What Will You Focus on Today?

Will you start today with a new mindset and change your life? Yesterday is gone, you can’t change what you said, did, thought . . . Don’t waste the day in yesterday, move forward from this day. Some actions you can take:

• Write in your gratitude journal everything you are grateful for in this moment. Some things to be grateful for:
  • Family – love, connections, compassion
  • A good friend – or many
  • A job that provides necessities and security
  • A warm bed – pillows, warm blanket
  • Sitting in the Sunshine – feeling the warmth dancing along your face
  • Walking in the Rain, listening to the rain drops dapping on the roof
  • Healthy food choices – vegetables and fruits – enjoying the colors, textures, patterns, taste, feel
  • Water – potable drinking water, streams, swamps, rivers, lakes, oceans
  • A roof over your head – a place to cool or warm your body
  • Breathe – pay attention to the slow in and out breath
  • Nature – the gifts of food, all the variety of trees and the gifts they provide, vegetation, dirt, rocks, color, scents, textures, various size of each gift of nature
  • The way shadows and light play on the floor and walls around you
  • Children sharing flowers
  • Dew decorating leaves and flowers
  • Those creative moments when you bring items to life in a new way
  • The delightful sounds of birds singing, tinkle of wind chimes, rustling of leaves
  • And so much more

Here are a few things that bring me joy throughout the day, week, month, year.

Nature is ever changing just as our lives and what a beautiful way to embrace life by just enjoying the simple pleasures. Over the past year I have been incorporating nature into crafts whether using a sticks and seashells along with beads to create wind chimes, taking nature photos, using found sea glass and small stones to create jewelry, essential oils to create emotion roller balls, it has brought me closer to where I want to be in life. Living in a state of simple pleasure, being grateful for all experiences – those we label as good or bad, happy or sad . . . Each brings with it a learning lesson.

During times when we find ourselves out of vibration with where we were intending to be are the best times to focus on gratitude. Gratitude for the life lesson which confirms we are not moving in the direction of choice. Life happens – illnesses arise in ourselves or others, death occurs, jobs and relationships may end – however it is during those times that we can be thankful for the experiences, for the pleasure of knowing those who are no longer with us and the lessons learned from having them in our lives. Once we overcome the low vibration we can set out vision on the higher vibration by giving gratitude for simple pleasures and remain focused on those. Before you know it, new adventures present themselves, new people come into our lives, new life events to be grateful for and we are back on the path leading to where we rather be. Remember, not everyday may be filled with high vibration – someone may cut you off, you may spill coffee on your work clothing, you may be exhausted from a night of crying baby – however, it is your reaction to those events that will influence your day and what you remember of the day. Where you place your focus will determine the overall outcome so why not focus on all the blessings of the day and let the other flow off you like eggs on a Teflon pan.

So the question is, what will you focus on today? If you would like to share please leave a comment or complete the contact form below.

Love and Light!

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

WPC – Evanescent

This challenge is wide open. Evanescent can be any fleeting moment in time. It could be the moment you drop a seed into your garden, marking that promise of new growth to come. It could be a photo of the Eastern Phoebe that visits your deck each day, wagging her tail as she calls her own name. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, it could be that carpet of leaves that fell overnight, before the wind scatters them. It might be the moment you light the first fire of Fall.

“Human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning.” ~ Samuel Butler ~

Just as the morning dew vanishes with the sunshine of the day, children grow and move on into adulthood in what seems a blink of an eye. The time passing is caught in little glimpses of memory.

We don’t really realize how evanescent youth really is until we are older. Thankfully our memories hold reflections of the past, never remembering an entire scene or event, just a little glimpse of what once was.

When I see this photo of the reflection of my son and grandson in the window, I see the evanescent of youth as I wonder when did my own little boy become this man. Wasn’t it just yesterday that he was that little window shopping with me. My grandson lives on the other side of the country so we only seeing each other one or two times a year. I am always amazed at how tall he has grown between visits and all the new ideas, words, and skills he has mastered since our last visit.

This is why living in the moment and being mindful of the people in your life is so important. When together turn off electronics, engage in conversation, activities, fun and play. Build strong memories to bring you peace and joy later in life, and the knowing that you took the time to enjoy every precious moment.

Love and Light!

If you would like to view additional photos or submit your own to this week’s challenge, click on the link below:

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/evanescent/

Finding Beauty in the Every Day

What are some everyday things that others find ugly or dirty, which you find breathtakingly beautiful? 

