2011's Mantra

My last daily mantra was extremely effective. I wrote it on my mirror and it helped me bridge gaps between where I was and what I wanted. I am standing on the cusp of another year of extreme growth. I can feel it. It's beating in my heart, pumping through my blood, and pounding ion my head. I haven't figured out what lessons will be guided to me this year, but I do know it's coming. I do know it'll be the biggest year of growth since 2008. I do know I am excited and scared.
So I decided 2011 needed it's own mantra, a second set of words to inspire me each day, several times a day. Something that will help me push on because unlike the growth I felt last time, this time the lessons will come harder, stronger, and with more fury. It will take a lot to keep me grounded. That is what this mantra will do. Instead of building a bridge over the gap of who I am and who I need to be, this mantra will be used to keep my body and mind floating steady. It will keep me from springing up and from sinking down, as I learn what I need to.
Perfection is Subjective


Perfection is different in everyone's eyes. No matter how beautiful the rose, to just one person will it be perfect. The things that make it perfect will have nothing to do with it's hue of color, the number of its petals, the degree it has been opened, or the length of it's stem. It will have to do with that person's heart, it will have to do with their ideas and perceptions of what perfection looks like and feels like. It will be determined by the feeling that grows in their heart when they are in contact with something, or someone, that they view as perfect. Perfection is also not holistic. What makes perfection isn't always about delivering perfection all the time, once upon a time that rose may have not been a perfect rosebud, but it can still be a perfect rose. It may be perfect for a day or two but eventually it will begin to close, a new life will take over and its perfection will fade. That's all okay. Being perfect for a moment, a moment that will someday fade does not lessen the glory of being perfect in that moment, for just a moment. And to someone else, perhaps a potpourri maker, that rose will once again be perfect, even in its own death.

Control is Limited

We can control only one thing in life, our reactions. Everything else is just an unstoppable force around us. Imagine you are walking down a road. As you walk, the world around you explodes little by little. You can run, you can hide, you can get angry, or scared, but you can not stop the explosions. You can not control the reactions of those near to you. Your control is limited to you alone.

Acceptance Trumps Understanding

Understanding requires control of others, it requires getting answer for others actions, their reactions, their choices. Not just any answers, honest answers. But we know control is limited. So why do we strive so hard to reach understanding? It's an impossible adventure full of subjective truths, unknown lies, and an unstable world around us. If we put our faith and build our lives upon understanding, our worlds will be threatened as new facts arise and our understanding changes. Acceptance trumps understanding. Acceptance requires only you. It requires saying, this happened. I am not okay with it, it isn't the choice I would have made, it may not be what I want but the fact is it happened. There is no changing it. I accept what was, and now I will move forward with the only thing I know. It happened. Why does not matter. Who does not matter? Change is not optional. Acceptance is mine alone. I must build my future on my acceptance. It trumps my understanding. My acceptance will not alter or change with new truths or new lies. Therefore, acceptance is the stability my future depends on.

It's My Garden

My love, my beauty; my garden is all planted and tended by me. It comes from inside my heart. If I love myself, I will have a garden of love. If I respect myself, I will have a garden of respect. Everything starts with me, inside me. I don't need water or sunshine or anything from anyone else to take care of my garden. I have all my needs satisfied inside my heart. I just have to believe that my garden is tended at home by me. Others can visit; enjoy the beauty of my flowers, the intoxicating aroma of love and faith and joy. But they are visitors, and they can not bring anything into my garden, nor take anything when they leave. While they visit they add value because they appreciate and enjoy what I've worked to build. But my garden in protected and safe, because it is my garden and only I can plant in it, only I can take from it. I will garden at home, and share abundantly and without fear. This is my garden.

Enjoy Patience

Patience is about not now; it is not about never. If it was never, it would be never. It is about waiting for the time to be right. Imagine you are walking around on a sunny day. That morning the news said to expect rain, you carry your umbrella, but you don't open it until it rains. That's how patience should work. You can be hopeful or anticipate but you must wait for something to happen before you can react to it, before you can truly determine your course, your needs, and your wants for that moment. Patience is required to enjoy the sunshine, while you are waiting for the rain; enjoying the rain, while you are waiting for a rainbow. Patience is really about being okay in the silence. Open yourself to more than just what your future holds, open yourself to the moment you are enjoying right now. that is all patience really is.

Trust What Feels Right

I know what feels right, and I know what feels wrong. I must trust in these things and I must trust that this feeling of right or wrong is once again subjective. What is right for me may be wrong for someone else. What is wrong for me may be right for someone else. But I have to trust these feelings. I need to base my decisions on what I am telling myself. I never want to hurt anyone else, and I never want to cause harm, but there is a moment of choice between hurting myself and hurting someone else. I must trust myself, I must trust that a decision in which I have put someone else's right above my right will only lead to two hurts and wrongs in the future. I must trust that the wrong choice made over and over will only lead to more wrong choices and greater hurt than the right choice made once. I must trust what feels right. That must be my guide.