Month: December 2013

Christmas, passion

Beautiful: On the Ninth Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Passion

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“We lose ourselves in the things we love. We find ourselves there, too.” ~ Kristin Martz

Let’s not temper our sense of passion, our enthusiasm. Let’s lay our hearts and minds on the line and wear them on our sleeves. Let’s share and encourage our deepest dreams. Let’s let the size of our hearts be the guidepost for the size of our efforts. We now have the tools to create a world that is exponentially better than the world we now call home. Technology, knowledge, medicine, and vehicles for communicating, organizing, and getting things done. To get their full utility, we must first commit to our own truest ambitions. We must decide the impact we want to have in the world and then roll up our sleeves to put our passion to work. Let’s do this.

This post is part of the “Let there be…” consecutive series of Christmas wishes. 

Christmas, inspiration

Beautiful: On the Eighth Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Inspiration

Christa Avampato

“May the space between where I am and where I want to be inspire me.” ~ Tracee Ellis Ross

Anything can inspire us. Art, music, words, actions, stories, food. It is everywhere and in every thing. We inspire and are inspired. Everything we do, everything we say, can be a light for someone else. We are often unaware of our impact, the power we have to shape and influence the paths of others. We don’t always see the connections between the dots, how our paths intertwine and connect. Sometimes we miss the dots altogether. What we can be sure of is that we matter. That others, all others, matter, in the deepest and most wonderful ways. Nothing is inconsequential. Every situation and every person in our lives, no matter the size of their role in our days, is here for a reason. To inspire, to teach, to learn, to help us evolve into the very best person we can be. In that way, we always have someone and something to be grateful for. We always have a reason for giving thanks, and that reason is inspiration.

This post is part of the “Let there be…” consecutive series of Christmas wishes. 

balance, Christmas

Beautiful: On the Seventh Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Balance

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” ~ Albert Einstein.

Balance doesn’t mean to constantly keep our lives in neutral. It is a beautiful dance. We constantly move between the act of speeding up and slowing down. We get happy and sad and happy again. We stand on the highest peak and descend into the lowest valley. We climb and fall. Balance is the act of moving between the extremes with the knowledge that this journey is part of the ebb and flow of life. We will have our emotions and our mistakes. We will falter and question the purpose and value of it all. Balance is our attempt to understand what happens, and why, and how to use the lessons we learn along the way. Balance is not perfection nor is it an ideal; it is the purposeful act of searching for alignment. It means standing as tall as we can in our current circumstances. Balance is not a destination, it is the journey itself.

This post is part of the “Let there be…” consecutive series of Christmas wishes. 

Christmas, grace

Beautiful: On the Sixth Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Grace

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“I do not understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.” ~ Anne Lamott

As long as we live and breathe, the pressures of life will always be with us. We will face stress, disappointment, and loss. There is no way out of that. As the great yogi Dolly Parton once said, “If you want rainbows, you gotta put up with the rain.” How we face our difficulties over time, how we reflect on them and allow them to shape us, depends upon our level of grace. They can make us better, or they can make us bitter. In the immediate aftermath of something upsetting, we process. We give space and time to heal. We grieve, and then hopefully we grow. We see other people grieve, and we extend our hands, hearts, and help. That is the power of grace – to support us in our time of need and then to give us the strength to support others when they need us most.

This post is part of the “Let there be…” consecutive series of Christmas wishes. 

Christmas, generosity, gifts

Beautiful: On the Fifth Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Generosity

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“Generosity is the best investment.” ~ Diane Von Furstenberg

We have so many ways to give, and so much to offer to one another. It’s the great conundrum of our society that there is always someone else who is having a tougher time than we are. And yet this knowledge, while sad in some ways, is incredible in other ways because it means we always have the chance to make life better for someone else. Generosity is the vehicle for goodness, and it’s at our disposal of every hour of every day. There are endless opportunities for us to express it, appreciate it, and foster it. So spread some cheer around everywhere you go. The more you give, the more you realize you have – it’s a wonderful riddle that needs no solution.

This post is part of the “Let there be…” consecutive series of Christmas wishes. 

Christmas, kindness

Beautiful: On the Fourth Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Kindness

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

Let’s make kindness the new black. It takes more energy and effort to be unkind than it takes to be kind, and the rewards and benefits of kindness are so rich. They’re contagious, too. When we’re kind to ourselves, we have the capacity to be kind to others. This creates a ripple effect so that your kindness extends from your acts into the acts of others, and others, and others. There are chain reactions of kindness happening right now, all around us. It’s the one gift that keeps on giving, and it costs nothing. Smile at someone. Compliment them. Hold the door open. Say please and thank you and you’re welcome. And mean it. That’s all it takes, and it gives so much.

This post is part of the “Let there be…” consecutive series of Christmas wishes. 

Christmas, peace

Beautiful: On the Third Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Peace

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.” ~ Unkown.

So much of our history has been about wars of all shapes and sizes. Conflict. People who lived and fought and died for ideals. History is a wonderful teacher but it need not define the future. We can change within our own hearts to generate change in the world. It is often said that in times of peace, we should be prepared for war. I disagree. We generate what we prepare for and I hope we are always prepared for peace, that we can be willing to accept peace, and work for ways to foster and build it. Peace within our own heart, with our past, and with others. In a world that is so full of violence and discord, I believe that peace is the surest and best way forward on all paths.

This post is part of the “Let there be…” consecutive series of Christmas wishes. 

Christmas, community, compassion

Beautiful: On the Second Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Compassion

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“It is only with true love and compassion that we can begin to mend what is broken in the world.” ~ Dr. Steve Maraboli

When I posted my first day of Christmas wish (love), my friend, Lorenzo, said he wished to see more compassion in the world. On the second day of Christmas, I make this same wish. Let there be more compassion in the world. Compassion for ourselves and others, which will lead us to love, as Lorenzo so beautifully said.

Sometimes we are too quick to judge and blame others. We beat ourselves up over mistakes and mishaps – I am the queen of this. We aren’t perfect, and neither is life. It’s messy and complicated, as are we. We have only just so much information, about our experience, the experience of others, and the ways in which the world works. Compassion is a way to bridge the gap, a way to say, “I don’t understand and still I choose to be curious, to put my own opinions aside and see things from a different vantage point.”

This post is part of the “Let there be…” consecutive series of Christmas wishes. 

Christmas, love

Beautiful: On the First Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Love

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

Christmas is a magical time for wish making and wish granting. There are 12 days until Christmas and I’m counting down to the holidays with a series of posts called “Let there be…”. Starting today I’ll write a post each day about what I’d like to see more of in the world. These are things we can seek out and they’re things we can create for ourselves and others.

On the first day of Christmas, I’d like to see more love in the world. Love for self. Love for others. Love for community. Love for love. There is no such thing as too much of it. It can only help and it never hurts. It heals, saves, and serves in every circumstance. It makes everything better, always.

choices, decision-making

Beautiful: The Power of Choice

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

We stumble. When that happens, we take a pause. We look down the road ahead and wonder if we should continue or stay where we are. Stumbling shows us what matters most to us. Do we care enough to get up, with scrapes and bumps and bruises, and try again? Or does it show us that the effort is not worth our energy? Either decision should be celebrated. We have only so much time. We have only so much space in our lives. How we use it is the most important choice we ever make.