Mother Teresa told us that we can not do great things, but we can do little things with great love. In that spirit I hope the following little ways will be invitations to loving actions. Though we live in tremendous possibilities all the time, we may not believe the truth of that. Still one small, constant, loving little way can change much for the better and bless us in the doing of it.
Phrases posted on Facebook, September 2015
It is so easy for all of us to be caught up in our routines. The daily tasks take over. Habits of mind take over. Having a small intention can help bring us into more presence. “Little Ways” is the subject for Sept.
To manifest anything, we have to do something physical and concrete about our thoughts and ideas. For me to write down a conscious intention for the day is an act of commitment. This small ritual makes my intention not just a fleeting thought but a promise to myself. Placing the note where I will encounter it several times during the day keeps the focus alive. It has been “a little way” over the years and has been well worth the effort.
I like to think that an intention is also a dedication. Say that one day you write an intention to be gentle with yourself. This will turn out to be not only for you but also for others. They cannot help but experience a tad more gentleness when they are with you. Subtly the day will be dedicated to gentleness and will be a little journey into change.
Here’s another little way that has amazing inner results. Place the tip of your tongue gently behind the ridge of your front teeth. That immediately releases your jaw. You just can’t clench it. Automatically a little smile illuminates your face without trying. Doing this we are physically more receptive. Softer, we invite others to smile, too. Try it twenty times a day and disarm yourself and the world around you.
Words have an enormous power to hurt or help. A little way is to commit to saying one kind thing to another human being sometime during our day. I wonder if this doesn’t accumulate–perhaps exponentially?
I think we all love to gossip a bit and do so out of a wish to belong and to go along. It is profound to not participate in destructive gossip. The little way of quiet resistance may turn out to speak volumes.
It never hurts to make a small sacrifice for another “just because”. It is a little way to acknowledge how much we actually have and can afford to share.
A little way that takes a good deal of will is to resist correcting someone we care about. We may be right about the correction but not helpful in our timing. If we have to blurt it out we’ll need correcting, too.
Before we eat anything we can stop for a moment and realize how many circumstances and people are needed for this food to be on our plates. A little way is to be fully aware that every moment is filled with the gracious work of others.
To share in another’s joy without jealousy or rancor is not little. It is the great highway to the mutual heart.
Whatever we have we have on loan, even our bodies. To act on that and take care in little ways is the “interest” we need to pay.
As we water our gardens or our houseplants can we also pour out appreciation? It is a little way to bless the earth in our own small sphere.
The following is a powerful little way that turns on the way movement sensitive floodlights do. Give thanks for something good that you do not yet have and can’t guess will happen to you. Gratitude is fundamentally a movement towards the heart, and turns on the flood lights.
Slowly and deliberately rise up to your full height, turn and walk away when someone has hurt you. Your silence will be a powerful though small way for you to demonstrate that you know your worth and that you will not allow unkindness the chance to be hurtful in that moment again.
I have enjoyed the following little way: When anticipating a meeting, a challenge or when traveling, I like to imagine sending my heart ahead so that when I arrive at my destination it is there to meet me . . . a warm welcome.
I love the way babies just gaze at the world. They do not yet look with eyes of assessment or judgment. A wonderful little way is to soften our eyes for short periods in the day and just gaze out like babies.
We are all so aware of the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe. When loss, disappointment and devastation happen to us we cry out. Can we recollect that all over the world others are crying out, too? Is it not a collective heart crying? Understanding this does not take away the depth of what is happening, but it is a little way to soften us and to help us act and to be more human.
Conflict is a tar baby. The more we struggle against it the more caught we become. But conflict can be a signal instead of a trap. We can use it in little ways and begin to create something that is completely different and outside of what has trapped us before. Instead of fighting with a no we can move and go.
When we buy a flower for a friend it is a gesture of recognition and love. Could we buy a flower for our souls? As long as the blossom lasts it is a little way to honor the deep and enduring part of us.
Out of habit or convenience we plunk our stuff wherever there is space. We are inundated by information, by busyness, and clutter. A beautiful little antidote is to keep some small surface in our homes completely empty. It is amazingly difficult to do so, but it is a little way to recall that spaciousness is deep and necessary for the soul.
We have bathroom breaks and coffee breaks dotted through out the day. Why not take a breath break? On a breath break we inhale all the goodness we can and release what is no longer useful. It is a little way to become breathtaking.
When we bless our hands and their use at the beginning of each day we will remember to touch with tenderness and make the world a gentler place.
Today is the last day of September. It’s been fun to post on little ways. We all know
we are the only persons we can transform. We do so best over time by being constant, conscious and caring in little ways. It is the humble. Last thought on this: Why not do something kind in secret? Then mystery will have the last word.
Tonight is an eclipse of the Blood Moon. I am sure many of us will be watching.
Sometimes the “light” we count on diminishes, and we make the mistake of thinking we have been the cause of things being darker in our lives. If only could we remember to pause and wait when we rush to judge ourselves this way. To not know and to wait in the dark with whatever trust we can muster is an ancient (and not so little) way of prayer.
We are the only persons we can transform. We can do so best over time by being constant, conscious and caring in little ways. It is the humble way.
