Wednesday 31 January 2018

Paying attention

There is no reason to learn how to show you're paying attention
 if you are in fact paying attention.
 - Celeste Headlee

Monday 29 January 2018

Circumstances

Depending on the circumstance,
 you should be hard as a diamond, 
flexible as a willow, smooth-flowing like water, 
or as empty as space. 
- Morihei Ueshiba, founder of aikido

Friday 26 January 2018

Self-repair

The world, emotionally speaking,
 is just one big repair kit. 
There is the possibility of connection
 and repair everywhere..
.the self is profoundly self-repairing.
 - Stephen Cope

Wednesday 24 January 2018

Stop

Instead of asking “What more can I do?”
 ask yourself, “What do I need to stop doing?”
 - Barbara De Angelis

Monday 22 January 2018

Short-circuit

Maybe you haven't be sabotaging yourself. 
You've just been short-circuiting.
 - Barbara De Angelis

Friday 19 January 2018

January 19, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   Ever wish you could travel backward or forward in time?  If you could, why would you go, to what specific time period, and what would you do when you got there?

   While I haven’t heard of anyone physically travelling backwards or forwards through time, I can assure that we have ALL time travelled at one time or another mentally, and in our night-time dreams.

   Now, there is a value to travelling back to the past.  It allows us to see events from a different perspective - for example, that embarrassing incident that yes, you can laugh about now, but couldn’t at the time.  Or, it allows us to (hopefully) learn from our mistakes so that we can make better choices today.  Plus, it allows those we love, who are no longer part of our lives, to live on in our memories.

   In the same way, travelling to the future has value as it allows us, via our imaginations, to try on, or experience, the various options available to us, and helps to give us clarity when we have a tough decision to make.  It provides us with insight so we can be better prepared for future events.  It also brings the feelings of excitement and anticipation when we are looking forward to a milestone or significant event.

   Yet, there is a darker side to all that time travelling.  For too many of us, time is spend ruminating about past events with feelings of regret, or hours upon hours spent wishing things were back ‘the way they used to be.”  Or, on the other hand, we spend far too much time worrying and dreading possible future catastrophes, and become paralyzed by all the choices ahead of us.

   By spending most of our mental energy in the past or the future, we fail to really live in the present - where we always are physically - and address what is happening in and around us, which, incidentally, tends to lead to regrets because we didn’t have time to do something important to us, or leads to a self-fulfilling prophesy of doom and gloom because we don’t take the necessary actions or prepare properly.


   Where are you right now?  In the past, in the future, or in the present?

Beth 

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua23/home/January%2019%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 17 January 2018

Don't Want

The key to happiness isn't getting what you want, 
but realizing you can survive what you don't want.
 - Justin Simien

Monday 15 January 2018

Wing

We need each other...No bird can fly 
with only a left wing or only a right wing.
 - Van Jones

Friday 12 January 2018

Diamond

Just because somebody didn't appreciate
 that you're a diamond doesn't mean that 
you turned in to a rhinestone. 
You're still a diamond. 
- Barbara De Angelis

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Heart

When you become quiet, you can be open. 
When you become open, you can be receptive. 
When you become receptive, you can be very soft. 
When you become very soft, you can feel your own heart. 
When you can feel your own heart, 
you can find your own astonishing knowingness. 
Your heart knows...
 - Barbara De Angelis

Monday 8 January 2018

Upside Down

If your life is turned upside down,
 that can only create space for
 greater horizons to appear. 
- Matt Kahn

Friday 5 January 2018

January 5, 2018 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   As December was winging by, and 2017 rapidly drawing to a close, I felt very discouraged one day as I looked around me at everything that still needed done, and as I thought of all the things that I had wanted to accomplish that would have to wait, or not get done at all.

   So, in an attempt to cheer myself up, I decided to make a list of all my accomplishments and the highlights of 2017.

   Despite being in bed for almost three-quarters of the year (or maybe BECAUSE I was in bed for almost three-quarters of the year) I...
  • knitted a bikini, three cupcakes, two cakes, a dress and a sweater
  • crocheted a sweater, two bathing suits and a pair of slippers
  • completed 13 acrylic paintings (sized 5x7, 8x10, 9x12)
  • made and painted nine newspaper bowls, six newspaper plates and one newspaper vase, plus I made 8 newspaper baskets
  • decoupaged a small coyote, bunny, and reindeer
  • completed a 4,000 piece puzzle and two 1,000 piece puzzles
  • held an art sale September long weekend
  • saw (live) George Canyon, Colette Baron-Reid, Frank Mills, Gordon Lightfoot, a Frankie Valli tribute, and the Stettler Variety Showcase performances
  • attended three plays in Bashaw
  • read 18 Zane Grey books
  • did 5 online retreats
  • participated in a total makeover & photo shoot
  • got my picture taken with Santa
  • managed to keep the newspaper going and delivered

   When I looked at the list, I was amazed at how much I had fit into one short year!

   Life seems to go by so fast that we don’t get a chance to always acknowledge our milestones and accomplishments.  As we transition into this new year, why not make a list of the highlights of the past year.  You may be amazed too, and find you did more than you thought.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua23/home/January%205%2C%202018%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday 3 January 2018

Future

Put your future in good hands – your own. 
- Author Unknown

Monday 1 January 2018

Happy New Year

May your walls know joy, 
may every room hold laughter, 
and may every window 
open to great possibility.
 - Mary Anne Radmacher

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