-=JAS Love=-

Ten Things to Love Each Day by Tom Gilbert © livingthesolution.com 2010 Lists are popular and "top ten" lists are used to help us prioritize, ponder meaning and find humor. After October 10, 2010 (10/10/10) I found myself considering ten things to love each day. It's not meant to be a "top ten" list, but perhaps you will find it worth considering (consideration, by the way, is #8 and curiosity is #6). 1. Awareness Instead of "coming to" each morning, awake to the awareness that you are alive. Let your senses inform you - eyes to see, ears to hear, fingers to touch, tongue to taste and mind to know, but most importantly, heart to love. 2. Gratitude Be filled with thankfulness, for an attitude of gratitude cannot be angry or bitter. 3. Humility Don't think less of yourself. Instead, be humbly aware that you are a child of God, but so is everyone else. That makes you special, but not better than anybody else. True humility is an awareness of who you really are and what you can become. 4. Breathing Breathe in and out, slowly, deliberately and peacefully. 5. Open-mindedness Just as we need to fill our lungs with oxygen, we need to fill our minds with knowledge, wisdom and mystery. Knowing that we don't know is a gift. Having a "beginner's mind" is keeping wonder alive, open to possibilities. 6. Curiosity How do things work? What's it mean? Where does it lead? What should I do? Questions are important and seeking answers helps us grow. 7. Generosity Give because you want to. Give because others need help. Give so that others can experience gratitude. Discover the paradox that you can't keep it unless you give it away. 8. Consideration Become aware of life around you, including plants, animals and other people. Everything is connected. Everything belongs. Treat all people and things the way you want to be treated. 9. Humor Laughter is good medicine. But don't laugh at the expense of others. See humor as part of wonder. Things are funny when we don't take life or ourselves too seriously. 10. God To love God is to love everything, for God is in all things. God is with all things. God lives through all things. You can't comprehend God. But you can love God and that leads to acceptance, peace and the comfort of knowing that all will be well.