• How am I contributing to the well–being of others in the present?
  

• How can I better use my special talents?
  

• What fields of potentially broader service to society would I like to explore?
  

Joyful thoughts as we embrace 2012!!!

• Look at the patterns that emerge.  Are your days balanced?

• Are there some things you can delegate, eliminate, or otherwise simplify?

• Is there anything missing from your life?

• Can you make room for it by scaling down your involvement in other areas?

• Think of yourself as an architect designing a beautiful living structure.
  

     Carol Zengara wrote, “Relinquishments in your Musings made me think of needs/wants. A friend of mine brought this to mind years ago. He suggested asking yourself: Do I "need" this or that or do I "want" this or that. Here speaking just from a material point of view. But taking the need/want a bit further: Why am I holding on to a particular destructive concept/reaction? Why do I "seem" to need/want to hold on?” She suggests, “relinquish what is no longer serving a viable/constructive purpose in our lives, when we can, and replace it with a fresh/positive/forward-growth-moving concept or affirmation. Easy to say but at times difficult to do.”

     Brian Donley, who has become a good friend through our mutual author’s activities for years, highlights, in connection with my previous notes about relinquishments, a powerful sentence that is still reverberating in my mind, heart and soul…

     "What I Want and What I Need are Exactly the Same THING."            

                                                   Peace Pilgrim

     Living in the present gives intensity to all experience!!!

     I would like to share with you today some of my core commitments as I rejoice in the wonders of the present moment, a time that is one with all.

     I embrace and become one with this moment.  When in need to concentrate temporarily on a past instance perhaps to find deeper meaning, to assimilate the consequences of my actions, to learn to live without the presence of a beloved one, to appreciate and be thankful for all that has been or to bring new events into a wider perspective, I enter into the experience with the whole of myself and then return in a joyous embrace of the present and complete acceptance in the moment.  I breathe in the beauty around me.  In all circumstances, I experience the present as a glorious gift from the universe.

     This is an invitation to share your impressions and own commitments with me as you feel inspired to do so.

     A Happy Day to You.

        Peace Pilgrim, a lady who walked a pilgrimage in the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico for 28 years, also wrote a few poems and songs.  My very favorite song of Peace is called, “I Am”.  It is a joy to share with you today a version recently posted on YouTube, sung by Kathy Miller, who was a member of the Friends of Peace Pilgrim and made her transition to spirit in 2006.  This song is with images of Peace. 

                As we give value to our experiences we encourage our own development.  They are symbols of our inner being.  The experiences we acquire through life become a source of personal counsel to guide our way and open up horizons for richer expression of our inner potential and personality in service to all.                

               These are my commitments as I move through life appreciating experience.  Through an expanded vision of humanity as ONE I acknowledge the ultimate good in all experience.  Today I am determined to find a constructive use in all that happens and see all situations as opportunities to expand understanding.  In the peaks and valleys of my journey I consciously focus on the way my choices affect my experience and shape my destiny.  In the face of sorrow and pain I stand serene.  I see the best in all things.  I welcome and accept experience as a source of prosperity and fulfillment and joyously listen and learn from others and share the fruits of my inspiration in the awareness of the present moment.” 

                I would love to hear your commitments.

     We are having the privilege of witnessing history today through the power of peaceful social transformation as group consciousness rises in need of social change conducive to facilitate the exploration of inner potential, a renewed sense of individual and group balance, an expansion of individual responsibility and commitment, and the opportunity for more fulfilling lives in pursuit of ideals.

     Mahatma Gandhi’s Prayer for Peace comes to mind in the context of recent social events, “I offer you peace.  I offer you love.  I offer you friendship.  I see your beauty.   I hear your need.  I feel your feelings.  My wisdom flows from the Highest Source.  I salute that Source in you.  Let us work together for unity and love.”

     Sometimes during my morning reflections I like to spend time in joyful silence, simply connecting with the source of universal energy, experiencing the bounty that is our gift to receive.  Bountiful opportunities for alignment, a renewed sense of commitment, opening up for deeper understanding, new vistas in social responsibility, a refreshed vision of mission ahead…  in such moments, connectedness manifests as the sun rises…

In the stillness of Meditation LOVE, PEACE and HOPE arise.
Be still and know that love, peace and hope are here!
Be still and know hope, peace and love…
Be still and know…
Be still…
Be….
Peace.   Peace.   Peace.