Salud!

May you get to Heaven a half hour before 

the Devil knows you're dead.  

~Irish Proverb

Salud!
Here's to life, happiness, health and love! It's time to toast yourself and enjoy each moment today.  Even in the midst of craziness, chaos, traffic and frustration, we can all take a moment to realize that despite it all, we are OK and isn't that grand.  Now that is certainly something to cheers about!

Intentions

It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.  

~Howard Ruff

Intentions
Every day we have the opportunity to put out to the universe an intention for the day.  We can, with our hearts and minds open, cast the intention for a day full of hope, a day full of laughter, a day full of love or anything that rings true to us that day.  Why not try it out?  Close your eyes and set forth to dedicate this day to ...... (fill in the blank).  Now let the intention go!  Don't try and make it happen.  Don't try and control it.  Sit back and watch how this theme unfolds in your life today in ways you could have never imagined it to.  Enjoy your day focused on a positive thought and maybe, just maybe, you will make it a habit. 

Stay

Begin each day as if it were on purpose.  

~Author Unknown

Stay

You have found a spot in your soul of inner peace.  It's your job to make sure you do the best you can to stay there.  Even if uncertainty is looming around you or a major shift is around the corner, stay in this place of calm.  Let your new found peace guide you on your journey.  Let is speak to you when decisions need to be made.  Allow yourself to lean into the calmness in order to gain clarity and focus.  The more you let yourself stay in this wonderful place, the more you become aware of your life's purpose.

Be Open

 The shell must break before the bird can fly.  

~Alfred Tennyson

Be Open
Be open to life.  
Be open to new experiences that come your way.
Be open to change.
Be open to love in many shapes and forms.
Be open to compliments.
Be open to giving.
Be open to new ideas.
Be open to other's opinions.
Be open to smiling, a lot.
Be open to life lessons.
Be open to the possibility that it will get better.
Be open to just being open...

Living an Exceptional Life

Have a heart that never hardens, 

a temper that never tires, 

a touch that never hurts. 

 ~Charles Dickens

Living an Exceptional Life
Who's to say you have to be miserable?  Who's to say you can't achieve greatness (as defined by you)?  Who's to say you can't live an exceptional life?  Well many people can try to say a lot to you but that sure doesn't mean we have to listen to it OR believe it.  There is nothing stopping each and every one of us from living our dream life.  There is nothing that says we have to be unhappy and stuck with what we have, where we are and who we have in our lives.  Only you can decide to live an exceptional life.  I sure hope you choose to!

R & R

God didn't do it all in one day.  

What makes me think I can?  

~Author Unknown

R & R
Sometimes we just need to rest and relax.  We run around so much that we can wear ourselves out and even get to the point that we get sick.  So for today, take some time to rest and relax because you definitely deserve it.  Enjoy some quiet time with either yourself or your loved ones.  Connect to your spirit and make sure you laugh and smile today because today, well it's all about you!

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; 

to the honest man it comes as frequently 

as the heart of gratitude will allow.  

~Edward Sandford Martin

Give Thanks
Let us all take a deep breath in, close our eyes and focus on one thing we are grateful for right at this very minute.....


What was the first thing that came to mind?  Do you feel warmth and love when thinking about what you are grateful for?  This is the feeling you need to connect with the entire day.  Scratch that, this is the feeling you need to make sure you connect with every single day.  Gratitude is not just something that you concentrate on once a year, it should be something you do at the beginning or end of each day.  The deeper you can connect to being thankful for the abundance in your life, the more enriched your life becomes.  The more ungrateful you are about your life, the smaller your life becomes. It's quite simple.  So start connecting to that which you are grateful for and watch your world widen in ways you could have only dreamed of.


I am thankful and grateful for:

• waking up this morning
• taking a deep breath in without pain
• the smell of coffee
• talking to my loved ones on the phone while they travel
• pumpkin pancakes
• another day to love and be loved
• watching the Macy's Day Parade from the warmth of my living room
• celebrating life and family with many people today

Gatherings

Family life is a bit like a runny peach pie -

not perfect but who's complaining?  

