As I was taking my morning walk, my thought for the day was: 

How can I be a blessing to the world and the people around me? 

Can I, through my presence alone, be a blessing?

I began saying the words: “With every breath, I breathe in peace.  With every step I send out love.”  That felt very good.  But later as I walked deeper into the woods and the stillness became more palpable and the beauty more potent, as the stream sang its sweet, gay song, I found joy bubbling up inside me.  And then the words became:  “I breathe in joy, I breathe out love.  I walk in peace.”

My prayer is that when I walk in the woods with an open heart and great gratitude, it is blessed by my presence, just as I am deeply blessed by it.  My prayer is that the joy and peace I feel radiates out to the greater world beyond those dear trees and stream.

And certainly when I take a morning walk it does make a difference when I go out into the world of human beings.  Walking with reverence and gratitude is a spiritual practice for me that fills up my well so that I can be more present and loving within the workaday world.

You may have different spiritual practices that fill your well.  It could be meditation or prayer.  It could be gardening or swimming.  It could be listening to music or making music.  It could be soaking in a bath or hot springs. 

Whatever it is, please do more of it.  If each of us did what we need to do to feel more peaceful, joyful, and grounded, how could it help but shift the world into a better place?

Let’s be forces of peace in the world by being peaceful.  Let’s be vehicles of joy by being joyful.  Let’s be beacons of light by being radiant.

Let’s let our very presence be a gift to this world.

So be it!