The dark of night gives way to the brilliance of the morning sun.
Shadows peel back to reveal the light and then at times the light yields to the shadows.
They dance, taking turns at center stage, spotlighting each other’s beauty, celebrating each other’s gifts.
Both always there, bowing to one another, essential to each other’s greatness.
Thankful for the contrast.
Ease comes with contentment. When the heart is content, the flow of life is more easeful. Contentment takes practice. It come through the effort of letting go of expectations and judgment, of feeling whole and complete, and knowing that things are just as they should be – not always good, not always pleasant, but right the way they are. Contentment needs no story, no plan, no solution, simply a willingness to let life unfold with all its imperfections… and in that willingness resides the space of ease.
To receive it on the outside, achieve it on the inside.
Clouds of anger, judgment, and doubt that swirl within
Block the rays of love, acceptance and trust that shine without.
Peace on the inside…Peace on the outside.
There is just one of me – one body, one mind, one world.
Yet, when I am in the left side of my mind, my world is lined up in neat little rows of describers and stories that define all of my experiences, forming memories of the past and predictions for the future, a space of story-telling, label-making, and structure.
In the right side of my mind, I am larger, brighter, made of colors, shapes, and lacking concrete boundaries. When I step to the right, I feel free and open, joyful and full of peace. My world is expansive, allowing, and in so many ways limitless. In the right side of my mind, I am present and full of wonder, curiosity, and enjoyment.
I move back and forth from side to side, creating the dance that is me…but I do think I would be better off if I took a step to the right more often.
Love and joy are always there, just like the water and the air.
Sometimes it seems as if they only have a time or season,
As if waiting to blossom, like the first buds of spring.
Though, when my heart is open, I see they are always there,
Ebbing, flowing, budding, blossoming, no matter when or where.
The morning after a big snow storm so often arrives with visions of beauty, inspires feeling of hope, and brings a sense of aliveness, courage, serenity.
The true challenge comes in experiencing those things during the storm.
Look for the contrast…the inordinary combination of experiences that color your life, that offer surprise, that stand out and remind you that anything is possible, and so much more striking with distinction. Seek and find joy in the contrast that makes life pop.
Strength is not born of rigidity or impenetrable barriers.
Strength is open, flowing, embracing…a constant balance of contracting inwards and expanding outwards.
Strength is resilience, peace, ease.
Strength is the unstoppable force of love.
Be in awe. Let your jaw drop, your breath leap, your heart skip a beat, and your mind scamper…feel the joy of discovery, of being part of something bigger, of not having all the answers, and knowing that’s OK. In fact, it’s actually awesome.
Sometimes the world outside seems so bleak, so grey, so dim…without hope.
Then I dig down inside to find my deepest self, alive and blooming.
There, I find peace and promise flowering.
And the world seem a little less grey.
Monday Mindfulness 