Living fully

"Do you really want to look back on your life
and see how wonderful it could have been
had you not been afraid to live it."
~ Caroline Myss

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A life that glitters

Fabric, glitter, paint, and a little imagination...

“I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud.

And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow even,

and realize that my life is a collection of meetings

and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes.

 I want to eat cold tangerines and sing out loud in the car

with the windows open

and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing

and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now.

I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets

and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes

and read books so good they make me jump up and down,

and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh,

glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift.” 

 
― Shauna Niequist

 

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Feeling happy inside

 Working on holiday cards...

 

Joy is a return to the deep harmony of body, mind, and spirit
that was yours at birth and that can be yours again.
That openness to love, that capacity for wholeness
with the world around you, is still within you.

Deepak Chopra

 

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Little heart warmers

 On my evening walk...

 a baby duck paddling quickly after it's mother

this little rabbit thinks it's hiding from me...

 

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...to find the air and the water exhilarating;
to be refreshed by a morning walk
or an evening saunter;
to be thrilled by the stars at night;
to be elated over a bird's nest
or a wildflower in spring
- these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

 

~ John Burroughs

 

 

Check this out- you'll need a tissue

http://wimp.com/puppytherapy

Free of baggage

To me, heaven on earth means being free of baggage.

Imagine yourself loving others without attachments.

 

Imagine enjoying material things, but being okay if you lost them.

Imagine being free of guilt and regrets.

Imagine pursuing your passion instead of settling.

 

Imagine letting go of all your fears about money...

because you trust you'll always have enough.

Imagine having perfect health because you're always are in balance.

Imagine being able to see the shining light that you are...

and to see the light in others too, no matter how they act.

 Imagine being able to accept all your circumstances...

 trusting they are only lessons.

Imagine being free of fear.

Sounds wonderful, right? Do you believe it's possible?

I do...

with all my heart...

I believe...

open your mind...

 to this new way of life...

 just waiting for you...

 to say "yes, I believe".

 

*****

 

"Do you really want to look back on your life
and see how wonderful it could have been
had you not been afraid to live it."

~ Caroline Myss ~

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"Just like a child, I have a song in my heart

and skip in my walk"

 

Open to life

     The best and most beautiful things in this world...
cannot be seen or even heard,
but must be felt with the heart.

Helen Keller

Summer. Beach sand, perfect tans. Day walks, night talks.
Sleepless nights, pillow fights, & spending every daywith those who matter most.
~ Unknown ~
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"My heart is open to life"

Child-like wonder

 

The way to find what you love is to try new things.

Be adventurous!

Don't get yourself stuck in a rut!

More than once I've discovered a passion...

 that I didn't know I had.

If you only knew how many months...

 I resisted the idea of writing a blog....

 until one day I said to myself "let's just try it".

The rest is history! I love blogging!

We may also rekindle an old passion.

Recently I've fallen in love with...

 cooking and gardening again.

I also bought myself a keyboard.

I don't know how to read a single note...

 so we'll see what happens with that.

 

What excites you?

What fills you with joy...bringing out the child in you?

Don't take life too seriously.

It's meant to be enjoyed.

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How brave a ladybug must be!
Each drop of rain is big as she.
Can you imagine what you'd do,
If raindrops fell as big as you?

 

~Aileen Fisher

 

"I will explore life with a light, playful heart"

 

Contentment

I love taking flower photos!

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I also love discovering new quotes. Even though I've heard of Leo Tolstoy, (author of Anna Karenina, War and Peace) I have a greater appreciation this morning for his talent. The quotes below are his.

“rest, nature, books, music…

such is my idea of happiness…”

     “Boredom: the desire for desires.”

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“If you look for perfection,

you'll never be content.” 

“Happiness does not depend on outward things,

but on the way we see them.”

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"I feel content with things just as they are"

True wealth

 

I've done many things in my life that I felt passionate about. Raising baby birds used to be one of those things. I came across this old photo of one of the babies.

