Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow. Frances Hodgson Burnett
In the book The Secret Garden the author states that thoughts are as powerful as electric batteries…. To let a sad (bad) thought get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get over it as long as you live.
Her solution was to retreat to her famous rose garden where two things cannot grow in one place. FHB. Therefore when a discouraged thought comes into mind, have the sense to push it out.
This week, I invite you to cultivate our own garden. Voltaire
Imagine Red Doors as your personal secret garden. A place to receive the vibrations of the gongs, to let go the busy mind to be replaced with a sense of calm, hope and positivity.
Lessons from the Book of Cat
Today is cold, wet and dreary, I observe my cats. They gaze out windows for hours on end. What are they waiting for? Fully present opportunists they clearly communicate their needs with patience and persistence that has no limits. They spend their day napping, bathing, stretching and occasional sun baths. Although cautious at first, cats are forever friends and readily express affection with gifts (alive or dead), through conversation and touch. To err is human, to purr is feline. Robert Byrne,
Who doesn’t smile when a cat purrs? (by the way the frequency of purring helps stimulate bone growth) Cats have a clear sense of personal space and entitlement yet their curiosity and playfulness keeps them forever young. We can all take a leaf from the book of cat. - Remembering to live in the present, to take care of ourselves and to face forward to the future knowing that this too shall pass.
When I am feeling low all I have to do is watch my cats and my courage returns. Charles Bukowski
Limitless
To the universe and beyond. Buzz Lightyear
Infinity means boundless, eternal and everlasting. In math the sideways figure 8 means any number which is higher or greater than any larger or real number possible. In the spiritual realm it helps remind us to balance and focus while retaining harmony and peace to achieve oneness. Infinity implies limitless possibilities. Yet our time on earth is limited.
We are travellers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. Paulo Coelho
The variation of infinity above is Swedish in origin called Malin. The arrow reminds us that in order to grow we need to overcome setbacks and challenges in order to reach our full potential. This week, go outside, look up at the night sky, take a deep breath and appreciate the vast panorama before you. Your limits are somewhere up there, waiting for you to reach beyond infinity. Arnold Henry.
Time waits for no man
Excuse me, your life is waiting....lynn grabhorn
If last year taught me anything, it was to just do it. To stop waiting for someone or something to light up (my) your life, (I) you are the match anon. Because if we wait until we are ready, we will be waiting the rest of our lives. Lemony Snickett
waiting on the world to change by john Mayer
Why wait? Make that call. Tackle that to-do list. Sign up for that class. Use the good china. Reach out.
Have fun. For time waits for no man. anon
waiting by Green Day
Well I'm so much closer than
I have ever known
Wake up!
Better thank your lucky stars
Say, hey, hey!
I've been waiting a lifetime
For this moment to come
I'm destined for anything at all
Yes you are!
Kung Hei Fat Choy
‘Kung Hei Fat Choy’Means ‘wishing you prosperity’. Prosperity is defined as an abundance of money or possessions or simply a plentiful supply of a desirable thing. Oftentimes prosperity is defined as net worth. However last year we have seen revenues fall, businesses close, and health decline all catalysing a reset in personal values..
“A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.” Chinese Proverb
This year I invite you to make my(your)self rich by making my(your) wants few. Henry David Thoreau
To realise the most precious resource we all have is time. Steve Jobs
To not just make money, make a difference. Grant Cardone
To not let making a living prevent you from making a life. John Wooden
And remember money can’t buy me love. The Beatles
With that, a prayer for the new year from Pope John XXIII
Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams.
Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.
Concern not yourself with what you tried and failed in, but what it is still possible to do.
Now is the time to put aside past and present setbacks and failures and look with confidence to the new day called tomorrow.
