Sunday Sunshine: Slow Down

When the commitments on your calendar seem to increase and overwhelm, slow yourself down.

When the pace feels hectic and the demands fierce, slow yourself down.

Leave the hectic pace for just a while.

Slow. Down.

Slow down enough to pay attention. See the details. Slow down enough to take some deep breaths. Open your eyes – really open them -- and observe the beauty around you.

Each day is a blessing. Don't race through it. Be in a state of thanksgiving every day. Enjoy the joy of being.

Today, this week: Learn the art of slowing down. Enjoy the joy of being.

Sunday Sunshine: In Common

I read about something called the Three Sisters, meaning corn, beans and squash. When the Three Sisters are planted together, they provide support to each other's growth. 

Instead of competing and crowding each other out, they use their diversity and their differences wisely so that all three can flourish.

What a lesson! We spend so much time focusing on our differences these days. We humans could learn from the Three Sisters and from nature, in general.

When we first seek to find common ground, we can then appreciate our diversity and wisely address our differences.

So, be present. Reach out. Listen respectfully. Engage in conversation. Learn. Grow.

Where might you benefit from finding common ground?

Today, this week: Look for the similarities before the differences. 

Sunday Sunshine: Positive Energy

The chatter can feel deafening. We are constantly bombarded by messages, both positive and negative. But it seems that we dwell most on the negative messages, the disturbing stuff that has become equated with the word news. 

Now is a perfect time 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. When you choose to think positive thoughts, your days will blossom with happiness and opportunity.

Don’t keep those good energies to yourself, however. Share that love, kindness and joy with others around you. Cast them far and wide.

Let the good energy flow out of you like the blossoming of a flower or the brilliant transformation of a tree as it turns color in the fall. You have the power to bring light and 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: Embrace Impermanence

Things are constantly changing and evolving. They may seem to remain constant, but they’re not. Change can happen so slowly that we scarcely recognize it, but change is there all the same.

When we understand that change is happening around us and inside of us all of the time, we can more easily come to a place of acceptance and even anticipation for it. Change can appear more exciting and fun. Change can present new adventures, new perspectives and new ways of being.

When we accept impermanence in our lives, we start to see that now -- this very moment -- is what we have. Each day is filled with “now” moments worthy of our attention.

Rather than being afraid of change, fully embrace it. See the beauty and potential growth in it. Change can be a gift and an opportunity, rather than a crisis to be feared. It’s all in how we choose to see it.

Today, this week: Embrace impermanence and live in the moment.