need a smile?

A friend just sent me this video commercial for Evian water.  If you need a smile then I suggest you watch it. Have a wonderful day!

http://www.youtube.com/v/pfxB5ut-KTs

“The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions–the little, soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

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Don’t just do something, sit there!

Wheat grass and a warm radiator. Noah is content.

I grew up in a household of rushers. I don’t remember ever seeing my mother sit down and just relax, or simply appreciate doing nothing. If my father wasn’t reading (usually the newspaper) or watching TV, he didn’t sit either. Sitting and relaxing were suspicious activities, often met with the words, “If you don’t have anything to do, I’ll find something for you.” But for all of this rushing about, they were both fairly unhappy with their lives, and somewhat believed that they were the victims of circumstances beyond their control, which led them to push harder, with still more frustrating results.

When I first began trying to work with my mind, to slow down, sit and do nothing but relax and imagine the outcome (of whatever it was that I was hoping to achieve), the thoughts that I was being lazy, irresponsible, and unproductive assaulted my mind with the words, “DO SOMETHING!”

I eventually began to see that calmly imagining what I wanted to happen, letting it go, and trusting that the right outcome would unfold, was doing something.

In this new year of 2013, I intend to relax more, smile more, breath more consciously, and trust more.

“Try not to be tense or hurried. Tension and hurry delay demonstration. You know that if you try to unlock a door hurriedly, the key is apt to stick, whereas, if you do it slowly, it seldom does. If the key sticks, the thing is to stop pressing, take your breath, and release it gently. To push hard with  will power can only jam the lock completely. So it is with all mental working. In quiet and confidence shall be your strength.” pg. 156, Alter Your Life by Emmet Fox

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Success

Donna modeling one of the coats from Above and Beyond Boutique, 75 East Main St, Cambridge, NY 518-260-3757

A new consignment shop opened up in Cambridge and as I drove past last week, what caught my eye was a velvet jacket blowing in the breeze so I stopped in to see what the shop was like. As I opened the door, I was greeted by a lovely woman, Donna, who welcomed me and told me that the shop “emphasized plus sizes” As she showed me around, I was impressed by not only the really nice clothes, scarves, and jewelry but by the owner’s attitude. She said that it was her intention to make everyone feel welcome, and that feeling was certainly there. I know that I will be back…it is so nice to be welcomed, anyplace, with a smile!

“A good disposition, a smile, often opens the secret door; the Chinese say, ‘A man without a smiling face, must not open a shop.’ The success of a smile was brought out in a French moving-picture in which Chevalier took the lead, the picture was called, ‘With a Smile.’ One of the characters had become poor, dreary and almost a derelict; He said to Chevalier ‘What good has my honesty done me?’ Chevalier replied, ‘Even honesty won’t help you, without a smile:’ so the man changes on the spot, cheers up, and becomes very successful”. From The Secret Door to Success by Florence Shovel Shinn (published in 1941)

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twinkle

Fred on the rug, and Eleanor on the new (old) velvet chair in the kitchen

I would really like to be more relaxed and enjoy this holiday season in a new way. Lately I’ve been thinking about looking at life with a “twinkle in my eye”….taking every opportunity to smile (at both myself and my quirky family!)

Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops. Cary Grant

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Blessing others…with a smile

Jack and the butterfly

At the end of my run yesterday, I noticed a butterfly in my neighbor’s driveway. I put my hand close to its front legs, and it crawled onto my finger. As I walked home, I kept thinking it was going to fly away, but it didn’t, so when I got back to our house, I called Jack to show him and asked him to bring a little water with him.

He held out his hand, and the butterfly crawled onto his finger. He’d just washed his hands, so they were damp, and the butterfly stuck out its little tongue and began to drink the tiny drops of water. I went inside to get the camera and then we placed the butterfly on a leaf (with an additional few drops of water in case it was still thirsty) where it stayed for a couple of minutes before flying off.

A number of years ago, I worked for a community of nuns, and one of them had a special love for birds. One hot summer day, a tiny bird landed in the courtyard. Sister Sarah had been talking with me in the kitchen, but noticed it and said, “Everyone thinks that birds need to be fed, but forget that they get very thirsty” as she filled a shallow bowl with water, and took it outside to place near the bird.

Sister Sarah was always doing “little things” like that…things that made life better for everyone she came in contact with. One of the ways that she uplifted me was by smiling when we first saw each other. I always felt like she was genuinely happy to see me, and even now, years later when I think about her smile, it makes me feel good.

I thought about her a lot yesterday …maybe I can’t always offer “concrete” help to another, but I can always give them a smile…at least in my heart.

“Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way”.  Swami Vivekananda

P.S. Jenn Peek was the winner of the book!

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Saturday afternoon smile and give-away!

The pack of incense leaning up against very early flowers that I picked yesterday

It is Saturday afternoon here in upstate NY. I met my mother for breakfast today. At the end of our visit, I was telling her about an order of incense that had just been delivered. It is my favorite, and so I order at least 10 packs at a time, because I burn it both in my office and at home. I asked her if she would like a box and she said, “What do you do with it?” When I told her that you burned it, she said no thanks. I had to smile at this generation gap.

So, I thought why not have a little Saturday afternoon give-away?! If you would like this incense just send in a comment that has anything (at all) to do with incense: a memory, thought or just say that you would like it. Make your comments as long or as short as you like. It is light-weight, so I will ship it anywhere in the world, and will choose a random winner on Monday the 26th. Hope you are having a good weekend and if not, try to change your thoughts!

Always keep that happy attitude. Pretend that you are holding a beautiful fragrant bouquet.” Earl Nightingale

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remember to smile!

just about 50 years ago

When I get up in the morning (or in the middle of the night) I always look in the mirror and smile at myself. Sometimes I say, “Hello Mary, good to see you!”…but I always make myself smile. I say, “make myself” because many times I do not feel like it…sometimes it is 2 a.m. and I feel like sleeping though the night…but I have looked at my face in the middle of the night when I did not want to be up, and I was not smiling, and it is scary!

So I make myself smile and I feel happier. They (the experts on this stuff) say that smiling, even if it is forced, does really make us happier..it somehow changes our biochemistry. It is free, you can do it any time of the day or night and it takes no time…how can you not love that!

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