be mine

I came across a number of quotes while watching a YouTube video "Message from the Infinite Heart". This one in particular really stuck with me.

You, yourself,
as much as anybody
in the entire universe,
deserve your love
and affection.

It can be so easy to focus our energies outward on other people that we can forget in order to share love with someone else we need to 1st love ourselves.

For this Valentine's day I will BE MINE 1st before I try to ask someone else to be mine or offer myself to be theirs.

pūrṇatā

pūrṇatā - fullness, completeness, perfection

I love the idea that we are always beginning. Each moment is an opportunity to begin again. We are only as perfect as that very moment. The next time we try the same thing it is an opportunity to begin again and achieve yet a new level of perfection.

doing small things great

We look around a room and see someone in an amazing pose and think "I want to be like that." We hear of a friend going on an amazing trip and think "I want to do that." We see a colleague at work get honored for their achievement and wonder "how do I do that." It is so easy to get caught up in the idea of doing great things or being the best at something that we can loose site of our priorities and the actual joy in doing.

I have been teaching for a few months now and am loving it. Each week gets better and I become more comfortable. I took a class with one of my favorite teachers the other day and was marveling at "how great" she was and wishing I could be like that. I started to compare myself and think about all the things I wasn't doing that she was doing. I then came across the following quote and it helped me re-align my focus.

We can't always do great things, we can do small things great.

As I pondered this quote I realized I didn't need to be great. I didn't need to be the best teacher. I needed to focus on the small things that I could do great while teaching a class which in the end would make the experience great. As I taught class last night I focused my energy on doing these small things with greatness and love. The energy put into the small things made the entire bigger experience - GREAT.

doing nothing

It is so easy to get caught up in "doing." I always seem to have a list of things I need to do (laundry, cleaning, work, dishes, etc..) and a list of things I want to do (run, hike, yoga, ready, cook.) At the end of the day I tend to judge the value of the day by what I accomplished - what I got done.

This Sunday was the most perfect autumn day. I was up early and did a number of things - long walk, made breakfast, laundry, assisted a class. I hadn't taken a morning asana class like I normally do and figured I would go to one later in the day and get that done. After that I would maybe clean the house and then make dinner. I would have a productive afternoon.

I came home from the store and it was absolutely beautiful out. We decided to make a fire outside and have lunch. As I sat and enjoyed the warmth of the sun (and the fire) I started thinking about how much I felt like I still had to do that day. I knew I had already had a very productive (even busy) day at that point yet at the same time I still felt like I had not done enough. I felt like there was still so much to do. I was focusing so much on crossing things off my list, crossing off my daily accomplishments so I could say "I did all of this, look how productive I was" that I wasn't truly enjoying the moment. I realized I need to let go of the voices in my head, my lists, my need to accomplish things and needed to just do nothing. Just be. Be present in the glorious day and just enjoy. For the next hour my husband and I just sat in front of the fire on this most perfect autumn day and did nothing. We did "nothing" yet nothing became the most important something. We just enjoyed. We were present within ourselves and with each other.

Take time to do nothing. Take time to silence the voices and the lists and enjoy the moment and just be. Do nothing, it can be the most important something.