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| Pink Hydrangea |
On January 4 and again on March 4, I listed Tiny Pleasures for 2023, hoping to reach 52, one for each week. A kind of "could-do" list. I did the same thing six years ago, when I began this blog. Looking back, many have become everyday habits. Here are my remaining suggestions for this second half of the year, all reminders to myself, but I must admit, not so tiny.
39. Think about this: for some people, both your presence and your absence mean something. They miss you or you them. Let them know this now and often. Relish connection.
40. Travel. It's one way to feel truly alive. Look up, look out, look down. Just see all there is around us. Distance and difference are the well-springs of understanding. When we get home, home is the same but something in us has changed, and always for the better.
41. When someone affirms you, believe them. Accept compliments. God acts through each of us. Sometimes we meet the Christ in someone and are lifted. This happens most unexpectedly. We can look out for these blessings and bestow them ourselves.
42. What if instead of thinking about solving the rest of our lives (or even tomorrow), we just thought about including additional good things. Just let our pile of good things grow. Wouldn't that be a way to live?
43. Look for the good. Be brave. Forgive (even ourselves). Jettison judgment. Cultivate compassion. I read this somewhere: "I've lost a lot of battles against myself. So I'm laying down my weapons, tending to the wounded, and letting compassion end the war."
44. Remember, we are greater than we realize. We have helped others, had impacts we know nothing about, all of us.
45. Cultivate a concentrating mind. When something wonderful happens, let it spread, deepen, and give it a special place in your memories.
46. Failure is just a data point from which to move forward. We can fail any number of times and still succeed. We can choose at any time to turn our lives around; learn something different, feel something different, then act in a new way.
47. Let's not sigh about the past or hold our breath for the future, but just breathe deeply today. Silent and strong, our beating heart.
48. Choose carefully and trust. Trust is fresh, clear and warm. Trust is a circle of lamplight inside the dark night. Trust is clean from the shower, soft from the soap, leading to rest. Trust is windows open, sounds of the morning or sounds of the night. We can be that trustworthy person for someone else, too.
49. Above all, trust your intuition. It's always on our side. Our intuition is our first alert. My intuition has told me what I needed to know to protect something important when my disbelieving mind looked the other way.
50. Light the votives. Say your prayers. Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find. Make room for God. He doesn't need much.
51. Self-compassion, a prerequisite of the good, is a shadow of God's mercy. Self-compassion says to one's heart, "Dearest, you are suffering. I will show you nothing but kindness."
52. Choose the gifts that last. The joys of the seasons. Now it's airy Spring, soon the freedom of summer, then the newness of fall and last the contrasts of winter. Or choose the joys of your talents. A talent for growing things or showing love or raising chickens or building boats or learning or math or dreaming or something no one even know you are good at. My love of literature is a gift that lasts. What are yours?
Nina Naomi
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