~Robert Brault

Gatherings
As with any major holiday around the corner, you might be a little anxious about a big gathering.  When that many people come together, with a boat load of personalities, you're not sure if you will be able to relax or feel the need to be on guard.  Well this gathering will be different.  This time around you are going to let love walk in the door before you.  When you let love be your ruling emotion, it calms you down and believe it or not, it also has a wonderful effect on all of those around you.  There is no need to operate from a place of defensiveness.  During this holiday, you are going to center yourself with love and warmth and let that shine brightly.  Enjoy being together.  Enjoy the connections you make and remember to be grateful for all of the characters in your life, for it makes it much more interesting and fun!

Mantras

When there is no enemy within, 

the enemies outside cannot hurt you.  

~African Proverb

Mantras
We all have patterns of behavior. We also have patterns of thoughts. These patterns shape how we feel about ourselves and the world we live in. They become our mantras, whether we realize it or not. So what are the words that you are telling yourself every single day?  Are you saying that life is difficult and unfair? If so, guess what?  Life WILL be difficult and unfair. Or are you saying that you are grateful just be alive and for the abundance that surrounds you. If so, guess what?  You will have a life FULL of wonderful things to always be grateful about. The motto that you live your life by has a great meaning to it. It will define the kind of life you have. You might "blame" life for the unfair or negative situations that have happened to you but ultimately, who is to blame?  This is a hard one to admit but the answer is always the person that is looking back at you from the mirror. If you are unhappy, change it. Take a hard look at the messages you tell yourself every single day. If they are not from a place of love and gratefulness, well it's about time that you changed your tune. Remember, being truly grateful for what you have and not concentrating on what you don't have is your key to releasing unhappy thoughts and living a life full of peace, joy and love.

Blocking

Holding on to anger is like 

grasping a hot coal with the intent 

of throwing it at someone else; 

you are the one who gets burned.  

~Buddha

Blocking
There is something that you are holding on tightly to that is blocking your path to peace.  You have thought you have let it go, you thought you had moved on but these past few days have made you realize that you have not yet made peace with the situation.  It's time to finally, yes finally, let it go.  It's time to forgive, not the words or actions, but forgive the situation and walk away from it filled with the peace of knowing that you do not have to carry around that burden any longer.  It's time to free yourself for good.  By holding on tightly, you are only keeping yourself chained down.  By releasing the situation you are acknowledging that you can't change the past but you certainly are changing your future.  It's okay to put down the extra baggage, the anger and the resentment.  It is no longer serving you.  It's time to move forward and give yourself permission to let love guide you from today on.

Eat, Pray, Love

Laziness will cause you pain.  

~Slogan on T-shirt worn at the 

Vee Arnis Jitsu School of Self-Defense

Eat, Pray, Love
Yes it's the title to a great book by Elizabeth Gilbert but it's more than that too.  It's about getting to know yourself, the self that is at the core of your being, and finding your own personal truths in this chaotic world.  How do we go about knowing who we truly are?  Well, you have to nourish all three things, your body, mind and soul.  You need to find food that makes your body feel and be healthy.  You need to connect with a source greater than yourself in whichever way you choose (church, temple, prayer, meditation, exercise, reading, etc).  You also need to infuse love into your life.  I'm talking all kinds of love but mostly, love for yourself.  Speaking kindly to yourself, being gentle and taking care of yourself is a great place to start.  Don't wait for tomorrow to infuse some stillness and happiness into your life, create it today.  You don't have to travel around the world to find yourself.  It's nice but not necessary.  All you have ever needed is right within your soul.  Stop living life on the surface.  It's time to inward and see who you really are and what gifts you have to give to this world.

Imagination

Sometimes I've believed as many as 

six impossible things before breakfast.  

