The DAILY SPARK Blog

LOVING OURSELVES

Can we be inclusive?  Can we be compassionate?  Can we be wise?  These are our challenges when it comes to the outer world, as they are within the interior world of our own minds and hearts.  Being reflections of each other affords infinite opportunities for shaping them both and being shaped by them.

Quote from ARRIVING AT YOUR OWN DOOR 108 Lessons in Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn

REFLECTION:

  • The Holidays can be a challenging time with relatives.  How can you be inclusive, be compassionate, be wise?
  • Take a pause: examine your outer world challenges, what reflections does this ask of you when examining your interior world?
  • Sometimes we must take the plank out of our own eye while pointing out the spec in another…

MAY I LIVE THIS DAY…

May I live this day

Compassionate of heart,

Clear in word,

Gracious in awareness,

Courageous in thought,

Generous in love.

Partial prayer from: TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEN US  A Book Of Blessings by John O’Donohue

REFLECTION:

  • As the Holiday gatherings commence, may you pause and embrace these words as a way of being.
  • Say these words particularly if you are entering a stressful situation with relatives.
  • May these words give you strength and a way of being this Holiday season.
  • HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

IMAGINE….

“You are so easy to love.  Never doubt this truth.  So many of us think we are hard to love, but it’s not true.  You are a joy to love and a delight, so see yourself as someone who is easy to love and worth cherishing.  Your mark on this world is so important.”

Quote by Maria Shriver … speaking about her daughter in an article from her weekly publication:  The Sunday Paper.

REFLECTION:

  • Maria Shriver wrote this for her daughter.  WHAT A GIFT!
  • Imagine receiving these words from a parent, a sibling, a friend. How would these words feel?
  • Perhaps you can offer some heartfelt words  as a gift for someone you love… a child, a spouse, a friend, a sibling.