om monday: wise words for the new year

i found the following on mariel hemingway's blog last week, and this small but meanginful passage completely spoke to me.  i hope you, too, find the words inspirational.



i do not ask to travel the easy road
but for the courage to endure the road i am on.

i do not ask for fulfillment
but for the humility to accept what is in my path.

i do not ask for perfection in all i do
but for the wisdom not to repeat my mistakes.

i do not ask of these gifts before saying
thank you for all you have given me.

- chief red cloud, ojlala sioux 1819-1891

these words were written well over 100 years ago, yet i feel i could ask for the very same.  life isn't perfect, and we'll never be happy all the time, but if we approach our lives with a sense of wonder and gratitude, we will see the magic in the every day.

credit {here}

namaste : )



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om monday: reason for the season

with the holidays just around the corner, it's easy to feel a bit overwhelmed by our (endless) to-do lists.  buy presents, get the tree, decorate the house, wrap the gifts, attend holiday gatherings, and...oh yeah...enjoy the season.  but the truth is our to-do lists don't define us or our experience of this time of year.

"we're the creators of our own experience - remembering this, and living our lives from this perspective, empowers us."  - mike robbins

we have a choice in all of this, believe it or not.  we can allow our obligations to get the best of us and suck the fun out of this magical time of year, or we can choose to shift our experience.  easier said than done, i know.  but the first step is recognition.  in that moment when you're mind is reeling, and you're feeling like you'd rather check-out than tackle your next obligation, just pause.  take a deep breathe and notice where the "pressure" to get all those to-dos done is coming from.  my guess is that it's not from your boss or spouse or friends, but, at least in my case, it's self-imposed.  an arbitrary standard for "success" that i've set and now much live up to.

credit {here}

i encourage you all to pause.  take a deep breathe, and really reflect upon how you want to experience this holiday season.  because, when it comes down to it, you're the one holding the reigns.

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