We are at the beginning of the second quarter of 2018. You may be feeling disappointed that you aren’t as far along on your intentions for 2018 as you would have liked; maybe, weeks ago, you’ve abandoned those intentions.
Never fear! You aren’t doomed! You CAN begin again and the start of the second quarter is the perfect time to hit the reset button.
Take a moment, though, to think about your intentions for the year. Make sure they are realistic and make sure they are YOUR intentions and not someone else’s. Feel free, too, to tweak your intentions and modify them as needed. It’s okay to do that!
Then celebrate like it’s your birthday. For some of you it actually IS your birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
For the rest of us, today is our Un-birthday and we can celebrate that!
WooHoo to all Birthday people and Unbrithday people You are AWESOME!!
I know a place where the sun is like gold,
And the cherry blooms burst with snow,
And down underneath is the loveliest nook,
Where the four-leaf clovers grow.
One leaf is for hope, and one is for faith,
And one is for love, you know,
And God put another in for luck—
If you search, you will find where they grow.
But you must have hope, and you must have faith,
You must love and be strong—and so—
If you work, if you wait, you will find the place
Where the four-leaf clovers grow.
Copyright 2014 Artisans Workshop Designs
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
~William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:—
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the shew to me had brought:
For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.
There are many traditions, spiritual practices, and religions that celebrate this time of year. Earth is coming back to life and doing so in a glorious way. What’s not to celebrate?!
Here are a few quotes for you to enjoy:
Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day. ~W. Earl Hall
No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. ~Proverb
Never yet was there a springtime when the buds forgot to bloom. ~Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
An optimist is the human personification of spring. ~Susan J. Bissonette
Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The winter will pass. The spring will come. ~Robert H. Schuller
Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world. ~Virgil A. Kraft
Guess what today is? It’s the FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!
I am glad to leave the cold and the snow of winter behind, although according to the weather forecast, winter still has a grip on the region where I live. Even so, spring is officially here today at 12:15pm EDT in the USA.
Yippee!
Here are 6 + 1 quotes to help us celebrate. Enjoy!
The year’s at the spring And day’s at the morn; Morning’s at seven; The hillside’s dew-pearled; The lark’s on the wing; The snail’s on the thorn; God’s in His Heaven– All’s right with the world!
~Robert Browning
No winter last forever; no spring skips its turn. ~Hal Borland
Spring is Nature’s way of saying “Let’s Party!” ~Robin Williams
Sunshine is the best medicine.~Unknown
Spring: a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can be. ~Unknown
If winter comes, can spring be far behind? ~Percy Bysshe Shelley
The unshakable foundation of a soul-prospering life is built by being deeply connected with your inner self, your true self. Through this connection, you clearly hear the Still Small Voice.
Here are a few quotes to ponder:
Build your inner environment. Practice silence. I remember the wonderful discipline of the great ones. When we used to talk and chatter, they would say: ‘Go back into you inner castle.’ It was very hard to comprehend then, but now I understand the way of peace. ~Paramahansa Yogananda
The quieter you become the more you are able to hear. ~Rumi
Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Listen to your heart for guidance and be guided by its message of comfort or discomfort. Your heart is the junction point between your mind and your body. If the choice feels comfortable in your body, move into it with confidence. If the choice feels uncomfortable, pause and see the consequences of your action with your inner vision. Honoring the guidance that is provided by your body’s intelligence will help you make the most evolutionary choices for yourself and those in your life. — Deepak Chopra
Solitude is not an absence of energy or action, as some believe, but is rather a boon of wild provisions transmitted to us from the soul. In ancient times, purposeful solitude was both palliative and preventative. It was used to heal fatigue and to prevent weariness. It was also used as an oracle, as a way of listening to the inner self to solicit advice and guidance otherwise impossible to hear in the din of daily life. — Clarissa Pinkola Estes
At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want. – Lao Tzu
Take time today for stillness and quiet. Just be. Listen.
Make a pact with yourself that you will take time–5 minutes is a great baby step–every day to listen, to just be with yourself in quiet solitude.
You may be thinking that you have a supportive group around you: trusted friends, loved ones, great mentors and teachers, and a network of encouraging colleagues to whom you can turn. You’ve hit rough patches before and you had no trouble finding sympathetic and helpful people. That’s fantastic and I’m very glad you have that.
I challenge you, though, to learn to encourage yourself.
If you realize how to do this for yourself, you will develop invaluable abilities and benefits: you’ll deepen your self-confidence; you’ll develop potent stick-to-it-ive-ness; you’ll build vigorous resilience. You’ll know you can depend upon yourself to figure “it” out and to pull yourself up.
An additional benefit is that your encouragement will be tailor made just for you–you’ll know just how to motivate yourself and exactly what will sustain that energy. You won’t have to tweak a system to sorta, kinda, hopefully get it to work for you. It’ll work 100% of the time because YOU are the one who crafted it!
Take time each day this week to note things that lift your spirits, that urge you onward when you’d rather quit, and the things that make all the time and all the effort “sooooo worth it”. Jot them down and keep them handy for when you need a boost.