At times we travel through life without noticing beauty around us in our every day life. If we are constantly moving through life without noticing the small, ‘insignificant’ blessings how will we every appreciate the larger things.

We set goals for a car then a larger more expensive car. We want to purchase a home and once in that home begin to focus on a larger home. Then we want a vacation and once on vacation we think of a more luxurious vacation. We sometimes lives with blinders on our eyes.

If we focus on what we don’t have in our lives – and we all travel down this road at certain times along our journey – this can lead to stress, depression, lower self-esteem, and eventually illness. So for today, stop and think about what you see as breathtakingly beautiful in your own life. Here are ten from my list:

• A bird’s nest covering an entrance light – I would leave it there until the birds are old enough to fly and find a new home.

Birds will build their nest anywhere

• Walking barefoot – grounding / earthing – I love the feel of the earth on my feet and how it energizes
  
• Becoming one with nature without worry of wildlife or insects

Becoming one with nature

• Light and shadows artfully decorating leaves

• Ivy growing on the side of a home

• Shadows on the wall especially when the reflection of the curtains decorates the walls – this always starts my day with a smile
• The intricate work of spider’s webs

• Winter frost decorating the window on the front porch

• Rust on an old gate – the center made me think of a hidden pearl amid the rust and chipping paint

• A cup of tea with a message or coffee served in a favorite cup
  
  

  Sip slowly and mindfully

  

  Life is Good

Those are ten from my list of many more. Please share a few from your list. And, grab a small journal with a nice pen and continue writing the beauty you see during the day.

Once you are able to change your daily focus on all of the blessings in your life – most won’t cost you a cent – you will open yourself to reaching your goals. When you do receive those blessings your joy will over flow and last for a longer period of time.

Love and Light!

WPC – Reflections 2

You can find similar reflections and changes in perspective just about anywhere. From water and glass to metallic surfaces, share a photo that captures something reflected back to you in a way that made you look at your surroundings differently.

Reflections is another of my favorite subject matters as you will see from my photos. Hope you enjoy!

“Without deep reflections one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.” ~ Albert Einstein ~

Lake Placid, NY

“As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflected the real people.” ~ Psalm 27:19 ~

Lake Placid, NY

“Life is truly a reflection of what we allow ourselves to see & be.” ~ Trudy Symeonakis Vesotsky ~

Lake Placid, NY

Lake George, NY

Lake George, NY

Cascade Lakes, NY

“Time spent in self-expression is never wasted – it is an intimate date with yourself.”  ~ Paul TP Wong ~

San Diego, CA

San Diego, CA

“The beauty you see in me, is a reflection of you.” ~ Rumi ~

Congress Park, Saratoga, NY

Cascade Lake, Adirondacks, NY

If you would like to view entries for this week’s photo challenge or to submit your own, click on the link below:

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/reflecting/

Love and Light!

WPC – Reflections

You can find similar reflections and changes in perspective just about anywhere. From water and glass to metallic surfaces, share a photo that captures something reflected back to you in a way that made you look at your surroundings differently.

While traveling for home from a training I stopped to stretch near a small pond in the Adirondacks. We had just had a rainfall and as I stepped out of the car I noticed the reflection of the red Porsche in the puddle so I snapped this photo.

If you can train your senses to perceive the movement of the minute hand of a clock, what is to stop you for training them to ‘slow’ down when you look at the tree or a puddle? ~ Colin Wilson ~

I love photographing reflections in puddles, windows, lakes, droplets, and wherever they may appear. When looking at the reflections it reminds me how important it is to stop once in a while and reflect on my own life and the direction I am taking, to stop and look at the world with fresh ways.

Colt discovering his own reflection

Joe and Tanner checking out the store window display

Reflection through doorway onto painting on the wall

Tree on hotel window

My cousin reflecting life sitting on the bench

“Life is Only a Reflection of What We Allow Ourselves to See” ~ Trudy Symeonakis Vesotsky ~

Take time to stop and enjoy the moment, open your eyes to the beauty around you. It may be hidden in a window, a puddle, a lake, glass, counter top, or someone’s sunglasses. Learn to see the world with the eyes of a child finding beauty in everything and enjoy living in the moment.

“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” ~ Camille Pissarro ~

If you would like to view other entries or to submit your own for this week’s challenge, click on the link below:

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/reflecting/

Love and Light

WPC – New Horizon

Get the jump on your New Year’s resolutions in this week’s photo challenge.

