Stop what you’re doing.
Take three deep breaths.
Look around.
Now, in this moment, how many amazing things can you find to be grateful for?
Three deep breaths can’t solve the busy-ness of our lives or dissolve our problems. But taking time for three deep breaths can re-centre us and recharge us to get through it.
It’s Pancake Day, a Lenten tradition with roots in the Jewish history of the Christian tradition.
On the day before Passover in observant Jewish homes, the family cleans thoroughly and uses or removes any food that has leaven in it. It’s a symbolic way to let go of old life and embrace the new. Christians morphed this idea into Pancake Day, a time to use up eggs and fats in decadent foods before the deprivation of Lenten fasts began.
Few people I know “give up” anything for Lent anymore.
The minister at my church says Lent is like the time between when a seed is planted and when it sprouts. You know the seed needs to be nourished, but you can’t see any signs of new life yet.
No matter what you believe, this time of year is good for reflection. It’s a time to ponder what you can give yourself freedom from, or what you could take up instead.
Whether you eat pancakes tonight or not, take some time to plant a seed. Nourish it until new life grows.
What kind of sprouts do you want to see?
I work in a fantastic place. How do I know that? Because this is on the wall there.
It energizes me to know that my workplace supports me for me.
They benefit when I do good work, of course. It’s in their best interest to create an environment where people love what they do and are happy doing it.
But there’s more to it than that. I take those ideas along with me when I leave my workplace.
I’m always growing, and helping others to grow too.
Who is helping you to grow?
If you surrender to the wind, you can ride it.
~Toni Morrison
I am away skiing in Revelstoke, BC this week.
We’ve already had to surrender to the wind. The ski lifts couldn’t open until 11:00 yesterday due to high winds.
We surrendered and took a ride into some extra reading time.
For the second consecutive year at my church, we were given a Star Word. It’s word to focus on, work through, or look for in the coming year.
We select it in much the same way a person picks a card from the deck during a card trick. The words written on pieces of paper placed upside-down in a plate, and we pick one without knowing what we’re going to get.
This was mine.
If I focus on it, work on it, and look for it, 2020 could be a jubilant year!
During one Christmas Eve dinner with his wife, well-known author Paulo Coelho grumbled about something that was not perfect in his life. His thoughtful wife pointed out the beautifully illuminated Christmas tree nearby.
There was one burnt bulb among the brilliantly shining ones.
“It seems to me that instead of thinking of this year as dozens of enlightened blessings, you chose to look at the one light that did not glow,” she said.
What is the ratio of enlightened blessings to burnt bulbs in your life?
This month, whether you enjoy Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, the solstice, Festivus, or any other celebration, may you bask in the glow of so many enlightened blessings that you don’t notice any dark spots.
Read Paulo Coelho’s post here: My wife and the burnt light
Somerton Smith 