Saturday morning. Thank you, David Kanigan
We’re so driven to make ourselves “better” all the time…
We are mercilessly hard on ourselves for our losses, our defeats, our wounds, our failures, the parts of us that don’t measure up.
This is a weekend in non-self-improvement….
~ Francis Weller, in an interview with Tim McKee titled The Geography Of Sorrow. Francis Weller On Navigating Our Losses
Photo: Nap time by Aku*S
One kind word can warm three winter months
Japanese Proverb
Kindness – it feels as if we are in short supply. Soaking in all we hear from the news it is hard to imagine that kindness could be found in any corner of this country.
—–
We have to make/tell our own stories.
I’m no psychologist, but it only makes sense to have a positive outlook on life to be observant and responsive to others in need, whether it’s a relatively minor deed or a significant commitment. So be kind to yourself so you can be kind to others.
The studies show that generosity is contagious. We are all touched when we see someone help another person. It encourages us also to do something altruistic.
That fact should energize us to be generous to others in any situation. And by others, I mean anyone, any race, nationality, or religion. After all, a founding principle of our country is that all people are created equal. Though injustices dot our history into the present, that entreaty has nevertheless stood the test of time. We, too, must make it last. We do so by being kind.
Bruce Stambaugh – Let’s Make 2019 the year of Kindness
Karl Duffy
Mindfulbalance.org
Do everything as far as you can
for love and you will see what you are capable of!
One can make more progress this way in a year,
than in ten by the way of fear.
St. Mary Euphrasia
from Gratefulness.org
Near a window, I watch the shortest day slowly surrender its light to this winter solstice. In the settling darkness there is an air of calm, of quiet. I welcome the hushed darkness of this evening. In the quiet I listen for an invitation to bring the ‘stretches of life’ together. To gather the scattered pieces of my life into one place.
This night does not call for judgment. Comforted by the warmth of home and a candle’s glow, this longest winter night calls for compassion, for acceptance.
Before me is all that’s been accomplished and all left undone. In this quiet darkness, there is time to let go, time to rest from the hard work of balancing life’s scattered pieces.
Dusk is now long gone. Looking to the sky the stars fill the darkness with points of light. There in the sky is the promise of light’s return.
I invite you to pause on this night. To welcome these dark hours and honor your work. To feel gratitude for all you have accomplished. To rest, knowing that light will soon return.
