CHERISH EACH MOMENT

Stop waiting for the moment in time that will change your life. Instead, cherish all the moments. A desert cactus that blooms briefly only once a year does not consider all of the moments it is not in bloom wasted. It considers them necessary and important. It knows the rest of the year, the rest of its life, it is beautiful, too.

All the moments count. The quiet moments. Moments of boredom and solitude. The moments of sharing. The exciting moments of discovery. The moments of grandeur. Agonizing moments when we feel sad, angry, and upset. Each moment in time is equally important. Don’t wait and hope for the one thing, the one person, the one event, that will change your life, plummet you into the future and the life you desire. Instead remember that each moment in time brings change, Evolution, and transformation. Most of us relish the Magnificent spiritual experiences, those tremendous discoveries, those important times of change. But those moments don’t happen that often. The truth is, each moment in time is a spiritual experience, and important time of change. Cherish all your moments. Soon you will see the beauty and power of each. Let each moment have value. That each day of your life be the spiritual experience you seek. The power to change and evolve lies within you. The life you desire is happening right now. Your destiny is here.

Cherish all your moments.

Embrace the beauty and importance of each one.

JULY      27

Be Vulnerable withYourself

                            From Melody Beatty's  "Journey to the Heart"

As we go through our days, we meet many people. We learn it's safe to be vulnerable with some, not so safe or wise to be vulnerable with others. But there is one person it's always safe to be vulnerable with. Yourself.

Share  your deepest  secrets  with yourself. Whether  you rise early in the morning and write your thoughts in a journal or take a few moments  throughout the day to bring your deepest secrets to consciousness, you need to be clear, straight, and honest with your­ self. Harboring secrets, ducking, dodging, and hiding from the truth will slow you down. It will block the pathway to your heart. It can even stop you cold if you get enough secrets tucked away.            -

Take time each day to recognize what you think, what you feel.

You don't have to act. The sheer acts of recognition,  honesty, and ac­ ceptance  are all that are necessary to keep you moving, growing, going forward.

Be as vulnerable as you safely can with those you meet along the way, But always be vulnerable with yourself

Paraphrased from the book "The Language of Letting Go" by Melody Beattie

I needlessly confuse myself and divert my energy by thinking that my present moment is a mistake. But I am right where I need to be for now.  My feelings, thoughts, circumstances, challenges, tasks - all of it is on schedule.

I refuse to spoil the beauty of the present moment by wishing for something else.

"GRATITUDE"

Paraphrased from a short documentary by Louie Schwartzberg

I think this is just another day in my life? It's not just another day. It's the one day that is given to me today. It's given to me. It's a gift. It's the only gift that I have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness. If I do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day is, if I learn to respond as if it were the first day in my life and the very last day, then I will have spent this day very well.

I begin by opening my eyes and be surprised that I have eyes I can open, that incredible array of colors that is constantly offered to me for pure enjoyment. Look at the sky. I note how different it is from moment to moment, with clouds coming and going. I think of all the many nuances of weather.  This day, right now, has unique weather, maybe a kind that will never exactly in that form come again. That formation of clouds in the sky will never be the same as it is right now. I open my eyes. Look at that.

Look at the faces of people whom I meet. Each one has an incredible story behind their face, a story that I could never fully fathom, not only their own story, but the story of their ancestors. We all go back so far, and in this present moment, on this day, all the people I meet, all that life from generations and from so many places all over the world flows together and meets me here like a life-giving water, if I only open my heart and drink.

Open my heart to the incredible gifts that civilization gives to me. I flip a switch and there is electric light. I turn a faucet and there is warm water and cold water, and drinkable water. It's a gift that millions and millions in the world will never experience.

So these are just a few of an enormous number of gifts to which I can open my heart to. And so I wish that I will open my heart to all these blessings, and let them flow through me, that everyone whom I will meet on this day will be blessed by me, just by my eyes, by my smile, by my touch, just by my presence. Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around me, and I will let myself be open to those blessings that are returned to me, and then it will really be a good day.

Going with the flow

Paraphrased from Melody Beatties's  "The Language of Letting Go"

   Go with the flow.
   Let go of fear and my need to control. Relinquish anxiety. Let it slip away, as I dive into the river of the present moment, the river of my life, my place in the universe.
   Stop trying to force the direction. Try not to swim against the current, unless it is necessary for my survival.  If  I've been clinging to a branch at the riverside, let go.
   Let myself move forward. Let myself be moved forward.
   Avoid the rapids when possible. If I can't, stay relaxed. Staying relaxed can take me safely through fierce currents. If I go under for a moment , I allow myself to surface naturally. I will.
   Appreciate the beauty of the scenery, as it is. See things with freshness, with newness. I shall never pass by today's scenery again!
   Don't think too hard about things. The flow is meant to be experienced. Within it, care for myself. I am part of the flow, an important part. Move with the flow. Work within the flow. Thrashing about isn't necessary. Let the flow help me care for myself. Let it help me set boundaries, make decisions, and get me where I need to be when it is time.
   I can trust the flow, and my part in it.
   I go with the flow.

Higher Power's Will

Paraphrased from Melody Beattie's  "The Language of Letting Go"

   Higher Power's will most often happens in spite of me, not because of me.
   I may try to second guess what Higher Power has in mind for me, looking, searching, hyper vigilant to seek Higher Power's will as though it were a buried treasure, hidden beyond my reach. If I find it, I win the prize. But if I'm not careful, I miss out.
   That's not how it works.
   I may believe that I have to walk on eggshells, saying, thinking, and feeling the right thing, while forcing myself somehow to be in the right place at the right time to find Higher Power's will. But that's not true.
   Higher Power's will for me is not hidden like a buried treasure. I do not have to control or force it .  I do not have to walk on eggshells in order to have it happen.
   It is right here inside and around me. It is happening right now. Sometimes, it is quiet and uneventful and includes the daily disciplines of responsibility and learning to take care of myself. Sometimes, it is healing me when I'm in circumstances that trigger old grieving and unfinished business.
   Sometimes, it is grand.
   I do have a part. I have responsibilities, including caring for myself. But I do not have to control Higher Power's will for me. I am being taken care of. I am protected. And the Power caring for and protecting me loves me very much.
   If it is a quiet day, trust the stillness. If it is a day of action, trust the activity. If it is time to wait, trust the pause. If it is time to receive that which I have been waiting for, trust that it will happen clearly and with power, and receive the gift in joy.

   I will trust that Higher Power's will is happening as it needs to in my life. I will not make myself anxious and upset by searching vigorously for Higher Power's will, taking unnecessary actions to control the course of my destiny or wondering if Higher Power's will has passed me by and I have missed it.

Surrender

Paraphrased from Melody Beattie's "The Language of Letting Go"

   Master the lessons of my present circumstances.
   I do not move forward by resisting what is undesirable in my life today. I move forward, I grow, I change by acceptance.
   Avoidance is not the key; surrender opens the door.
   Listen to this truth: I am in my present circumstances for a reason. There is a lesson, a valuable lesson,that must be learned before I can move forward.
   Something important is being worked out in me, and in those around me. I may not not be able to identify it today, but I can know that it is important. I can know it is good.
   Overcome not by force, overcome by surrender. The battle is fought, and won, inside myself. I must go through it until I learn, until I accept, until I become grateful, until I am set free.

I will be open to the lessons of my present circumstances. I do not have to label, know, or understand what I am learning; I will see clearly in time. For today trust and gratitude are sufficient.