Aligning with Grace

Advent - a Time for Giving and Receiving Joy Joy is one of the greatest gifts that we can have and we can give - not only at this time of year that naturally invites it and elicits it - but in every other season as well! "Joy is prayer -  Joy is strength - Joy is love - Joy is a net of love by which you catch souls. She gives most who gives with joy." - Mother Teresa "Never miss a joy in this world of trouble... that's my theory! Happiness, like mercy, is twice blessed: it blesses those most intimately associated with it and it blesses all those who see it, hear it, touch it or breathe the same atmosphere." - Kate Douglas Wiggin Feel joy, and spread joy. And remember, that ancient Egyptians could only cross over to the next life if they could affirm that in that lifetime, they had indeed found and received joy.... (A Repost) www.meditationsimple.com

Happiness is, more often than not, elusive. But it really depends on how we define it - or what we think makes us happy. This morning, I read an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The interviewer had to wait for her to finish a photo shoot with the esteemed Annie Liebovitz, who was very apologetic for keeping Oprah longer than expected. Oprah's response caught me my surprise. She told Liebovitz not to worry. While she was with her, she was fully present to those moments and those experiences. Later she would be with the interviewer, and then she would be fully present in that moment with him, no longer thinking or concerned with the photo shoot.  This is the first key to happiness I thought, being fully in the moment. Not in the past - and not in the future. That is not to say that this is an easy task! Earlier this week, I listened to a webinar where the presenter said something very similar. She noted the past does not exist - it is only a memory we insist on bringing back t...

They say, you don't need much to be happy... They say, that happiness is a choice, or a state of mind or being, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around that today... In a few short hours, I will attend the wake of a young woman, a beloved former student, cut down in the prime of her youth, at the same time that I await to hear if a nephew will be hospitalized... And somehow, in my heart of hearts, I know that all these things are true - happiness is a choice - it comes from living more fully in the present and accepting all that is - as it is. And I know that it is gratitude that opens the door... I have tried to learn this lesson this year. I have tried to embody it - and yet it still eludes me. I know that illusion occludes this reality from being fully understood and embraced... I have walked this last week or so - listening to these lyrics by Mary Chapin Carpenter - hoping that every day, in every way, they become more firmly woven into the fabric of my life: Don’t need muc...

Here are more suggestions offered from readers of The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin that are conducive to greater happiness in their lives. Perhaps you have your own suggestions to offer? This morning, I read this quote that I posted as my Facebook status. Certainly practicing this would make anyone more happy: "Promise yourself this...to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble." ~ From the "Optimist Creed" for The Optimist Club And, these suggestions from The Happiness Project: If you can't get out of it, get into it. Keep it simple. Give without limits, give without expectations. React to the situation. Start where you are. People give what they have to give. Be specific about your needs. Let go, let God. If you're not now here, you're nowhere. Play the hand you're dealt. Own less, love more. Only connect. ...

This morning, I took my coffee down to the river after my meditation. It is still cold, but at least the biting wind of yesterday was absent. I came down to the river yesterday morning as well, as I did nearly every day in January, three years ago. Yesterday, the river raged as it flowed downstream with great power and strength, skirting the frozen river banks. It seemed very much alive to me. But today, it was nearly perfectly still and I could see the trees on the Maryland side reflected on its surface which was calm and without any discernible motion, like a plate of glass. I walked along the frozen river bank, treading carefully, breaking some ice here and there, and maneuvering myself to the area with rock piles, where I sat once, surveying the river, listening to its lessons, until it invited me in. I left that day, and bought a kayak, and the next afternoon, I launched into the river for the first time in my life. I thought about the fragility of life, and the art and yoga of ha...

I have been reflecting more on the relationship between offering blessings and happiness - and trying to embody these, in my actions and deeds as best as I can. As often happens when we focuses our thoughts on a particular subject - we draw more of the same into our energy field - so that everything we read or encounter reminds us of its importance. This morning, as I read a post by Marianne Williamson on Facebook - and the inspirational poem and newsletter that arrives in my inbox every morning, I found that all three had a word of wisdom for me - and so I share them with you today: "Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." ~ Denis Waitley "Each day, we must learn again how to love, between morning's quick coffee and evening's slow return." ~ Barbara Crooker "Five minutes meditating in the morning literally blesses your entire day. It expands time, calms your nervous system, restores your cells, a...