~Lewis Carroll

Imagination
For the past few days, or maybe even weeks now, your creativity has been flowing. Thoughts seem to pop into your head faster than you can write them down on paper and your imagination is soaring at an all time high. You may not know the reason this is happening at this pace just quite yet but be prepared that you will know real soon.  This new found creative side might be leading you towards a new path on your life journey.  Don't close yourself off to your imagination.  Let if flow and guide you towards your next step.

The Sun Spot

All the statistics in the world can't measure the warmth of a smile.

~Chris Hart

The Sun Spot
When the sun comes pouring through the window and creates a sun spot on a nice comfy chair, the bed or even on a fuzzy rug, it's hard not to just curl right up in it and let the warmth flow through you and the peace take over.  Even if you only stay in the sun spot for 5 minutes, you feel refocused and centered again.  We all need a sun spot throughout our day.  We all need a spot that brings us joy and peace, if only for a few minutes, to let us remember that life is meant to be happy.  On this beautiful day, go find a spot that brings you just that.  Go find a place that makes you smile brightly and allows you to take a few deep breaths in.  Everyone deserves to a have a sun spot in their lives.  Create yours today!

A New Path

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.  

~Arnold Toynbee

A New Path
We are either learning a lesson, stretching our knowledge or spreading our wings and when we have accomplished this where we are at, it's time to head down a new path.  How exciting is that!  We have the power to make big changes, to start brand new and to try something else.  Sometimes we hesitate or even worse, let the opportunities slip through our grasp because we are too afraid of the unknown but not this time for we are meant to do great things.  Well then, get ready, get set, 'cause here we go!

Be Still

One's action ought to come out of an achieved stillness:  

not to be a mere rushing on.  

~D.H. Lawrence

Be Still
Sometimes the best way to find the answer you're seeking is to get quiet and be still with yourself.  You can seek opinions, you can research as much as want but ultimately, if you just silence everything around you (including turning off the TV, phones and computer) and let yourself go inside your soul, you will always find the correct answer.  No one knows you as well as you do so stop going outward to find the answers when they have been right inside you all along.

Patterns

(a man performs on the side of the new Performing Arts Center in South Beach Miami)

When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge.  

~Tuli Kupferberg

Patterns
We all have patterns that we hold on to, not necessarily because they work but it's what we know and what we are comfortable with. Some patterns may be healthy and good for us while others are not. It's the patterns that cause us pain that we have to stop.  It's the hardest thing we can do but it has the biggest reward if we let ourselves face them and fix them head on with another approach. When life throws a new scenario at you, don't do the same thing you always done. Try approaching it in a new way. Watch first hand how changing our thought patterns and our actions will change our approach and that can make all the difference. Some patterns are meant to be broken. We know which ones they are. Now is the time to meet them head on and start breaking the chains that have kept you in the same place for far too long.

Generations

It's one of nature's way that we often feel closer 

to distant generations than to the generation 

immediately preceding us. 

~Igor Stravinsky

Generations
There is a lot to be learned from those who have come before us and those who have come after us.  Their wisdom, experience, fun, insights, joy, and spirit can teach us a thing or two if we let it.  Take the time to sit with someone who has many more years of experience and really listen to what they have to say.  Then go enjoy some playtime with the young members of your family.  Absorb the lessons you can learn from many generations, for that is one of the best gifts you can ever give yourself!

Serve

How important it is for us to recognize 

and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!  

~Maya Angelou

This Daily Pearl is dedicated to my heroes, my father, John Sierra, my uncles, Ed Sierra, John Beck, Joe Barsauskas, Ken Harding, Ray's dad, Sal Zaccaro, my former student Hector Delgado, and to all of the men and women who serve in our military forces as well as their families.  

Serve
There is no greater honor than to serve fighting for the rights and freedom of others.  The courage it takes to put your own life on the line to protect another is more than honorable, to most of us it's unfathomable.  But people do it all the time.  Hundreds of thousands of military men and women and their families sacrifice so much for people they have never met but they have this underlying need to serve.  


