Tag Archives for live life fully

“It Doesn’t Get Much Better Than This”

close up of an animal eating grass

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

He turned to me

and said “It doesn’t

get much better

than this.”

 

Yes indeed.

 

Say yes to life and

embrace each moment.

Be ready for the instant of

precious unfolding.

 

Watch out for the magic.

Be alert to nature’s

harmonies. Pay attention

to those small details that

catch your eye, or touch

you like butterfly wings.

Here and gone in a breath.

 

Breathe it all in. Every inhale

an opening to a new present.

Every exhale a letting go

of the past.

 

You say “It can’t be 

as easy as that”. 

… Yet, it is.

 

Open your senses and

your heart to the

wonder of it all.

In the journey into

the present you

come to realize…

there is Love here.

~ Val Boyko

 

Inspiration – Live your Whole Life

life your life as a whole

Photo courtesy of Dreamstime

See Your Life As One Life – Entirely Whole

Live your life, don’t just talk about it or write about it.

Live it twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.

There are no times off in this life, there are no days off;

Every moment, every hour, every day is a holy day;

Every moment is precious.

See your life as One life – entirely whole.

Let every part of it fit together perfectly so there are no divisions.

 

What can you do today to make this message come alive for you?

Life is Like … a Symphony

symphony

© Pokki ID 5339846 | Dreamstime Stock Photos

“As the great Confucius said, ‘The one who would be in constant happiness must frequently change.’ Flow.

But we keep looking back, don’t we? We cling to things in the past and cling to things in the present…

Do you want to enjoy a symphony? Don’t hold on to a few bars of the music.
Don’t hold on to a couple of notes. Let them pass, let them flow.

The whole enjoyment of a symphony lies in your readiness to allow the notes to pass…”

~ Anthony de Mello

Allow each moment of our lives to pass without attachment.

Embrace the constant changes.

Live life like a symphony.

Play on.

The Whole Array

the whole array

This life isn’t about
slicing off the parts
I don’t like to be
left with those I do.
I choose the whole
array – night and day,
ease and its opposite,
the squeaking wheel
and the grease gun.

Push any piece of
life away, and a key
that could have
opened a door is
lost, tossed out with
the trash, I pray for
the courage to receive
the full catastrophe,
however it appears
to me, without
needing to push back.

~ Danna Faulds

 

It takes courage to live all of life fully, instead of pushing the tough parts away.

Let us be open to the difficult times and discover a key for the future.

Namaste

Embrace your Authentic Self in the New Year

middle ground moment

Every year I choose  to recommit to becoming more authentic and true. To accept my human imperfections and to keep listening to my heart and soul for guidance.

The best New Year’s intention is to live up to our values and be authentic and kind in our decisions and actions.

There is all the difference in the world between believing in something and actually living it! May the New Year bring renewed commitment to all of our journeys.

~~~

1. Keep returning to  your middle ground instead of rushing through life’s precious moments

2. Keep appreciating and let go of chasing

3. Keep nourishing yourself and stop doing what you know is bad for you

4. Keep identifying your own gifts and stop comparing yourself to others 

5. Keep being true to yourself instead of being good 

6. Keep being honest with yourself instead of falling into denial

7. Keep becoming fully you instead of trying to become somebody else

8. Keep trusting your intuition and let go of waiting to be sure

9. Keep being kind to yourself and fellow flawed humans, and let go of your inner critic

 10. Keep checking in with your heart and higher Self, and not let your head and smaller self take control

~~~

When we are true to ourselves, we open up a new way of being in the world. Why not join me and choose one or two that really resonate with you for this New Year.

Wishing you al the best for 2018. May it be filled with love, beauty, grace and peace despite the highs and lows.

Val xo

 

Time is Precious

This is for Jean, and everyone who may be caught up in the demands and stress of life nowadays. Make time to nurture yourself. It is truly one of your most precious gifts.

Namaste

pearl necklace

“When we waste our time, its is like plucking the pearls from a dazzling necklace one by one and throwing them away.
But when we use time well, each minute adds another jewel to enhance the beauty of our lives.
Because time is our life, it is very precious, and we need to learn to treasure it.”

~ Tarthang Tulku

 

The Downside to Self Improvement

downside to self improvement

Photo by Julie De Waro

The mind that constantly seeks self improvement creates disconnection with living in the present moment … which is the only place where we experience life fully.
If we go through life trying to make ourselves better, wanting to improve, then we can miss out on living fully.

It’s a bit like searching for your camera to capture the moment, but missing the moment itself because you were looking for the camera.

When we focus on what we want to achieve in the future, we so often miss out on the present. And even when we reach the goal, the ego-mind will judge what we have achieved now and compare it to what we had before… or what might be better next.
We become preoccupied with thoughts about the past and future and forget to live in the here and now.

I’m not saying it isn’t worth setting goals or working towards a vision of the future. The key is to remain aware of each moment as we move forward with our lives.

Taking time for pausing and self inquiry is a powerful practice. I call it finding your middle ground.

So set aside the books, videos, blogs and TED Talks for now, and slow down. Get to know your inner world, and learn to love your self.

Your relationship with yourself lasts a lifetime. Take the time to understand and appreciate your quirky, imperfect and wonderful self, and enjoy the journey together.

Namaste

You Can’t Always Get What You Want, But…

This is such an insightful post from Chris at Creative Systems Thinking.
“What your soul needs is deeper connectedness and peace, freedom from fear and anxiety, loving relationships, creative activities, meaningful projects, time alone with Nature, a sense of spiritual or emotional connection to life, humanity and the Universe.
… To be truly happy on this planet humans need to understand the difference between the fake narratives our consumer society feeds us, (about who we are and what to desire), and what we need as creative, social and spiritual beings. Happiness arises naturally when we feed our souls rather than our egos.”

