--Katherine Sharp
For nearly two months we have contemplated the journey within to authenticity. Perhaps you’ve started to let gratitude till the soil of your soul, preparing it for the seeds of Simple Abundance: finding the Sacred in the ordinary, realizing that all you have is all you need, welcoming creative choices, and savoring life’s small moments. Maybe you’ve set aside time to begin a daily dialogue in search of your authentic self, indulged in the pleasure of dreaming with the illustrated discovery journal, or embarked on the golden mirror meditation to meet the person within.
Then again, maybe you haven’t…
If you wonder why I suspect this, it’s because I’ve been where you are now. I know. I know how days, weeks, months, even years can escape your grasp. I know what it is like to put everyone else’s needs before your own so that you can’t find a half-hour a day for yourself. I know how easy it is to find heartfelt excuses for why you can’t begin something new even if you yearn to, desperately. I know how easily the word “tomorrow” slips out unconsciously. Tomorrow you’ll begin. Tomorrow. All this I know.
But what I know most of all is that reading about a journey is not the same thing as taking one.
Now that I’ve gotten your attention, let me tell you about the rest of the year. Each day from now on we’re going to use the daily grist of our real lives as a cause for celebration. That’s right, celebration. I have learned many lessons on the Simple Abundance path. Chief among them is that the details of our days do make a difference in our lives, that no experience is ever just for drill, and that everything can be a springboard for inspiration if we are willing to be open to the goodness of life.
How many times in the past have we chosen not to change our lives for the better simply by not choosing? Today, make a choice. Choose to continue on the Simple Abundance path or close this book now. If you choose to close the book, my blessings accompany you. May peace and plenty be your portion. Pass this book on to a friend.
If you are still with me, you know what you need to do today, not tomorrow. Take another look at your life. Give thanks. Accept your circumstances. Give thanks. Count your blessings. Give thanks. Show up for each day’s meditation. Be willing to give the basic tools a fair chance. They can help you find your way. Above all, have faith in yourself and Divine Change. “One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time,” the French writer Andre Gide warns us.
Set the sails. Pull anchor. Cast away. Feel the wind at your back keep your eyes on the horizon.
Or stay on the shore.
But choose.
-Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance - A Daybook of Comfort and Joy©1995
Spring gets closer, and closer. Life begins, once again, the cycle of reawakening, rebirth, and growth. I love this time of year.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, said, “Let knowledge grow from more to more, but more of reverence in us dwell; That mind and soul according well, may make one music as before.” Reverence is the altered state of consciousness when you feel awe and wonder because you know you are in the presence of Spirit. Reverence enwraps you in perfect peace because there is no past or future, only the present moment, and you are one with Heaven and earth.
Real Life - the real life of joy we are meant to be living - begins when we restore a sense of reverence to our daily affairs. Today, search for the Sacred in the ordinary with gratitude in your heart and you will surely find it.
Michael
email: Michael@N-Spire.com
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