The spring elegance of March continues to leave me in awe! The blossom-fragrant air, the gentle, refreshing breezes, the seemingly happier song birds and all of the beautifully-colored flowers…everywhere!
Nutrition: the act or process of nourishing or of being nourished.
As National Nutrition Month continues, I want to celebrate a different aspect of nutrition, adding a little soul-food to nourish and inspire the mind and heart. Just as our food choices and caring for our physical bodies is vital, so we must also tend to our hearts and minds…sometimes even more so, as this is the core of who we are and an essential component of our well-being. So, enjoy and be refreshed ….
Yesterday I took a much-needed walk to unwind and clear my thoughts. I was thoroughly enjoying the orange blossoms, the very green grass and my other favorite “pom-pom” tree with its round, yellow, fluff-ball flowers and heavenly fragrance. I couldn’t help but notice all of the bright pops of color all around me. A newly budding magenta and yellow lantana really caught my attention. It literally looked like confetti popping and exploding its colorful cheeriness everywhere. Around the next corner, the bougainvillea practically glowed with color as they were blanketed in flowers. The sun highlighted the delicate salmon-colored petals of one as it sat just in front of its dark, burgundy-flowered cousin. The color contrast was simply breathtaking. I couldn’t help but think, “It’s time for your life to pop with color!” Yes! It’s your time too. It’s time for the dismal, dry desert places of our lives to come to life with hope and newness, leaving the last season behind.
Pondering the beauty and meaning of that phrase not only brings much hope and refreshment, but also a powerful lesson: “Eyes that focus on what is beautiful bring joy to the heart.”
Wow. Think on that for a minute: Eyes that focus on what is beautiful bring joy to the heart.
How often do I either get in such a rush that I forget to look for and stop to enjoy the beauty all around me? OR even worse, how often do I choose to focus on what’s wrong, not-going-as-I-would-like, negative, “dark” and lifeless?! Can you relate?! And what’s the result of that focus? You got it. It brings on more negativity, darkness, lack of interest, heaviness, irritability, fatigue, jealousy and frustration, just to name a few. It tends to shut us down and can easily lead to darker, unhappy places.
But what happens when we choose instead to look for beauty—and to look for the good?? It brings joy. It cheers us up. It brings hope. It brings enjoyment. It brings peace. It settles the heart and makes it thankful. It redirects our thoughts and even perpetuates more goodness and joy, as we have shifted our focus. It opens us up to creativity, sharing, giving and looking for more good.
Will you join me? Let’s use the fresh loveliness of this season to speak to and cheer our hearts. Let the brand new life springing up around you be a reminder that seasons of life change. Be looking for the bright colors to spring up into the barren places of your life. It’s time to see and experience the vibrancy. Finally, choose with me to focus and look for the beauty and good in these days where chaos and pressure is often all around us. I know we’ll be happier and more grateful that we did…and even our bodies will enjoy the calming, healing effects.