Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gratitude. Show all posts

Monday, January 17, 2011

SUNRISE - January 17, 2011

January 17, 2011 Sunrise 21 am
"We should every night call ourselves to an account; what infirmity have I mastered today? What passions opposed? What temptation resisted? What virtue acquired? Our vices will abort of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift." – Seneca

As we all are our own worst enemies and perhaps our sharpest critics, the daily calling to account the goals, hopes , dreams and promises made for this day will do one or the other: I will be inspired onward for yet another day with new dreams and promises or step back from my goal and give TIME the lead. 

Like a horse unbridled, rushing towards the unknown of a dark forest, TIME cannot be reined in or reversed, but it can be guided left and right, like a sailboat using the opposing wind to race to its desired destination.  It is not the destination, but rather the journey that is the best adventure.

I spent a bit of time working on my gratitude list at Sunrise today.  The obvious went on paper first: family, friends, shelter, etc. But, I soon realized that although these must be on the list (and sadly, some cannot put these on their list) I felt I needed to move up one category above things to the category a but more ethereal.

Love.

I am grateful that I am able to love and be loved.

The list is still growing.  I will share what is on my list, in no discernible order, in following posts.  Writing the list was an incredibly gratifying exercise I highly recommend.  Write down all the obvious: spouse, children, family, warm house, car that works, job that is secure, etc. first.

Tear that page off and put it aside temporarily. 

Now, start on the real list, with the caveat that it can’t be a thing that can be ‘seen’ or ‘touched’.  Watch how long the list gets.  As it is said, “The most important things in life aren’t things”.

This list, edited and reviewed daily,  will pretty much coat my day with Teflon where disenchantment and disappointments just can’t seem to stick.

rlw

Sunday, January 9, 2011

SUNRISE - January 9, 2011

 “In just two days from now, tomorrow will be yesterday”. – shared by Pila of Hawaii

It is interesting how our undeveloped future, our events that have not yet happened, our magnificent experiences that have not been even imagined, all will soon be history, disappearing at lightning speed,  in our rear view mirror.

January 9, 2011 Sunrise 7:24 am
What do we choose to carry forward into tomorrow, like a wayfaring traveler light of burden, bereft of pack, with only the vessel of our mind and soul to hold whatever value we glean from today?  Tomorrow holds all the promise in the world.  All things are still possible.  It is the aura of the Christmas Eve of our youth when the Appaloosa pony and bright shiny skates were still achievable, our dreams neither dashed nor fulfilled; when we still believed.

The constant flow of time, like a surging river that will not be stopped as it moves unrelenting towards the sea, will have its destiny as it arrives inevitably at yesterday. Boulders, trees, bends and turns have interaction with the water’s flow, but not its ultimate destination. The seemingly immovable earth is sculptured, polished, or slowly ground into sand and soon, oblivion. 

Man is the rock.  Daily, the magnificent boulder or tiny stone that we perceive ourselves to be has an interaction with the flow of TIME, as its essence rushes over, under, around and through us, unrelentingly seeking tomorrow.  How do we use that moment?  The daily concert of our lives exposes us to a world premier of sounds never before heard by anyone else.  What do we desire to garner from the notes as they touch us?  They are not ours to hold, to possess, nor to own.  They are only ours to enjoy, experience, hear and to learn.  Do we choose to deny, ignore, disregard, or turn a deaf ear to the day by day message that explains who and what we are, how we came to this moment, and what we are to become tomorrow? When we listen, our soul is sculpted and polished.  Anything less grinds our spirit to sand [Sand n. Small loose grains of worn or disintegrated rock].

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives”.  ~ Annie Dillard

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

SUNRISE - December 29, 2010

December 29, 2010 Dawn 7:08 am
Watching the dawn glow and the Sunrise every morning,  even with just the last scant four days I have newly "focused" on this daily phenomenon.  The experience is beginning to illicit a noticeable change in my attitude and my gratitude.

We have all witnessed a multitude of Sunrises in our life.  When we were younger and more foolish, we tried to get home "before" Sunrise and we often didn't always quite make it.  Many more times, as we became more "Mature" (God help us) we saw them through our windshield, as we tried to get to work on time.  In both instances, the Sunrise was an icon marker proclaiming how foolish, time challenged, late, overworked, under organized, etc. (none of which seems to hold a positive connotation) we were.


How often have we actually "intentionally" watched the Sunrise for the sheer benefit of being cognizant of the miracle and opportunity it represents (the 60's don't count; if you were there you know why)?  

Why do we refer to an epiphany (a sudden realization of great truth) as having an idea "dawn" on usDoes our great idea begin to emerge as "dawn" and then is more fully realized at "Sunrise"?


December 29, 2010 Sunrise 7:23 am
We have daily planners and iPhone calendars, appointment  secretaries, but none is greater than the silent, non-electric, "TIME", that is provided to us in the early moments of a daily Sunrise.  How can we more effectively control our use of time with daily intent?

“So often we allow life to dictate to us how we live and what we do. We become a victim of our own circumstances with no purpose, design or intent. Living a life of intent means we take charge of our lives and direct ourselves to whom and where we want to be. Intent won't just happen it takes effort and commitment.” TerriR

Light following darkness, knowledge following questions, enlightenment following confusion.  Carpe Diem.

rlw


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