What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Build Something?

There's an old story (great fodder for an original urban legend) about a cathedral being built in France, about 800 years ago. When a passerby asked the stonemasons what they were doing, the masons said, "Cutting marble for the floor."

When the glassblowers were asked the same question, they replied, "Making glass for the windows."

When the woodwrights were asked, they said, "Framing the timber for the rafters and the altar."

When the old woman sweeping the steps was asked, she leaned against her broom and looked up at the beautiful building. "I'm building a cathedral," she answered.

I love this story. It's been used over and over, mostly in motivational work. It demonstrates perspective; each of the higher level craftsmen were focused (rightly) on the details of their contribution; but the lowly woman who swept up could see the bigger picture and appreciate her contribution as being part of the whole.

It can be very difficult to see a bigger picture sometimes. When we are in the small details of living, the daily slog and grind of projects, housework, child rearing or supporting a company, it can seem like the little stuff we do doesn't really matter.

But it does matter. Without the little pieces, the bigger ones don't happen. Small details, left undone, can develop into big problems.

The woman with the broom is important in our lives; definitely for her contribution, and also for her perspective. You are building cathedrals now--whether in your own personal life or professional setting. What you do matters and contributes to a marvelous bigger picture. 

What's the smallest thing you will do today to build a cathedral?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Make Friends With Your Sadness?

I'm not suggesting that depression is benevolent or fun. I'm not saying that we need to walk around trumpeting triumph because we feel sad.

What I am asking: in a reality where we run from sadness, fight sadness, soldier on through sadness and plain ignore it, is your sadness still trying to teach you something?

At the core of most difficult emotions, there is another layer of something else. Under anger there may be fear. Under fear, there is usually sadness or grief.

We heal over time. Or we cover up the inconvenient emotions and pretend we can just ignore them. But they tug at our shirts in strange little ways, leaking out in fear reactions or rage.

I'm no psychologist. These are things I've noticed in myself as I've become more aware of who I am, and what healing I have done and need to do. I'm not out of tears, and I kind of hope I never will be. I don't wallow in sadness, and I don't live there all the time. But I am aware that when I feel pain, if I follow it deeply enough, sadness about something lurks at the bottom of it.

And I am learning to let it go from a genuinely more healed place. It's not enlightenment, lord knows. It does feel like making peace, though.

Sadness connects me to compassion at times, and I hope it makes me better at being human. Curing my sad little Internal Girl has made me a much more rounded and loving person.

When I stopped running from it, and embraced it, sadness taught me a lot.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to make friends with yours?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Expand Your Possibilities?

How many times do you catch yourself saying, "I could never do..."

Do what? Dance? Take a 100% commission sales job? Write a book? Act onstage? Speak in public? Change a law? Learn a language? Go back to school? Dye your hair? Get a tattoo? Speak to a stranger? Drive a car with a stick shift? Paint a picture? Play an instrument? Try a new food?

Promote yourself or your cause?

Live a little!
Why not take an audacious chance on something, even if you do it in a small way? Risk a little bit. Try something you thought you'd never do.

You might be surprised at what opens up.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to change a never to an ever?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Respect Yourself?

This one seems simple on the outside. If you ask most people if they respect themselves, they'd probably say yes.

But the way we treat ourselves says something very different. 
We allow lots of trespasses. Most of us struggle with trespasses on the landscape of our time, on our health, and on our hearts. After a while, this wears and we defend those boundaries, usually in anger or hurt.

Self respect takes small forms. Eat something good instead of junk. Get enough rest. Be willing to take time for yourself. If you treat yourself poorly, it will be harder for others to treat you well.

Self respect also might mean being willing to have someone dislike the fact that you aren't allowing them to trespass. But I've found self respect breeds respect in general.

Self respect also doesn't have to mean selfishness. There is a difference. Giving of yourself from a genuinely respectful place means that what you give is healthier.

Trading your self respect for approval never works. And that might be the hardest thing.

What is the smallest thing you will do today to show yourself that you matter?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Adjust Your Focus?

I have lots of friends who are photographers, including my husband. Having dabbled a bit with it myself, and being older, I came from an age when autofocus didn't exist--and it took a delicate touch to adjust my lens on my simple little Pentax camera in order to get an unfuzzy photo.

This was further complicated by the fact that I am near sighted, and didn't always wear my glasses. Sometimes, I overcompensated with the camera because I couldn't see clearly--so I forced the camera lens to do the work that glasses should have done.

My instructor also showed me some neat tricks with depth of field, so that I could blur things that were close to bring things further away into focus--and vice versa.

Framing the object of focus and drawing the eye to it in a photo is an art form.

It occurs to me that it's an art form to do it outside photography, as well. People who write, or market, or do much communicating do it constantly, a kind of sleight-of-hand piece that tells us where to put our focus--"Look over HERE!"

But you have the lens in your hand. Maybe it's a good thing once in a while to clean it and make sure your glasses are in place.

And remember...what you focus on is what you get in the frame.

What's the Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Adjust Your Focus to Get The Picture You Want?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Find Something Good?

