Truths

With the change of seasons I always try to reassess my focus and my attitudes.  Spring seems to help me to focus on what is truly important in my life, what feels good and will allow me to be ... well, real.  Like the new blossoms, I want to take advantage of the well spring of possibility and make the most of the opportunity to bloom beautifully.   

While reviewing e-mails the other day, I found this lovely video about The Simple Truths of Life.  Linda Ellis created it and I wanted to share it with you.  I hope you enjoy it.


The Simple Truths of Life

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Wishing you a week full of beauty and joy.


Susan

Follow your Bliss!

"What, at this moment, is lacking?"

Zen Master Rinzai

Meet Jazzmine, official greeter, and follower of bliss at Tumalo Lavender Farm (www.tumalolavender.com) outside of Bend, OR.  Here's a girl who knows how to take care of herself!  What better way to spend the NOW than in a fragrant, calming bed of lavender!  Our pets have so much to teach us! Thank you Jazzmine and Gordon Knight for this blissful photograph!

In his inspiring book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle reminds us, "When your deeper sense of self is derived from BEING, when you are free of BECOMING......, neither your happiness nor your sense of self depends on the outcome...."  To BE...just to BE, in this very moment, free of the past and the future, which not one among us can change, that is to know bliss. I'm working on it..always!

It's been a little easier to be in the NOW for me this week.  With the weather having turned warmer, I've been out in the garden surrounded by tiny sprouts of new growth pushing through the earth, the melodies of birds, watching the travels of bees.  None of these living things gives a damn about yesterday or tomorrow.  They are just BEING, unaware of any possibility of lack in their lives, following their bliss to the sun, the sweet pollen, fat, juicy worms. They are, as far as birds and flowers and bees can be, HAPPY.  I've been holding their images, and Jazzmine's, as well, in my mind as I go about my week, doing my best to let go of the rush to do, the need to become, the planning, the regretting; for at least short periods of time. It's been good.

The trick is to make it a habit, and we all know what a challenge that can be in this fast paced world we live in. But trying to do better, makes you better, so that's my goal.  As fleeting as the moments may be - they will matter, they will fill me and hopefully, will make me crave MORE!

You and I may not have the luxury and joy of laying down in a pile of lavender today, but we can roll around in the love of our friends and family for awhile, tuck ourselves into the sweet joy of a wonderful meal, wrap a sunset around us.

Let's all try a little harder to be like Jazzmine and greet our bliss in whatever moment it arrives.

Namaste,

Dorothy

Your Presence is a Present to the World!

24 Things to Always Remember ...

And One Thing to Never Forget

Your presence is a present to the world.

You’re unique and one of a kind.

Your life can be what you want it to be.

Take the days just one at a time.

Count your blessings, not your troubles.

You’ll make it through whatever comes along.

Within you are so many answers.

Understand, have courage, be strong.

Don’t put limits on yourself.

So many dreams are waiting to be realized.

Decisions are too important to leave to chance.

Reach for your peak, your goal, and your prize.

Nothing wastes more energy than worrying.

The longer one carries a problem, the heavier it gets.

Don’t take things too seriously.

Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.

Remember that a little love goes a long way.

Remember that a lot ... goes forever.

Remember that friendship is a wise investment.

Life’s treasures are people ... together.

Realize that it’s never too late.

Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.

Have health and hope and happiness.

Take time to wish upon a star.

And don’t ever forget ...

For even a day ...

How very special you are.

-Inspiration Archive @ www.inspirationalarchive.com

Be sure to drop by our Facebook page this week (The 51%Project) and enjoy our inspirational offerings on joy, hope, and creating a delicious life.

Susan

The Heart and Soul of Spring Cleaning

“In three words I can sum up everything

I’ve learned about life:

it goes on.”

~ Robert Frost

Years ago, when I was a young girl, spring cleaning was a ritual not taken lightly in my mother’s home. Soon after the arrival of the first robins and crocus sprouts, I and my sisters, along with our mother, grandmothers, aunts and (female) cousins would don our work clothes and get about the business of sweeping out the heavy trappings of winter.  The dark, weighty slip covers where replaced with lighter, floral cottons (a decorating fashion of the times), drapes were removed, windows washed and flung open and jugs of pussy willows and lilacs filled the spaces previously occupied by, now tired and leggy, poinsettias.  In the meantime, Dad would be busy in the garage stowing away snow shovels and bags of rock salt to make room for rakes, hoes, grass seed and fertilizer. 

It was a full weekend’s undertaking. Yet, as we curled up on the sofa Sunday night thoroughly spent and bone weary, (eager to see where the brave and beautiful Lassie would take us this time) we were filled with a great sense of peace in our newly refreshed and airy home.

Spring is teasing us here in the mountains and I find myself reaching back to those old memories and the feelings of gratification they brought. I am not the homemaker my mother was.  Though I don’t own full sets of seasonal accouterments and am quite content with a cursory “shoveling out,” I still employ this “out with the old” ritual, but in a more internal way. 

Unlike in autumn, when I pull in, slow down and use the darker, fireside coziness to contemplate the workings of my life; in the springtime I want to shed the heavy skins of what’s no longer working and make room for a lighter and brighter existence. So this week, I’m going to fling open the windows of my heart and mind, toss out the old hurts – given and received – and plant seeds of forgiveness.  I’m going to clear the shelves of worn out stories and replace them with bouquets of happy endings.  I’m going sweep out the cobwebs of regret and make room for the tools of action. I’m going to paint the old, dark walls of fear with the bright promise of trust and courage. I’m going to tie my dreams to robin’s wings and let them nest in hope.

And, when I’m done, I’m going to sit out on my deck and listen to the birds and watch the bees and smell the rich, damp earth and send up a little prayer of thanks that life does, indeed, go on….as renewed, refreshed and meaningful as I chose to make it.

Namaste,

 Dorothy

Be sure to drop by our Facebook page this week (The 51%Project) and enjoy our inspirational offerings.  In the meantime, we send you our very best wishes for a Happy Easter and Passover.