Tiny miracles

hiding in plain sight...

Oct 06, 2024

“Life moves fast but joy often lives in the slow moments. Notice the small, good things. A new leaf, a shared laugh, a peaceful breath. They’re tiny miracles, hiding in plain sight.”

closeup photography of red leaf plant — Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

Sometimes all it takes is sitting still and listening - unplugging from the world that can overwhelm you with its constant motion and noise. Turning off the screens and just slowing down helps you to become more thankful for everything you have.

Some people call it meditation, others call it prayer. I prefer to think of it as a combination of both - a place where my mind is allowed to become uncluttered from the pressures of the outside world.

When you stop and give yourself specific times during the day to unwind, you begin to see the small, quiet miracles that surround us but that we are usually too busy to notice.

Instead of gulping my cup of coffee this morning, I took the time to smell it and slowly sip it, enjoying the warmth and comfort it provided as I watched the sky change from darkness into a sunrise.

Today, during one of my walks, I focused on the sound of the leaves blowing in the wind, the smells of autumn and watching some of those leaves on my neighborhood trees, as they drifted to the ground. As I stopped to talk with two neighbors, I focused on their words and their smiles. I internally thanked God for giving me the opportunity to walk during this beautiful day and I embraced the moment.

Later on I enjoyed snuggling with my cat, listening to the sounds of his breathing and the little sighs he would let out when he occasionally stretched.

I enjoyed phone calls with family members and friends. Keeping in touch with those you care about takes real effort but the end result is so worth it.

During the afternoon, when I spoke with my son on the phone, I practiced deep listening, absorbing his words and enjoying the moments we were sharing. After the phone call, I reflected on our time together last weekend, when we celebrated his 20th birthday and the new memories that were made.

It’s been said that we have treasures all around us and within us - we just need to appreciate them and value them every day. And if we savor and appreciate all the treasures, we will have even more. That is so true.

My evening ended with observing storm clouds and imagining them releasing much needed rain. I thought about the many people affected by Hurricane Helene and said a prayer for them. I imagined the sound of the rain hitting my roof and then I thanked God that I had a roof.

Then I tried to focus on the light in my mind’s eye - the positive thoughts that keep me going. We all need to take time each day to do just that - every single day.

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”

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Tranquil Moments…

I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here is this week’s:

This week’s Smile video…

In today's Kindness 101 series, Steve Hartman and his kids share how one couple's experience with discrimination moved a group of fifth graders to stand up and make a difference.

#believe #smilevideos #spreadkindnessandlove

What I am reading…

I recently finished reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. This was an eye-opening book.

The Amazon description is as follows, “In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries in the last few decades. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most importantly, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems” that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes - communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life..”

The poetic path…

Here’s this week’s favorite poem…

What I am watching…

This week I enjoyed watching the movie Sister Act starring Whoopi Goldberg and the late Maggie Smith. I remember seeing it in the theater and how much I loved the music.

It was fun to laugh at the silliness and to sing along to some favorite tunes. Here’s a reunion clip from The View.

Facebook Memories

Two years have passed by and my life has changed more in those two years than I ever could imagine...The reactions of others to this Facebook post inspired me to start writing the Kindness Boomerang newsletter...another reminder that our words are very powerful...

Podcast picks…

As an organizational psychologist, Adam Grant believes that great minds don't think alike; they challenge each other to think differently. In Re:Thinking with Adam Grant, he has lively discussions and debates with some of the world's most interesting thinkers, creators, achievers, and leaders—from Lin-Manuel Miranda to Brené Brown to Mark Cuban, and Olympic medalists to Nobel laureates to Oscar winners. By diving inside their minds, Adam is on a mission to uncover bold insights and share surprising science that can make us all a little bit smarter. Tune in to Re:Thinking with Adam Grant. You might just be inspired to let go of some old ideas and embrace some new ones.

Mind/Body connections…

This qigong shaking exercise for stress relief is an ancient, fun and effective natural stress relief technique demonstrated by qigong expert Lee Holden in relaxing Yosemite Valley next to multiple waterfalls after the El-Niño rains.

We hope this introduction to qigong and shaking as a natural stress relief exercise helps you. It is one of many qigong techniques we offer to help people discover the life force energy known as chi (sometimes spelled "qi") and the magic of cultivating that energy with qigong, "the art of effortless power."