Ray of Sunshine: Jubilation

May you feel the light of peace, the warmth of love, the jubilation of joy and the beauty of this day.

Blessings for your day and week. Spread sunshine. Be the light.

Ray of Sunshine: The Light of Gratitude

Even in our times of tears, there is sunshine in our abundant blessings. The light of gratitude lessens our sorrows.

Blessings for your day and week. Spread sunshine. Be the light.

Sunday Sunshine: Be the Light.

At this time of darkness,

Light a candle of peace.

Light a candle of joy.

Light a candle of love.

Light a candle of hope.

Light a candle of respect.

Light a candle of compassion.

Light a candle to illuminate the way.

Light a candle.

Be the light.

Today, this week: Be the Light.

Sunday Sunshine: Sweet Moments

You are a magnet. You have the power to use your positive energy to attract positive energy back into your life. 

In other words, what you cast out into the world has a way of coming back to you.

Think about when you smile to someone. You often receive a smile back.

When you are kind, kindness is returned to you--often in unexpected and bountiful ways.

When you are grateful, the reasons to be grateful seem to multiply. 

Trust that the good, positive, sunny energy that you put forth will come back to you in even greater measure.

Measure your days by the sweet moments -- those times when you smile, when you feel loved, when you've received kindnesses, when you've been in awe.

Today, this week: Be a magnet. Be sunshine. Look to the sweet moments.

Sunday Sunshine: Don't Worry. Don't Stress. Go With the Flow.

We are at the longest days of the year. Yet, there is darkness all around us. The storms of grief, the shadows of worry, the clouds of concern can prevent us from seeing the light that is also all around us--and the light that is beaming brightly within us.

Instead of focusing on your cares and worries, redirect your view to your blessings, to the sources of your joy and gratitude. Move your boat into a place of flow where stresses and worries splash away from you. Move your boat toward the light and calmer waters.

When you redirect your focus, the weight and intensity of the storms, shadows and clouds lessen.

Today, this week: Don't worry. Don't stress. Go with the flow.

Sunday Sunshine: Let Your Light Shine!

There are days when I've felt as if nothing I've done is right. No matter how hard I tried, some things just didn't work out. 

My efforts have been ignored or at least not acknowledged. Others have received accolades for work I've done.

It's easy to grow disheartened if your efforts don't appear to be appreciated or those you do make still don't seem to be enough or don't turn out the way you intended for them.

Take heart. Don't become discouraged. Don't be hard on yourself. Let your hurts, your self-doubts and your discouragements roll off your back. 

Keep persevering. Do your best. Be positive. Let your light shine! You have it in YOU to do great things!

As you build confidence and give it your best, you'll release the hurt and self-doubt you carry. 

Soon, circumstances will have an amazing, unanticipated way of working themselves out. New doors will open, new relationships will be formed, new ways of seeing yourself will be revealed, and new opportunities will present themselves.

Today, this week: Do your best! Be confident! Let your light shine! 

Sunday Sunshine: Spring Clean Your Internal House

The chatter can feel deafening. We are constantly bombarded by messages, both positive and negative. It seems, though, that we tend to dwell most on the negative messages. 

It's spring, the perfect season to clean your internal house. Remove the gossip, the mean-spirited words and the stressful news from your life as much as possible. 

Fill that newly cleaned space with kindness, love, joy, and positive energy and activities. Then, share that love, kindness and joy with others around you. 

Let the good energy flow out of you like unfurling petals of a bright spring flower. You have the power to bring such beauty to yourself and to the world.

Today, this week: Rise above the fray in this world. Bloom with love and kindness to everyone around you. 

Sunday Sunshine: Shine!

After conducting an informal survey on social media, I learned that a brief, positive, pick-me-up post on Sunday mornings would potentially be more beneficial to readers of this blog than a Monday morning post. Monday mornings tend to be hectic for many of us, leaving little time to read a blog post while racing around to get ready for the work and school week. So, beginning today, Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday officially ends and will be replaced by Sunday Sunshine. Each Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. Central Time this year, you’ll find a brief post on this blog designed to give you encouraging, affirming, positive thoughts to end your weekend and jump-start your week. So, here’s the first Sunday Sunshine post for 2019:

You've likely heard that biblical passage about not allowing your light to be hidden under a bushel basket. Don't conceal your talents, your abilities and those things that make you uniquely you. The light that is you is meant to be brightly lit and cast out in the open where it can be appreciated.

Perhaps it's shyness that keeps your light flickering. It might be not wanting to stand out for fear that someone will find fault. It might be that you equate shining with showing off. Maybe you're afraid of what your light might do for you -- in positive ways! 

Don't let your negative "head" messages keep you from being your unique and beautiful self. You have so much to offer. Release the shackles of your shyness. Sweep away those inhibitions. Come out from under that bushel basket and shine on!

Today, this week: Let your light shine!

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Be the Light in the Darkness

The days are short, the nights long. At times, it feels as if you get up in the dark, go to work in the dark, come home in the dark, go to sleep in the dark.

For some of us, life itself can feel dark with grief, sadness, loss, tragedy, uncertainty. We crave light—just a little ray of light—in all of that darkness.