Enjoy the whole article.

Creative by Nature

“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need.” ~The Rolling Stones
Screen Shot 2017-04-04 at 1.17.22 PM
 
Right now, millions of people suffer on our planet because what we want distracts us from what we actuallyneed. The Rolling Stones made this observation decades ago, yet still we struggle.
 
For example, you may want to be admired by others, to gain a high status job, make a lot of money, have a successful career and buy a big house.
 
Unfortunately, such dreams could make you miserable. What we need for happiness is work that feeds our souls, that helps us to improve skills and grow, that provides us with a living but also makes us happier and wiser human beings.
 
Here’s another example. Because of the competitive “rat race” mentality of modern life, many people look forward to their “free time” as…

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Reflection – Live your Own Life

quietly refecting

These words came to me in a conversation yesterday with someone who feels she must rescue her adult daughter from a difficult marriage and challenging home situation.

“You cannot live her life for her.

Can you let her live her life?

… and live your own life?”

Perhaps you can relate to this if you are a parent.

Although I am not a parent, these words settled in deeply, and I too realized that I have not been living my own life here and now.

I’ve been living life in the context of “When Don is better”.. or “if Don isn’t here”.

We must all live our lives fully. It is ours to live, just as it is. In the present.

I realized that I have been living with a mindset of “after cancer”.  Yet, the reality is that there is only living with cancer. By living for an unknown future, I have set aside the present and haven’t lived it fully.

When our mind is set elsewhere, the present become a means to an end. Yet the “end” is only a creation in our mind. We miss out on living life as it is.

It doesn’t mean that we should live in a passive way, or give up on life. Quite the contrary.

We don’t know what the future holds, but right now can be wonderful when we pay attention to it… and live it just as it is.

pause

 

Take a moment to reflect.

“Are you living your own life as it is? … or setting it aside for someone else? … or perhaps living for an unknown future?”

And the question I now ask myself is “How can I be more present with myself and those I love?”

Namaste

p.s. Don’s latest scan shows he is in remission. The next will be at the end of April.

No matter what is going in in your life, fully live and love in the moment you are in.

Steps to Find your Middle Ground

find your middle ground

Here are the steps I have discovered for myself and others, for finding our middle ground and living life in balance 💛

  • Notice! Take time to pause and be aware of the incredible gift of life that you share with others and with nature. Wake up to the little things. Wake up to  your self. Wake up to it all. This is called living mindfully. Become a keen observer.
  • Accept that life has ups and downs. Really! Some one told us when were little that life should be a breeze. This is called wishful thinking. Be grateful for the highs and graceful in the lows. This is called living life well.
  • Become present. Stop lamenting the past or worrying about tomorrow.  Living is in each moment. Now. Take a deep breath.  Then an other.  Notice you are still here… not there.
  • Get to know yourself. Take that first scary step of self discovery. Turn off the tv.  Sit for a while. Journal about what comes up. Have a meaningful conversation. Listen more to others. Listen more to yourself.
  • Let go of judgments. We think that judging others or ourselves makes us feel strong. Judgments come from fear of not being in control  and having things go our way. Our way is not the way. There is nothing wrong, so stop trying to be right. Stop comparing, criticizing  and start letting others be. Let yourself be.
  • Realize that you are not your thinking. You are the one who is aware of your thoughts. You are awareness within a physical body, with an imaginative and fearful ego-mind that creates stories. Your thinking is not the truth about who you are or the world around you.
  • Find the peace within. Beyond the next breath and the next thought there is a deep reservoir of peace waiting to be stepped into. This cool refreshing stillness has always been there and will always be there for us to access. To connect to this wondrous pool becomes our practice… whether its in mindfulness meditation, yoga, sitting in nature, or while commuting on the train,  realize that you too can find your own middle ground.

This blog is my way of helping people get their feet wet and refreshing themselves.

getting your feet wet

* Life is Made Up of Moments

 

in the moment

“Life is made up of moments. Small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of grey cement.

It would be wonderful if they came to us unsummoned, but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won’t happen.

We have to teach ourselves how to make room for them, to love them, and to live, really live.” 

Anna Quindlen “A Short Guide to  a Happy Life”

joyful moment

Whenever we create space for ourselves and pause in order to simply be, we find the pieces that make life meaningful.

Moments of Pleasure and a Life Filled with Joy

Are you a pleasure seeker or a joy seeker?

Both Eckhart Tolle and Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras tell us that the difference between pleasure and joy lies in whether we focus on the outer world of our senses (pleasure) or our inner world of being (joy).

happy people

Many people are pleasure seekers while others are seekers of joy.  Adolescence is the time to explore pleasure and our senses … but most of us learn as we become adults, that although it makes us euphoric, it doesn’t last. Later we might also come to see that it is a way to avoid facing challenges and takes us away from being in the present to the natural highs and lows of life.

Where pleasure is fleeting, joy is always within us to connect to. It is at the heart of our being. An appreciation for life itself and a recognition that we are connected to a divine Source or Presence.

We don’t need the beach vacation, the fancy car, the roller coaster thrill or being the hostess with the mostest to be happy… When we pause, breathe and tune into this inner world, we find our Middle Ground.

This is where we nurture our joy and contentment with life.

Where we appreciate being rather than doing.

Where we let go rather than acquire.

Where we create space rather than fill it with stuff.

The key to creating a fulfilling life is building our foundation on joy and decorating it occasionally with pleasure. We can appreciate it for what it is – a temporary moment to appreciate fully and not become attached to.

Namaste