Giving

Today, give everything you have. What you keep you lose forever. 

- sign above the football locker room at the University of Oregon

Dr. Seuss wrote, "Today is your day, your mountain is waiting, so get on your way." Get the most from your potential in words and deeds. Push to the limit and go beyond in all actions.  

Give something away. Consider giving a possession, a place in line, a parking spot, or a positive thought. Give without expectation. Giving is a great way to realize your abundance. 

What will give to a weary world?  

Describe your finest asset in detail. Which possessions do you hold onto?  Write about the feeling of giving them away. 

Practice giving by sending smiles to all you meet.  

Today, write to discover what giving means. 

Reach for your possibilities.

Intentions

  

 “You are what your deepest desire is. As your desire is, so is your intention. As your intention is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.” - from the Upanishads, Vedic text.

Why set intentions?

Intentions provide the ability to stay focused on core values. Never confused with a goal, an intention  flows with life's goals and how one engages with other individuals. Intentions align with an aim, purpose or attitude. They are heart driven and evoke feeling and purpose. Setting them brings heart and mind into alignment.

Everything in life begins with intention. 

Intentions provide the creativity that assists all needs.

The sense of well-being and reduction of emotional chaos will improve with intentions.

Wayne Dyer said, "Our intention creates our reality."  Many have heard, "What you think, you become."

During a yoga class or meditation, a focus on a specific intention brings the mind, thoughts, and heart into reality.

Setting an intention may involve a clear wish, a word, or phrase that's positive. Stay Open. Embrace: Strength. Softness. Compassion. Peace. Freedom. Connect with others.

Consider these intention initiators:

What matters the most to you?

What would you like to create, or nurture in your life?

What would you like to let go of?

How do you feel when you are your happiest self?

What fears would you like to release?

For what are you grateful?

Begin each day with clarity.

Work to Do

I go down to the shore in the morning

and depending on the hour the waves

are rolling in or moving out,

and I say, oh, I am miserable,

what shall —

what should I do? And the sea says

in its lovely voice:

Excuse me, I have work to do.

- Mary Oliver

Investigate distractions and mind clutter without resistance or judgment.

If negative thoughts linger and fluster, think of best case scenarios.

"Scatter joy," encourages Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Discover the work you need to do, encouraged by creativity and playfulness. 

Add humor. 

Breathe as you arrive at a sense of contentment from the cumulative effect.

"Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world." - Thich Nhat Hanh

Choices and Football

When asked why I appreciate the game of football (Oregon Ducks football) I replied, "It's like life. You evaluate the situation and make a choice; something happens." 

You make the another choice and you receive a different response. 

If you keep making the same choice and don't move forward, you try again. Penalties arrive when you make a really bad choice.

If you keep moving the ball on fourth down and don't kick it away, an opportunity presents for a first down or a score. 

Creative play calling and calculation create scores. Often it's a game of inches.

If you haven't scored by half time, it's how you finish the game.

Support helps with cheers from family and friends.

Winning and losing often result from factors beyond your control.

Think football today. Make your moves with calculated choices.

Consider all the possibilities.

Become the quarterback of your life. Try on other positions as well.

The Question of You

 

Imagine the dimensions of life beyond our galaxy.  

With the immensity of this vision in mind, reflect on your human form and circumstance. 


During your life, in what ways have you discovered the pulse of humanness and nature? Is it a scientific or spiritual search for you?  

Do you feel a combination of both?


Move from thinking of the immensity to daily life and choices you have made. What do you need to do to complete your life's work?

Delve into the question of You. 

Follow the notions.

Focus on Resilience

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny mattersto what lies within us. 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In Time magazine's, "The Science of Bouncing Back," Mandy Oaklander explores strategies for resilience. Oaklander reveals that while traumatic stressors can have a devastating impact on our health, “countless smaller stresses take a toll” on our bodies.

Resilience is defined as "the capacity to adapt successfully to challenges." The small things rather than the larger issues of life can bring us down. One resilience researcher feels the way we cope with little stressors strongly predicts how we’ll do when big stressors hit. 



Coping results in the small choices we make, rather than our personality traits.

Oaklander presents “Expert Tips for Resilience” as 10 ways to train brains and bodies to cope and bounce back. 

1.   Tap into your core (unshakable) beliefs.

2.   Use each stressor as an opportunity to learn.

3.   Do what you can to remain positive.

4.   Learn from a resilient mentor or coach.

5.   Don’t run away—confront those things that scare you.

6.   Look for and reach out to your support network in   difficult times.

7.   Keep your brain active and learn new things as often as you can.

8.   Exercise regularly.

9.   Live in the present—don’t dwell in the past.

10.  What trait, characteristic, skill or talent makes you the strong person you are? Own it and give yourself credit for this strength.