Be the light where there’s darkness. Be love where there’s hate. Be kindness where there’s cruelty. Be hopeful where there’s uncertainty.

Today, this week: Cast your light into a dark world.

Where Am I Going? And Why?

This post was first published on November 10, 2011, one month after I had started this Time to Be blog. 

As I celebrate seven years of blogging and the milestone of my 1,000th post this month, I delved into my blog archives and drew out this post. We're all on a journey. I hope this post helps light your way. Thank you for being part of my blogging community!

Who am I? Where have I come from? Where am I going? Why?

These questions are fundamental to my life's journey, but how often do I ask them in order to shed light on my path? 

The questions originated from my friend Don's encounter with security at an airport in the UK.* 

When taken in a different context, they can serve as a metaphor for life's bigger questions and our continuous quest for fulfillment and happiness. 

I dare say that the answers are not always easily found and they will likely change with the seasons of our lives. But, I appreciate the act of pausing, asking, listening and reflecting on them, all the while having faith that I'm where I'm supposed to be right now.

Who am I? Where have I come from? Where am I going? Why? Spend time contemplating these questions. Are you satisfied with the answers you hear?


* November 2018 addendum to my original, seven-year-old post: Read With All We Are: Mission, purpose and transformation by Donald Eggleston, M.ED, M.DIV, published in 2018 by Mission Works Publishing, LLC, for more about these vital questions -- and more. Don’s thoughtful approach makes the questioning journey for individuals and organizations both accessible and revealing.

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Embrace and Spread the Light

We all have times in our lives that feel like dark nights, shadows, even storms. Life doesn’t let us get by without experiencing such difficulties or challenges.

Once we accept that there will be storms in life--some severe, we can develop the tools to move through those difficult times with grace. We can learn effective ways to use our storms as opportunities for growth. 

Even in the depth of our shadows and storms, we can find light. That light comes when we become more patient, empathetic, and kind to others and to ourselves.

Today, this week: Look to the light, embrace it and spread it to others.

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: See the Light. Be the Light.

We are quickly approaching the longest day of the year. Yet, there is darkness all around us. The storms of grief, the shadows of worry, the clouds of concern can prevent us from seeing the light that is also all around us--the light that is beaming brightly within us.

Instead of focusing on your cares and worries, redirect your view to your blessings, to the sources of your joy and gratitude.

Then, cast that light outward to others so that they, too, feel the light. The weight and intensity of their storms, shadows and clouds will lessen.

When you see the light, you become the light.

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Fill the World with Your Love

You hold tremendous power, more power than you realize. 

You have the capacity to fill the world with your love, kindness, and compassion. As that good energy goes out into the universe, it gets passed on and on and on.

You can bring light, even to the darkest of places.

Let your thoughts, words and actions be expressions of love today and see the difference it makes.

Give and Take

As the alarm went off one recent morning, I realized that waking up at 6:00 a.m. is so different today than it was just a few months ago. Now, it feels as if I'm forcing myself to get up bleary-eyed in the middle of the dark night, rather than enthusiastically jumping out of bed with the sunshine streaming through the bedroom window, the birds singing a cheerful "good morning" and the day welcoming me to get up and go. When glancing at the clock at 7:00 p.m. at this time of year, the darkness envelops me, leaving me with a feeling that the day is done and my pajamas and reading chair are calling to me. Just a few months ago, 7:00 p.m. was considered early evening with at least one, maybe two hours of daylight left, leaving time for so much possibility and an abundance of energy that wouldn't wane until nightfall. The seasons have been shifting and I have been grieving it. One gray Sunday afternoon, I sat quietly just to let myself examine why I felt such profound grief and soon my perspective, my grief over the waning daylight started to change. As I explored the ever-evolving balance of dark and light, I saw that in many ways, it was simply another time of give and take. One must have the darkness in order to appreciate the light. Too much light would rob me of the quiet, introspective and renewing benefits of darkness. Too much darkness and I would lack the energy that the sun and daylight provide. So, with this renewed perspective, as the season shifts from one of abundant daylight to one of increased darkness, I am seeing the blessings in the shift. As much as I am one who loves the energy of the daylight, I am welcoming the arrival of increasing darkness. Both are interdependent and necessary and beautiful and I am content to be bathed in both.

Made of Light

After watching the days grow longer and the brilliance of the beautiful, full moons (including that amazing "strawberry" moon that shone on the evening of the summer solstice), I have been giving a great deal of thought to light. What I realized was that I believe even stronger that we are made of the light of God. That infinite, ever-shining light provides us with immeasurable opportunities to do good, especially when we share it with others. It reminds me of the lyrics to that wonderful old children's Gospel song, "This little light of mine. I'm going to let it shine." We have the choice to squander our light, misusing it to try to dim the light of others, to overpower another's light with ours or to even dim our own. When we do that, we lose sight of the sacred in others. We don't respect their light. Instead, we see ours as the more powerful source. On the other hand, if we choose to consider our light a blessing and, in turn, take every opportunity to be a blessing to others, I believe our light shines brighter, especially when we cast it to help and lift up another. In addition to my starting and ending my days listing three things for which I am grateful, I have added another reflection upon awakening: "How will I cast my light today?" And upon retiring: "How well did I utilize my light today? How can I do better tomorrow?" This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.