Monday, March 26, 2018

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Time to Grow


Just as the grass is beginning to grow, the trees are budding, and the early spring flowers are starting to lift their heads out of the soil, we, too, have opportunities to rise and shine during this glorious season of growth and renewal.

Today is a new day. Today marks a new week. Look for opportunities for your creative energies and ideas to form. Look for ways for you to grow as a person.


Today, this week: Be Spring! Bloom! Grow!




Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Seasonal Sprinkles: Spring's Here!


Spring has officially sprung today!  

With the vernal equinox, the birdsong seems louder, the sky seems bluer and the leaves begin to sprout on the trees. 

Now is a time of new beginnings, a time of renewal, and a time when nature leaves its quiet mode and bursts forth with color. 

This is indeed a time of new life, an opportunity to explore our own renewals and to raise our voices in jubilation for all of our blessings. 

Happy Spring!


Monday, March 19, 2018

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Be a Dreamer


If you were to say in a sentence what you want for your life, what would it be? Name those desires, those aspirations, those values, those dreams.

Perhaps this is the year you want to learn how to play the piano or go scuba diving or run a marathon or adopt a pet or write poetry. 

What first steps might you take in order to make your dreams come true?

Today, this week: Set your sights on your dreams. The horizon looks bright!


Monday, March 12, 2018

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday - Be. Peace.


Life can be overwhelming at times, including those times when things feel positive and good in our lives. 

If your plate seems full--even if it's heaped with mostly positive things, breathe in peace. When your stress levels soar, breathe in peace.

Just a few smooth, deep inhalations and exhalations will help you attain a more peaceful and calm state.

As you become peaceful, pass your peace on to others. Your peace may be an oasis for them.

So today, this week:

Breathe in peace. Feel peace. Pass peace to others. Be peace. Be. Peace.


Monday, March 5, 2018

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Get Rid of the Clutter


Now’s a perfect time to let go of what you no longer need. A clean space and mind allow for something new to enter your life.

Live a life free of clutter. You have what it takes to thoughtfully and easily remove those things from your life that no longer suit you. Those things may be actual objects, but they can also be negative thoughts clouding your positivity or over-commitments weighing heavily on your shoulders.


Consider spending time today removing the tangible and intangible clutter from your life and get to the essence of what’s important to you.


Sunday, March 4, 2018

Here We Come, Spring

The signs of spring are all around us and I, for one, am ready for them. Whether winter holds us in her tight grip for months with a heavy dose of harsh temperatures and mounds of snow or not, I'm always ready for the return of warmer weather, green grass, blooming flowers and longer daylight. I am a spring person at heart.
I love all that spring represents, from Daylight Saving Time's return to the spiritual experience of Easter to the tulips that bloom in every color from white to pink to red. Spring is the time of renewal, of new possibilities, and of an optimistic view of the world. It's no wonder the season bears the name Spring, for everything springs up and forth and forward (including the clocks). 
At this time of year, I love visiting with my neighbor who has planted a wide variety of spring wildflowers over the years, thus creating a colorful cascading succession of bloom, from bloodroot to Virginia bluebells to jack-in-the-pulpits. She calls me each time another plant begins to show its colors. That prompts me to walk over for a look-see and a long conversation with her about the miracles of nature.
Now's the time to open the windows—if only for a brief while—to bring in the fresh air and let loose the old, stale, cooped-up winter air. Now's the time to clean out the cupboards and closets, wash the curtains and windows, roll up the throw rugs that collected winter salt and sand at the doorways, and begin to get out the spring skirts and dresses. Now's the time to think about gardening, hiking, camping and summer vacations. Now's the time to embrace the warmth of the sunlight as it touches your face. 
As a child, spring meant my mother would wash the kitchen curtains she'd sewn, pressing them and placing them back up in the windows to billow happily once the windows could be open for summer. Spring meant my getting a new jump rope and Mom spending after-school hours twirling one end of the rope while the other was tied to our fence so I could practice any new jump-roping tricks I'd learned from my little girlfriends at school. Spring meant getting a new dress, white gloves, hat and shoes for Easter services. It meant having an Easter lily or two in the living room. Spring meant watching and waiting for forsythia, flowering currant and lilac blossoms to spring forth so that Mom could cut sprays of them to display in antique pitchers and vases throughout our home. Spring meant the weeping willows revealing their springy yellow leaves far before anything else even dared to blossom or bloom.
Spring is clean and fresh and lovely. I gladly welcome its return this month.


What are your thoughts about spring? What are some of your favorite spring memories? What does the season mean to you? 

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Affirming Words: Encourage Me, Encourage You

Consider adopting these Affirming Words for this month. Say them often to yourself -- whenever you see yourself in a mirror, when you get out of bed to start the day, whenever you need a little pick-me-up:

I’m a great cheerleader! 

I encourage myself and others on the easy and the not-so-easy days.