Reflections from Nature
Nature often holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal and transformation in our lives. Lao Tzu Dragonflies are messengers. Living in air and water they are tied to our emotions and mind giving us clarity of thought and spirit. Their ability to fly at 45mph and even backwards reminds us to be flexible, adaptable and to embrace new perspectives. Cease trying to work everything out with your minds, it will get you nowhere. Live by intuition and inspiration and let your whole life be a Revelation. - Eileen Caddy
Although dragonflies live up to a year, the vast majority of time is as a swimming larva reminding us to approach each day with positivity and gratitude. Nothing lasts forever. Not even your troubles. Arnold H. Glasgow In Japan it is a harbinger of change and rebirth, the symbol of summer, of victory, courage and strength and they are even known to restore health. This week restore lightness to your spiritual wings and mental processes by finding joy in simplicity and peace through positivity. Through the return to simple living comes control of desires. in control of desires stillness is attained. in stillness the world is restored. Lao Tzu
In Memoriam
The darkest moments of our lives are not to be buried and forgotten, rather they are a memory to be called upon for inspiration to remind us of the unrelenting human spirit and our capacity to overcome the intolerable. - Vince Lombardi
We pause to honour the spirits and lives of those that have come before.
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.- L.M. Montgomery for their memories are the fuel we burn to stay alive. – Haruki Murakami
In my interview with Bloomberg this week I shared that I dwell in possibility. - Emily Dickinson
The ancients said ‘he who has hope has everything’ and I live in hope that humanity will prevail. For “Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no future. - Desmond Tutu The past can’t be changed but the future is in (y)our power. Mary Pickford
Facing the Future
My lips are chapped from the winds of change. Sarah Vowell
Slowly restrictions are being lifted and we emerge to a new way of being. Social distancing is a norm so is the taking of temperatures, zoom calls, alcohol gel and wearing a mask in public. I look towards the future, dwelling in possibility. Emily Dickinson for it is no more uncertain than the present. Walt Whitman
We can choose to face to the future with apprehension or anticipation. Jim Rohn. Robert Frost says, in three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life. It goes on.
Winston Churchill said it was wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see. This is particularly true given the the fluidity of change. The same winds blow on all of us. of disaster, opportunity and change. It is not the blowing of the wind but how we set our sails that makes the difference. Jim Rohn
This week I invite you to accept the past without regrets, the present with confidence and the future without fear anon.The past can't be changed but the future is in your power. Mary Pickford for there are far better things ahead than what we leave behind. CS Lewis
Faith, trust and pixie dust.
Faith is like the little bird that can feel the light and sing when the dawn is still dark
The sheer joy and awe of a wild animal trusting you enough to feed from your hand requires patience, stillness of mind and body and an open heart.
Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks. -Isaac Watts If you do not trust life to unfold, the mind takes over and it becomes a game of strategy, motivated by anxiety. - Mooji
Our bodies convey 65% of our message, thus actions speak louder than words. We trust movement. Life happens through events not words. Anon Begin with an open heart and you can learn to trust life, it will trust you back. - Dharma
Then have faith and trust yourself. You must also trust and believe in people or life becomes unbearable. Anton Chekhov Finally, Be willing to take the next step not knowing where it will lead you. If you do, it means you are ready for any new possibility. - Sadhguru.
This week I invite you to open our hands, our hearts, our minds to trust ourselves, each other and the universe.
The 25% Rule
The key to success is often the ability to adapt. Confucius
To adapt is to change or conform oneself to new or different conditions. (Webster) Steven Hawking said 'Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.' We've witnessed the innovative solutions to the face mask shortage and the hedge hog strategy to hunker, hoard and limit social interaction.
Life goes on. Yesterday I conducted a kundalini yoga class for a boy scout troop over zoom with participants in Madrid, HK, Japan and elsewhere. Who would have thought?
Bruce Lee said Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own. If we work from the neutral mind, stay well informed, take prudent precautions and thought positive, WE could be contagious. Research indicates that in order to change the behaviour, beliefs or norms of a group we only need to convince 25% to start a persuasive domino effect. (coglode.com).
Last weekend we chanted a 3.5 hr miracle mantra meditation and for the month of March will continue each Saturday. Please do join us to evoke, embody and project positivity and wellbeing. Let us be the change.
A wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it. Chinese Proverb