So you’ve likely heard stories of siblings who grew up under the same roof, with the same parents, going to the same schools, being on the same family vacations, etc. But somehow, someway each child’s memories are often quite different. Why is this?
Well…a piece of the puzzle could be that they are at different stages developmentally. However, what I have learned is usually at the heart of the matter is one key element, perception. How we perceive our surroundings and ourselves informs us in everything that we do. From how we feel, to what we say, to how we act or react to people, places, and experiences in our lives. It is indeed our perception that makes all the difference!
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes” Marcel Proust
“Imaginary Conversation” Linda Pastan- 1932
“You tell me to live each day as if it were my last. This is in the kitchen where before coffee I complain of the day ahead-that obstacle rare of minutes and hours, grocery stores and doctors.
But why the last? I ask. Why not live each day as if it were the first-all raw astonishment, Eve rubbing her eyes awake that first morning, the sun coming up like an ingenue in the east?
You grind the coffee with the small roar of a mind trying to clear itself. I set the table, glance out the window where dew has baptized every living surface.”
Joy & Love,
Goddess Mandy 🙂 XO
The breadth of your intellect and exploration of the mind is indeed incredible – as are you 🙂
Awwwwwwww Russ…Thank You!!!! That is such a beautiful thing to say! Thank you for making my day! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wonderful Goddes Mandy. You are an inspiration. Between stimulus and response we have the freedom to choose. We are all human. All with our own stresses and challenges. Bills due, work, health, dreams, goals, family……….. and identity. If we all realize this about each other we then put ourselves in each other’s shoes and treat each other like humans rather than objects. We are all humans and not objects and should not deceive ourselves to behave otherwise. Many of us who call you find comfort in being accepted. And you Goddess do a splendid job at that.
Thank you SO much Cindy!! 🙂 Your words are simple yet so honest and profound! And YES…we are all humans and not objects! Imagine if everyone felt this way and acted accordingly?!? What an amazingly different world we would be living in! And I am thrilled to know that you are finding comfort in my acceptance!!! It is SO important to me. 🙂
You just gave me the biggest smile. Thank you for making me happy. ❤️????
Thank You Goddess for another inspiring and thought provoking post. It actually brought two thoughts to my mind. The first dealt with a lesson i learned from my five year old daughter after her mandatory divorcing parents class: a marriage is like a house, only one partner only sees the front of the house while the other, only the back. Same house described completely differently by those involved directly and the witnesses. This remarkable truth is clear when describing each victim in a divorce, i find it applies to every mutual experience we share with others along our life’s journey; we each see the house, but always the same side and each notices different details of its appearance.
The other i have shared before is there is beauty in each day, if, we are only willing to be aware of it when we see it.
Thanks again for sharing Your beauty and intellect with us.
Ohhhh kneel, I love this…thank you for sharing! 🙂 I find it so beautiful that you learned this simple yet profound lesson from your 5-year old daughter!!! But it’s so very true…that beautiful backyard that I see with all of it’s fruit trees and colorful flower beds may not look as lovely to my partner who perceives it only as “work”. And YES…there is absolutely beauty in every day! 🙂 I think sometimes we just need to look a little bit harder.
Yes,today is the first day of the rest of our lives.Enjoy and make the most of it.
You’re right, today is the first day of the rest of our lives. And I love your attitude!! Thank you so much for stopping by and reading. I hope you’ll be back again and again and share your thoughts and feelings! 🙂
Mandy, it is great to read your blog entries. Being conscious of how we choose to perceive the world is a keystone of mindfulness. Do we perceive the day as our first or our last, and how does that affect us? An interesting question to ponder a bit.
PS – I hope to shoot you an email soon!
Thank you SO much, Princess…I love when you stop by and read and add your twenty-five cents!! 😉 There really IS so much to our perception. And I do love the question you posed. It is an interesting one to ponder. I am guessing most of us don’t consciously think about it too much. But as I am thinking about it now, I definitely see the day as my first! What about you?!? 🙂