appreciation

Every day is my best day; this is my life; I am not going to have this moment again.

If you can see it, hear it, feel it, taste it, touch it, or smell it, you can be present with it. It is of the present moment, and so it brings to you the opportunity to be present with it.

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast? said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.

Through working in harmony with life's circumstances, Taoist understanding changes what others may percieve as negative into something positive.

In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.

It is your birthright to have a life of meaning and purpose. Whether or not the people in your life have consistently celebrated your incarnation, you deserve to celebrate your existence.

It may seem hard to extend our gratefulness and appreciation to the time in which we live and the challenges it presents-to financial crisis, global climate change, terrorism, wars, energy depletion, and any other disasters looming on the horizon.  It would be much easier to appreciate an era of good feeling, peace and calm stability!  But difficult times are also times of growth, of new insights and opportunities, of creativity, and of emergence.

It's not your job to like me - it's mine

There is no such thing as an ordinary person, and no human being has ever fully seen or appreciated another. We are too vast.

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.