"fake" flowers

this morning after yoga, i was walking to the ladies' locker room and spotted some brightly colored fake flowers in a vase on the desk.  i quietly thought to myself "how tacky".  they seemed very out of place and not something my relatively "classy" gym would put out.  judgement.

as i drew closer, i realized they were not fake at all.  those brilliantly bright colors belonged to very real flowers.  my opinion of the bouquet instantly shifted from "tacky" to "stunning".

as i admired the (now) lovely display, it made me wonder what other things in my life i judge too quickly and too harshly.  with preconceived notions, we can totally miss the innate beauty of something that is right in front of us.

so, mavens, before you judge, observe.  and see if you can grasp the true essence of something before you form your opinions.  the "fake" flowers transformed into something breath-taking when i just took the time to look..

la beauté

la beauté est dans la rue.  translation - the beauty is in the street.  my take away - beauty is found in the journey and be open to unexpected moments of grace.

credit {here}

craig and i often walk with our little dog, olive, on nice evenings.  the other night, we went into doylestown, as we often do, and parked in the residential section of town near the library and local art museum.  as we meandered along, i spotted a lonely book on a bench.  as we approached, we realized it had been left there on purpose.  the book - an old anthology of robert frost poems - was tied with yarn and had a note attached.  "to finder - la beauté est dans la rue." 

i picked up the book and removed the yarn.  upon opening it, we realized that a secret compartment had been created by removing some of the interiors of the pages in the 2nd half of the book.  a note there read "place secrets here." 

i don't know who put it there, but, as the finder, i looked upon this find as a true treasure.  how lovely.  a gift from a stranger.

it's always interesting where we find unexpected moments of beauty & grace.  today, i attended an "upper level" yoga class.  a yoga teacher had recommended trying the class weeks ago, but she said it might be a little advanced for me, so i kept putting it off.  i was afraid of feeling lost and out-of-place.  i was afraid of looking foolish.

today at 9:30am i finally went to the anusara class, and it was fabulous.  i could keep up (enough) to feel at ease but challenged enough to keep me alert and engaged.  and now, i wish i hadn't put it off for so long.  i kept myself from going because of unfounded worry and negative thoughts - and now that all seems so foolish and inconsequential.

i encourage all of you to look for moments of beauty & grace.  rise to the occasion.  embrace the unexpected.  breathe through it.  and let go.  allow la beauté to reveal itself...because it was always there...

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flourish

one of my favorite magazines is whole living.  they always have such great tips, advice and articles that encourage balanced, healthy living for both the body and the soul.  if you haven't ever picked up a copy, it's worth perusing...

www.wholeliving.com

the may 2011 issue had an interesting article about happiness - "it's time to flourish".  the piece said that there are 5 key components that constitute the relative level of happiness in our lives.  interesting.

positive emotion - "happiness's useful core [...] an energizing force that drives us toward the sweeter things in life"

engagement - "when we're truly engrossed in a task that demands our attention, our sense of self recedes and times feels as if it has slowed"

relationships - "our bonds with others are the best antidote to the downs of life"

meaning - "belonging to and serving something that you believe is bigger than the self"

accomplishment - "doing something notable and being acknowledged [...] for others it means setting and achieving purely personal goals"

credit {here}

i never really dissected happiness like it was something logical and scientific.  it often seems more elusive than that...but the above breakdown seems to make sense.  too often, it can feel like our happiness is out of our control.  but, if you think about it keeping in mind the 5 elements, happiness is completely within our control.  we define our happiness - and our lives for that matter - by what we engage in, the people we spend our time with and the meaning we give to it.  it's our creation.  how inspiring.  so, be happy : )

how do you create your happiness?.