Find Your Joys

The best days of my life 

Are the ones where I’m not afraid to live,

Unabated and intrepid. 

The worst days are the ones that I fear life,
Either instigated by the will of others
Or especially by my own.
Such judgment leads to condemnation.

And don’t hassle over things too much.
Chances are
Your first inclination is often the right one.
Life affirms itself
And can be contagious.

You are not alone.
You will likely find
Other like-minded people to live your life with
Or they will find you.

Find your joys 

Burnish them

Great and small,
And share them.

November Rain

The rain is slightly confusing.
An outlier in November,
Heavy and nearly nonsensical,
It is dark and warm
As it leaches the leaves off the birches.
Soon the oak leaves will fall as well
Though the beeches still resist
And will chatter late into the winter,
Loitering long enough to
Sing welcome to the spring.

Out my window I notice
That this persistent shower
Is washing the bird droppings off my car’s windshield
Oh joy!

Plopped there by chickadees and titmice

Who have gathered sunflower seeds at the nearby feeder
Grinds from their gizzards.
I feed them as they bring me happiness
-The nature of joy found in such common beauty-
And so at the moment
I gather in
And am buoyed by two joys.

Stand Tall

 

I find myself walking through a couple lovely pastures several times per day. What great fortune. When I do I try to remember to do the following: Smile.  Stand up straight and walk tall; head high, shoulders back. I pull my stomach in a little. I feel my body in relationship to the rest of the environment.

Then I stop and take note of something along the way.  It might be a cloud, the ocean, or a small tuft of sheep wool, a blade of grass, a drop of water...  There are plenty of things to notice, if I give it my attention.  All of this helps settle and reset my mind.  If I am "down"  I come up. If I am "up" I have joy.  It quiets me and at the same time fills me with riches.

 

I think this could be done by anyone, anywhere.  Walking through the city, across a room, by the ocean, in a parking lot.

It takes but a moment.

Give it a try and tell me what you experienced.

Paul  A