Self Discovery

Many creation myths say it took only six days to make the world. It will take us a little longer to remake our own. But we can begin where Spirit did by declaring that there be Light to illuminate our journey of self-discovery.

The Quaker tradition teaches that this Light is within each of us. The Quakers, or members of the Religious Society of Friends, are a perfect example of individuals who manage the delicate balance of living in the world but not belonging to it. This is because they refuse to segment their lives into the Sacred and the secular. Instead, Quakers believe that all of life's daily experiences are spiritual in nature, from preparing a family meal to protesting political policy. The British writer George Gorman has observed that "the essence of Quaker spirituality is the certainty that everything we do has religious significance. It is not cutting ourselves off from life but entering deeply and fully into it."

Simplicity is the common thread that stitches together Quaker lives, homes, and dress. Their weekly worship service, or Meeting, is a silent meditation. Rhythm, reverence, and reflection are their hallmarks. These touchstones can help us as well as we attempt to remake our personal world.

Restoring a sense of rhythm to our lives is the first step. How much rhythm do you have in your personal world? Children are not the only ones who need regular bedtimes, mealtimes, and quiet times. Their mothers do, too. Think of the steady, reassuring rhythm of the natural world-the ebb and flow of the tides, the recurring cycle of the four seasons, the monthly phases of the moon, and the daily progression from day into night. Rhythm needs to be the cornerstone in our personal world as well. All of us lead busy lives, some more frantic and frazzled than others. We need to learn where to draw the line and how to say "no."

Today be willing to reflect quietly on the role that rhythm plays in your daily life. Your heart will always tell you what's working and what's not. Restoring rhythm to the way you conduct your affairs can bring you contentment and a sense of well-being that will nurture and sustain you when the cares of the world can't be left behind.

Source: Simple Abundance

Good cheer and prosperity

My grandma used to tell us when we’re kids, “Don’t frown or quarrel inside the house.”

If we take that literally in a funny way, we can do what she’s forbidding us to do outside the house. No. Seriously, what she meant was we should avoid wearing a long face wherever we go and whatever time of the day. Why? She said that if we looked grumpy, God’s Angels of Blessings would get scared to come near us, then we wouldn’t get any of those blessings. So, she said, “Be cheerful all the time!”

As I grew older, I began to understand her meaning of the word. Cheerfulness means poise, serenity, a sane wholesome, well-balanced outlook on life. The cheerful person knows that there is much misery in the world, but that misery needs not be the rule of life. If one has more cheerfulness in life, it means one has more happiness, more success, more efficiency, more character, a larger future. The cheerful person does not cramp his mind and take half views of things.

More cheerfulness will help one all along the line of life. It will help bear one’s burdens; it will increase one’s courage, strengthen one’s character, make one more effective, more popular, more helpful. It will make one a happier, more successful person.

Have you ever noticed that it is the cheerful, hopeful, optimistic people who succeed and who’s got plenty of friends? And those who’s got sour, gloomy natures fail, or drag their feet along in mediocrity, who never amount to anything? A habit of cheerfulness enables one to change obvious misfortunes into real blessings.

At life’s onset, Orison S. Marden, a writer, says , a cheerful optimistic temperament is worth everything. A cheerful person, who always looks on the bright side, who is ever ready to seize victory from defeat, is the successful one.

Everybody avoids the company of those who are always grumbling, who always scowl, sarcastic, who are full of “ifs” and “buts”, and “I told you so’s.” We like the person who always looks toward the sun, whether it shines or not. It is the cheerful, hopeful person we go for sympathy and assistance, not the despondent, downcast, gloomy critic, who always thinks it is going to rain, and that we are going to have a terribly hot summer, or a fearful thunderstorm, or who is forever complaining of hard times. It is the bright, cheerful, hopeful, contented person who makes his way, who is respected and admired.

Gloom and depression not only take much out of life, but divert greatly from the chances of winning success. It is the bright and cheerful spirit that wins the final triumph.

So, my grandma used to say, “Be cheerful, and Prosperity will follow.” Thank goodness, she was right!