THE DAILY SPARK

FOR A NEW BEGINNING

In out-of-the-way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, This beginning has been quietly forming, Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire, Feeling the emptiness growing inside of you, Noticing how you willed yourself on, Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety And the gray promises that sameness whispered, Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent, Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled, And out you stepped onto new ground,  Your eyes young again with energy and dream, A path of plentitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;  Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;  Soon you will be home in a new rhythm, For your soul senses the world that awaits you. 

FROM:  TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEN US  A Book of Blessings by John O’Donohue

REFLECTION:

  • It is January 1st, 2021!  Reviewing 2020, what have you outgrown?  
  • What desires have you pushed aside… giving in to the “seduction of safety?”
  • As you move into a 2021, what courageous step is calling to you?
  • What new ground will fill you with energy and dream and make your eyes young again?
  • Awaken your spirit of adventure.  Find ease in risk!  Make a list and create a plan to embrace a new rhythm in 2021.

GET A LIFE

“People don’t talk about the soul very much anymore.  It’s much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit.  But a resume is cold comfort on a winter night, or when you’re sad or broke, or lonely or when you’ve gotten back the chest X-ray and it doesn’t look good…

Here’s my resume:  It’s not what my professional bio says, proud as I am of all that:

I’m a good mother to three good children.  I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.  I no longer consider myself the center of the universe.  I show up.  I listen.  I try to laugh.

I am a good friend to my husband.  I have tried to make my marriage vows mean what they say.  I show up .  I listen.  I try to laugh. 

I’m a good friend to my friends, and they to me.  Without them I would have nothing of interest to say to anyone, because I would be a cardboard cutout.  But I call them on the phone and I meet them for lunch.  I show up.  I listen.  I try to laugh.

You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are. 

So, I suppose the best piece of advice I could give anyone is pretty simple:  get a life.  A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you’d care so very much about those things if you developed an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast while in the shower? 

Get a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over a pond and a stand of pines.  Get a life in which you pay attention to the baby as she scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger. 

Turn off your cell phone..  Keep still.  Be present.

Get a life in which you are not alone.  Find people you love, and who love you.”

Excerpt from A SHORT GUIDE TO A HAPPY LIFE By Anna Quindlen

REFLECTION:

  • What does your resume look like … not your Professional Bio. 
  • Do you show up? Do you listen?  Do you laugh?
  • Are you present to your life?
  • As we turn the page to 2021, what kind of resume do you want to create (be). 
  • Start writing it today and … GET A LIFE!

START CLOSE IN

Start close in,

don’t take the second step

or the third,

start with the first

thing

close in,

the step

you don’t want to take.

…

Start right now

take a small step

you can call your own

don’t follow

someone else’s

heroics, be humble

and focused,

start close in,

don’t mistake

that other

for your own.

 

Start close in,

don’t take the second step

or the third,

start with the first

thing

close in,

the step

you don’t want to take.

Poem by David Whyte from his book RIVER FLOW New and Selected Poems

REFLECTION:

  • Is there a step you don’t want to take or have been delaying? What is it?
  • What is the first thing, the first step close in you need to take?”
  • Be bold and brave – take the step you can call your own.