How To Light Up An Ordinary Day
/WORDS OF WISDOM
“Celebrate what you want to see more of.”
My birthday is June 8th, and my son William's is July 30th! He turns 12 Today!
When William was about to turn three, he took celebration to a whole new level.
At my birthday dinner, William (anaphylactic to gluten), tasted a magnificent flourless chocolate truffle cake. Instantly, he was enamored with the sweetness of celebration! He asked, to prepare for his birthday to come, "could we have a party every day?"
I surprised myself, as 'yes' came out of my mouth.
Breaking out of my own 'scheduled' ways, for two months, I found a way to make 'merry' on most days.
While we didn’t indulge in chocolate truffle decadency each day, we did have many stuffed animals parties with make believe cake, and found a way to put a candle in everything! Breakfast parties with candles in our pancakes, lunch parties with cheese sandwiches shaped as layer cake, snack parties with candles in blueberry muffins, dinner parties with candles in mashed potatoes, and yogurt parfait desserts with sparkler candles.
We sang happy birthday at each party. Mostly to William, but also to his stuffed animals, friends, relatives, the sun, the moon, and even to the food we were eating. It was amazing how our ordinary meals became special celebrations. I remember William was equally titillated every time we lit candles and sang. In fact, I too was lifted by these moments. It turned the ordinary into extraordinary, as it took us out of our habitual activities, and turned our attention towards joy and light on purpose. And for the first time, I truly understood the slogan “make every day a celebration.” It really is a practice.
CREATE MORE ADVENTURE & JOY TODAY
Life can get monotonous with the daily grind. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are easy, simple ways that you can make life fun everyday. READ 5 WAYS TO DAILY JOY HERE
HOMEMADE ICE POPS ADD SWEETNESS ANYTIME
Easiest healthy treat! For a super delicious creamsicle, combine almond milk or vanilla soy milk and orange juice and/or a banana, pour into ice pop holders. If you don’t have an ice pop holder you can put in a small paper cup, cover with saran wrap, and pop in a Popsicle stick. Other variations we love: blend strawberries and a splash of half and half or try chocolate soy milk with bananas. TRY THESE OTHER GREAT ICE POP RECIPES
CREATE AN INTENTION TO CELEBRATE TODAY
Before your yoga or meditation practice, while you are centering or setting your intention, bring to mind someone or something you want to celebrate or honor. Someone or something in your daily life, that inspires feelings of joy or gratitude. Invite this warm expansive feeling to infiltrate the tone of your practice.
A CHILD'S EYES
“Imagine a world with nothing but love. Imagine the beauty of the sky above. Imagine seeing the grace of a flower in bloom, To see all the wonderment of a full moon. To see such fun in a fresh fallen snow. To look forward to tomorrow with an innocent glow. To believe in Santa on Christmas Eve. To believe that happiness will never leave. If only we could all see the beauty from the ground to the skies. If only we were all looking through a child’s eyes.”
