We come into each others lives as both teacher and student.
I might be your greatest lesson, and you might be mine.
So relax, inhale the lessons, exhale the learning, theres a reason our paths crossed.
Toni O’KEEFFE ~🌹❤️
We have to step over many thresholds,
exploring both rugged and gentle terrain.
Traveling unfamiliar roads, meeting stranger after stranger until some become family and others become friends.
We must navigate the messy pathways
of human emotions, blazing trails
never walked before, having many adventures
and narrow escapes.
Then, we’ll know where we came from
and where we belong.
Toni O’KEEFFE~🌹❤️
As I get older, the frequency in which I receive news that a friend, acquaintance, colleague, neighbour or family member has passed away, increases.
When we, or someone we know, loses a loved one, the realization that our time here is temporary comes sharply into focus.
Each loss moves us to scour the cracks that separate our days, making sure we didn’t miss an opportunity to say;
“I love you”,
“I miss you”,
“I’m sorry.”
“Can I help.”
We look back on that last conversation and our last moments together and replay what we wish we had said or done.
Then, we “what if” ourselves, asking questions like;
“What if I had been there?”
“What if I hadn’t been so angry during our last conversation?”
“What if I had reached out?”
“What if we had spent more time together?” …….would things have turned out differently?
We waste so much time and energy, being “busy”, angry, negative, stubborn, dismissive, judgmental, stuck or offended.
“What If” we set our egos aside and let kindness, compassion, gratitude and love be our guides? Then perhaps when it’s time to say goodbye, we will not lament, but celebrate and give thanks for the pleasure of sharing time with the ones we loved and lost.
It’s the impermanence of life that should make every waking breath a cherished event. We should savour every beautiful, simple, pleasure and every ordinary moment shared with those we love.
Every child’s laugh and every story retold by our elders for the umpteenth time, should fill us with warmth and delight.
Let’s spend more time holding the ones we love as we marvel at the explosion of colour created as the sun rises and sets. Let our hearts be moved by the power in every stormy sky or the magic in each twinkling star and rainbow above.
Lets hold each other in reverence every day for being the amazing, unique, miracles we all are.
Let’s not wait until we die, to love, appreciate and honour each other.
Let’s do it while we’re still here.
Everything ever created, started as a small dream born in the corner of someone’s mind.
Every successful business, invention, plan, piece of art, musical composition, endeavour, or thing, at one time, was just a thought someone had.
The magic happened when the dreaming turned into doing.
That thing percolating in the back of your mind, you can make it happen. Stop thinking about it and start doing it.
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
Toni O’K~🌹❤️
Don’t be afraid
to get lost,
We’re not meant
to stay in
one place.
We’re meant
to roam, to go
on big adventures,
to discover
amazing things
about ourselves
and our world,
to meet people
with different
perspectives
and ideas,
to trip, fall and
get back up,
to make a few
wrong turns
and get lost,
all so we can find
our way home again.
So, Go – Get – Lost.
TO’K~🌹❤️
He asked her;
“What’s the secret to your longevity?”
She stared at him for along time over the thick rim
of her glasses.
Then, she picked up her double scotch,
shot it back, slowly rose from her chair,
shuffled over to her birthday cake, lit
a smoke off a candle and blew it into his face.
“Live every day like it’s your 100th birthday.”
she said.
Put on your crown,
know your worth and know you matter.
I’m a god damn work of art.
We all are. Yes, even you.
We should start treating each other
that way.”
TO’K🌹❤️
When you seek respite
from a noisy mind,
or a noisy world,
go to the forest.
She will welcome you in
and never ask you to leave.
She will embrace you and
offer you sanctuary.
She will listen, comfort you
and calm your tired soul.
She will not judge
or ask you why you came.
She will allow you to sit quietly
and just breathe.
And sometimes,
that’s all we need.
TO’K~🌹❤️
Beautiful friend.
Stop worrying so much about so little.
