing these moments will start to transform your neural pathways into ones that recognize how good things really are.

This is where joy lives.

The 4 A’s for Fulfillment

I hope you enjoy this inspiring re-post today.

ooOoo

Photo by Philip Justin Mamelic on Pexels.com

The 4 A’s for fulfillment are some basic needs that we all have as human beings. I like to think of them as essential elements for the wellspring of life.

They are:

~ Attention ~

~ Appreciation ~

~ Affection ~

~ Acceptance ~

Take a moment to reflect on how you feel when someone offers you these things:

When someone pays attention to you, listens and is truly present with you…

When you feel appreciated for who you are, and someone thanks you…

When you are given affection and feel loved…

When you are accepted for just the way you are, despite not being perfect…

I know of a parent who intentionally punished their child by withdrawing her attention and ignoring her. She stone walled and turned her back in order to show her displeasure if the child didn’t do as she was told.
Can you imagine how this child felt, being rejected like this? Its no surprise that as an adult, her life became totally absorbed with filling the void within her. She craved attention and desperately needed to be appreciated. She was hungry for signs of affection, and yearned to be accepted by others.

Knowing the 4 A’s for fulfillment can help us understand our own motivations and support our healing from times in the past when these essential needs were not met. When we were small, we didn’t have the ability or insight to know what was happening, but we deeply felt the consequences.
Now it can be a gift to ourselves, to become more kind and compassionate to the small wounded child within us.

It can also be a powerful gift for us to give to others. It builds relationships and connection. It makes people feel good about themselves.

Notice if you find this difficult, neutral or easy.
If it’s difficult for you to give to others, then it might reflect your own need to give more to yourself. Fill your own wellspring so you can share with others.

My Garden Center

I am finding so much joy in my garden this Spring. It has been an abundant one for growth and blossoms.

It is my Center.

Luckily I haven’t had to go to many commercial garden centers, as everything seems to know how to magically fill in the space it has and how to express itself.

Such joy to nurture this and share 💛

Inspiration – Life is Joy

This is a re-blog . To all the heroes our there – Have a joy filled day today.

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy.

I awoke and saw that life was service.

I acted and behold, service was joy.”

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Instead of searching for joy from what the world can give you, turn it around and give yourself to the world.

Take a moment and consider…

How am I serving others?
How can I contribute to what I want most for the world?

May we all find a life of joy in serving others.

Namaste

Dirt time!

The sun came out and Meghan and I enjoyed some digging in the dirt!

Inspiration – Dissatisfaction

“This is the path we take in cultivating joy: learning not to armor our basic goodness, learning to appreciate what we have.
Most of the time we don’t do this.
Rather than appreciate where we are, we continually struggle to nurture our dissatisfaction.
It’s like trying to get flowers to grow by pouring cement on the garden.”

~ Pema Chodron taken from “The Places That Scare You”

Do you find yourself thinking about the things that aren’t going the way you want and complaining about your circumstances, other people, yourself?

Next time you catch yourself resisting or resenting, imagine that you are pouring cement on your garden.

It’s an incredibly powerful practice to start clearing out the thoughts that poison our own happiness.

We can change this by re-focusing on planting seeds that come from the heart. The seeds of gratitude, appreciation and loving kindness.

Open your heart

And put away the cement mixer.

Feel the load lighten.

Let this nurturing space

Bring joy and loving kindness

To nourish every part of you.

Have a Curious Day

This morning I woke up and decided I will have a day where I am curious.

Photo by Trinity Kubassek on Pexels.com

People who are curious tend to:

Engage more in the world and tune into the environment
Turn everyday tasks into interesting and find the extraordinary in the ordinary
Think from a place of possibilities and openness
Have closer relationships with others because we are interested in learning about them
Intuitively know that curiosity leads to passion and meaning
Seek to learn and build knowledge … and are open to what we don’t know
Play well and add a sense of playfulness to what we are doing
Embrace uncertainty and rediscover the pleasure of surprise
Be happy with life

To be curious we must pause in the moment.

No longer skipping and skimming our lives into the future or letting ourselves be stuck in the mud of the past.

