Monday Morning Inspiration: Leap

Scobberlotch (v) to loaf around doing nothing in particular: Monday Morning Inspiration: Leap: 

“If we listened to our intellect we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go in business because we'd be cynical: "It's gonna go wrong." Or "She's going to hurt me." Or,"I've had a couple of bad love affairs, so therefore ..." 

Well, that's nonsense. You're going to miss life. You've got to jump off the cliff all the time and build your wings on the way down.” 

Ray Bradbury

Inspiration, photo and post of the day by Karen Harrington and scobberlotch.blogspot

Thought of the Day

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost (1874-1963), Mountain Interval 

What Stories Will You Tell?

“One day, we’ll be old and think about the stories that we could have told.”

Every now and then in our lives we catch ourselves wondering about all these ‘What If’s’. Because in the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take. All the stories that we could have created, had we taken those chances.

What life do you want?

Start creating now the stories that one day you will tell. 

Things I Am Thankful For - Today

Yesterday, as part of a game-chain on facebook, I had been “nominated” by a colleague to post three positive things for the next 5 days.

Now, I do not like chains and I hate to follow such games. I can see their value in some cases, but I prefer the spontaneity of posting freely without rules. Plus, lately I've become irritated with the “P” word (positive – positivity).

As a polite person I accepted the challenge, also seeing the fun part of it. For one day. Letting aside any ideas and opinions I have about chains, I do not want to post three positive things about my day. I can post countless things for which I am grateful.

So, here is my list of things for which I am grateful, thankful and positive today:

1. I am alive.
2. I can get out of bed, I can walk and I can run.
3. I can make decisions and have control over my career.
4. I can breathe. This basic function that we execute 12-20 times per minute and take for granted, with which we come to life.
5. I can see. The first time I tried contact lenses I said excited “so, that is how people see!”.
6. The ability to control my emotions and my mood. Anyone having any kind of experience or knowledge of depression, bipolar and other mental health issues can understand how grateful one can feel not to be in the mercy of any of these.
7. I am lucky to still enjoy the presence of my parents.
8. I left a hospital today with a smile. First time these past years.
9. My nieces are healthy.
10. I have a roof over my head.
11. I have control over my body.
12. I can sing and I can dance and I do not care if I am bad at singing.
13. My wonderful loving friends.
14. The people in my life, people that I admire and who are my role models.
15. My mistakes.
16. My work.
17. The smell of the fresh coffee in the morning.
18. Summer, my favorite season.
19. Blue skies.
20. The sea, calm or rough.
21. My memories, good or bad.
22. Art; Any kind of art, for the beauty of it.
23. The smile of random faces in the street.
24. The unexpected offering of a young neuroscientists's help with an article I am writing.
25. The sound of crickets.
26. That I can make plans and dream.
27. That I love.
28. That I am loved. 

 

Painting by Pedro Arnoldo Cruz Sunu

What are you hiding?

At some point in our lives we all live in closets. All a closet is, is a heart conversation. 
We are all hiding something. In this talk, Ash Beckham invites us to find the courage to open up, because the closet is no place for a person to truly live. 

On Love II

“Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“Had we not loved ourselves at all, we could never have been obliged to love anything. So that self-love is the basis of all love.”

Thomas Traherne

“Love is a passionate commitment that we nurture and develop.”

Julian Baggini, What is Love? Five theories on the greatest emotion of all

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

“When it comes to real human prosperity, the truest denominator of a life searingly well lived is love.”

“None of us belong here. But we are here. And there’s not enough time. Cut the bullshit. Love."

Umair Haque, Why Love Matters More (And Less) Than You Think

The Adventure of Life

“I could see how my life was going to be 20 years from now. I knew exactly where I would be, what I would be doing and I didn’t like what I was seeing at all.”

I was listening to my friend carefully, at the same time reflecting on my inability to answer the simple question “what are you going to do this weekend?”.

There we were; the two extremes: one who could see everything about his life in the future and one who had absolutely no idea, not even for the following day.