Don’t worry about the ones that left you behind, be grateful for the ones who are still by your side.
Don’t worry about promises not kept or plans that didn’t work out. They weren’t supposed to, they weren’t meant for you.
Don’t worry about the past or be angry, jealous or spiteful about days gone by. Be grateful for the lessons and move on.
What hurt you yesterday, has already begun to heal today. If yesterday didn’t go exactly as you hoped, today the slate is clean, you get to start over.
We’re all magical, messy, mixed up little souls painting lives that are constantly works in progress. So, my beautiful friend, stop being so hard on yourself and stop worrying so much, about so little.
Be gentle with yourself today and every day.
Just relax you messy little soul, just relax.
TO’K~ 🌹❤️
We learn more during life’s painful moments and challenges, than we learn in our moments of glory.
Each stabbing ache, each crushing disappointment, each heartbreak, every loss or painful fall from grace, allows us an opportunity to grow and become stronger.
Whether it’s emotional or physical; pain forces us to slow down, rest and take the time we need to heal.
Getting knocked down isn’t always a bad thing. Pain can leave us humbled, wiser and more patient. It allows us to lower our veil, be vulnerable, more tolerant and compassionate towards the pain we see or even cause, in others.
Sometimes pain itself is the cure for the things in life that hurt us; as it slows us down long enough to evaluate what and who is important.
When pain knocks on your door, let it in, sit with it. Let it show you what it wants you to see, to learn or to grow into.
Pain always, ALWAYS, brings with it opportunities for transformation. Opportunities to wrap yourself in your cocoon, and when you’re ready, to emerge with greater clarity about who you are, what’s important, why you’re here and how you want to live, love, play and BE.
Pain can be a beautiful teacher. Don’t waste your pain on “the pain” use this opportunity as a stepping stone to chart the next chapter of your journey.
Your pain will hurt you, it will also help, heal and lead you.
TO’K ~ 🌹❤️
I dislike and rarely use, the term “The truth hurts.” because, it doesn’t always have to.
Even when we convey disappointing or unpleasant information, we can still use words to reassure, comfort, support, show empathy, motivate, inspire, educate or encourage optimism.
In a world where it’s easy to use multiple mediums to fire off messages filled with emotional backlash and sometimes dire consequences, we need to choose our words carefully.
It’s not always “the truth” that hurts, it can be the mis-truths, the half truth, the lies, the mean spirited intent behind the words or how a message is delivered, that hurts.
Your words can break a spirit or save it, bring light to someones day or shroud it in darkness, can lift someone up or tear them down, can soften a heart or make it cold, deliver tears of joy or tears of sorrow, can influence opinion and evoke emotion.
Our words are little bullets. On average, most of us fire off approximately 7000 of them every single day. (OK some of us may use a few more than that😊)
When eloquently strung together those 26 little letters (if you speak English) can make up words that move us to create, laugh, cry and touch one another in the most profound ways.
Before you speak or send a message ask yourself; have I been kind? have I been sensitive? is the information true? is the information even necessary?
Then ask yourself “Will my words cause pain or discomfort?” If they will, ask yourself how you can be supportive, inspire or encourage optimism, healing and growth?
It’s equally important to be cautious with your silence. Our words when left unspoken, can be just as powerful. The things we do not say or do not ask or do not explore, can send messages indicating we do not care, we’re not interested or we’ve given up. Words left unspoken sometimes create a void others fill with assumptions. Most often, incorrect assumptions.
Other times your silence is exactly what the situation calls for. It says I’m not going to engage in what might be an emotionally charged setting. So rather than using your words, it might be best to listen compassionately to the words of others.
Your words both spoken and unspoken belong to you. Before you fire them off or keep them locked in your holster, consider the impact and the consequences of each powerful bullet.
No work-out routine, diet program, steroid, or sizeable muscle mass will give you more power than the weight your words.
Exercise them carefully.
Toni O’Keeffe~🌹❤️
The Whimsey Angel 