THE DAILY SPARK

ACCEPTING WHAT IS

Acceptance doesn’t by any stretch of the imagination mean passive resignation.  Quite the opposite.  It takes a huge amount of fortitude and motivation to accept what is – especially when you don’t like it – and then work mindfully as best you possibly can with the circumstances you find yourself in, and with the resources at your disposal to be in a wise relationship to what is, which may mean at some point acting to mitigate, heal, redirect, or change what can be changed.

From: the book ARRIVING AT YOUR OWN DOOR  108 Lessons in Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn

REFLECTION:

  • Think about a time you accepted what was.  How did you go about arriving at that place?
  • Is there something happening in your life right now that you can accept?  Do you need to act to mitigate, heal redirect or change it?  What is one step you can take to make this shift?

     

Read more about the article Your Move…

Your Move…

Every action can be seen as expressing love or asking for love.

Concept from A Course in Miracles.

REFLECTION:

  • What action have you taken that has expressed love?

  • What is an action you have taken that is “asking for love”?

  • What one thing can you do today to express love? 

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 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 plenitude 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.

BLESSING by John O’Donohue from his book To Bless the Space Between Us.

REFLECTION:
As you begin a New Year, reflect on what has been “quietly forming, awaiting for you to emerge?
How have you been playing it safe?
What is one thing you will you commit to doing today to awaken your spirit of adventure and risk?
What is a new habit or behavior you will commit doing/being to ensure this new rhythm is how you will live this year?