 

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A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. "Spare some change?" mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap. "I have nothing to give you," said the stranger. Then he asked: "What's that you are sitting on?" "Nothing," replied the beggar. "Just an old box. I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember." "Ever looked inside?" asked the stranger. "No," said the beggar. "What's the point? There's nothing in there." "Have a look inside," insisted the stranger. The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.

 

Those who have not found their true wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being and the deep, unshakable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth. They are looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security, or love, while they have a treasure within that not only includes all those things but is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.

 

The word enlightenment conjures up the idea of some super-human accomplishment...but it is simply your natural state... I love the Buddha's simple definition of enlightenment as "the end of suffering." There is nothing superhuman in that, is there? Of course, as a definition, it is incomplete. It only tells you what enlightenment is not: no suffering. But what's left when there is no more suffering?

 

written by Eckhart Tolle

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I'm a flip flop kind of girl living in a flip flop kind of world

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“Life isn't as serious as the mind makes it out to be.”

 

 E. Tolle

"Life is a journey"

The beauty of life

 

The best remedy...

 for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy...

 is to go outside,

somewhere where they can be quiet,

alone with the heavens,

nature and God.

Because only then does one feel...

  that all is as it should be...

 and that God wishes to see people happy,

amidst the simple beauty of nature.  

 

 Anne Frank

 

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“We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.” 

 

― Anais Nin

 

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"Though I've known loss, hurt... I will take the risk to love again and again"

 

Being happy

Things that rob us of joy:

Unrealistic expectations of ourselves

Judgement, negative thoughts, worrying

Fear of not being good enough, fear of abandonment, fear of failure

The “shoulds"; things you tell yourself you should be doing
 

People-pleasing; saying “yes” when you really want to say “no”
 

Worrying about money, other people problems, the future,
 
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To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. 

~Bertrand Russell

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"Life becomes easier when I surrender"

Living to the fullest

 

I could easily whittle away an entire day playing when I was young. The simplest things like collecting pretty rocks, playing paper dolls, or picking flowers was a great source of entertainment. I enjoyed visiting my grandparents in the summertime. They would let me play to my heart's content.  Every day brought a new adventure. I always had a good imagination. It would transport me off into my own little world. These were my happiest childhood memories.

The little girl who loved to play is still in me. I can easily spend a whole day doing what I love. My newest hobby is growing herbs, sprouts and micro-greens. I live in a condo so I had to create some space for my new adventure.

What kind of things did you love to do as a child? Treat yourself to a day of play. It's soothing for the soul. Life is meant to be enjoyed. Go have fun.

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 Some of my sprouts...

 The plastic bin that Pippi is watching over is filled with baby micro-green sprouts

Some of my herbs.

 

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The purpose of life, after all,
is to live it,
to taste experience to the utmost,
to reach out eagerly and without fear
for newer and richer experience.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~


 

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"I will live life to the fullest every day"

The simple things

I love and appreciate simple things like...

 

A walk on the beach...

Fresh blueberry pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar...

The smell of magnolia flowers...

Snuggling in bed with my cat and a good book...

Solitude...

Family time...

Girl dates...

Cooking healthy meals...

Going to the library...

Riding my bike...

Blogging, creating, art...

A date with my partner...

Photography...

Afternoon naps...

Giving to others, service work...


What simple things do you love...things that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside...making your heart smile?

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“When you do things from your soul,

you feel a river moving in you...

 

Rumi

 

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"I appreciate even the simplest things"

 

Things I know for sure

 

   The world is a safe haven so I can let go of trying to control my destiny.

 

We are all doing our best so we must give each other lots of room for error.

 

Being miracle-minded is simply seeing life with a different perspective.

 

When you smile at the world, the world smiles back.

In order to be truly happy, I must be happy with myself first.

 

My words have a lot of power so I need to be mindful how I use them.

 

This journey I'm on is the perfect one for me!!!

 

 Downtown Abbeville, S.C. where my sister lives

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There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as if everything is.

~ Albert Einstein ~
 

"All my experiences are joyful and loving"