Is time spent in the valley a time of boredom and simply plowing through until one reaches the beauty of the distant mountains? Or are the flatlands a time of ease and rest before you come to the rugged heights? Is it better to keep your eyes fixed on the horizon of a distant goal, or is it better to stay focused on the place where you are, even if it’s not so glamorous?
How would you describe your current location in your life’s journey?
The water is dazzling in the sunlight, a thousand diamonds set in sapphire. But water, of course, has neither light nor color of its own: it simply reflects what hits it back out into the world. Which makes it no less beautiful.
How will you help someone else’s light to shine forth in the world?
Do you dream of a vacation in a tropical paradise, where palm trees grow on sandy beaches, and warm breezes caress your skin? Just for a moment, close your eyes and visit this island paradise. Then remember that people who live in tropical lands have work and money troubles and aging parents and troubled children and all the difficulties of daily life in colder climes.
How will you find a moment today to relax and find peace in the perfect place where you already are?
Usually we think of love in terms of the fragrant rose or the glowing rainbow. But sometimes love shows up in a form that hints more at rusty metal than rainbows and roses. A smelly dog that shows up on our doorstep, a colleague who rubs us the wrong way, a neighbor with the wrong kind of politics—you can never say for sure who might touch your heart with some act of friendship or kindness.
In what surprising place have you found love?
Today marks the first day of Muharram, the month of the New Year for Muslims. It is a time, not of partying and celebration, but of fasting. Every cycle brings something new and takes something away, and although various traditions mark the New Year at various times, in reality each day marks the beginning and the end of something.
What is new for you today? Does this new thing feel more like a gift or a loss?