We can take a great lesson from these individuals. Instead of looking at our lives as what can we get from it or how much success we can achieve, let's start looking at it through the lens of "how can we serve".  When we start looking at our intentions, our interactions, our choices, our environment, our relationships, all through this lens, we tap into the greater connection between us all.  And isn't this what serving is truly about?  Whichever career path we choose or how we spend our time, let's not forget to look at the bigger picture.  Using our lives through the path of service will not only enhance it, it will make it so much more fulfilling and meaningful.  And above all, don't forget to thank a Veteran today!

Finish

The best angle from which to approach any problem is the try-angle.  

~Author Unknown

Finish
We have assignments, work, goals and projects that are unfinished because we have cast them to the side for way too long.  We might glance at them, even pick them up but we end up putting them back down in the corner saying to ourselves that we will "get back" to them when we have the time and energy to do so. At this point, they have about 2 inches of dust on them because we have waited way too long.  Today is the day to pick up those loose ends.  Today is the day to finish projects that you have started or get them going and on the path of getting accomplished.  By having unfinished areas in our life, we leave that space open to chaos and distress.  By tackling it head on, we balance ourselves, our life and our spirit.  So what are you waiting for, get to work and finish up!

No Day but Today

There's only us, 

There's only this, 

Forget regret, 

Or life is yours to miss, 

No other road, 

No other way, 

No day but today. 

~from RENT, the musical.

No Day but Today

Today's message is quite simple yet profound if you let it be; there is no day but today.  

Start living your life to fullest.  This is your day to shine.  This is your day to go for it.  This is your day to grab the golden ring.  There is no day BUT today.

Click here and really listen to all of the words.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbljhS4xDlU

Starting a New Day

Is there life before death?  

~Author Unknown

Starting a New Day
How to start your day off in a positive direction:

• Before you even land one foot on the floor to start your day, think of 3 things you are grateful for.
• Smile at yourself in the mirror.
• Give yourself an extra 5 minutes just to stare out of the window with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
• Play some music that lifts your spirits.  
• Dance around while you get ready.
• Text or call someone to wish them a wonderful day.
• Remember to pack a good attitude along with your lunch.
• Leave in plenty of time to take the scenic route to work.
• Wear one piece of clothing or jewelry that makes you feel like a million bucks.
• Choose the comfortable shoes today.
• Grab that book you have been wanting to read but keep saying, I'll start it tomorrow!
• Take a vitamin.
• Close your eyes for a few minutes and picture how your day is going to unfold.
• While you grab your keys, take a moment to breathe deeply in and center yourself.
• Don't play any music in the car or talk on the phone.  Sit in silence with yourself and get to know your soul a little bit more.
• Decide that today is going to be an amazing day, no matter what happens!

Releasing

To be "on edge," you are literally not centered -

not being in your spiritual center.

~Carrie Latet

Releasing

What in your life are you holding on to that is getting in the way of your happiness?  Or more importantly, what did you think you let go of but you still feel its presence deep down inside?  By not truly letting go of a situation, by talking about it, thinking about it, or giving it any sort of attention means that you have not yet let it go.  By not doing so you are punishing your soul every single day.  You can not change the past nor control what happened but you can certainly change this moment and your life moving forward.  Understand that until you finally release the angry, frustration, bitterness and sorrow surrounding a situation you will never really be truly happy.  And don't you deserve to be happy?  I think so! 

Your Voice

It's never too late to have a happy childhood.  

~Berke Breathed

Your Voice
You matter in this world and it's about time that you find your voice.  You might have felt that in the past no one was listening to you or taking your words seriously.  But not any more.  Don't let yourself be railroaded by other peoples thoughts and perceptions and certainly do not let your values or goals be dismissed, ignored or trivialized.  Your voice matters and so do your opinions and feelings.  It's about time you let yourself be heard loud and clear.  If people in your life don't like it then be prepared to let them go.  They do not deserve you in their life and you certainly don't deserve to be ignored any longer.