Ask yourself questions about your level of resilience. 




How do choices help you fit into the points above? Which cause the most challenge?




Focus on a resilience plan for the coming week.

Daily Harmony

How do we develop our potential to live with daily harmony?

An upbeat perspective adds a smile to the heart, cuts the risk of illness, and speeds recovery if sick. It adds pleasure to life and a sense of ease.  You're always ready for the situations life presents!

Striving for Happiness is not the answer. That illusive bluebird will mock you.  A sense of control over every aspect of life is not realistic or easy.  Especially when you try to control others' behavior.

Attempt to achieve harmony in your own life situations. That behavior builds resilience to stress. Self-empowerment becomes a health tool when you focus on actions that provide joy and work toward balance.

In a study of centenarians, people who live to 100 and beyond, researchers discovered several characteristics:

Centenarians complain less about discomfort than younger individuals.

They remain intellectually stimulated and have satisfying relationships.

Hundred-year-olds maintain interests in myriad activities.

They sleep well and take naps often.

They have developed techniques to deal with anxiety and depression.
 
A belief in a religion or spirituality adds to their life skills.

The centenarians believe in a search for contentment.  They realize
moods bounce around from low to high and they keep the rhythm going.

They smile more than most.

Three ideas for daily harmony

Life requires acceptance and balance. We can feel bombarded by negativity while standing at the grocery store's check out line. Rows of magazines shriek at us with headlines of absurdity and sensationalism. Use your creativity to turn those headlines into positive ones. Then, let someone with fewer items go ahead of you and share your smile.

Discover a life based on Gratitude for each moment and revel in your individual gifts. Find balance and energy in exercise and walks in nature. Focus the mind-body-spirit and breath during yoga practice.  Consider a meditation practice to learn mindfulness. Slip into yourself to benefit from all the sensations. Even the negative feelings become teachers.

While driving, avoid anxiety when other drivers tailgate or inconvenience you.  How do they drive with their knees while chugging coffee in one hand, cell phone in the other?  At the next Stop, begin a Laughter Exercise.  

Start with HO HO HO.  Add HEE HEE HEE.  Move into a wilder HA HA HA. Repeat adding a tune. Roll the windows down.  You will infect some cranky person in the car next to you or attract someone walking with his head down.

Begin a quest today for harmony.

Elephant and Bluebird

The earliest artists used animals as their subjects. Images of beasts dominate cave walls of Lascaux and Altamira. They tell stories of the prehistoric world.

Teaching stories and fables arrived later. Through the actions of animals, they showed children how to behave and the consequences of bad choices. Native American stories of coyote and raven abound.

Consider two animals to create a story of collaboration.

An elephant waded into the pond at a Wild Animal Park. With the sound of a trumpet, it tossed water from its trunk onto its back. 

Ripples from its skin sent droplets over its frame. 

A bluebird happened by and noticed this refreshment in the heat of the day.

“Hello,” the bird sang as it flew above the trunk.”How do you do that?”

“Ah, it's easy, “ the elephant responded. “ Would you like a spray?”

“Yes, I have flown for days from the north and would like a drink and bath.”  The bird flapped in motion just above the gray trunk. Soon the water sparkled from its feathers.

“You’re fortunate also to have wings,” smiled the elephant. “I’ve always admired birds in the sky and how they travel."

“It looks like we have ways to share our experiences,” said the bird, drying one feather at a time with its beak.

“So many animals here have talents to learn about,” said the elephant.

“Aren’t you frightened by the fierce ones?”

“Each has his or her own specialty,” the elephant moved deeper into the water. “Ah, this feels good.”

"What may I do for you?" asked the bluebird.

"Share your stories of flight," said the elephant.

While the elephant continued his bath, the bluebird flew above him, provided a few acrobatics and shared his adventures.

Welcome the First Day of Autumn

Autumn leaves don't fall; they fly. They take their time and wander on this, their only chance to soar. Reflecting sunlight, they swirled and sailed and fluttered on the wind drafts. - Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen

Autumn arrives in stealth. 
A click crisps the morning air.
Trees replace green with reds, oranges, yellows.
Sparkled by moonlight, harvest time begins.

Does seasonal change signal a need to make your own adaptations? What needs to change color in your life? 

Let the hidden emerge.

Autumnal awareness increases connections to elevate the spirit.

Discover expanded freedom of creativity and choices.

Find a true reverence for life.

Explode in self-expression.

             Explore passions.

