Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience

Tag Archives: contentment


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Obstacles

I’m not always going to get my way,

but I’m always going to get what’s right for me.

When I let go of forcing outcomes,

stop relying on others for my happiness,

and see obstacles not as a sign of my worth but of my courage and strength,

even what seems like a paralyzing blockage

can be an invitation to take a different path,

go a different way,

or sit right where I am for a moment 

and reflect 

on the beauty, 

awe, 

and opportunity 

that exists right here,

right now,

just the way things are.

Much gratitude to Shari Irby for contributing this photo.


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And

Where does it end,

the light from the sun 

the light of the moon, 

the dark of the shadows

the vastness of the sky,

cold of winter,

unfurling of spring?

Where is the line 

that separates joy 

from sorrow,

excitement 

from fear?

What fills the space between earth and sky?

Is it my heart?

My body?

My breath?

In my mind I struggle 

to find a separation,

an either or,

a division,

a moment,

where one exists without the other.

I cannot 

and therefore 

I cannot regret.

I cannot long.

I cannot judge,

right or wrong.

I cannot reject sorrow 

or long for joy.

I cannot suffer in darkness or immerse myself fully in light.

I am made of it all.

It is all in me.

Or is none of it?

I am the space that fills 

the space between.

I am the end of light,

the beginning of dark.

I am all of the joy and filled with sorrow.

I am the convergence of earth and sky. 

I am the meeting place for it all.

I am the “and.”


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Today

Tomorrow is not promised.

Align and open to the greatest gifts of today.

Open to your strengths.

Hold your wounds and weaknesses as reminders.

If you can remember these, you can remember you are something more.

You are something so much more.


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Balanced

Whole.

Steady.

Relaxed.

Desiring.

Creative.

Joyful.

Confident.

Protected.

Assured.

Loving.

Receiving.

Humble.

Gentle.

Clear.

Consistent.

Allowing.

Steady.

Wise.

Open.

Graceful.

Free.


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Grace

You are so wise

…and powerful,

beautiful,

kind,

…and attuned.

You do not have to be any stronger than you are.

You do not have to be more brave than you are.

You do not have to be more balanced than you are,

or flexible,

or creative.

You do not need to be anymore of anything right now.

There is power in peace,

clarity and confidence in grace.

Feel into your wild and free intuition.

Let it guide you unabashedly!!


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Accompaniment

I ask not that you change or conform.

You need not worry if who I am is not who you want me to be.

Let’s not need to hold hands in unity,

but hold hearts with respect.

I will not squash who I am,

or expect you to assimilate.

Even if I do not walk in your shoes, I offer you accompaniment,

so that we are both seen and heard and the rhythm and

harmony of our movement through life,

offers a flavorful contrast

for all the world to remember

the value of their own melody.


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A knight’s message

Even in my darkest moments,

My most intense forms of suffering,

I find flickering deep within an ember of hope, a knowing that this is temporary,

a moment of exploration and learning.

Pain is informative and a reminder that there is the opposite – great peace, ease, harmony, and joy – just around the corner,

riding in valiantly on the next breath,

to remind me that I am just as much that as anything else.


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Night follies

Tossing and turning

to release the entanglements,

the incomplete exchanges,

the charges,

the depletions,

the crossings,

taking from,

or rejecting

others

and self.

Battling in the darkness

the shame

and judgment

of the weaknesses,

mistakes,

and stuckness.

Playing the game

of loathing,

disaappintment,

protection,

defeat,

revenge,

in my sleep.

All the while knowing that whatever happened yesterday does not decide today.  

No matter the outcome of the dreams or circumstances of before,

I will awake to a whole new tomorrow,

another opportunity to play.


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Truly Free

The sky parts,

inviting me closer,

calling me towards something,

no path,

no plan,

to go nowhere

or everywhere.

Just go…

be free.

Is the freedom in the flying or the landing?

Going away or coming home?

Is freedom in the movement,

or the stillness,

in the belonging,

or the aloneness,

in the surrender,

or the embrace?

Freedom is not achieved.

It is a quality of mind.

Could it be that I am afraid to truly be free?


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Blisters

My old, worn out shoes,

so familiar,

form to fit my imperfect feet,

adapted over time to accommodate my lopsided gate,

carrying me faithfully in my uneven stride.

There comes that time that those beloved companions have served their purpose,

worn out in functionality,

poised for retirement.

In come the replacements,

stiff,

awkward,

shifting,

adjusting.

Blisters making way for bliss – forging new connections for movement and growth.