Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience

Tag Archives: Personal growth


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Both

Feeling goodness.

Recognizing capacity for love and joy…

and pain and sorrow…

and confusion and disappointment…

Offering laughter and playfulness…

tears and aching.

Ever grateful.

Still longing.

Inviting.

Learning to receive.

Faith,

not hope,

guides discovery.

Recurring smiles

share space with unsettled emptiness,

offering glimpses of spaciousness.

Trust becomes the compass point,

as surrender calls.

Not giving up,

but diving in.

Relinquishing the tight reins of control

to allow the fullness of life to unfold on its own.

Turning towards the depths of the oceans of stability within,

to exist within it all.

Grateful for this artwork generously created and shared by Matt Buncik.


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Unearthing

Murky are the surface waters,

Cold and dark, the mud feels heavy.

Abundant are the obstacles to expanding outward.

Unforgiving crevices entice, yet lead nowhere.

Solitary feels this existence.

And still it is called home.

An unknown force – courage perhaps – fuels a simple cell to activate.

A small stirring and restriction becomes the road map.

Containment provides clarity.

Movement replaces stagnation.

This incubation over.

Growth has begun.

Subtly and silently, a leaf

and then a petal.

More and more petals.

Surfacing.

Outstretching.

Unfolding.

Without ceremony.

So Beautiful.

The blossoming that reveals itself from under the mud and muck.


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Revolution

Newness and unfamiliarity

fuel curiosity.

Forward momentum guides creativity. 

Acceptance reveals the path to joy.

Growth is the gift of change.


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The Space Between

Where the wind blows,

light dances

and shadows meander.

The trees sway and grass grows.

Raindrops fall.

The heart beats.

The body feels.

The mind rambles.

Quiet calls.

Stillness and movement reconcile.

This is where grace lives

and love persists.


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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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Vision board

Standing out

Breaking through

Rising up

Getting messy

Making choices

Accepting consequences

Humbly confident 

Unconditionally vulnerable 

More freedom

More joy

More love

Giving

Receiving

Most authentically me.


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Divided to conquer

One day this single path abruptly split in two.

The potential in both directions was intriguing and alluring,

albeit a bit daunting.

The split itself brought much spaciousness and beauty,

a chance to pause and survey the widespread landscape of the past and present,

confirming there could be no wrong steps forward, 

the divide simply an invitation to reawaken to this journey 

and joyfully take the next step.


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Point of Reference

Oh, the wisdom and the entanglement of memories that accompany me

along the path of rising over resistance.

Cutting through the cords of debris from the past.

Mired in the mud of judgment and unmet expectations.

Stuck in the quagmire of fear.

The truth, like a sword, clears the rumination,

making way for the realization that

I can choose growth over stagnation,

healing over habits,

and triumph with awareness and agility,

as I change and make good,

drawing with power on my past.


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Barely hanging on

Precariously perched on outstretched limbs of past experiences.

Formed of familiar coping mechanisms.

Unable to adapt to the changing conditions.

Heavy with the weight of others bearing down.

Recognizing the temporary nature of this existence.

One swift gust of wind.

One sudden yank from gravity.

All semblance of control,

all sense of purpose and being, melts away

in the free fall.

Crashing into the next newest version of self.


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Showing up

I can.

I will.

I am.

Because someone needs it.

My voice,

my intellect,

my pulchritude,

my courage,

my strength,

my kindness,

my grace,

deserve to be

seen,

heard,

felt,

held.

I will make a big, beautiful, bold, magnificent mark on the world…

Because I already have.

Flock to my greatness.

Celebrate me.

Show me pure,

authentic,

loyal,

sweet,

daring,

unconditional love,

the same way I am showing up for you in this world.