SECOND TRY

Eat, Pray, Love...Leave?

I picked up this book the first time almost a year ago. Quite frankly I didn't make it past Italy...

everyone raved about it. Perhaps my expectations were simply too high?

Am I missing something?

I felt horribly frustrated by the main character. Alright, she wasn't feeling satisfied or fulfilled in her life. But I felt that she was terribly selfish!

Fecklessly fleeing her marriage, her responsibilities...I'm somehow always reminded of the person left behind holding everything together. Call it empathy. Call it pity. Call it jealousy?

Once again I'm certain this reflects more on my own personality. She does get to leave all responsibility behind and tour around the globe staying in lovely places without a care except where to fetch her next espresso, pastry or pizza.

Don't get me wrong. I believe in dharma, true happiness and recreational travel. I also happen to believe in commitment, responsibility and discipline. There is effort involved in reaching a point of effortlessness. Right?

So I'm giving the book a second try. I don't want to give up prematurely. After all everyone else LOVED it! Especially India which I haven't yet arrived at. Am I just a horrible scrooge for not adoring this book?!

Did Eat, Pray, Love resonate with you? Am I a completely insensitive idiot for not getting it?

Have you ever encountered a book that everyone else adored that just didn't feel right to you?

REFLECTIONS

"As the book finishes I go as slow as I can. I don't want to leave this book's world." ~Jill Robinson

Delicious reads...

I have recently had a few. And then I've also encountered books that, dare I admit, I've put down or simply left unfinished. Perhaps someday I'll pick them up again. When the time is right.

One recent favorite is a work translated from Spanish. I can only imagine the rich, poetic language of the original layered upon the story. The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, reminds us that each piece we read has a distinct way of finding us precisely when we need it most.

"The art of reading is slowly dying...it's an intimate ritual...a book is a mirror that offers us only what we carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day."

The words we read are perceived through our own unique filter, adding our own spin to the story and reflecting the contours of our heart.

What was the last book you read that awakened these feelings in you? What did the mirror reflect? Did you like what you saw?

SWEET OR SOUR

My daughter introduced me to a new game yesterday. Are you ready to play?

Next time you're out and about, anywhere, greet everyone you pass. If they respond in a pleasant, kind or generally positive way, they're "sweet." If they ignore you, seem grumpy or annoyed by your disturbance, they're "sour."

Are you surprised by the response?

Now flip the mirror on yourself. Do you tend to be sweet or sour?

Doesn't it feel great when some one's sweet?!...

*Side notes:

This is NOT about judging others or their reactions. Rather about reflecting on our own tendencies.

Actual game was played by giggling, giddy school age children dangling out backseat windows while driving through their neighborhood. Perhaps we passed you.

BEING KINDNESS

"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end." - Scott Adams

A dear friend posted this quote on her blog, Life Without Novacaine, recently. http://lifewithoutnovacaine.blogspot.com/2009/10/acts-of-kindness-random-i-think-not.html

Wow it has returned to me over and over again during the last few days. Haunting, in a positive way!

Sometimes in our busy-ness it takes the large acts to really get our attention. The little subtle details of our ordinary interactions, especially with those in our close inner circle, often get missed. But what about each of the little, subtle kindnesses that we extend to one another over a given day?

Slow down.

Scale back.

Create a cushion of space around us.

All of these encourage gratitude to blossom and nurture us and others to continue to let the kindness flow. No matter how small the trickle. These are the ways in which we begin to NOTICE kindness in its many forms.

Kindness breeds kindness, certainly. Showing our gratitude is the water that nourishes kindness.

Sometimes the act of kindness is in the BEING and not in the DOING.

Consistently offering yourself, simply with connection, love, understanding, reaching out on a regular basis or giving a hug. BEING consistently present for those we love and care about means creating a relationship that is based on our simple EVERYDAY presence. Not waiting until the birthdays, holidays, life's big events or when we need something to make ourselves known as friends. This can be a challenge in our filled-to-the-brim lifestyles!

Have you ever had an initial urge to help, reach out to someone, offer a hand, kindness in some form...but then something inside convinced you not to?

What was an occasion when a small act of kindness was all it took to make your day?

What are some of the ways we can BE kind to those we value, rather than DO?

JUST RIGHT

Remember we are each of us exactly where we need to be - complete, whole and enough, just as we are...

This was my daily FaceBook post a few days ago. I received such an overwhelmingly positive response, that I thought it worth revisiting.

How do we value ourselves? In today's culture how do we assess or personal worth?

It really does make such a difference when we slow down long enough to remind ourselves that we are enough, just as we are. Overflowing with divine abundance.

And just as we move with intention and clarity as we practice on our mats we are capable of choosing to move mindfully through our lives grounded in a place of love, faith and limitless abundance!

Each of us IS this!

Each of us deserves to feel safe in this sense of self-worth, no one more than the other for we are all one. All belonging to the greater whole, perfectly who and where we need to be in each moment.

FEARLESS AND SATISFYING

Imagine what it would feel like to make a commitment to yourself...from this moment on to take only full, deep, satisfying breathes and to approach each moment in the same way with open fearlessness.

What might happen?

WHOLE LIFE

"Her kiss was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering." -from the History of Love

This resonated with me today. What a delicious image.

When we take inventory it's interesting to learn what's truly precious and important to us.

Who or what in our lives would we invest more time diving into and completely immersing ourselves in?

Are these people and things in your life receiving the best you have to offer?

How would your life look differently if you devoted your WHOLE LIFE to answering these questions? Mmmmm, now those are the rich details that make life worth living!