Pursue Virtue

My boys are taking a little quiet time break with some "Little Einstein's"  right now, so I'm going to grab a moment to get some thoughts down on paper. I have been reflecting a lot lately on the type of Mama I want to be. The kind of person I want to be - the kind of role model I want to be. Not only are there little eyes watching my actions, and modeling my behaviors, here at home, but I come in contact with others everyday and those interactions sometimes leave me wondering,"Did I make an impact for good? Do they know they are loved because of how I treated them? Does interacting with me bring light and warmth to their life?" 

Almost as if my mind was being read, Mara over at A BLOG ABOUT LOVE wrote an intriguing and thought provoking post on this very subject. On being at peace and happy with who you are and what you are. Read her thoughts here; you won't regret it. Here is my summary and take away from Mara's words.

"Align yourself with [God] by pursuing His virtues: Peace, Love, Forgiveness, Compassion, Gratitude, Joy, Hope," Good Works, and Integrity. "...Once you do it, the power of virtue starts to snowball.  It starts to dominate and embody you, instead of the other awful thing that you were trying to rid yourself of.  Basically, when you pursue these virtues...you’re "at one" with the very energy that they represent...you’re "at one" with God himself.  You know, "light is attracted to light", etc.  There is an ENERGY associated with this stuff.  You will feel it!!!!!! " 

This is what I needed today. And so I pass it on to you - maybe you're in need of it too. 

Love

I recently saw this video posted on a blog I LOVE [if you haven't seen A BLOG ABOUT LOVE yet, check it out!] and had to watch it after Mara's endorsement. Needless to say, I couldn't just watch this and not share ;) Start your day off right with a sparkle in your eyes and a smile on your lips - being loved and loving others really is what life is all about!

I'ts all VERY contagious!

Have you ever noticed the affect others moods have on your own? How a down right negative friend can drag you down with her? Or how the always upbeat blogger keeps you seeing sunny skies even when it's a grey day? [For one of my favorite sunny disposition reads, check out A Blog About Love. It is always bright and shiny, even if life isn't ;)] Well, there's actually research to support this. 

"Studies show that in a phenomenon called "emotional contagion" we unconsciously catch emotions from other people - whether good moods or bad ones. Taking time to be silly means that we're infecting one another with good cheer, and people who enjoy silliness are one third more likely to be happy." [Source: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Check out her blog at The Happiness Project.]

So, grab your kids and have a dance party, run like the wind on a home made race track, spin circles in a full skirt, and look for the silver lining!