Happy Wednesday!  

Life simply amazes me. When I think about how beautiful nature just is, I am amazed. Where nature is untouched by humans, it moves through its seasons naturally. The gentle breeze distributes seeds until they find a place to rest and take root. They break through the surface with the urging of the sun and nurturing rain. They flourish, they wilt, and they flower. They eventually return to the soil to be recycled into nutrients to feed other life growth. There is a natural calendar to nature. It isn’t stressed about how to be or what to do. It doesn’t worry about what happens next. And it doesn’t fear about what is or isn’t there. It simply is. Nature truly is a precious gem.
 
If we could live our human existence through the eyes of nature and just be, we too could live without stress, worry, and fear. We could simply live a precious human life.

 Quotes of the day:

“Life becomes precious and more special to us when we look for the little everyday miracles and get excited about the privileges of simply being human.” ~ Tim Hansel

“Use your precious moments to live life fully every single second of every single day.”  ~ Marcia Weider

“The most precious gift we can offer is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”   ~ Thich Nhat Hanh 

“Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don’t hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people.”  ~ Zig Ziglar
For the next week, I invite you to go through your week:

 With the awareness of Dalia Lama’s “A Precious Human Life”.” Read it daily when you get up and go to bed and let it soak in to every pore knowing that life truly is precious.

“Today I am fortunate to have woken up.
I am alive; I have a precious human life.
I am not going to waste it.
 
I am going to use all my energies to develop myself,
To expand my heart out to others,
To achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.
 
I am going to have kind thoughts towards others.
I am not going to get angry,
Or think badly about others.
I am going to benefit others as much as I can.”

Mostly, I invite you to truly feel how precious life is and to enjoy every moment of it. Enjoy the great times. Enjoy the contrasting times. Enjoy the sun. Enjoy the rain. Enjoy the loudness. Enjoy the silence. Enjoy creating. Enjoy learning. Enjoy loving – and mostly, enjoy living.
Until next time, live and love a precious life.

~Carol

Looking for a way to stay focused on Living Life Fulfilled? Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you, support you, and simply love to laugh and have fun.

I’m not going to go into a visual description of the great usage of bathroom tissue, but did you know you can learn from it too? I love words and phrases and as such, wherever I go, they pop out at me. As I walk to work each day, I pass a particular advertisement for a bathroom tissue with a cute puppy on it. And the first time I noticed the sign, I thought awww how cute and I loved the slogan – “We shine where the sun doesn’t.” I’ve passed this sign for a few weeks now and it always puts a smile on my face. Today it brought me to this message.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could take this message into areas of your life that you feel the sun isn’t shining? Rather than sitting in the darkness of fear, the unknown, bad feelings, and scary thoughts, that you brought the light of hope, health, love, and fun into all areas of your life?

Quotes of the day:

“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.” 

~ Francis Bacon

“Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.” 

~ Marianne Williamson

“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”   

~ Nelson Mandela

“Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us, and then we’ll need no other light.”   

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

For the next week, I invite you to shine light where there is perceived darkness.

When you are sitting in a contentious business meeting: speak of hope where there are words of dismay; speak of encouragement where there are words of discouragement; speak of inspiration where there is words lack, fear, anger, or disappointment. Own the story of unlimited possibilities rather than the story others choose to believe on ‘we’re in hard times’.

Rather than getting stuck in the muck of your relationships not working and joining in on the arguments or negative thinking, try shining light into the relationship rather than joining in on the doom and gloom. Rather than joining in on the current story of a troubled relationship, why not remember what brought you together in the first place. Whether it’s a friendship, a work relationship, or a romantic relationship, take yourself to a place where you truly admired that person and shine the light of love rather than the darkness of fear.

When you are going through any challenging (fill in the blank of your current story) experience, shine the light on it by knowing you will be fine. Challenging experiences aren’t failures at all but rather opportunities to expand and grow. I’m sure each of you have been in a situation that at the time felt awful, but looking back realized that was perfect to get you where you are now. Shine that idea now while in the situation rather than waiting for the “aha” moment when you are fully out of it.

Mostly, I invite you to simply SHINE regardless of the situation. Whether you are on a trip of a lifetime or stuck in rush hour traffic – choose to shine! Whether you are saying “I do” or signing a divorce agreement – choose to shine! Whether you just got the greatest promotion at your job or you were let go – choose to shine! If you choose to shine some light into every situation, I promise they will be easier, quicker, and more joyful.

Until next time, shine bright! 

~Carol

Looking for a way to stay focused on Living Life Fulfilled? Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you, support you, and simply love to laugh and have fun.

Are you familiar with the saying “It’s better to give than to receive”? Have you really thought about why that is? Is it to be selfless? Is it to put others before your own needs? Or is it that in giving, you are truly receiving a gift?

Are you seeking for more peace, appreciation, and love in your life? I invite you to find it by giving what you are seeking out.

 Quotes of the day:

“The love we give away is the only love we keep.” ~ Elbert Hubbard

“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver” ~ Maya Angelou

“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.” ~ Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalia Lama

“The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose.”  ~ Heda Bejar

For the next week I invite you to give:

Peace: if you seek peace in the world or simply your life, be the peace giver. Be peaceful with yourself, your family, your friends, and all those you come into contact. 

Money: if you seek more financial abundance in your life, be the money giver. Share what you have with those you feel inspired to share it with. Whether it is 25 cents, $2.50, $25, $250, $2,500, or more - share it. I recommend sharing from a place of gratitude rather than from a place of obligation.

Time: if you seek more time in your life, be the time giver. Set aside the ‘have to do lists’ and take time to spend time doing things that make you feel good. Share your time by volunteering with an organization that resonates with you.

Appreciation: if you seek more appreciation in your life, be the appreciation giver. Whether big or small gestures, be appreciative of those in your life from family members to strangers that cross your path. Appreciate the cup of coffee poured for you in the morning. Appreciate the person who smiled at you as you walked down the street. Appreciate the sun, the rain, the wind, the air, and life in general.

Kindness: if you seek out kindness, be the kindness giver. Each day do a random act of kindness whether big or small. Hold the door open for people as they hurry to the office. Feed a meter for someone. Smile and say hi to people. 

Love: if you seek more love in your life, be the love giver. Give the hug that you want to receive. Say I love you to those you love. Start each day from a pure space of love. Return to loving thoughts when you get out of alignment with your truth of being a loving person. Be loving simply for the sake of loving.

Mostly, I invite you to give to yourself the gift of giving to others. As I promise you, when you start giving to others, what comes back to you is the greatest feeling you seek out. I invite you to give from a space of love and joy. When you give, you truly receive the gift back and it opens your heart to greater love and abundance.

~Carol

Looking for a way to stay focused on Living Life Fulfilled? Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you, support you, and simply love to laugh and have fun.