Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Smile Can Make A Difference

Posted on February 17, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

Happy Wednesday! Remember to smile, not only for yourself, but to bring happiness to others. “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Source: A Smile Can Make A Difference

I know it is not Wednesday, but a smile can improve the moment and day of each person we encounter. Our smile might be the only ray of sunshine that enters the day of another person.

Also, smiles raise questions about what we are thinking. I recall several years ago being asked by a principal what I was smiling about. I was not happy with his actions that day, but I reached down inside and found a smile.

Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that we find the extraordinary in the ordinary. When we are mindful and present in each moment, we can do that and smile in ways that make our lives and those of others better.

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For Valentine Lovers Without A Valentine Line

Posted on February 15, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

This is a wonderful list of quotes about love, which are appropriate on Valentine’s Day. With the gift of love, comes abundance and peace.

GYA today

I created this scroll for a post a couple years ago but thought there might be a few who just can’t come up with the right line for their valentine. Here are 50 from the past that you can pick and choose from. Please …don’t confine yourself to only one …wonder awaits!

I hope you enjoy 50 Shades of Love, and Happy Valentine’s Day with love to all.

50 Shades of Love from Paul Mark Sutherland

Life is the flower for which love is the honey. —Victor Hugo
Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. —Plato
The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. —Nicholas Sparks
If you judge people, you have no time to love them. —Mother Teresa
Nobody has ever measured, not even…

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Nothing Can Be Done 2 Days Out of the Year

Posted on February 14, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.” ~ His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Source: Nothing Can Be Done 2 Days Out of the Year

This is a wonderful reminder of the essential nature of mindfulness in our lives. To be present, is to accept that we live in one moment at a time. In each ensuing moment, our life is created.

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Posted in Leadership, Mindful Life, Reflective Moments, teacher as transformer, Uncategorized and tagged Buddhism, creativity, Dalai Lama, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, philosophy, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitude

Posted on February 11, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow. /Kahlil Gibran/ Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitude

Source: Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitude

This is a short and powerful quote by Khalil Gibran accompanied by a glowing flame. It is in those moments of true solitude we find ourselves and who we are lights the path ahead.

Solitude embraces us in its questions without pre-known answers. We we engage the deepest parts of our self in conversation. Engage means to pledge and in solitude we can pledge to make a difference in the world.

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Be Kind Whenever Possible

Posted on February 10, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

In the midst of living life, be KIND. If life is one of success, be kind and show others the way. If there is joy, lift others up and be kind. If there is a setback, be kind. This moment sha…

Source: Be Kind Whenever Possible

The post linked provides a short list of what benefits we accrue when we are kind and two quotes that support the personal need to be kind. As challenging as it is sometimes, being kind is essential to our personal well-being. We feel better when we are kind to others. When we smile, we share what is good in our life with them and acknowledge them as a person.

The Dalai Lama said to be kind when it is possible and it is always possible. Kahlil Gibran counselled kindness is a manifestation of strength and resolve. When we are kind to others, we are mindful and present to them and their needs in that moment and act towards them in an uplifting manner.

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Solitude. A Photographic Journey.

Posted on February 9, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least, and it is commonly more than that, sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolu…

Source: Solitude. A Photographic Journey.

The photographs are wonderful and a quote accompanies each speaking to the essential nature of spending time with our self. It is in reflective moments that we spend in solitude that we rediscover who we are in trying to make our self whole.

The Hasidic scholar, educator, political activist, and philosopher Martin Buber said “solitude is the place of purification.” Through dialogue with our self, others, and the world, we grow to understand who we are and our place in the world in relationship to others.

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Absence

Posted on February 8, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

I’ve come to understand that absence lies at the heart of our seeing more clearly. It’s often in something’s absence that we suddenly begin to see, whatever it is, in a new light.…

Source: Absence

Jacques Derrida said one cannot speak of something without acknowledging its opposite. When we hear black, it is natural for us to think of white. He went so far as to say that to claim one is atheist acknowledges the very possibility God exists.

Absence make the heart grow fonder, particularly when we love something or someone deeply. The Khalil Gibran quote at the end is essential to how we come to appreciate what and who we have in life. It is in the moments absence we grow to understand how much we love. It is in those moments we grow to be mindful and attentive when absence turns to presence.

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All That We Share (Watch!)

Posted on February 7, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

Video post by @davidkanigan. This is a great post from David and worth the few minutes it takes to watch it.

Source: All That We Share (Watch!)

As I watched this video, it reminded me of an undergraduate class I took. It was the only class non-special needs undergraduate students could take.

I recall how our text and professor focused on the idea that we have far more in common than what makes us difference. At the core, we are each humans and, when we see each other in that light, it makes all the difference.

When we take time and are mindful to each person present to us, we can grow and understand their presence is a gift to each of us. The differences make us each a unique star in the universe, but there is more to each of us that makes us the same.

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Each Day Is A Gift

Posted on December 27, 2016 by ivonprefontaine

Each day is a gift! Make sure you share it with joy and happiness!

Source: Each Day Is A Gift

This is a beautiful thought that we can each take action on and bring to life.

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Merry Christmas Everyone

Posted on December 25, 2016 by ivonprefontaine

You already possess everything necessary to become great. source: Crow image: Eddie’s Image Collection editor’s note: this is a repost from ETH December 2015 “Happy Holiday Everyo…

Source: Merry Christmas Everyone

When I saw the picture and quote in this post, they reminded me how much we have in common with each other. Instead of a politics of fear and division, can we can live in peace and harmony as stewards who care for each other, the world, and the future generations we live that world to?