Be Open to New Ways

When you expect nothing,
you can receive everything as a marvelous gift.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Expect nothing.
Live frugally on surprise.
- Alice Walker

Expectation is the root of all heartache.
- William Shakespeare

It is important to expect nothing,
to take every experience,
including the negative ones,
as merely steps on the path,
and to proceed.
- Ram Dass

Mostly, it is human to dislike surprises -
often with great intensity.
Be open to new ways;
sometimes newness just knocks on our door;
welcome it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Choose Joy Anyway

Know the Difference

Cheer for Endings
     

Choose to Create Joy

We cannot choose our external circumstances,
but we can always choose how to respond to them.
- Epictetus

It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are,
or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy.
It is what you think about.
- Dale Carnegie

Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
- Charles R. Swindoll

Could we change our attitude,
we should not only see life differently,
but life itself would be different.
- Katherine Mansfield

We can always choose to perceive things differently.
You can focus on what's wrong in your life,
or you can focus on what's right.
- Marianne Williamson

Today's affirmation:
I choose to create joy in my life.
Whatever my external circumstances,
I choose to see all of life through joyful eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Your attitude determines the quality of your life

You are the Window

Look Beyond the Cloud 
         

Fully Experience THIS Moment

Fully experience THIS moment -
breathe in, breathe out - nothing more.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious
privilege it is to be alive -
to breathe,
to think, to enjoy, to love.
- Marcus Aurelius

Be Here Now
- Ram Dass

He who can give thanks for little
will always find he has enough.
- Anonymous

Further reading: Nurture Yourself Today

Give Thanks

Gratitude and Life

Be Fully Present in TODAY
     

Keep Close to Nature's Heart

 

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt,
head in the sun, heart with nature.
To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body,
but the soul.
- Alfred Austin

The goal of life is
to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe,
to match your nature with Nature.
- Joseph Campbell

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.
- Standing Bear

Keep close to Nature's heart...
and break clear away, once in awhile,
and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.
Wash your spirit clean.
- John Muir

Further reading: Renew Yourself

Set Your Rhythm

All Life

Nature's Messengers

Our Children's Earth
   

Try the Inner Smile Exercise

 

Although it is always better to live with conviction and enthusiasm,
some days it is better just to go through the motions than to do nothing.
Smile even when you feel grumpy.
Meditate or Pray even when you have nothing to say to God.
Cook a healthy meal even when you are tired.
Walk or exercise even when the thought doesn't excite you.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Act the way you'd like to be
and soon you'll be the way you act.
- Leonard Cohen

Repeat anything often enough
and it will start to become you.
- Tom Hopkins

A smile that begins as an effort and a pretense
quickly grows to become genuine,
and given time, a habit of happiness.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
but sometimes your smile
can be the source of your joy.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Inner Smile Exercise:
1. Close your eyes.
2. Breath slowly, deeply, and consciously.
3. Set the corners of your mouth in just the slightest smile.
4. Visualize your smile growing larger and larger, and your happiness increasing.

Further reading: Ten Little Tips to Feel Happier Right Now

Choose Your Habits, Choose Your Life

Grin your smile; giggle your laugh; unfurl your joy

Practice makes perfect - sometimes 

Tending the Garden of Our Lives

Overcome Being Negative
     

Let go of the need for approval

 

Move to your heart, Breathe.
Close your eyes and breathe deeply - slowly -
fill your lungs with love and gratitude -
exhale each and every trouble -
again and again - gratitude in, troubles out.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Inhale, and God approaches you.
Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you.
Exhale, and you approach God.
Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God.
- Krishnamacharya

The moment you start seeing life
as non-serious, a playfulness,
all the burden on your heart disappears.
All the fear of death, of life,
of love - everything disappears.
- Osho

Breath by breath, let go of fear, expectation, anger,
regret, cravings, frustration, fatigue.
Let go of the need for approval.
- Lama Surya Das

Today's affirmation:
Slowly and Deeply, I Inhale a Calming Breath.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Breathe In, Breathe Out

Breathe deeply and rejoice

Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Conscious Breathing to Relieve Stress
   

Luck marches with those who give their very best

 

Those who have succeeded at anything
and don't mention luck
are kidding themselves.
- Larry King

Luck is preparation meeting opportunity.
- Seneca

I find that the harder I work,
the more luck I seem to have.
- Thomas Jefferson

Remember that not getting what you want
is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.
- Harry Golden

Luck marches with those who give their very best.
- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Further reading: Aging With Grace

Maybe So, Maybe Not

Get Un-Stuck