Today's Quotation:

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.  The longer I live the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and wonder of the world.  I hardly know which feeling leads, wonderment or admiration.

John Burroughs

Today's Meditation:

This is one of the quotations that started me seriously thinking about just how marvelous life is, just how rich and wonderful this world of ours is.  When I first read it, somehow I realized that the difference between me and John Burroughs was the way we saw the world.  I often did things because I had to, and while I did appreciate the beauty and wonder of the world, I also tempered that appreciation with thoughts of other things that weren't as positive.

There is so much to do and see in our world that we don't have time for much of it at all, but we do have a choice as to how we approach what we do have time for.  If we approach our walks and the books we read and our friends as great wonders that we appreciate immensely, then these things and people become much more precious to us.  When we get caught up in our ruts of complacence and taking things for granted, then the world tends to lose its luster in our eyes.

It's like we somehow purposely put on glasses with dark grey filters to make sure that we don't see the beautiful, wonderful colors of the world.

Each day is too short for all the walks I would like to take.  Just being out in the fresh air, surrounded by trees and other living beings, is a treat and a wonder.  But only if I choose to see it that way. . . .

Questions to ponder:

1.  How do you see the world around you?

2.  Is there something you can do to actively shift your perspective to allow more of the beauty and wonder into your life?

3.  How can we share with others all of this beauty and wonder?

For further thought:

Looking for and enjoying beauty is another way to nourish the soul.  The universe is in the habit of making beauty.  There are flowers and songs, snowflakes and smiles, acts of great courage, laughter between friends, a job well done, the smell of fresh-baked bread.  Beauty is everywhere, ready to nourish the soul.  It must only be seen to begin helping us.

Matthew Fox

more thoughts and ideas on beauty

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