Do you remember the Twilight books? I've never forgotten when Bella says, “Without the darkness, we’d never see the stars.” This month when the hours of daylight are outweighed by darkness, it's good to remember to look up and count the metaphorical stars shining in the moments of your day to day life.
Some years it is easy to count my Thanksgiving blessings. Some years it isn't. No matter the struggle, I have found that there are moments that I wouldn't change. Noticing these is the key to a thankful heart.
We all have them - moments that forever demarcate before and after. In these defining moments, we have a choice. We can cling to what was - working desperately to get back to normal. Or we can choose to be curious - wondering about the possibilities of what lies ahead. It is a choice that will make all the difference in the way we experience our lives.
I love laughing and expect you do too. But did you know that laughing is more than just good fun? It can instantly sooth your worries and make you a better learner too.
What happens in your head when you sit or lie down to rest? Are you, like me, making lists? Maybe repeating those lists over and over so you don't forget when you stand up? Are you so busy wondering if you've had enough rest that you're hardly resting at all? Why do so few of us not know how to truly rest? Resting both requires and teaches us to be where our body is. Being fully present like this is a skill that is really hard for us, but that makes us much happier people.
Five years ago, I began to practice a pace of life that Matthew McConaughey calls a saunter. A slower pace and less jam-packed days feel a hundred times better than my whirling dervish of a busy life ever did. Living this way takes work, but it has been well worth the effort.
Do you make it a point to exercise your creativity? What you do doesn’t have to involve art. And it doesn’t have to result in a giftable or even Instagram-able product. It doesn’t even have to be useful. Creativity doesn't have to have a point beyond the fact that pausing to take a break from your regularly scheduled life to be creative can change the way you see and do everything.
Death can feel like an eraser. Not only does it erase, but death changes everyone left behind. Because their lives and deaths changed us, our lost loved ones continue to make a mark on the world through us. Because we live on - laughing and crying, dancing and mourning - they live on in us.
When life is churned up, the chaotic details of all that has to get done can feel overwhelming. It may sound counterintuitive, but instead of focusing harder on all that's happening, you might try focusing softer. Seeing the whole picture can steady us even in times of great upheaval.