Honor your Spirit.
Think about the relationship you have with God, the Universe, whatever you decide to name it. Whatever your traditions are, whatever path you are on…devote yourself to it. Whether you are reading scriptures or meditating give it your full attention.
Be inspired. Listen to others. Keep a journal. Value your self, your spirit, your higher power, your friends, neighbors, the strange lady on the bus. The same higher power is within all of us. Within all living things. Accept that but for our outer shells, the body we are in…we are all of the same spirit. Treat all others with kindness and respect regardless of what you have been conditioned to believe. We’re all linked together. What we do, think, feel impacts the lives of others as well as our self. Support one another.
Celebrate! Celebrate birth, death, a move, growing a garden, your children, your family, friends old and new, weather, nature, etc. Let it all sink in, create memories that will be recalled upon over the years. Beautiful memories to bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart. Celebrate your personal growth. Celebrate differences between yourself and others. Turn them into a source of strength and joy from which you can draw. Think of them as an enrichment to life rather than letting them continue to make the world a miserable place filled with hate, fear, nastiness, greed and so many other negative qualities.
Mahatma Gandhi said: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Take a few moments to focus, reflect and celebrate. Enjoy the little blessings and you can recall them often.
Think about the relationship you have with nature. Just as we apply the golden rule to people, we should also apply it to nature. When I truly think about this it reminds me of Native Americans. I don’t know if it’s like this in other parts of the world, but in the US we seem to have grown to believe that we ‘own’ things. And once we own them they are ours to do what we wish with them. I think we need to contemplate some basic ancient beliefs and start seeing ourselves as caretakers for life. For nature. We need to understand that to live in harmony with nature keeps everything in balance like our ancient ancestors understood.
Honor the great spirit in all living things.
We know that plants have a reaction to how they are treated. Many children perform these experiments as science projects. They tend one plant with love & kind words and the other plant without. You can see an astonishing difference in the growth, the output, the life of the plants. There is a direct reflection in what you give the plant…to what the plant gives you.
You can learn a lot about life if you just pay attention to the nature around you. It warns us of impending storms, it gives shelter, warmth, wind, food. It will relax you if you listen and are still. It will amaze you and delight your eyes, your mind if you just take a moment to truly watch, absorb, see. Appreciate it. Nurture it. Enjoy it. Respect it.
From the book Zen-Sational Living, written by Sheila Burke. Reprinted with permission from ZenSationalLiving.com
