3 High Spirits Ingredients
Someone once asked me what I regarded as the three most important requirements for happiness. My answer was: A feeling that you have been honest with yourself and those around you; a feeling that you have done the best you could both in your personal life and in your work; and the ability to love others. – Eleanor Roosevelt Blessings and best wishes during this season of holy-days that celebrate the return of the sun’s light. While enjoying heart-warming fellowship and spirit-lifting festivities, allow a few moments to consider: What will bring deep down-sky high happiness in 2022? According to Eleanor Roosevelt: Be Honest with Yourself During Kwanzaa [December 26 through January 1], participants can prepare for a more satisfying year by answering these questions, truthfully: Who am I? Am I really who I am? Am I all I ought to be? Because accuracy in answering is essential, Tony Robbin’s team offers these “Signs That You Need to be Honest with Yourself.” If something feels “off” in your life, if passion is fading in important relationships, if you’re not excited about your career or feel busy but not productive, you may need to be straighter and more straightforward with yourself. See five ways. If you find you work a job you dislike, hate, or tolerate, you lack control over your time and/or your mental, physical, and spiritual health and could use a tune-up here are guides for facing facts:: Mind Café’s “Liberate yourself by telling yourself the truth.” GoodTherapy‘s “Live Your Truth” And PsychCentral suggests: Step into other people’s shoes, Accent the positive, Forgive yourself. Do Your Best Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements For A Better Life explains: Under any circumstance, always do your best, no more and no less. But keep in mind that your best is never going to be the same from one moment to the next. Everything is alive and changing all the time, so your best will sometimes be high quality, and other times it will not be as good … If you have done your best and your inner Judge tries to judge you, you’ve got the answer: “I did my best.” Read More Here, remember, If you try to do your best, there is no failure. – Mike Farrell Loving Life is the flower for which love is the honey. – Victor Hugo Last year, Succeed and Soar published a Love Is series which listed five types: The ability to love oneself and be concerned with ones happiness An empathetic love that exists in families The fondness found in friendships Romantic passion, and Open-hearted, unconditional and world-embracing spiritual love To be more loving, WikiHow says, Share Your Love by serving others, reflecting on personal mistakes, surrounding yourself with people who are loving, practicing forgiveness and writing down positive experiences [buy a few of Sandra’s Gifts journals]. Understand Love by letting go of fantasy love, evaluating your behavior and not expecting anything in return. Work on You by being more hopeful and growing. Read More. If I could choose one super power, I would want to be able to make everyone love everyone! Betsey Johnson With Eleanor Roosevelt’s three ingredients for happiness, our individual and collective worlds could become quite bright and delicious. These special days could also help: January 26: Day of Goodwill and National Thank You Note Day. Here are sample Thank You notes, including for the worst gifts ever. December 27 Fruitcake Day [Okay, so why are the ones I like missing at Costco again this year? Must I do a version of the song-dance “Fancy Like” that got Oreo shakes back at Applebee’s? ] December 30 National Resolution Planning Day. Here are guides from Psychology Today December 31 National Champagne Day Succeed and Soar! Join Succeed & Soar’s Monthly ZOOM Chat Thursday, January 6, 2022 7pm Along with thoughts on Eleanor Roosevelt’s statements and a range of topics as vast as the universe, here are books I’ve been reading this month. Nothing to See Here. See Review: Captivated Reading Review. Toms River. See Review: New York Times Review. Born A Crime. See Review: Caprichos Books Review Subscribe to receive Zoom link, and see you January 6th! Succeed & Soar Wisdoms Beautifully illustrated inspirations and encouragements available as prints, framed and on canvas as well as on journals, greeting cards, weekender bags, shower curtains, puzzles and much more. Shop Here
Your Heroic Heart