It's been a tough week. Lots of bad news. Lots of despair and pain and anger and worry. Boston and Texas are on my mind.

But my cherry tree is blooming anyway. There is a quiet kind of order in the way the grass is greening up, and every once in a while, the wind settles down to stillness.

My heart needs that kind of stillness; just a breath in the midst of all the chaos. We can't ignore the bad stuff; it exists.

But we can try to find some little bit of good someplace, and then look for more, encouraging that to shine out. As long as there is a ray of light, there is hope.

And there will be a ray of light as long as there are stars and a sun. I have faith in you, as you read this, whoever you are. You are a ray of light. Shine.

That's the smallest thing I will do today to find something good. I already did...it's you.

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Walk a Mile...

...in someone else's shoes?

It's an old adage. But ya know...it's relevant. 

We all are subject to judgmental behavior, both given and received. It's part of our human wiring, to discriminate good from bad; right from wrong; unhealthy from healthy.

But wow...we also have a tendency to cling to our own worldview without compassion for the other side; to protect our "way of life" at the cost of any chance of understanding.

If we as humans are to rise to our spiritual potential, we have some learning to do. And that takes the courage to walk a mile in someone else's shoes, so we can build compassion and encourage love.

Love is not weak. It takes much more courage than hate.

Short and sweet today. But I hope it takes you deep.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to walk a mile in someone else's shoes?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To See The Marvel In The Mundane?

There is nothing mundane about this world, once you really see it. As Dan Millman, author of The Peaceful Warrior, says, "There are no ordinary moments."

I was blessed yesterday with a glimpse of that--it came to me in about three minutes flashes for about two hours--when I really looked around me and SAW.

The things we've created as humans; the art that makes up a simple chair or the graceful lines of a favorite china cup...even the design of our most commonly used technology is remarkable. We've taken thought into form. That's wizard work. (And yeah, we need to learn to wield the power better, but I have hope.)

Then there's the true wonder of the sky and clouds, the elegance of a single flower that grows, unbidden, beautifully unfolding...the things that are around us everywhere, following their own timelines and quietly just being.

The beating of my own heart, which continues day and night, without my conscious effort...

We take so much for granted. We get mired in struggle and hate and anger, and feel that our lives have little meaning at times...and yet--

If all who feel despair and rage and want to wound could experience the love I did yesterday between myself and the Universe, things would change.

It only lasts a little while for me, this wonder. Today, I am breathing and will take myself back to that place when I start feeling overwhelmed and mired in the daily grind.

Once you truly SEE a grain of sand or get quiet with a sunset, or even just admire the way water boils, there are no boring moments ever again. There is too much to live for, to admire, and to marvel at to waste time with hate.

Like I said, this only lasts for a few precious moments before the "real" world comes back in. But I think there's a way to shift the focus to reframe "real".

What's the Smallest Thing You Will Do Today to Marvel?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Make Things Manageable?

Details, a million things that clamor for your attention, projects, tasks, chores, errands, ARRRGGGHH! The Procrastinator in me wants to go back to bed, and wake up on Tuesday.

Mondays seem to be great days for the list that never ends. But making a list tames the craziness, as does tackling those pieces. Good time managers identify what steps they need to accomplish within each task.

Surprise, surprise! They break them down into "smallest things", prioritize them by importance, and delegate where they can.

Not all of us can delegate our details to other people, but we can organize our thinking so things don't seem so overwhelming. My Procrastinator wants me to do that, because she sees it as a way to put off actually taking action on anything. Making a list can seem like an achievement, and some people stop there.

It is an achievement. But only if you then DO something about the items on the list.

So, today, I will regroup and organize my world, something I do every morning. And then, I will do the smallest thing...I will take action! As someone wise in my life used to say, "Well begun is halfway done."

What's the smallest thing you will do today to wrangle your wild details?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Deal With Your Own Knee-Jerk Reactions?

Ever have one of those days when you had plans, and someone else demanded something from you, without regard to those plans? If you're a parent or an employee, or a freelancer, it's probably happened to you. 

It's a small thing. But because I try to respect other people's time, it's challenging for me when I have to enforce these kinds of boundaries. I want to help people. I also have a life and there are times when I have to firmly, with love, tell people no.

The biggest challenge I have is the knee-jerk, "Hell no, what are you thinking, asking me to do this?" three-year-old-who-doesn't want-to-leave-the-zoo reaction. My next reaction is often to find some passively-aggressive way to deal with it.

"I just won't answer the phone when he calls," I think.

or

"I won't do it until tomorrow, because I can't let him jerk me around like that--even if I can find the time today. That will teach him a lesson!"

The truth is, I can find a balanced way to deal with it--one where I won't feel taken advantage of, and one where once again, I will enforce a boundary with someone who is not good about respecting those. We'll both probably get what we need, and move on from there. Compromise.

But that knee-jerk reaction is hard to overcome. 

And it rarely serves me well. A lot of people post things on FB, and speak to one another from that KJ place--the first offended reaction, instead of the more measured, considered one.

