Happy Quote

It is said that when a butterfly flaps its wings, that energy flows thousands of miles away. And a silent blessing or thought of love toward others contains a vibration that will be felt throughout the cosmos.

--Wayne Dyer

The Art of Saying Yes!

After typing the title of this entry, the Jim Carey movie where he has to say yes to everything comes to mind. If you saw it, you will recall that he was quite the practiced curmudgeon and made himself -- and everyone around him -- pretty miserable. After he changes modes cool things start happening. He gets the girl, starts doing things he loves, and has a pretty wild ride... until it all goes horribly wrong.

I think that potential -- the part where the wheels come off -- is the reason so many of us are so practiced at turning down wonderful opportunities. We are intrigued, but then we start our litany of what-ifs and what-would-they-thinks and it's-too-good-to-be-trues.

We've learned -- often the hard way -- that it's a better bet to stick with the plan. Even if it makes us miserable.

You may have heard the term "calculated risk" bandied about. Finance people love it. Well, I am proposing a different approach. How about a calculated leap? A delicious risk?

The best thing about saying yes is that you get what you want on the other side of it! Expanding our options, offering gratitude, and leaping for those proverbial rings all allow new life into our days.

As the saying goes, "If you aim for the moon and miss, you are still among the stars."

So, next time someone offers you a chance of a lifetime, jump...

for joy!

Happy Lady

My Aunt Glenda was one of the happiest people I've ever known.

Now, this is particularly remarkable because, from all appearances, she had little or nothing to be happy about. She had cancer for about a decade and bounced from hospital to hospital enduring every possible torture in the form of treatment. Add to this picture a hard life in the Virginia mountains, raising two boys on one salary, isolated from the "stuff" that most of our family takes for granted.

But she had everything that mattered. She and my uncle seemed to adore one another. She laughed a lot -- often at herself -- and possessed a fearsome faith in a God that watched out for her and those she loved. She didn't claim to understand why she had cancer, but would point out that without it, she wouldn't have taken her witness beyond the road where she was born, lived, and died.

Every time I conjure up an image of Aunt Glenda she is smiling and laughing -- mane of red hair matching the blush that was often inspired by her realization that we were paying her any mind.

I left a pomegranate on her gleaming white casket. It seemed fitting... plump, red, and filled with little seeds. That happy lady certainly spread her share of little seeds... faith, laughter, humility, and hope.

Such a lovely, lovely legacy.

Happy Quote

We write to taste life twice -- in the moment and in retrospection.

-- Anaïs Nin

Blissfully Organized Life

A couple of years ago I picked up a book called The Life Organizer: A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Year by Jennifer Louden. I loved the pretty cover and the full-color pages filled with thoughtful ways to redefine the traditional day planner method of organizing days and weeks into a more organic, soul-flowing method of structuring my life.

The reality was that my time was not my own. I half jokingly told people that I wasn't allowed to write on my own calendar. The state department where I worked expected me to book their meetings first, other department meetings next, and somewhere down the list I was allowed to squeeze in my family's needs. My needs weren't even on the radar. Lunch was often a package of crackers on the elevator. How in the world was I going to shift from this hyper-structured life to basing my days on "what experience or feeling do I yearn for today?"

It felt like I was standing in the arctic circle longing for a beach vacation. The divide seemed uncrossable.

Fast forward two years.

In this time, I have made some changes. That state department job is a vague memory. I still work in the same field -- working toward an inclusive community where people are beloved and honored for their many assets and supported in those areas where they struggle -- but in a very different capacity.

My days are my own.

Sure, I still have schedules to follow -- dropping off and picking up children, appointments, meetings, and deadlines -- but there is a more organic flow to my days. I work from my home office overlooking nearly 7 acres of trees and grass. I allow margin in my days. There is time to think and read and study and prepare for those deadlines and meetings and appointments.

I am less available but more present.

Thanks, Jennifer, for sending the map to a way of life I didn't even know was possible.

It is bliss.

Love

You know what the most important thing in life is? Love. Love of God and love of family. It doesn’t get any better than that. Amen!

Rain

It has been so terribly hot and dry lately. A few mornings ago I opened my eyes and thought it was much too early to get up as it was still dark. Then I heard the soft rumbling of thunder in the distance. I smiled thinking that we were finally going to get some rain. And, I was right! When I did get up I had to turn on lights. I like those days when you can hear the rain falling; it makes things inside seem so much cozier.

Playing in the Dirt

Are we ever too old to play in the dirt? I don’t think so. The smell of the dirt tells you if it is truly good soil—soil that can grow flowers, vegetables, or grass. I really don’t mind getting dirty—it’s a good kind of dirty, don’t you think? We are spreading topsoil readying our backyard for sod. I look forward to having some green grass to walk barefoot in. Do you suppose we’re ever too old to walk barefoot?