From Day 15 of 30 Perfect Days, Finding Abundance in Ordinary Life: Twenty years ago, I forgot I was human. But I WAS human, a frail and conflicted young woman who felt she had to prove herself and didn’t deserve happiness. In my unhappiness, I was always trying to be perfect, and I wasn’t willing to admit my mistakes. I had to grow into a person who could allow happiness and acceptance to infiltrate my life. As we get older, the number of mistakes we’ve made increases while the frequency of our mistakes diminishes, which makes it easier to accept imperfection. When we own up to our mistakes, we live in the present and are accepting of our human frailties. We get closer to the truth—that we aren’t meant to be perfect and we are meant to be happy. (Get the book for half price on Amazon today–http://www.amazon.com/30-Perfect-Days-Abundance-Ordinary/dp/0692277501/.)
Tag Archives | purpose
30 Perfect Days Log Post 14 — Finding Privacy
From Day 14 of the Book–Audrey Hepburn once said, “I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.” I refuel in my studio, ensconced in my big chair, where a photo of the stained glass at St. Benedictine’s monastery in Erie reminds me of the time I spent in a hermitage, reflecting and writing. The wall opposite my chair is covered by floor-to-ceiling bookcases of books, photo boxes, the Tibetan bowl that sings only for me, and a basketful of Yoga Journals. My desk is loaded with photos, trinkets, and affirmations, the mementos of my life. It is here that I journal, write, read, and reflect, where the world is outside and may as well not be there, where nothing can touch me or bring me down. In the room that is my own, I allow my mind to understand and accept that there are no answers. Privacy is what’s going on in my head, and being alone is meditative. Should we carry that private self, the one who’s open to possibility and honesty, into the real world or should we keep it in its separate place?
30 Perfect Days Log 12 — Combatting Mediocrity—
Norman Vincent Peale wrote “There is a real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.” While Paul and I walked in the Rocky River Reservation, I showed him the beach glass I’d found on the beach the previous week and said, it reminds me of the ebb and flow of the tide, how the waves calm me, and what’s important.” He took my hand and replied, “You find meaning in everything, don’t you?” Later, while eating warm bread with Italian olive oil, I examined the label on the bottle of Sangiovese and asked the waiter about the wine region. The waiter said few people ask that question, and Paul said, “This woman does that. She’s anything if not enthusiastic.” That’s the woman I want to be, the one who knows magic because she’s enthusiastic about life. I am a woman who refuses to let life become boring, run-of-the-mill, and ordinary, knowing the good life is in a small miraculous moment. Mediocrity doesn’t recognize the miraculous. Again, it’s the choices we make on how to spend our time that make a good day, a good life.
30 Perfect Days Log 8 — We are Our Choices
Sunday, November 30—If we are our choices, as Jean-Paul Sartre proclaimed, the question that begs asking is whether our choices are in line with who we are. On the 8th day of my perfect-days’ project, the many choices facing me, led me to my yoga mat where I did a few sun salutations and warrior poses and decided to simplify my day. I read the book Fire Starters on the bus, sat in the Eastman Reading Garden for The Artist’s Way conference call, and wrote Haiku during an afternoon break. Every time I choose to do something for myself, I am choosing not to do something for someone else. The Artist’s Way shows us we should allow the universe to work through us, to achieve what’s needed to be achieved, to realize our mission. For that, we must be willing to fill up the well, that place inside us that requires nourishing, to give us energy and courage to do what is required. Sometimes, making the choice for ourselves feels wrong, but it is the right choice.
30 Perfect Days Log 7 – Looking Fear in the Face
Week 7, Friday, November 21—When Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face,” she concluded that if you live through terrible times, you “can take the next thing that comes along.” On Day 7 of my 30-Perfect Days Project, I woke up anxious. My parents’ struggles with Dad’s cancer, all the running to and fro while sick and tired, overwhelmed me. My mother’s fear, my father’s confusion, and my worries about their declining lives enveloped me in a tight tension. My neck, shoulders and back hurt even before I got out of bed. I had no choice but to go forward—Dad was dying and I couldn’t stop it. I wondered whether the project itself was a ruse, an attempt to skip out on life. Living in the moment, seeking to live each day bountifully, and being positive about life has value, but as I sought excellence in daily living, my mother was growing thinner every week and my father’s nourishment was from a feeding tube. Later in the day while walking and holding the beach glass in my pocket, I accepted the sadness I was feeling and knew that I was already grieving for my father. I’d already lost my father. Read more in 30 Perfect Days.