Thought 16: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

So much of what we cling to doesn't exist. It may have existed in the past, but it doesn't now; or it may exist in the future, but it hasn't happened yet. The place and time where we can actually create something is TODAY...NOW.  It is important to remember and learn from the past. It is important to have a vision for the future, but once you have all that, don't hold on so blindly and so tightly that you miss the opportunity to bring the ART that is you...the creative force that is you, into today...into this moment. Being mindful of NOW is truly the only way that you can change the world, and like the butterfly effect, it is the small gestures, the kindnesses, the thoughtfulness, the forgiving heart that will move you to that vision of tomorrow, however it finally unfolds.

There is nothing more destructive than measuring yourself against others. Why would you do that? Unless their path is EXACTLY yours, which I can promise you it isn't, you are setting yourself up for a difficult time and an unhappy ending. YOU provide your best point of measurement and comparison for you. Where might you improve, what might you do differently, what is your highest good and what might be the next step in moving towards that. LEARN from other people's stories, but don't try to become them - your story is far too valuable and needed - keep writing it!

With Love,
Betsy

Thought 15: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

What if something were to happen where we all started seeing each other in this way? What if we each became acutely aware of how important we all are, in our own way, to each other and  to this spinning crust of earth in space? If the earth could speak, she would say this very thing to us. Why do we find it so hard to see this in each other? There is no us and them, there is only us.

With Love,
Betsy

Thought 14: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

Sometimes it's easy as a parent to get wrapped around the axle of wanting for our children to the point where we're not passing on a healthy appreciation for today's blessings, but an unhealthy wanting, wanting, wanting, for whatever lies down the road. The problem with today's world is that things are loved and people are used, when in truth it should be the other way around, people should be loved and things used. In the end the world won't likely remember how much we made or what kind of a house we lived in, or what kind of a car we drove, but how we make people feel may be passed down for generations to come. This is what we should be passing on to our children. This is what will change the world, in the end.

With Love,
Betsy

Thought 13: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

I wish for you that peace that is your true essential nature. To see the world through the eyes of promise and peace is to see a world that is evolving in goodness, in compassion, in kindness and in love. To start the day with promise is to move into the day with positive expectations - it's a great way to go out into the world and engage. To end the day in peace - in appreciation and gratitude and acknowledging all the blessings that exist today, is to end the day satisfied and complete. These simple acts of engagement can change your world and the world at large in profound ways.

Wishing you Love,
Betsy

Thought 12: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

There's nothing wrong with normal or average...it's just not me.
Here's a great Ted Talk on outliers and their importance in the scheme of things:
http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work

Thought 11: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

To change the world, change yourself.

With Love,
Betsy

Thought 10: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

Kindness is a powerful way to change the world. That one kind word that lifted someone's spirits - changed their world. Change the world one kind act at a time.

Thought 9: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

All those higher consciousness things that you do for other people like compassion, forgiveness, unconditional love, kindness...practice first with yourself to perfect it, and then with the world to engage it.

With Love,
Betsy

Thought 8: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

Don't walk away from what you are passionate about, run towards it!

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. . . . In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness." Henry D. Thoreau

For me, this stage of my life is about simplifying and moving towards that which I am passionate about. It's a great space to be in.

With Love,
Betsy

Thought 7: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

How much of our time is spent looking behind us, or in front of us, or looking over the fence at what we don't have, but might want? How much of our time is spent somewhere else besides, here...now...in this one time element that we DO have? The present moment holds amazing potential that we mostly fritter away worrying about the past, or planning for the future. Your love affair with life should be with the present moment, with those who stand before you, or just now walked into your life. A tree in an acorn is like your world in this moment. Don't ever loose sight of the wonder of that simple acorn that is this present moment.

With Love,
Betsy

Thought 6: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

What if we were to look at life mathematically? What if we made KINDNESS the common denominator? Here's how it would work - as we go about our day, as we do things, as we interact with others, as we look, see, touch, feel, hear - do it with the denominator of kindness. 

Here is an example: As I take my morning walk - I do it with kindness. I give the dog an extra pat as I'm putting on her harness. I walk mindful of the earth and I pick up a discarded candy wrapper that I see and tuck it in my pocket thinking that being kind to the environment is as important as being kind to each other. I smile at the people I pass and say, "Good morning!" truly wishing them a good morning and a truly happy day.

It is a life changer - both for yourself, and for those to whom you choose to be kind.

With Love,
Betsy 

Thought 5: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

When I see a homeless person, pushing a cart full of stuff down the street I find myself getting angry and indignant about how society is, and how government is, and how the world is, and how people are...

In that moment who has the problem? The "homeless person"...or me?

The personal insight provided in that moment is not about poverty, or the inequities of the world, it's about what I see and how I see it - that I used the lens of anger, and indignation, and righteousness and painted a truly confrontational and antagonistic world.

I ask myself, "what would this moment look like through the lens of love, of curiosity, of wonder, and of possibility? And I run that scenario and it looks VERY different...it feels VERY different...and I realize...WOW!...this is the way to engage with and change the world!

With Love,
Betsy

Thought 4: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

Perspective determines how you move through life - how you see the world is how the world is. Don't get me wrong, this isn't about being delusional, but it is about that one thing that is truly yours...that one thing that nothing, and no one can change unless YOU let them. It is about the glass being half full or half empty and what does full and empty mean to you. In the end, the world IS, but the quality of your life is yours to create, to shape, to form. What masterpiece will today be? What's even more interesting is that what you consistently choose - your perspective - WILL start to change the world around you, and it reaches out like the waves created when a pebble is toss in a pond, changing your circumstances, impacting your future. Pay attention to your perspective and change the world - simple, but not easy.

With Love,
Betsy

Thought 3: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

There is a quote from the movie, Mary Poppins, that has stuck with me since I first saw it as a child and that is "But sometimes a person we love, through no fault of his own, can't see beyond the end of his nose."  I believe that there are times we are all guilty of that challenge. It is so easy to get wrapped around the axle of process and loose sight of the simple truth of what is important - minus the stuff, that in the end, "doesn't matter a hill of beans."  What matters is to see the best in each other, to compassionately care, to graciously listen to others and give the gift of being truly heard and understood whether we agree or not...to see beyond the end of our nose.

With Love,

Betsy

Thought 2: Connecting in Meaningful Ways 30 Day Challenge

This quote brings to mind another quote, "People are made to be loved and things are made to be used, the confusion in this world is that people are used and things are loved."

For myself, as much pleasure as things have given me, people have given me more. I can't tell you how amazing it feels to be greeted with a HUGE hug and an enthusiastic welcome. It warms me right to my toes and makes me feel radiant. Sometimes it's easy to be lured by the things we would like only to find out that they diminish the love in our lives. I, for one, will ALWAYS gratefully choose love.

With Love,
Betsy