How to be BEAUTY-FULL!

​June 2017 - Mindful Moments
BEAUTY-FULL!  
 
Right after the tragedy of 9/11 in America I was walking along the Lake Michigan beach near where I live and soaking up the water, the waves, the grey skies, and clean air. It occurred to me that after all the stress I had been experiencing with the sudden loss and changes in our world, I was instantly at peace here alone with nature.
 
I wrote a poem about that experience, coming to the conclusion: “Maybe we should all spend more time with the waves.”
 
Ever since then I have been very conscious that the beauty and peace of nature can de-stress me like nothing else. It allows me to just be in a world full of do. It allows me to soar high in a world pushing me down. It allows me to breathe in a world where I hold my breath. It allows me to let it all go, and let the beauty of its natural being in.
 
In wide open nature there is nothing to clean, nothing to fix, nothing to do or undo. The dead oak tree is growing new life. The maple knows when to turn its leaves red without me having to say so. The water flows with the wind and washes me clean. It does not need me to do anything but be.
 
I soak it up. I soak it in, and in that moment, I become beautiful.
 
It does not matter what clothes I have on or if my eyeliner is running or if I my breath smells like coffee. It does not judge. It does not care what I look like, who I am, what is my name, or occupation or relationship status or number of Twitter followers. It does not know of my sorrows, my losses, my loves. It does not care. It allows me to just be. And within that freedom, I am beautiful.
 
I am full of beauty.
 
I am full of the beauty of the rain drops on the leaves. I am full of the beauty of the sunshine and the stars. I am full of the beauty of the crescent moon. I am full of the beauty of the white clouds and the red mountains. I am full of the beauty of the fresh and salt water, the blue and the red bird, the osprey and the eagle.
 
In a single, instant moment, I soak it in and I fill up. I fill up on the beauty. It gives me energy. It gives me serenity. It gives me joy. It gives me life!
 
What gives you that feeling? What allows you to just be, to just be who you are? What gives you freedom to just dance with the being of you, beautiful in all the ways you are?
 
Today I will become more conscious of what gives me that feeling of life and what takes it away, and yes. I will promise myself to spend more time with the waves.
 
For when we are in a better space, the world is a better place. It has been my motto for twenty years. If I want peace on earth, it begins within. Let it begin with me. And for me? That means nature. That means letting in more beauty.
 
Thank you for being the beautiful people in my life! Here’s to the waves and the wind and the sun and the sane. Happy start to summer!
 
All my love - Jeannine

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