To be curious brings us to our Middle Ground and we flourish here. It awakens creativity, gratitude and our inner Presence. It is the gateway to transforming all parts of our lives and awakening our spirit.

Why not join me in seeing how curious you can be today? We might surprise ourselves and each other!

Happiness and the Movies

Photo by Tookapic on Pexels.com

“Looking for happiness in the body, mind or world is like looking for the screen in a movie. The screen doesn’t appear in the movie, and yet, at the same time, all that is seen in the movie is the screen. In the same way that the screen ‘hides’ in plain view, so happiness ‘hides’ in all experience.”

~ Rupert Spira

The wisdom of Rupert Spira touches me and gives me time to pause. When I hear him talk in conversations on YouTube, I have a sense of knowing and his words make sense. Taken out of context it’s harder to grasp the deeper meaning with an ordinary mind and limitations of language….

Happiness is there for all of us, at any moment, when we open up our awareness of it. Otherwise we just get caught up in the story that’s being projected.

… Or perhaps its too early in the morning to decipher what is on the screen.

I would love to hear your perspective.

Inspiration to Boost your Karma in the New Year

Every year I like to review this list to bring good Karma to the year ahead, and beyond. This year I have added more self compassion and kindness towards others. Let me know what resonates with you this year.

Keep your word.
Be curious. Listen to understand.
Show respect to everyone you encounter.
Be respectful of those you haven’t met.
Be a good friend.
Look for the best in everyone.
Be kind to others.
Be kind to yourself.
Forgive others.
Forgive yourself.
When you make a mistake say, “I’m sorry.
Pour out your love when someone asks for it.
Put your children’s needs before your own.
When someone is speaking to you, be fully present and listen.
Express yourself joyfully.
Don’t be cruel with your words.
Be grateful for everything you have. It is more than enough.
Share your wisdom with those who ask for it.
Give away what you don’t need.
Help keep the Earth beautiful and safe for generations to come.
Look behind you, stop and hold the door open for others.
Savor every moment. The good, bad and the ugly. That’s life!
Don’t forget to bring the dogs in after you have let them out.
Smile more. Laugh lots!
Expect life to be good.
Do the right thing, especially when no one is watching.
Dance with abandon. Always.
Share the love you have been given and pass it on to others.
Learn from your mistakes, and grow from them.
Lighten up!
Share what you believe in.
Relax. Breathe. And S-L-O-W down.
Be true to the beautiful being that you are.

How Do you Feel About This?

I was raised in a family where this question was rarely asked. There was a guiding principle of conformity and an expectation to fit in with what those in charge wanted.

Denying our feelings becomes a part of being a child of a narcissistic parent or partner.

I grew up putting aside how I honestly felt, and instead, attuned to the needs of others. I became very good at sensing the emotions of others, and how to please them. I did it with my parents and then with my first husband.

I found myself in a career that my father would be proud of, that left me feeling empty and confused.

Along the way I lost touch with how I felt.

This was not the road to happiness, but I told myself that lifestyle was the most important thing.

It took me over 40 years to wake up to what happiness is, and to let myself feel the feelings that had been suppressed for so long.

For those of you in your twenties and thirties who can relate to this, please don’t waste the next twenty years of your lives.

I believe that we all deserve to honor our feelings… the good, the bad and the ugly. To honor them and then take responsibility for them. Even if it is goes against the grain or what others expect.

Those feelings are trying to tell you that something needs attention and understanding.

We all need to be true to ourselves, to honor how we feel, and own our feelings.

This is being real and authentic in the world. Only from here, can we take the right step forward and find happiness.

Feeling Good

A smile and a sigh In the aftermath.

Preparation and anticipation no longer ahead.

In the past, a job well done and so much fun.

Yoga teachers bringing more yin into their lives

And into the lives of their students.

Inspiring Yin in the world.

It feels darn good

Being part of something greater than myself.

Time for a Middle Ground pause

And then back to blogging.

I’m looking forward to connecting more with you all💛

Find Your Middle Ground

Life is a series of highs and lows. Be grateful in the highs. Be graceful in the lows. Find contentment in your Middle Ground

Category Archives for Happiness

Joy and Twinkle Lights

Inspiration – Joy