One of the decisions that I made in lockdown was that I wanted to take control of my life. More specifically, I wanted to actively pursue and build a happy life for myself rather than waiting for happiness to randomly appear (or not). To achieve this goal I've made numerous changes and I'm working on adopting new happiness-growing habits. One of the simplest and yet most effective practices I've found is to actively notice the beauty around me. At different times during the day - but especially when I'm feeling sad, or angry or bored - I make myself take a slow, deep breath and look around for something beautiful. Sometimes I challenge myself to find 3, or 6 or 10 beautiful things. You know what? It's surprisingly easy once you start. The sky is almost always beautiful in some way - a striking colour or full of amazingly shaped clouds, or soft with rain. The sound of birdsong or children playing or friends laughing together is beautiful. I might spot a sleek cat making its graceful way along the top of a wall, or see a dog joyfully running on the beach. I notice flowers and the play of sunlight through leaves, the rainbows made by a sprinkler on a lawn, a bright pot of geraniums, the rising of the moon, the warmth of the sun on my skin. Once you get into the habit of noticing, beauty is everywhere.Embracing Autumn: A Harvest of Beauty
In this season of harvest, make it your daily practice to harvest the beauty around you and store it in your heart to feed and nourish you through the hard times. Try it now - find three beautiful things in your surroundings. List them to yourself as a sacred prayer, hold them in your heart. Now find some more. Repeat. At the end of the day, just before you sleep, list all the beauties your day has held. Sweet dreams.
1 comment:
This is a lovely post - I do a bit of thankfulness first thing in the garden every morning, it's a good way to start the day :)
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