It’s the final week of holiday season. Walking through my neighborhood this month, it’s been fun to see all the bright and festive yard decorations.
On my walk a few days ago, I was debating on returning a phone call to multitask. I quickly reminded myself how nice it feels to stay open to the gift of inspiration, not only for myself, but also as a topic for a Tuesday email to you.
Immediately after that thought, I looked at the house in front of me to see these beautiful, iridescent gift boxes that probably light up at night. Pow! And there was the life lesson worth staying present for.
Without fail, if we keep ourselves open and watchful, more gifts will appear. Does this happen to you? Try making an intention today to stay more open for inspiration and delight and see what happens. I want to hear your stories in our
FTG Readers Group, please! That was the first reminder I saw when I looked at the decorative gift boxes.
The bigger lesson that came to me was about appreciating what we already have—the gifts in our own front yard. It’s so easy to ignore them. It’s tempting to look at the gifts in our neighbors’ yards and decide they are much more abundant. It’s easy to take for granted the gifts we already have and want something more, or something different. “Not-enough syndrome” plagues many of us from time to time.
As the year ends, it’s a good time to take inventory of what we already do have. What did we pray, dream, or wish for previously that is now a reality today? Make THAT list and check it twice. In fact, post it on the refrigerator and meditate on it frequently.
A thorough inventory will reveal that the list of what we do have is likely far longer than anything we could complain about, or any lack that we may be tempted to focus on.
What we focus on expands so let’s be ever conscious about what we are giving breath and life to.
Did you know that most of what we believe about our lives is right? Not as in right or wrong, but simply because it’s the reality that we choose to live in. The perspective we embrace is “true” because we make it so. But if our thoughts and beliefs are not adding value to our lives, it may be time to change our perspectives.
What are the gifts in your front yard? Today, let’s celebrate them. Let’s decorate them with a bow, shine a spotlight on them and say thanks for all of them. Let’s check that list every day, especially in a season where “compare and despair” might persuade us to miss them.
It’s a wonderful life already, when we’re willing to see it and believe it.
YOU are among my many gifts. Thank you for supporting me and my work this year. I always enjoy hearing from you, either in response by email or in our FB group.
I will leave you with this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, which I believe applies not just to art, but also to life:
“In art (life), the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.”
I’m wishing you a wild imagination and high hopes for 2022. Happy New Year!