“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.” ~ Dale Carnegie ~

Not roses as mentioned in Dale Carnegie’s quote above, my photo for this week’s challenge are magical magnolia blossoms. Although I love to travel, I don’t need to travel from home to enjoy life. It seems whether it is a shadow on the wall, curtains dancing in the breeze, enjoying a coffee on the front porch, sitting with a child or by myself in the swing hanging from the tree, or watching birds entertaining themselves – there is always something to be grateful for. New horizons can be enjoyed through learning.

Magnolia in bloom

The quote from Dale Carnegie is quite appropriate for my New Year’s Resolution to become a certified Dale Carnegie instructor in 2017. I plan to live life to the fullest in 2017 as every other year past and look forward to living in the moment while taking steps to reach more life fulfilling goals. This will include laughing and dancing more, daily writing, exercise, healthy eating, learning new photography techniques, guiding clients along their path, living mindfully, daily meditations, participating in learning retreats, meeting new healers and growing in a community of wellness advocates to name a few. As always, spending quality time with my family and watching my grandchildren grow and learn will be a major part of 2017.

What are your goals for 2017? Do you spend time writing down your dreams, goals, desires and take steps to reach them?

If you would like to view additional photos from this week’s challenge or would like to submit your own, click on the link below:

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/new-horizon/

Love and Light!

WPC – Edge 2

“A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” ~Henry David Thoreau ~

Take a seat at the edge of the water, release anything weighing on your mind, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy Mirror Lake. Some run by quickly, others drive by, and some go into their houses never to notice the beauty. On this bench one only has to sit and hear the call of the loons, look to the right and left to absorb the beauty of the mountains. When its time to get up you will feel like a new person.

Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, NY

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
~ Albert Einstein ~

If you wold like to see other posts for this week’s challenge or would like to submit your own please click on the link below:

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/edge

Love and Light!

(I submitted this photo for WPC – Mirror however I thought it was a perfect fit for this week’s edge as well)

WPC – Edge

“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed … We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in.” ~ Wallace Stegner, The Sound of Mountain Water ~

The first time I stood at the edge and looked out at the frozen lake I didn’t really notice the house. The house is built at the edge of the rock formation and made with stone to resemble the natural habitat. The occupants must have a wonderful view of the mountains and lake below. Across from the home a tree grows on a rock, almost in competition with the home as it shouts out, “Look at me.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

If you would like to learn more about Minnewaska Preserve click thee link below: http://hikethehudsonvalley.com/minnewaska-state-park-preserve/

In winter the Preserve is quiet. The roar of the waterfall could be heard from quite a distance while hiking through the woods. Once you get a little closer your heart beats a little faster in anticipation of seeing the rushing waters. As you walk down the stream you will first reach the edge of the falls. The water is so powerful that you don’t want to get too close the edge.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A trail that leads down the mountain to the bottom of the falls. The photos above are a mix of two visits. As you can see one is later in the year when the I’ve has thawed and the other is in the midst of the freezing weather. It was breathtaking.

This location is a perfect place to slow down and enjoy the winter weather. Sitting on a rock listening to the falls is a great place to meditate, get in touch with nature, and just allow your mind to quiet for a short period of time. Time seemed to stop for a while as we sat enjoying the sounds of nature.

We spent hours at the edge of the waterfalls capturing ice melting, green life poking through the snow, leaves caught in the rocks and other amazing gifts of nature.

“We need the tonic of wildness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods ~

If you would like to view other photos from this week’s challenge or would like to submit your own, click on the link below:

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges

Love and Light

WPC – Mirror

“Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.” ~ Ernest Holmes ~

This week’s topic – Mirror – is one of my favorites to capture with my camera. Whenever I see a mirror image it makes me stop to admire this phenomenon. It is a miracle that occurs right before our eyes.

My first image is of my grandson. While visiting him a couple of week’s ago I noticed his reflection in the counter top. If I had turned the camera upside down and only captured the county photo it would have been the same except the background would look as if he were in a dark room. Thankfully he was so involved playing with his new car that I had purchased, he didn’t even pay attention to Mimi.

Lakes are another love of mine to capture when there is a mirror image. Fortunately I was visiting Lake Placid when the water on Mirror Lake was exactly that, mirror like. It was a perfect day for taking photos and reflecting.

