Tao meditation this morning:
"You may be capable of great things, but life consists of small things."
Perspective is every thing. I can still feel I am underachieving at life. That there should be more writing, more editing, more workshops, more knitting of wedding gift afghans and Alaskan hats and Solstice is coming and how ill prepared I am for the the book exchange and and and......I can really pile it on, all my perceived shortfalls.
And I light the small candle at seven a.m. and reflect on the meditation, and look over at my window and I see this:
Shockingly sudden deep pink blooms on my beloved African violets.
And then I spot this over at the edge. This tiny baby forcing out one solitary flower:
And then I look at my latest wee giftie from my neighbour. She saw it at a plant sale and thought of me and bought it and put it on my outside ledge to surprise me:
I'm acclimatizing it at the moment, but she is spreading her wings as you can see.
I would never have paid attention to such small things if not for the Tao jog.
You?
Great or small things depends on the viewer's perspective. I have just recovered from a severe case of acid reflux and suffered for three days. Small for my GP but huge for me!
ReplyDeleteA very good point anon, my "health failures" were ginormous to me when I could hardly move with the pain. I do hope you're feeling better.
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It's those little things that make a life. Always surround yourself with the little things before attempting anything big. I love your plants and flowers.
ReplyDeleteThank you Delaine, they have replaced my beloved four legged pets which we are not permitted to have here.
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February and the solitary Ladybug that crawls across my moitor...or my face! Small things indeed. I dampen a paper towel for her drinking water and she sits basking under a gooseneck lamp.
DeleteArrrrgh! "Emma"
DeleteOMG so strange you should mention the ladybird. Every February in my old house my little guest would crawl all over my monitor. It was a lovely handshake.
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My mother had many, and I even started a long shelf of them when I had good indoor light. The surprise blloms that come every so often. Reminders of love. I may need to get one and try again. I call out my WIPs, works in progress, and wonder why I get so much less done than my younger years. I'll get anxious. Then here, I'm again reminded just enjoy the small things. Zero in on the present moment and all its giving back that one might not want to miss.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you adopt some African violets CJ, as you say the surprise of the blooms brings unbounded joy.
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The little things are HUGE in my life. Which I see as right and proper. In the universal scale I am a small person (and how I wish that was true physically too).
ReplyDeleteI am fairly tall too EC and my short friends and my short mother and niece had always always wanted to have my height. They feel/felt tall people were more successful in life. I don't know if that's true.
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I was a short person for years. I grew eight inches the year I turned fifteen, and another two the following year. I have looked at life from both sides now... Though I was referring to my girth rather than my height.
DeleteAh girth I bow before you. Me too, EC. since I stopped running and also years of food issues. I am on strict caloric intake at the mo, which I find easy once in the rhythm of it all which I am and a loss of about 20lbs so far. Takes the weight off the arthritic bones and internal organs. But it's one meal at a time, as we all know. I have as my goal on walking again without George my cane.
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Noticing the small things brings more joy than falling over the big stuff, to my mind. If only I could remember that.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to stay bright and positive (brrr! so often a nasty word, depending on how it's used) when the days get short and dark. I shall have to look closely both inside and out to remind myself how good it is to be alive and functioning.
Enjoy the small not trip over the big concept. I really like that! Kim in PA (USA)
DeleteI too hate that word positive Friko. Sometimes we need to be downright negative when faced with the short days and the brutal economic hardships and yes, war, everywhere. But focussing on the littles in life really really help.
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Kim, yes, it's very helpful, I get knotted up on the big stuff.
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I'm reading "Autumn" by Karl Ove Knausgaard at the moment. It's completely about all the small things in life - a letter to his unborn daughter explaining them all to her. Check it out - I think you'd love it!
ReplyDeletethanks for the rec Molly, I will check it out at the library right now while I think of it. I knew an Ove once, he was Danish. And of course there's that famous book about Ove.
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Molly they had it at my library so I have ordered it. It sounds like a great lift-me-up. Thank you.
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You're underachieving according to who or what? As long as you're doing things you enjoy, what does it matter if someone somewhere thinks you're "underachieving"?
ReplyDeleteI'm the one who thinks it Nick. Old habits die hard.
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I am a believer in taking pleasure from the wonders of nature, big or small.
ReplyDeleteYes, you do Andrew, I'm going to work a little more on it.
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African violets are hard to grow; so you are good! I love the Tao quote. I'm printing it out, and it's going on my refrigerator.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you like it Tom and yes, African violets are my passion, couldn't grow them at my house as the windows were too cold but now........
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I am so fortunate life consists of small things and I can leave the big things to my children! My youngest daughter just graduated with her Masters in Nursing. My oldest daughter just had her knee replaced.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was addicted to African Violets, but would let us take any cuttings we wanted, so we became addicted too.
I grew one huge one when I lived in Toronto, all were astonished, she was getting up in years too. Yes I hear you on the small things in your life Joanne, our world do shrink like it or not.
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I have small things I enjoy that make me smile, bigger things that make me feel I haven't done enough about, tend to get locked in boxes and stashed in the back of my mind. It's dusty back there so I don't delve as often as I used to.
ReplyDeleteI lvoe that metaphor, River, I will ponder that in my next meditation tomorrow morning.
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My kids say I am easily pleased by small things: an unexpected coffee, a bunch of flowers, a delicious piece of cake. I could get better at noticing the things that aren't directed right in front of my face, though
ReplyDeleteI usually spend upto an hour every morning in Meditation, called Vipassana. This is for Spiritual purposes.
ReplyDeleteWhen you distill everything down to its essence it is the small things in life that make it pleasant. We all should learn to appreciate the small things more, and if there is a benefit to getting older, it is exactly that.
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