First Things: Look in front of you

I think about this blog a lot - like just about every day.

I started it as a way to boost my daily levels of inspiration. I believe that taking a moment to reflect before diving into the tasks of the day is a healthy, powerful choice.

Yet so often inspiration evades me.

I think about what inspires me and a draw a blank. Cheesy things come to mind - love, happiness, joy of others. While these are valuable, they are also Velveeta, and in that circumstance, forced.

Today however, I was inspired by a concept from my daily spiritual devotional, Our Daily Bread. The verse they used for today's message was Revelation 3:1-6. Revelation? Yeah - that one.

"I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God."

I am inspired today by the idea of waking up to strengthen what remains.  At times we lose heart. We miss opportunities. We feel defeated or overwhelmed. But we only need to wake up and look.

What is before you?

Right now?

Seize it.

Do not worry about what lies beyond or what lies behind. Look to what remains in front of you and make that work.

Being spiritual about it: The Lord (The universe, The force?) has placed you in this moment for this moment with what is at your feet right now. Embrace that moment and dive into it. 

Today my inspiration comes from the what can be of something that hasn't yet become.

First Things: Do things right away

Written on the giant white board in my office is the phrase "Do Things Right Away." It seems like a self-explanatory, pretty straight forward thing. Right?

How do I wish that I always lived by those words.

Over the New Year weekend, we decided to repaint our living room, dining room, and office. While everyone was out reveling the new year we were pouring paint into trays and navigating boxes of nick-knacks, books, and collections of the stuffs of our lives. On one hand I love to party in the new year, on the other, it was really wonderful to spend time working together on the house.

We haven't done much to our office since we moved into the house nearly seven years ago. The space gets a clean-up for a party, or when guests come over... but a deep-cleanse hasn't really happened. There's good reason for that. 

It scares the crap out of me.

I hate being confronted with how much I blatantly violate my own "Do Things Right Away" rule. So now it's going to take weeks to put the office back together as I sift through the piles of paperwork and files that piled up over the years. Some of it will just end up in the garbage without analysis or proper filing. Some of it will bring back good memories and cause me to pause in happy reflection. And some of it will be tedious.

Sometimes we are too busy to be able to properly do things right away, or we have to put out another fire before we can get to a "right away." But taking the time, carving out the moments to take care of an item, or yourself, is the most important. That fire can rage on for a few minutes while you take the time to do something right away that will save a future fire from igniting.  And then you don't have to beat yourself up so much when you go to do that deep office cleanse again.

First Things: Movement of the heart

A friend of mine very recently lost his mother after a relatively sudden and quick bout with cancer.

He was telling us about preparing meals for his family and his mom as she was in her last days and how much joy it gave him to be able to do something for her that she had done for him.

I could relate.

During the week after my mom came home from the hospital and we were in hospice care I got to make several meals for her and for my dad and sister. Our aunt and uncle brought food as well and after she passed, other neighbors brought food and various other rather boring but necessary items to help us get by.

Being able to do such a simple thing to take care of my mom in her last days gave me a wonderful sense of joy and peace. And I know that she appreciated it, and even more that she felt how much we all loved her in those last days.

And I think that's the point.  We do not have to go to extreme lengths to show and receive love. A very simple act can allow us to move someone's heart. And welcoming even the most simple thing can allow our heart to be moved.