Flowering Fridays: Poinsettia

I didn't realize until a year or so ago that the flowers of a poinsettia are really the small center petals (which have died off in our plant here). The bright red (or pink or white or variegated) parts that I thought were flowers are actually a kind of leaf called a bract. (I also only recently learned that the poinsettia is not a plant, but a small shrub.)

Besides the obvious connection that poinsettias have this time of year, their small flowers are a good metaphor for the holiday season:  

While there is much focus on the pomp and circumstance of the flashier and more colorful parts of the season (big decorated tree, presents, hustle and bustle), the true flowering is really the small radiant center of the season. 

This beautiful flower — this part, for some of us, gets lost in all the trappings and packaging of the season.

For me to savor the gifts of the season means reflecting on the solstice and the promise present in the darkest night of the year. It means connecting with my inner light and looking for ways for it to shine brighter. It means reflecting on the heart of the beautiful Nativity story and the humble babe born in a manger and the wise men and shepherd who followed their angels and the light to find him. (Regardless of your religious beliefs, I find the story says much about faith, trust and humbleness.)

I recently downloaded Lynn Jericho's wonderful ebook, Celebrate Christmas! Celebrate You!. I have for several years enjoyed her free Inner Christmas meditations during the Holy Nights.

I'm looking forward to sharing the book with my husband as way of connecting us more deeply with this most wonderful time of year.

Below is Lynn Jericho's new video about the Inner Christmas concept and the opportunity for each of us to find a more soulful orientation to this season. If you are interested in these daily 12-minute self-reflective meditations, which are for all beliefs and traditions, you can sign up here. (Scroll down the page for the sign-up.)

I highly recommend giving yourself the gift of making time for inward connection and reflection this season — the pause, the noticing, the peace and silence are a way to connect in with your own flowering heart and where the precious flower is for you this season.

Tell me, where is the flowering center of this season for you?

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Flowering Fridays is a weekly look at flowers through the lens of what they might teach us about flowering fully in our life. Past editions are here.

Best Day of Your Life

I have been thinking about a recent e-letter from Debbie Ford entitled "Make Your Heart Smile." In it she wrote that she declared that today was going to be the best day of the year. She wrote:

I started thinking that if today were going to be the best day of my year, how would I have to feel? I would have to be completely grateful for everything as it is. I'd have to give up wanting anything to change about the past or the future. I'd have to give up any wants or needs that couldn't be satisfied today. I'd have to give up any hopes for anything to be different. I'd have to appreciate the toes on my feet that keep me upright, the parts of my body that are functioning perfectly, my ability to see, smell, and hear the voices of those I love. I'd have to have my heart wide open to the love that exists for everyone and everything. I'd have to have deep appreciation for the challenges I've endured, the limitations I've met, and the breakthroughs I've experienced. Most importantly, I'd have to remember that the best day of the year is made up not of one special event but of hundreds of special moments and I can choose each moment to have it be an incredible day.

As part of my intentions around gratitude this month, I have been carrying this message around in my heart. I see the biggest opportunity is for me to have total and complete acceptance of how things are, right now. 

So much of my life has been filled with longing for things to be different — both past and future.

But I see now that being in longing robs me of the precious present — and all the gifts that are present in the now.

If I stand in great gratefulness for the now,  celebration, peace and joy are available to me in each moment.

There is power in declaring today (and every day, really) as the best day of the year. The opportunity I have now is to really live it.

Tell me, if today were the best day of my year, how would you experience your day differently?

P.S. You can sign up for Debbie Ford's free e-letter here. Also, listen to Debbie Ford's loved and adored meditation here.