Inspirational Tuesday: to serve

I have the view…that the human being was not made for pleasure, was not made to gratify the ego, was not made to make money, and was not made to have babies: it was made to serve something bigger than oneself. We are built to serve.

Jacob Needleman

Hey guys,

I am back! :) whoa! It’s been two full and awesomely amazing weeks! can’t wait to tell you all about it and post some pics! In the meantime, this quote caught my eye ;) for a truly inspiring and motivational story on giving and serving the others, check this interview!

Love to you all!

Roxi

Inspirational Tuesday: On kindness

A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.

Joseph Joubert

Kindness has such an amazing power! to heal, to unite, to correct, to add love when is most needed, to change someone’s path for the better. I feel we all need to practice it, more and more every day, especially when we are bombarded with bad news, violence and stories of crimes all around us.

And the thing is, it doesn’t require any big or grand gestures from our part. We do not need to save the world and fix all its problems. By being kind, we just add, little by little, ripples of good and calmness, in the lives of our closest: family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, strangers…

Being kind means being attentive, patient, respectful of others feelings and opinions (taking them as they are without trying to change them or prove them wrong), listening with curiosity and an open mind, letting go of hurting someone back, and mostly, forgiving. Ourselves firstly, and then, all who have harmed us.

Then, it means doing good, helping someone out. Being encouraging, supportive, gentle: to people, animals, plants and then, the entire world. Spreading an attitude of well being, generosity and love, that will enlarge in time, like ripples on a lake, and create wonders.

The benefits?… too many to mention and you will start noticing them the moment you decide to use kindness as a daily practice! :)

Happy Monday: Luther Vandross – This is Christmas

Something to get us into the Christmas spirit :) A time that is mostly about giving, sharing, laughing, light (in and out), renewal and merriness…

Do you have any suggestions for our Happy Monday series? What are the songs that inspire you and bring you joy? Share them with us!

Roxi

Inspirational Tuesday: Learning, Doing, Teaching

Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know it just as well as you. We are all learners, doers and teachers.

Richard Bach

Inspirational Tuesday/on Sat: words of wisdom from Dorothy Day

We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.

I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions.

In fact, to this very day, common sense in religion is rare, and we are too often trying to be heroic instead of just ordinarily good and kind.

The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them up.

Dorothy Day

More about Dorothy Day (1897-1980), editor, humanitarian and women’s rights advocate here and  here.

Do you know of other inspirational figures that have changed your life or the lives of others?

Feel free to send me or post your suggestions on the blog :) and they can also be close friends, family, people that have inspired you for greatness, that have given you a positive example and shaped your life for the better. If it’s the latter, a photo (with their permission, of course) and a short story that would emphasize their positive impact will do. You can send it to me on my personal email and I will post it the following Tuesday.

Inspirational Tuesday: View

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.

Epictetus

Blessed

Blessed is this day, because everything is as it should be and it is not in any other way different than what it already is. The sun came up, with the same force and shone on everyone. Good and bad alike, whether we saw it or not.

Blessed are all the things that can’t be changed. They all have their place and meaning, on this earth, this lifetime. Even though we do not know it.

Blessed are the oranges and all the fruits of life and the moments of solitude, for that is when we learn that we are strong. And blessed are the ones who hurt us, for they show us our own freedom.

Blessed are all our travels, wanderings, journeys and lost roads…for they always return us to ourselves.

Blessed is the hope and the faith for we can accomplish nothing without them, even though they are frail and unsubstantial; they hold the miracles of life in their hands.

Blessed is this worm that only squirms the earth once, blessed is the futility of our everyday lives, blessed am I and you, in spite of all our faults and nothingness…

Love!

 

2 chairs hand in hand in Waynesboro, Virginia, at a friends’ house. August, 2008.

I had this entire post written on the endurance and magnitude of love, beautifully and philosophically written, when just before I wanted to post it, it all went blanc. Call it the moody Monday, that comes after a deboucherous weekend, that does not want to work after my own will.

So, here’s the next best thing:

May you always find someone to share your closest chair with, may you choose your solitude but not your loneliness, and even if that is the case, that you should still find love. In your loved ones, a good friend, your pet or a good book. May you find it in all the unexpected places but mostly in your heart. All day, every day! make it your daily credo and manifesto. To love because it’s your choice, because you can, because it is your ultimate freedom.

Because in truth, nothing and no one can stop you from loving, even though that love may not be reciprocated. Love still, in spite of that. The rewards will come, in ways magnified thousands of times, way beyond your comprehension. Just try! try it for 21 days, or 3o days. Make it your habit :) to just love and give unconditionally to all there is and lives around you. Birds, trees, cars, streets, people, neighbours, cafe shops, work places and coworkers, bosses and exes. Because this capacity it’s in you and to love is a verb, an attitude and an action.

So there you go, you can still love even though you may not be in the perfect relationship, or even with a partner, or with your kids near, or parents, or whatever and whoever else you think you need to love in order to be happy and feel loved back. You are love and love is already within you!

Happy Love Day, every day!

Happily ever after..

If you would stop analyzing everything and just look for things to appreciate, you would live happily ever after.

Abraham-Hicks

Karma

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.

Wayne Dyer

More insightful articles on growing and being, better and wiser in every way, here!