“I pray for a more friendly, more caring, more understanding human family on this planet…” DalaiLama

A special quote from the DalaiLama

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“I pray for a more friendly, more caring, and more understanding human family on this planet.  To all who dislike suffering, who cherish lasting happiness, this is my heartfelt appeal.”     ~  The DalaiLama

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Another related, special quote, below,  from Henri Fredric Amiel

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“Life is short. We have not much time to gladden the way of those who travel the way with us. So be quick to love, make haste to be kind.”    ~   Henri Frederic Amiel (1821-1881)

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Be quick to love
make haste to be kind

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Related post on Reflections from a Friend…with a pretty Lake Quinault, Washington rainforest background…”I pray for a more….”
Kathy has translucent suncatchers of that Henri Frederic Amiel image and quote, if anyone would like one… they’re very pretty and a wonderful reminder….I give them away…. ( just email…. kboyle777@comcast.net )

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a little bit…a little bit…simply a little bit at a time…

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a little bit…a little bit…
simply a little bit at a time…
with kindness, gentleness and curiosity…

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whether small tasks or larger tasks,
little trips or big trips,
simpler interactions or more complex interactions,
learning new ways or releasing older ways…
within ourselves…with others….among others…
simply… simply….simply
a little bit at a time

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simply a little bit at a time

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Note: I found that bear photo many years ago, but can’t find it again to give credit.  (thanks to my daughter’s research, I now have the site where it’s from:  “http://www.firstpeople.us/” First People of America and Canada : Turtle Island  Child friendly site about American and Canadian Indians. 1400+ legends, 400+ agreements and treaties, 10,000+ pictures, clipart, Native American Books, Posters, Seed Bead Earrings, Native American Jewelry, Possible Bags and more.)

I used the photo in the “little bit” page of the book, Bearable…a book that I created to encourage kids in my class and myself to just keep going when feeling overwhelmed… “it may be hard, but it is bearable”  (in post and as a youtube book: Bearable,  youtube)  (that “little bit” bear was a favorite of many of the kids in my classes…    A.J…. little bit at a time, okay? )

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Part of Nurturing Thursdays, Becca Givens blog

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One step at a time….balanced, steady, calm…patience, persistence and perseverance…

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some helpful encouragement  I received from a friend…
one day at a time….
one step at a time…
one moment at a time….
remaining balanced, steady and calm

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One step at a time…
coming back again and again,
to that quiet, steady sense of patience, persistence and perseverance

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one step at a time….that’s enough for now…one step at a time

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“Let’s all sing like the birdies sing”…nurturing lightness, brightness, laughter, playfulness and joy

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We have a family of  baby chickadees in one of our birdhouses…
chirping….tweeting away…
safely nestled inside that birdhouse…
…lively voices…
tweeting sweetly away!

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Their sweet little chirps remind me of a playful song…
sung along so often when our daughter Julie was little,
from  a Disney movie…
but originally from the 1930′s…
(no wonder my father knew that song!)
“Let’s all sing like the birdies sing”

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I invite you to pause and step back…
perhaps,
????…just for a moment….????
let go of the “busy-ness” of everyday life,
let go of being “just so”
whatever that “just so-ness” might be for each of us…
perhaps…
lighten, brighten and sing along with this playful song…
please join me for a few moments of singing happily along….
joyfulness and playfulness…
(youtube videos are below, if you like singing along with others)

Disney version, with sing-a-long words embedded…
(singing starts at 20 seconds)

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Original version from 1934

 

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taking a few moments to sing and nurture
lightness, brightness, playfulness, laughter and joy…

inspired by the tweets and chirps of those baby chickadees

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??? Is there anyone who sang along who isn’t smiling right now????

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Happy to be a part of “Nurturing Thursday,” from Becca Given’s blog

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Note: I’m being a bit playful and whimsical in this post.  Of course, those baby birds are chirping because they’re hungry and letting their parents know they want food..now!  And the chirping parents are in the midst of a very busy, probably tiring season…nurturing their babies by providing dozens of meals each day and  protecting those babies from predators.   But….in this post, I’m letting those thoughts go, using oodles of “poetic license” and thinking more playfully…in order to nurture being lighter and brighter!

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The kinder we are with ourselves… the happier we’re going to be…and passing it along

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Perhaps some of us who tend to be “helpers” or “nurturers” may not be offering as much kindness or compassion to ourselves?  Maybe we’ve “misunderstood” or  misperceived, and think it’s  bit “selfish” or “self absorbed” to be more nurturing or compassionate with ourselves?

Or perhaps we’ve held ourselves up to overly high “standards” or “demands”  for ourselves?…. at times, comparing ourselves unfavorably with others?  seeing where there might be perceived areas of need in ourselves, rather than focusing on areas of strengths? It’s so easy to slip into those less kind points of view…and so potentially harmful for both ourselves and others. Maybe we thought those overly high expectations led to happiness?  I suppose I might have thought that they would. But…they didn’t…and they don’t!

Through the past few years I’ve learned differently!  I’ve observed that the kinder, more nurturing and compassionate I am with myself, the happier I’ve become. And the happier I’ve become,  the more I’ve passed that happiness along to others in my life.

Strangely enough, this increasing of self kindness, self compassion and nurturing my own happiness  (which did not come “naturally”),  has led to more happiness in others, too!  What a wonderful surprise that’s been!

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Part of Nurturing Thursdays, Becca Given’s blog

Offering nurturing to ourselves….with soothing, quiet moments

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Part of  “Nurturing Thursdays” from Becca Given’s Blog
Other frequent contributors to Nurturing Thursdays
Laurie’s Notes
Wightrabbit’s Blog
Crowing Crone Joss
Inside the Mind of Isadora

“Believe in yourself….” a mother’s wish

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A mother’s wish for her child…
a mother’s wish for every child
“believe in yourself…”

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A special poem by hugmamma…“Believe…in yourself”
from her blog humamma’s Mind, Body and Soul

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Especially meaningful today…
as mothers are wishing so much happiness, joy and love for their children,
hoping they will believe in themselves….
Hoping their children will realize
“that happiness is there for the taking, in all the small moments…
every day of your life”

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Believe….

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A deep and heart felt wish…

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Previous “Believe…in yourself” poem, on a night sky