Around 20 years ago, I had my entire future before me: a very organized, safe life. I felt unhappy even at the thought of it and I left the country (and that future) immediately.

Not knowing where I am going to be is not at all scary. For me, insecurity is not about the future. It is about the here and now: how to overcome the difficulties of an adverse environment. The future? It can only be exciting, like an adventure, and I do not need to know every part of it, like in all genuine adventures.  

Stop Postponing Life

When it comes to procrastination, the focus is on the tasks we postpone. There is a sort of procrastination that is worse: procrastinating life.

We keep postponing our happiness, our life, for when we will have X thing, we will be in Z place, we will be with Y person(s).

We transfer our happiness to that magical moment/place, where everything happen in those imaginary perfect conditions and we ignore the here and now.

Happiness is here. If we decide it to be. Life is every moment. We can accept it or not. And we can be grateful for it and smile about it and start opening our eyes and seeing for the first time eveything that we have.

Or we can keep focusing on what we do not have, on everything that exists in that imaginary perfect place we will someday reach and, until then, be resentful and have all the "reasons" in the world to not smiling – yet.

People, your life is now. Stop procrastinating happiness and start living. 

Happiness and the Absence of Dichotomy

“Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time.” (Pablo Picasso)

I finished my work this evening with a huge smile on my face. I thought it was because of something new that I had created, plus the wonderful feedback from a student earlier today. Then I ran into this phrase and I realized the source of my daily smile.

I am not going to write that I am lucky, because it is not luck that has brought me here, to the absence of dichotomy in my life. It is perseverance, resilience, persistence and the determination not to compromise when it comes to my happiness.

According to Henri Matisse “creativity takes courage”. Leading our life is a creative process and if we want to experience happiness and fulfillment in it, the only thing we need is the commitment to be courageous. 

photo credit: http://stephanielevy.blogspot.gr/p/e-courses.html

Time to Be Happy

The Joy of Life

Do you want to see what the joy of life looks like? 
You can see it in the eyes of this inspiring 78 year old woman. 
Watch this video all the way through.

How far are you willing to go?

Today I drove 180 km for work. Viewed purely from a business perspective, the hard fact is that I shouldn’t have done that; it wasn’t “good business”.

On my way back home I was smiling, tired but happy: I have taken the first step towards a vision of mine. All it cost me was challenging and abandoning any idea of what should and should not be done. And driving 180 km.

This is a Thai commercial that has gone viral and I believe perfectly relates to this message. The Hero performs his glorious tasks for what he desires most: a world made more beautiful.

When it comes to your vision, when it comes to your goals, dreams and desires, how far are you willing to go? What is the first step that you will take, the seed that you can sow? 

The Freedom of Self-Management

“What is self-management?” was the question today. To discover, once again, that it all begins with self-love.

Self management goes beyond any discipline that we impose on ourselves. It’s about how we handle our emotions, our ability to respond rather than react to situations, how we cope with stress. It is about what our relationship with our body and health is in practice: how we show self care and respect. It is about what we do with our money, our time and our people. It is about our dedication to what matters to us most and how we follow through the commitments that arise from this dedication. It is about the life we live in accordance to our values.

It is about our thoughts and beliefs, about our perceptions and misconceptions. It is about attaining awareness of these, so that we can address any issue, make the right decisions, take the right action at any given moment.

It all starts with self-love. The secret ingredient without which no self-management will have any reason to exist and happen.

With self-love come the value and respect that we give to our values, our goals, our bodies, our lives.

The result? Freedom. The unique freedom that we are the masters of our lives. 

Happiness

An ordinary scene: my two nieces and their buddy around a table, eating pizza and telling jokes. And just with this view, seeing them healthy, carefree, smiling, growing up, one word only filled my mind and my heart:

Let's Do Something Awesome Today!