Mirror Lake – Lake Placid, NY

Mirror Lake, Lake Placid, NY

Mirror Lake, Lake Placid, NY

Mirror Lake, Lake Placid, NY

Glass windows are another way to capture a mirror image. In the photo below my son and grandson were looking at toys in the window. My favorite part of the photo was their hands. Tanner’s hand on the window and the reflection look like two children touching hands. As my son’s face is a little distorted due to the toy on the shelve behind the window it made the photo feel like another person was pointing back at him. Notice Tanner’s other hand with is right index finger, pointing down mimicking his uncle Joe. Wonder if that was unconscious on his part.

Another fun way to capture mirror images is on the wet sand while walking on the beach. My grandson, daughter, her husband, sister-in-law and mother-in-law were walking in front of me jumping and being silly with Tanner. They were having such fun and their mirror images were interesting captures. Notice in the one to the right, Tanner is actually in the air. If you look close you can see his little feet in the mirror image.

Still rivers are also perfect for taking mirror images. This is the railroad bridge located along the Hudson River between Mechanicville and Stillwater New York. It is a popular spot for photographers who come from miles away to capture this bridge. On this day we were riding by and I had my daughter stop the car so I could capture this beautiful shot. One of my favorites.

The dock on the Hudson River in Stillwater is another popular spot for photographers, especially in Autumn.

We can’t have mirror images without some wildlife included. This is a photo from a little stream in Congress Park in Saratoga New York. The ducks were enjoying some family time bathing in the water.

Congress Park, Saratoga Springs New York

Congress Park Saratoga Springs New York

Saratoga State Park

Adirondack Lake in Indian Lake New York has become one of my favorite places to visit and kayak. The lake is like a mirror, the loons sing to one another, and it is very peaceful.

Autumn is a perfect time to capture the beautiful color of nature. When mirrored on a lake it can take your breath away. Autumn is my favorite time of year. If it would only stay with us for several months instead of a such a short period of time. Every weekend and during the week while traveling for work I love to stop and take in the scenery, smell the freshly fallen leaves while enjoying a cup of pumpkin flavored coffee and an apple cider donut.

Adirondack Lake, Indian Lake New York

Adirondack Lake, Indian Lake, NY

Adirondack Lake, Indian Lake, NY

Arlington, Vermont

And, we can’t forget the beauty of winter snow and decorative lights. I love to capture photos in the winter just before sunset, that little lull between sun and darkness which is short-lived and earlier than we would like during those cold nights.

“We constantly wait in anticipation for a miracle to happen in our life, unaware that the miracle is actually life itself.” ~ Daniel Chadiac

Everything before you is a miracle – YOU are a miracle. Just think about birth – no one can yet explain why we are alive, where our thoughts come from, how one is conceived or how our bodies actually work – it is a guessing game with new ideas and discoveries occurring daily.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my entries for this week. If you would like to view more photos for this week’s challenge or would like to enter your own photos please click on the link below:

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/mirror

Love and Light!

 

Terrific Tuesday!

Wishing you all a Terrific Tuesday. Take time to enjoy the little moments in life that diminish before your eyes. They will not return for a later day.

Spending time walking on the pier with my daughter and grandson (2.5 years) reminded me of when my daughter at the same age. We would walk together holding hands enjoying the day. At home she would follow me around the house singing “I’m watching you, watching you…” while we prepared meals together.

Those were cherished times – holding hands and cuddling were my favorite times of the day. My grandson didn’t want to cuddle as much on this visit so we shared special moments playing, enjoying nature walks, and watching Curious George. Yesterday before heading back to San Diego he wanted to repair the tire on our McDonald’s toy. I gave him a roll of tape and he worked on repairing the tire. It was adorable. While watching Curious George they would show George’s antics and then children would try to replicate the cartoon by drawing maps of their park and finding their way around, learning about pulls bringing items to the second floor of the porch, and repairing things. Tanner was absorbing everything the entire time he watched the movie.

Thankfully I knew during our visits as we explored nature, laughed and played that these were precious moments. Exploring with children can open your eyes to things you may have long forgotten to notice. Watching them absorb their environment, observe the adults actions and listen to stories is amazing.

For today, enjoy those you are spending time with, get out in nature, check out shadows, the sound of trees rustling in the breeze, water dripping, and all the wonders of life. You don’t have to travel to enjoy your day – there is beauty all around you.

Have a terrific Tuesday:)

Love and Light!