“It’s not that beauty is hard to find, it’s that it is easy to overlook.”
— Tim Ferriss
As I’m looking out the window, the rain splattering on the glass, the kids are outside shrieking. Making the most of deep puddles, they’re stomping and getting soaked, having the best time.
Looks like these little ones have found a silvery lining to the clouds that have been parked overhead since last week.
I’m glad I’m inside, blanket on my knees as I type this, but I certainly relish their gusto. It warms my heart.
It’s such a powerful choice, isn’t it?
The choice to make the most of the cards we are dealt …
The choice to see the beautiful and the Good in the world and in ourselves, regardless of what we want to change …
The choice to slow down and appreciate what is here rather than blindly rushing to get there …
This choice is so small and so simple, yet it is so powerful.
And while I totally understand that it would seem that the cards are stacked against many people at the moment, it remains our choice.
We can base our lives in what is wrong, or we can base our lives in what is right.
And what a difference it makes! Even – especially – when it seems there isn’t a lot right.
Either we define our lives freely for ourselves, or we let the events of life define us.
Defining our reality is within our power, it is our challenge in the middle of challenges: Not so much the what, but consciously defining the how.
As Buddha observed many years ago,
“Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.”
How I react to the what of life makes the critical difference, it shapes who I am. It shapes what I can give to the world.
Claim your choice for yourself, and your loved ones. Don’t give it away. Don’t be defined, create yourself.
Whatever happens over Christmas, make sure you search out and smell the roses.
If you don’t make sure you fill your life with beauty, who will?
Go well!
Arjuna