Tag: living half full

Expecting Green To Be Blue

Expecting Green To Be Blue

Funny how most of the important parts of our lives don’t come with any instructions. But buy a $10 toaster and inside the box you’ll find an owner’s manual with detailed instructions on how to turn soft room temperature bread into warm crusty bread. Usually this information is translated into several different languages, ensuring that a language barrier will never prevent any one from enjoying the simple pleasures of toast.

As much as I enjoy toast and the science and technology behind it, I’d like to think that a troubleshooting guide to life’s deeper questions would be far more valuable than figuring out how to get my bread to toast a little lighter.

Life, and all the questions that come along with it, is just one of those things you have to figure out on your own.

Perhaps life is just far too complicated to have all its mysteries resolved by following a few simple steps. And since no two of us are Continue reading “Expecting Green To Be Blue” →

Your Mother Did Not Give Birth to a Cubic Zirconia

Your Mother Did Not Give Birth to a Cubic Zirconia

My dog doesn’t have earrings. And neither do I.

But everyone else in my house does, along with their collection of rings, bracelets, and necklaces. None of which belong to me.

Or my dog.

Jewelry. It gets dirty and dull sometimes. Gunk like hair spray, soap, gel and other yucky stuff build up and the jewelry loses it’s sparkle. From what they tell me, the best way to clean such delicate items is by using ultrasonic sound waves. Rings and bracelets are placed in a small water-filled container and the thousands of microscopic bubbles created by vibrations within the container gently remove all the dirt particles.

Once cleansed, the jewelry regains it’s original luster, allowing it to shine as brightly and radiantly as it originally did.

Life has a way of coating all of us with it’s own residue of yucky stuff which can prevent Continue reading “Your Mother Did Not Give Birth to a Cubic Zirconia” →

Why You Really Need To Hug Your Toaster

Why You Really Need To Hug Your Toaster

Perhaps your toaster is trying to tell you something?

I never think about my toaster. Even when I’m plugging it in. Even when I’m putting my English muffins into the over-sized slots. I never think about my toaster.

My toaster is just sitting there on the counter. It’s always been on my counter. Probably always will be, too. It’s just one of those props on the set of my mornings, just like the coffee maker and the can opener.

My relationship with my toaster is decidedly one-sided. It’s always been about what the toaster can do for me. White, wheat, or Continue reading “Why You Really Need To Hug Your Toaster” →

Be Your Own Sunshine

Be Your Own Sunshine

Are you waiting for the world to make you happy, waiting for the warmth of the sun to make you smile?

We’re all hoping for sunshine, but in the end the weatherman, no matter how experienced and informed, is basing his forecast on something he really has no control over.

Sort of how we hope for happiness.

So much of the happiness we seek is far too dependent upon forces we do not control. We empower things external to placate the internal. We Continue reading “Be Your Own Sunshine” →

There Are Beavers In Your Head And They Are Holding You Back

We all have beavers in our heads.

Beavers are second only to humans in their ability to reshape their physical environment. They are perhaps best known for their prolific dam building, obstructing the natural flow of rivers and streams to create protective water depths to shield themselves from predators.

The beavers in our head? They kind of work the same way. They work building psychologically restrictive dams, obstructing life’s natural flow of abundance and unlimited possibilities, all under the guise of protecting us from our own perceived predators.

The beavers in our heads are nothing more than those negative thoughts which perpetuate the lies about ourselves we somehow believe to be Continue reading “There Are Beavers In Your Head And They Are Holding You Back” →

Indifferently Ever After?

Eventually even the new becomes oblivious. Ultimately the vibrancy of just about anything simply fades to black.

In a culture of attainment, we often spend far too much time attaining than appreciating all we’ve already gathered into our lives.

Especially when it comes to the people we share our lives with.

Does your someone special know they are still special? Or do you assume they just know it, even though they can’t remember the last time you made them feel that way? And neither can you?

Think of the significant relationships you have in your life as a child, parent, sibling, partner, friend…even your relationship with your self. Has what once made these relationships resonate so deeply within you been tempered by the unintentional but perhaps inevitable cloud of indifference?