It's how small misunderstandings become huge fires. It is impossible for me (at least currently) to not have the KJ reactions--but I can choose to not let them drive my actions. Working on that one.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to act from a thinking place instead of a reacting one?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Appreciate Music?

I am listening to birdsong outside my window. The strangest thing is--I am literally backed up to the 495 beltway around Washington, DC. and the birds are still drowning out the traffic.

Most of us have music in the background daily, either in the car on the way to work, or in our homes, or in our heads. I play Mozart and Hindi nursery rhymes alternately for my grandson. When I write, I use mood music to help get my creative stuff moving.

Music is amazingly powerful. It speaks to us on levels that defy analysis. There is a pattern and hum to everything around us, a huge symphony, of all things.

And remember...in the silences between the notes, there is breath and thought and wonder.

I wish brilliant flowing music to you today. What's the smallest thing you will do today to take the time to listen, really listen, and appreciate it?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Find Your Way Home?

I had a disturbing dream last night. I was trying to get back home, and wound up taking a road that I had never seen. As I followed the unfamiliar path, it became increasingly obvious that it was not taking me in the direction I was trying to go. 

In an attempt to use my cell phone GPS, I suddenly could not remember my own address. I tried to talk to someone about it--the people in the dream were nice enough, but uninterested in my plight.

I knew I would get back; it was just a matter of time. The delay was distressing me more than being lost--probably because I've never felt truly lost on Planet Earth.

Home has never been a place for me--it's always been more of a feeling of belonging. But I am finding myself in a "place" that is making me ask myself how we find our way home, when we want to be there.

What's the smallest thing that you will do today to find your way home, or even define what that means for yourself?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Let In The Air?

It's a beautiful spring day here in Maryland. I've got the windows and doors open, and air is playing around in the corners of my house, chasing out the staleness of winter.

I have also been conscious of my breathing this last week. Life has been busy and somewhat stressful; and I've found myself taking deep cleansing breaths repeatedly. My body seems to know that I need to clean out my own cells, and release the stress.

My body, my house. There's a spiritual connection between the house of my soul and the house of my material existence. Just as my material house needs the cleansing power of spring air and sunshine, so does my body.

I'll be getting as much air and light as I can today. What's the smallest thing you will do to do the same?

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Question Something?

The world tends to run on assumptions. We assume a lot of things, all day, every day. We assume that our routine won't vary much; we anticipate our daily challenges and tasks will be dealt with and handled; we expect that our typical systems will be in place. 

We largely assume that what we believe is true.

It ain't necessarily so.

One of the first things we learn to do as kids is ask questions. Spend a couple of hours with any three year old, and you'll see what I mean, if you don't remember it, or haven't had the chance to do so lately. They are seeing the world in a different way than we do--they are filling in gaps, making connections. They don't assume much, because they haven't had time to just accept "the way things are".

We are probably experiencing the most changeable time in the history of humankind. We are bombarded by information, at increasingly faster speeds. A natural protection is to surround ourselves with beliefs that keep us safe, something for us to hold onto when things get too out of control.

That's useful. It's also a trap, if we're not careful.

Keep asking questions. Challenge the status quo once in a while. Stay curious, and seek new answers. Things might have changed a little since the last time you did. Be prepared--most people don't like to have to think about the deep stuff. They just want things to proceed as "normal". But normal at best can sometimes be stifling; and at worst, can be just plain detrimental to healthy growth.

What's the smallest thing you will do today to question something?

What's The Smallest Thing You Won't Do Today?

Yes, ladies and gents. Sunday is not always a slow down day for everyone, but there ought to be some rest in there someplace during our busy lives.

We do, do, do...life seems to demand an ever-increasing number of things to "do". Even daily chores to maintain our living spaces, our health, the things we do for those we love, making a living--it all takes up the time and space of making a life.

Maybe today I WON'T do these small things--

1. Worry
2. Control
3. Eat the wrong stuff
4. Sit indoors, when it's beautiful outdoors
5. Criticize
6. Blame
7. Resort to anger
8. Speak without listening
9. Judge
10. Neglect myself

Ok, so some of these are not so small. But there is one small act inside each that I WON'T do today.

Take it easy. With Love from me to you today, wherever you are.

What's The Smallest Thing You Will Do Today To Unlock The Magic of Words?

I've been giving a lot of thought to language today; for some reason, I was awake at 4:00 AM, with words already forming in pre-dawn understanding.

We live with words, surrounded by them every day, in spoken and written form, in thought, in music lyrics, in directions and admonishments, under our skin and over our heads. 

They evoke thought, images, ideas, emotions. We use them to persuade, to show love, to wound, to cage and to free ourselves and others.

They fall short of our meaning, yet there are always more to learn, better ways to use them, new ways to string them together like pearls on a wire or drops of water on a spiderweb...

They populate passionate whispers and strident shouts. They play in sun puddles like lazy cats and soothe us to sleep in mantras.

And all we need to do is read, write and speak them with presence and consciousness, not throwing them away, not wasting them or using them the wrong way...

Language is our expression of human being-ness. What is the smallest thing you will do today to unlock your own word magic?