We do not have to become heroes over night. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up. Eleanor Roosevelt How would you feel if, each night you told your pillow, “I was a hero today.” What if, each dawn you told the rising sun, “I did something heroic yesterday. I will enjoy that again today.” ‘Hero’ comes from ancient words meaning demi [half, unfinished, almost]-god and to watch over, to protect. Heroes: Find joy in seeing smiles on others faces Act on [rather than talking about] positive changes that help neighbors, communities, cities and, in time, countries and the world. Perform a random, unexpected act of kindness Promote what is uplifting, unifying, healing Read more Grab a piece of paper, a tablet. Start your personal Hero Journal. Each day, note one hero thing you did. Imagine a world where gradually, one-by-one, more people become heroes? As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up.” For doubters and naysayers, keep in mind that our thoughts can create stories about what’s possible. From Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements, see these wise words about assumptions. You even have a theme song. Listen to “Heart of a Hero” below, from The All Time Greatest Movie Songs. To Be Continued! Celebrate! Sunday, August 22nd, TOOTH FAIRY DAY Tand-fé or tooth fee is the tradition of paying children for their baby teeth, first recorded in the Eddas of long-ago, northern Europe. These days, the Tooth Fairy reminds to take good care of, to love our teeth. Read more. Monday, August 23, NATIONAL HEROES DAY A great time to celebrate people who’ve accomplished noble things and encourage the hero in everyone’s hearts. BTW: Did you know that one popular, make-believe heroes, The Lone Ranger, is based on the real life of Bass Reeves, an enslaved African who became the first Deputy U.S. Marshall west of the Mississippi? See more Wednesday, August 25th, NATIONAL SECOND HAND WARDROBE DAY Celebrate the thriftiness and practicality of second-hand clothing. Read more. Eleanor’s Insights Succeed and Soar’s “Eleanor’s Insights” series is illustrated with photographs of ‘wild places.’ This post’s featured image was taken during my stay at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, Temecula, California. There, the artists worked without electricity. I bought a manual typewriter. Also tried [but failed] to find pens that had to be dipped in ink. How marvelous to watch a sunrise and sunset without telephone lines. To see thousands of stars in a sky free of light pollution. Art is available as prints, framed and on canvas as well as on journals, greeting cards, weekender bags, shower curtains, puzzles and much more. Shop Here
Path to Joy: 3rd of 12 – Words
Make yourselves nests of pleasant thoughts. None of us knows what fairy palaces we may build of beautiful thought — proof against all adversity. Bright fancies, satisfied memories, noble histories, faithful sayings, treasure houses of precious and restful thoughts, which care cannot disturb nor pain make gloomy, nor poverty take away from us. John Ruskin 1819-1900 According to neurosurgeon and spiritual teacher Don Miguel Ruiz, each of us live in worlds built by our words. In 1903, James Allen published a pamphlet using Proverbs 23:7 as the title, “As a man thinketh.” The little book opens with, “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought … Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits.” Over a century later, Allen’s little book remains among the top five reads for those who motivate and inspire. Download a free copy of As A Man Thinketh. This Post’s Featured Art, “Words,” A Visual Meditation. What I like best about the art: The blue rings that build what I see as a cone-shaped beehive. Why I like the image: I like the serene blue structure because it represents the mind, which can be a beehive of activity. According to Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at the University of Southern California, the mind generates about fifty thoughts each minute or 70,000 per day. I like this beehive because it shows loving, uplifting [butterflies] thought-words rising to the surface. What the picture teaches: Though the golden planet Saturn travels through cold, dark space far from the sun, its fascinating rings teach me to: Set limits on words, spoken and thought, especially about myself and Establish boundaries for the influences of others The insights gained: Yes, life has its shadows. African proverbs and Winston Churchill are credited with saying, “If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.” Author and teacher Sally Kempton adds, “It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts inside your head.” Joy is a word composed of concepts like happiness, peace, satisfaction, contentment, lightness of being, brightness, smiles, embraces and engagement in nurturing, nourishing, uplifting activities. When these kinds of words and actions are part of life, they pave a path to joy. These ‘Paths to Joy’ are adapted from The Treasure Chest, an old book I found years ago. Page 117 contained “The Twelve Rules of Happiness.” Of special delight is using paints markers and ink to illustrate meditations inspired by this wisdom. The technique is adapted from the book Visual Journaling, Going Deeper Than Words, by Barbara Ganim and Susan Fox. Shop Sandra’s Online Art Gallery