Daily Gratitude: We all need this advice, now more than ever. Being soft doesn’t mean being someone who can be bowled over easily. It means being kind, generous, calm and grateful.
It’s easy right now to feel anger and even hatred, judging others and how they behave. But that doesn’t do any good for us since we cannot do anything about it. Remember to control the controllables (control what is within your power to control) and don’t let the others stuff cause you anxiety and pain.
There are multiple opportunities around you to practice being soft. There are many people who need help and kindness. Almost everyone needs some of that, including you.
Set your intention each day proclaiming that you will be soft and kind that day.
Then follow through and review your actions each night.
Daily Gratitude: Do you know people who are always in some sort of crisis?
Always up in arms?
Always down in the dumps because “nothing ever goes right”?
I think we all know these people and we should be grateful, no matter how draining they are.
They can show us the wisdom of this quote.
You need contrast in your life.
Otherwise, everything is the same. And what fun would that be?
I do these “fixed time” races where usually you go round and round the same exact loop for x number of hours (anywhere from 6 hours to 10 days or more). You really learn the meaning behind this quote doing those races. Every loop is the same essentially. It’s up to the participant to find a way to make them significant.
But they have to be unique in order to be significant. If you do the same loop 100 times in 3 days let’s say, how much significance can there be.
Flowers don’t usually bloom in that short a time. But the weather may change making one time period significant (“wow it’s hail”); different people can enter the course while you’re passing making any one particular moment significant.
One of my fondest memories was at a race in New Jersey when a big time ultra hero was doing the race. I came out of my car to do a lap while the rain had slowed and I passed this man’s tent. He said “Hi Terrie. You’re doing great.” I was astonished that he knew who I was AND knew my name too. Of all the 150 or 200 loops I did that year, that was the most significant and the one i remember. If you find yourself thinking that everything that happens to you is great or awful or noteworthy, take a step back and think about how significant each thing was. Can you readjust the lenses you’re looking through?
Daily Gratitude: You become what you think about so if you anticipate trouble, it’s much more likely that it will come – the more you think about that trouble, the higher your “trouble vibrations” will be. This is the basis of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Even when things are not going well, do your best to find the sunlight no matter how well hidden.
I can’t help but think of the family of foxes that before this year pretty much used my backyard as their “getaway” resort. The female would come in the late morning and early afternoon. She’d find a place directly in the sun, lie down, and go to sleep.
In a little while she’d get up and move to a new spot. She was following the sun. That’s what we should be doing. When it starts to get dark (the trouble you’re experiencing), we need to start looking where the sun is shining next. Keep moving. Keep looking. You will find it.
