Revealing the Beauty.............

“If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.” ~Daisaku Ikeda

I have always loved that scene in American Beauty when Ricky Fitts shows his video of a plastic bag blowing in the wind.

He’s the complete opposite of his neighbor Lester Burnham, who seems to have decided long ago to live life in a comatose state of submission, completely disconnected from authentic joy.

Ricky seems inspired by everything that most people simply overlook. He explains of his bag video:

“It was one of those days when it’s a minute away from snowing and there’s this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes.

“And that’s the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and… this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video’s a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember—and I need to remember. Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it, like my heart’s going to cave in.”

Though it can look different for all of us, I suspect this is the feeling we all wait for in life: a sense that there’s boundless beauty out there, and that we all have the capacity to feel, channel, explore, and express it.

We all want to feel moved, and then to use those feelings to create love, joy, passion, and purpose.

Arc

Spiritual Growth.................

*wanders in and sits down... thinking*

Challenges and difficulties are a part of life and words of encouragement can often help you and others get out of life's ruts. It’s easy to tell someone to hang in there and to keep a positive outlook when they are going through tough times but when it happens to you, keeping your chin up isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Even so, it’s not impossible my friends.

There are a lot of things we all can do to help us stand back up and move forward. Whether you’ve been dealt with a setback while working towards your goal, lost a loved one, or just feel down, inspirational words of encouragement can help.

There are a couple of things that spring to mind when I face these moments :-

1) Sometimes, it helps to take a step back and look at the grand scheme of things. Perhaps then you’ll realize just how silly it would be to spend another minute worrying and stressing about things you won’t even care about or remember a year from now.

2) Life can be tough and even unfair at times. I don’t really have an answer as to why certain things happen but I do know that these are usually the moments in life where the potential for spiritual growth is at its greatest. Diamonds are created under intense pressure. Muscles are built by overcoming tremendous resistance. You could either let these moments in life break you or use them to become a mentally stronger person.

So there you have my thoughts on this amazing sunny and warm English morning my lovelies, remember you are all never alone, there is always someone, somewhere thinking and smiling just because you are a part of their world.

Arc