Dance barefoot.  Play with a child.  Climb a mountain.  Climb a tree.  Walk barefoot in the grass or the sand.  Wander around the city.  Volunteer.  Talk to strangers.  Sit in the sun and close your eyes.  Write a poem.  Visit a museum.  Lend a helping hand.  Fly a kite.  Watch the sunrise.  Sing out loud.  Watch the stars.

Tiny Houses, Great Freedom

I am becoming increasingly fascinated by the tiny house movement. I began learning about it as articles about tiny houses kept appearing in my top stories on Zite. I was intrigued and soon it became one of my favorite topics, which I would immediately read.

At first it was the design and architectural solutions that most impressed me. In such limited spaces there is only room for smart ideas and constructions.

Then, it was the eco-friendly aspect. They are sustainably built and, of course, affordable. Their construction and maintenance costs, as well as very short building time, create housing opportunities for homelessness and disaster zones.

What impresses me more now is the radical change in lifestyle. Such a change of house changes how we perceive the definition of home. It leads us to simplify routines, reevaluate the importance of material possessions, the clutter we create with them and what we consider essential to have in our own space.

The tiny house movement, as I see it, goes beyond being an architectural and social movement. It is about a new philosophy of living, of being. 

Photo Credit Collin & Joanna, http://www.ourweehouse.com 

               

        NOMAD micro home

Old school bus turned into a tiny house

Where Do You Look?

A few precious minutes with holocaust survivor Alice Herz-Sommer, interviewed by Anthony Robbins: "I look where it's good."

"This I learned: to be thankful for everything."  

 Alice Herz-Sommer, pianist, born 26 November 1903; died 23 February 2014.

If I Had My Life to Live Over

If I had my life to live over,
I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax. 
I would limber up.
I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances.
I would take more trips.
I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would, perhaps, have more actual troubles but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely, 
hour after hour, 
day after day.

Oh, I've had my moments and if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. 
In fact, I'd try to have nothing else - just moments.
One after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.
I've been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute.

If I had my life to live over, 
I would start barefoot earlier in the spring 
and stay that way later in the fall.
If I had it to do again, 
I would travel lighter next time.
I would go to more dances.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies.

Poem by Nadine Stair (age 85) 
from Condensed Chicken Soup for the Soul

 

photo credit: http://evgenidinev.photoshelter.com/image/I0000tiORYBMOQtc

Haste Slowly

After attending a six hour workshop today, I went out into the fresh air and decided to walk a little before getting a taxi to my car and returning back to the office.

I walked to Syntagma Square where I read the signs of doctors protesting and past the Parliament just in time to watch the changing of the guard. The weather was perfect so I thought I’d continue walking a little further. I was admiring the buildings I was passing by in Vasilissis Sofias avenue: the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Byzantine Museum, Saroglion Mansion and many more. Then I noticed the beauty of the Ippokrateio Hospital entrance, built in the 1880’s, and green areas of the city that are impossible to notice passing by in a car.

I was smiling enjoying every step of the walk when I made a decision: I was going to walk to the car! The idea was crazy, I had parked 5,5 km away and still had plenty of work unfinished for today. 

I remembered the big lesson I had learned from my niece: eventually I would get to the car; I would get there in the most fun and meaningful way.

So I kept walking with eyes wide open and a big smile on my face.

I passed by little squares with statues, parks and hidden gardens of whose existence I was unaware. I was contemplating the details on some doors, the variations of a skyline occupied by old and new constructions, the people who were passing by: walking, jogging, smoking, carrying kids or puppies. I was hearing Greek and English and Spanish and was feeling comfortable with and curious about the diversity of a city where I could find neo-byzantine churches and Bauhaus embassies next to Pakistani grocery stores, neoclassical buildings and Starbucks.

I saw a well inside the garden of what seemed to be an abandoned house and the rusty sign of the Nursing Home. I saw beauty in every step.

90 minutes later I made it to the car, grateful for my choice of flat heels this morning and realized that today's to-do list had been replaced this afternoon by the important. The urgent didn’t seem so urgent anymore.

Note to self: 
Haste slowly more often. Time will always be enough.