None of us would probably look at our relationships and accuse ourselves of becoming indifferent. But while indifference isn’t the intention, often it becomes the result, no matter how well we “justify” our excuses.

Sometimes we just lose our way when we focus on what we think we are missing. A slight shift in focus towards what we already have is the first step on the path leading us back home.

The greatest gift we can ever give is the gift of ourselves, wrapped in love and tied with a bow of compassion. Such a gift restores the original lustre to any relationship, returning the magic to the magical, uplifting both the sender and the recipient.

But even the greatest gift is useless if it is never given.

In a challenging world we all call home, has there ever been a more important time for giving the gift of your love?

Love is always best served proactively.

It’s a great day to be you!

Every Day Is The First Day Of Spring

I couldn’t help notice the ugliness, sitting in the drive-thru line waiting to get my morning iced coffee. Winter has finally taken it’s toll on my psyche. As I look around all I see is brown and grey. Barren trees and dead grass. It’s like someone drained all the color out of life. Taking comfort in knowing Spring is less than a week away, I am sustained by it’s promise and expectations.

Spring has always been an uplifting time for me, even during my years of spiritual immaturity. A more enlightened version of me now sees the significance of the season. Rebirth. Renewal. Resurrection.

“To everything there is a season” say the Bible and Pete Seeger. The seasons ebb and flow in and out of our lives on their divine time frame, well outside of our control, each with something to teach us should we make ourselves available to learn.

AWAKENING In each of our lives we experience our own seasons. Seasons of light and seasons of darkness, of sowing and reaping, of laughter and silence. The challenges of life can drop us into our own unscheduled winter, the bitter chill of isolation and uncertainty leaving us emotionally frostbitten.

We may find ourselves in the grasp of such a winter, but how long we stay there is up to us.

Spring is always around the corner.

Spring is a mindset of divine promise and expectations, always readily available should we choose to realign ourselves with our own divine perfection. Any day can be the day of our own rebirth, our own renewal, our own resurrection, regardless of the storms and trials swirling around us at the moment. Spring is available, right here, right now, simply awaiting our decision to claim it.

What in your life is lying dormant, in need of awakening?

The good news is every day is the first day of Spring.

It’s a great day to be you!

The Paradox of Surrender

The plan is simple. Just admit that you’re stuck, out of any of your own options, and that you’re willing to concede the overall guidance of your life to someone else.

But, wait. This is America. Who stands up and professes their own inability to navigate the waters of their own life? Isn’t stuff like this frowned upon in our culture?

Any quest toward personal spiritual growth inevitably encounters the concept of surrender, when you “let go and let God”, when you realign yourself with your Source and actively trust the Divine Guidance to light your way. For some, letting go is a conscious rational choice. For me, I went kicking and screaming. Surrender was the only option when I ran out of options of my own. It’s never a proud moment when life brings you Continue reading “The Paradox of Surrender” →

The Marketing Genius of Satanic Ventriloquism

He’s been called the Prince of Darkness, even the Antichrist.

But a marketing genius?

Growing up, my religious education included many discussions about Satan, but never once did “marketing genius” come up in the conversation. But Satan has a business to run, and marketing is a critical part of his business plan.

From a marketing perspective, Satan has a very difficult product to sell. How do you sell people on the idea of never living up to their own greatness, of never becoming all they were created to be?

Continue reading “The Marketing Genius of Satanic Ventriloquism” →

Standing On The Edge Of Your Greatest Possibilities

A prayer and a parachute hoping to tame the laws of gravity and return him safely to the Earth below.

I watched in awe when Felix Baumgartner gave a wave with his right hand, stood up, and stepped off his capsule 24 miles above New Mexico. I watched the footage of his jump several times, more amazed with every viewing.

During one playback I paused the footage a few seconds before Felix began his jump. The camera angle was directly above Felix, offering an encompassing view of him standing outside the capsule Continue reading “Standing On The Edge Of Your Greatest Possibilities” →