High on Happiness

Posts Tagged ‘choices’

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So the year’s first child leaves us, her last sun pouring down its golden rays in benediction on all our bright dreams.

Tomorrow the next one will come toddling in, brand new, its arms gift-laden.

Their visits are so brief and fleeting.  And each gives us its all–seconds, minutes, hours, days–to do with as we please, to make whatever choices we will, as they unfold their weather and usher along the seasons.

Oh, January!  How we heralded your birth!  You, the bringer of fresh hopes and renewed aspirations.

Forgive us for how quickly we forget them, and know that your life force will stir them again and again as your siblings come with new chances.

For all the beauty and dreams you brought us, our thanks.  Farewell, beautiful January.  Farewell.

The day had been hectic, long and gray and I had errands to run after work.  I wanted just to be home, but I decided to put some music on the radio and enjoy my excursion.

As I left the highway and pulled onto the main street of the nearby town, I was greeted by newly hung Christmas lights and a sudden little flurry of snow.

Children skipped down the street on their way home from school looking like little birds in flight.  Here and there pairs of them stood peering in the shop windows, pointing at the holiday displays of clothes and toys.

The shop I needed to go to was in an older, mostly residential section at the far end of the town.  I pulled down one of the side streets and found a parking space alongside an old, slightly run down house.  Then I hurried, head down, through the snow to the store.

It took me a little while to find the items I needed and the line at the single check out register was long.  I was hungry and tired.  But instead of falling into a mood of impatience, once again I decided to relax into the moment and simply enjoy the sights and sounds around me.  With not a little satisfaction, I noticed that I’m getting better and better at making choices for happiness all the time.

As the clerk checked out my items, she picked up a big yellow rubber duck that was sitting on the counter and put it in my bag.  I hadn’t even noticed the unlikely toy sitting there.  “Oh!  That’s not mine,” I said and asked if it was the selection of the woman behind me.  No.  It wasn’t hers.

“I’m sorry,” the clerk said.  “I already charged you for it.”  I laughed and told her that was because the duck was meant for me, that I knew exactly who needed it.  “Are you sure?” she asked.  I laughed and said, “Absolutely!  It really was meant for me.”  We have a running joke going at work that involves giving one of our managers yellow rubber ducks.  It would make a perfect gag gift for Christmas.  I walked to my car smiling in amusement at this bit of serendipity.  Now if only I could have this kind of luck in finding my photo of the day, I thought.

The snow had stopped and I looked around the neighborhood as I walked to my car, my eyes searching through the quickly fading light for a subject for a photo.  Just as I reached my car, I stopped short.  There, beside a dilapidated old fence, stood a tall, fading rose, silhouetted against the bare December trees.   Little bits of snow nestled in its petals and lay on one of its leaves.  Something about it touched my heart, it’s bravery and perseverance perhaps.  I snapped its picture.

Sometimes when you smile at life, it drops unexpected grace notes into your day, just to smile right back.

Right here, right now, is a sheltering space, with everything you could need: comfort, ease, beauty, peace, an open window.

It was custom created, woven of all the choices that led you this far.  Here you may rest and dream new dreams, for all possibilities dance in your sky now.

Every yes, every no is yours to choose.  What you wish to carry with you is yours to take.  What you wish to leave behind, you may leave here.  It’s up to you.

Go with courage and with grace.  There is nothing to fear.  It’s all an adventure, all for you.  And between each breath lays the door to the endless sheltering spaces.

July rides into memory trailing scarlet bands of flame.  A whisper of starlight, a turn of the globe, and in will tiptoe August, her arms full of crickets and midsummer dreams.

Midnight turns to morning, days to weeks, months to years.  And before you know it, the seasons have swept a half a lifetime away.

Maybe that’s why we invented names for the days and months, why we number our years: to remind us of  how swiftly they pass.

They’re good times, these moments of transition, to write your thanks on what’s passing, to proclaim your intentions for the time to come so that you may use the swiftly flowing hours wisely and well.  Transitions let you pause and consider that time is your greatest gift, the tablet on which you write your experiences, the keeper of your memories, the giver of hope for the fulfillment of your dreams.

Transitions have the power to kindle your awareness of your mortality, of the value of each breath you take, of the importance of your choices and of your freedom to make them.  This is your one life, they say; create it as you will.

August is dawning.  What will you write across her skies?

Once more the swift sun rises, pouring its limitless light across the sky.  Spread open your arms and embrace its splendor.  Let it sing its possibilities into your soul and wake the very best in you.

Today you can live with graciousness and ease.  Today you can drink the exuberant Yes of life and trail peace and love wherever you go.

On this day, if you so choose, you can reach higher, laugh more, be more forgiving, dream new dreams.  You can find more wonder, dare more kindness, create more luck, sing more songs.

See the day dawn, feel its hunger for your participation in its joy.  Watch its light trail you, feeding on your crisp thoughts, your mouth-watering choices, your delicious actions, reveling in them, fueling its passion with everything you do.  Your name is written in the day’s heart.  You are why the sun rises, why the day dawns.   Make the most of it; spend it well.