The roses are just delightful today, morning-glorious. There is something abundant, entire, and real about them, so unapologetic in their beauty. Uncomplicated and resplendent, I adore you.
It is important to plant my face into any given rose passed, to be grounded and know that beauty and wonder do exist, in any gifted moment, both within as without, easy-access and lasting, though seasonal. I am present and transported, elsewhere... Some citrus-y, some historic, some deeply hypnotic. Scent and fullness of bloom. Total indulgence.
The positive psychology don, Martin Seligman, wrote about this theme in his book 'Flourish', which promotes just that, flourishing. He counters the argument that the individual is best engaged in the pursuit of happiness as the ultimate outcome, but rather encourages that the ideal state of being should be one in which we simply flourish. Goals seem finite, whereas to flourish by definition is ongoing, more gradual, more tangible. It is better to flourish, and I attest to that.
On a less-good day, happiness is a distant realm, whereas if we focus on taking smaller steps in order to flourish this is an attainable daily practice, that which satisfies a need to at least feel a day has had value, that there was achievement and purpose.
When you have an 'off-day', a term brilliantly re-labelled by a therapist friend, Jason O'Neill, as a 'day-off'...phew...! which was a much kinder evaluation, things can feel a bit hopeless. So often when you are struggling with circumstances or self, it is easier to add the icing of self-deprecation, which has no value. So thank you Jason, for everything. Fortunately, it is a rare occurrence nowadays that I have a 'day-off', but when I do, I practise what a dear friend and excellent coach, Jenny Calcoen refers to as 'extreme self-care', which I am really quite adept at these days, and I highly recommend in response to S.O.S. days.
You will see I reference the word 'practise' often; this is because I believe we are works in progress, always, and optimum wellbeing is really about best-management, and often we must explore, and test our parameters in order to arrive at better conditions for ideal living. It is practise too, because it takes time to get it 'right' or at least 'more right' than last time, if that hadn't work out so well...it is a refining process. There is no mastery without practise. Where there is growth, there was practise.
Love and attend thyself first and foremost, and always, repeat always, stop to smell the roses, full-faced and gloating; a sublime connect with Mother Nature, our constant redeemer.