The Night Sky

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Have you ever paused to be with the sky at sunset? When I pause for just a minute, what I notice most is how quickly it changes. Blink and I miss something! The same thing is true with a baby, yes? Turn around, let a week pass by, and that infant has visibly changed!

Hear this: the same is true for you and everyone you know. Each of us is as ever-changing as the night sky and the baby. The difference is, we don’t hold this truth in our awareness or feel its power. Take a moment. Breathe. Who you were yesterday, last week, last year, is so very different from you in this moment: your thoughts, the cells in your body, your emotions. Maybe the folks around you at work and home are the same folks as last year – maybe not. But you are different. They are different. So I ask:

Do you expect “same”?
Do you allow yourself to grow and change?
Do you allow others to grow and change?

If you believed that you and others are as ever-changing as the night sky:

What would be possible?
What would you see when you looked in the mirror?
How might your relationships expand?

Obstacles in your way?

Bring to mind a situation, relationship, belief that both challenges you and that you are ready to experience shift around.  

Got it?  Now:

  • What is the outcome you wish to achieve?
  • What is your tentative deadline?
  • What three main obstacles keep you from success?
  • What steps will take you beyond each obstacle?
  • What can you commit to now?

Who can you lift up today?

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This morning I’ve felt very much connected to others – yet I haven’t left home. What’s that about? It’s about reading e-mails in which they’ve shared what they are creating in this world and being inspired. Moreover, I was inspired to take action of the type: “How can I support you?”

We really are in this together, are we not?
What have you ever done totally by yourself?
What if each of us made a commitment to lift another up today …
and every day?

For a bit of extra inspiration, listen to Chris Foster’s, Be Peace Expressing.

Celebrating Fathers

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Today is a day set aside to honor those who have served as father figures in our lives. For some, this is Dad. For others, it may not be. Some of us are celebrating the father that guided our children. Whoever you may be honoring today, consider asking yourself:

  • What qualities do I most admire in this father figure?
  • What lessons did I learn?
  • What am I most grateful for?

Then, if you are so fortunate that you can connect with this person, please tell them! If not, perhaps today you recommit to bringing their qualities and values alive in your life.

Self-Judgment

Today I sang one of my favorite songs from Stowe Dailey Shockey, May My Heart Break Open, and heard a new message for me in its refrain:

This is my prayer.
This is my plea.
Could you blind me to all separation I might see.
Bring down the walls. Let judgment fall away.
May my heart break open today.

While I had always interpreted these lyrics as an invitation to release my judgment of others, today I heard a call to bring down the wall of judgment “in me – towards me”.

How do you block yourself from YOU with self-judgment?
In what ways is your heart unable to love YOU?