Sunday Sunshine: Pay Attention

You have the capacity to be a peacemaker. We need peacemakers in our world.

You are a peacemaker when you seek to better understand another person’s perspective, listen with your full attention, consider your response carefully, measure your words and show respect.

It doesn’t mean that you have to be in full agreement with the other person, but it does mean that you honor the light in that individual and you give him or her the respect to hold his or her own opinions, even if they are different from yours.

Doing so can help you look through the clutter and distraction of differences in order to find the light of common ground. That light will help you forge a path through differences to a place of compromise and respect.

Listen carefully and openly to hear another perspective. Respect a way of thinking that is different from yours. Be slow to judge. Seek to understand.

Today, this week: Pay attention. Listen. Be a peacemaker.

Sunday Sunshine: Feel Peace

Life can be rather a stressful experience. There are all kinds of reasons to feel stressed. As a culture, we thrive more and more on conflict -- with others and with ourselves.

It seems these days that people tend to like feeling stressed and conflicted. We surely talk (or tweet or post) a lot about those things that make us feel that way. We zip about quickly, trying to do too much. We don't take good care of ourselves. At the end of the day, we're exhausted and spent and perhaps even a bit lonely as we isolate ourselves from others, hidden behind our electronic devices.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day in the United States. As those of us who live in America reflect on the men and women who have heroically served our country and continue to do so around the globe, let's also take a few moments to pause and express gratitude to them -- perhaps through your thoughts and prayers, perhaps through your words and actions. Think healing thoughts of peace for them.

Then, think about how you can diffuse the stressful, conflicted moments in your own life so that you feel grateful, connected and at peace. Once you feel that sense of peace, be generous with it. Spread it around so that when others feel stressed or conflicted, they'll feel your peaceful energy and find that they, too, can live in such a wonderful state.

Today, this week: Feel peace. Spread peace. Live peace. Be peace.

Sunday Sunshine: Happy Memorial Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, always observed in the United States on the last Monday in May. Tomorrow, Americans will honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives while serving our country in military service.

It is because of them and those who continue to serve in our military today that Americans can enjoy the many freedoms and the peace that we are so fortunate to have.

As we reflect on the meaning behind tomorrow's national holiday, may we not only respect the memory of those who have given so much for us--many doing so in the name of peace, but may we also be instruments of peace in our own daily living.

When we focus our energies by breathing in peace and breathing out peace, we change how we think about the people, the things and the circumstances in our lives. Our responses change.

Today, tomorrow, this week: Remember the meaning of Memorial Day by respecting those who have served our country with honor and who have given everything to preserve our freedoms and peace. And remember to be an instrument of peace yourself. 

Happy Memorial Day!

Fresh Thoughts for Your Monday: Cultivate Peace

You have the capacity to be a peacemaker. We need peacemakers in our world.

You are a peacemaker when you seek to better understand another person’s perspective, listen with your full attention, consider your response carefully, measure your words and show respect.

It doesn’t mean that you have to be in full agreement with the other person, but it does mean that you honor the light in that individual and you give him or her the respect to hold his or her own opinions, even if they are different from yours.

Doing so can help you look through the clutter and distraction of differences in order to find the light of common ground. That light will help you forge a path through differences to a place of compromise and respect.

Today, this week: Cultivate goodwill. Cultivate peace. Cultivate understanding. Be a peacemaker and brighten the world.