Follow nature's examples. Nourish your roots and strengthen your foundation.

Upgrade your self-care.

Add a tingle and hint of humor to situations.

Notice a rose's smile

Invigorate the influences that nurture and support you.

Percolate with smiles.











Be like Snoopy and leaf peep.

"I can smell autumn dancing in the breeze. The sweet chill of pumpkin, and crisp sunburnt leaves." — 𝑨𝒏𝒏 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒌𝒆 

A Write Routine

"Improve your spare moments and they will become the brightest gems in your life." 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take time to evaluate your write routine.  Check on your writing fitness.

Do you follow the ritual of a daily workout to exercise your writing muscles?  

Which aspects of the process make you look forward to writing?

When you do not want to write, do you create diversions to make the routine fun? 

All writers have times they do not feel like writing. A difference exists between periodical feelings of not wanting to write and a dislike of the writing. Often a change in your current writing habit will provide new sparks when you feel cranky. Discover ways to muscle beyond temporary limitations.

Let free forms of writing stir the passion inside.

Freewriting energizes the fingers and brain.  Permit yourself to do it without the heavy lifting of judgment. Play music to inspire the flow.  Laugh as you tap the keys or push the pen.  Keep your writing fluid, fun and fanciful. 

Five to Ten Minute Drills:

Write your favorite quotations or poems across the top of the page and move into them with responses. Add sounds, scents and tastes. Go for ten minute sprints.           

Let your personality become reflected in writing. Try five minute push ups for each area: Rant. Rave. Applaud life. Write silliness beyond the seriousness. Be grateful.

Write chants you knew as a child for five minutes.

Take a ten minute break to breathe and stretch.  If you have a yoga practice, do a series of sun salutations.

For ten minutes, write about ways to jump into escape: Retreat. Rewind. Reflect.  

Ignite your writing with fantasy for five sit ups.

Get active in movement with nouns and verbs. Do it for a fun ten minute run.

If you just do not feel like writing, draw and doodle. Create lines, circles and fill them in with colors.  You may find words nudging to come out?  Add them.

Walk around the neighborhood and carry a notepad.  Stop every ten steps. Look up and around.  Write and move on to the next ten steps.

Write two lines that rhyme.  Let the words go where they want.  Dit a dot.  Flip a plot.  Let words fly. 

Distract yourself by singing and writing. Let your writing fears dance with creativity.

Use the above ideas to develop your own write routine. Exercise daily.

Travel Inside

 

It may be that when we no longer know what to do

we have come to our real work

and that when we no longer know which way to go

we have begun our real journey.  

- Wendell Berry

 ". . . wanderer, there is no path, the path is made by walking. By walking one makes the road, and upon glancing behind one sees the path that never will be trod again."

- Antonio Machado

Metaphorical thinking helps us connect to the secrets and mysteries inside. If one decides to experience what lurks behind the door or deep inside one's own cavern, self-knowledge awaits. 

Robert Frost felt, "poetry takes you to a place you have been and thought you'd never return to."

Return to the darkness. Bring a lantern for revitalization. Illuminate sensitivities. 

Take on the night.

Awaken

'The tools of language and thought are of real use to men only if they are awake - not lost in the dreamland of past and future. But in the closest touch with that point of experience where reality can alone be discovered: this moment." - Alan Watts

Each morning's awakening presents potential. The opportunity exists for thoughts and feelings to circulate wisdom and well-being. 

A morning bird flutters, dabbles in a dance of joy.

Begin the day in sensation. Bathe in scents and sounds.

Find silence within. 

Let unpleasant feelings pass. Notice instead of reacting. 

Stay in a moment of humor.

Discover positivity throughout the day rather than lingering on what does not work.

If feelings frustrate, name them. Negotiate with possibilities.

        Bring attention to nature's wonders.

Use each moment to awaken sensibilities and sensations.

Just Laugh

'Smiling is a case in which a simple art can have profound effects on the kind of experiences we have with other people and how they treat us."

 - Dale Jorgensen

Turn up those lips and keep them up. A smile lowers blood pressure. It enhances the immune system. Endorphins release along with a natural enhancement of serotonin.

When a situation makes you frustrated, adding a smile can help. It will create a tiny bit of joy.

Smiling back to others uplifts our spirits. We can improve things without anyone noticing.

Laughter begins the next step. Move beyond obstacles by stimulating your energy hormones.

Start with a hee hee hee. Move into a ho ho ho. Wriggle a little with your hands on your hips. You can do it.

Share your silliness. It might brighten someone's day.

Do something each day that provides energy just for you. 

Find gratitude for a small wonder.

Just Laugh