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I was smiling yesterday, I am smiling today
and I will smile tomorrow.
Simply because life is too short
to cry for anything. ~Santosh Kalwar

By Zeenat Merchant Syal
Positive Provocations, May 26, 2012

When you selectively water and nurture your Positive seeds, your relationships glow with sunshine and rainbows.

In each one of us there are negative and positive seeds.

The negative seeds are of anger, hate, discrimination, jealousy.

The positive seeds are of joy, compassion, understanding and loving kindness.

The seeds that are watered regularly take roots and thrive.
For example, if a person spends a lot of time touching her seeds of anger, her life could be about how difficult her children are, or how miserable her scheming colleagues make her. Her seeds of anger will be strong enough to dictate what she thinks, how she relates to others, or how she works.

On the other hand, a person in touch with her seeds of joy will cultivate a rich harvest of nurturing relationships and deep, loving bonds. We, in turn, are constantly watering the seeds of people around us, with every look, word, expression and touch of ours. As parents, we tend to strengthen the positive or negative seeds of our children, quite unconsciously.

How Watering and Nurturing the Positive Seeds of your relationships can make them Glow

Mindfulness comes in handy here. It means being aware and awake to the present moment, being mindful of our own positive and negative seeds, and being mindful of what makes us water the negative seeds of people around us.

3 Healing Steps:

Step 1 – Watering the Flower: Express what you appreciate and admire about the other person. Make him/her aware of how much you value them. Shine light on their strengths and the amazing qualities they have. By doing so, we are watering and nurturing their positive seeds, which in turn nurture our relationship with them.

Step 2 – Genuine Apologizing: Share genuinely how you regret hurting him/her due to a certain lack of skillfulness in thoughts, speech and action. Make them aware that you are committed to bringing about changes that would enhance the relationship. This step helps to build trust and love between the two individuals.

Step 3 – Lovingly Expressing a hurt: Finally, with immense gentleness and loving kindness, talk about how the other person might have hurt you. Be careful that it does not become confrontational, or a blame game. Avoid vague, generalised statements. The focus is not on settling scores but on building deeper bonds. It is important to note that when one person is speaking, the other person must listen deeply. End this sharing with a warm and ‘loving hug’ to conclude this deeply emotional experience.

Living with compassion, mindfulness and joy in all our relationships can truly add the much needed glow to them. How then can Happiness not prevail. Isn’t this exactly what each of us is looking for?

You don’t always need a plan, sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.
 ~Unknown

It may help us, in those times of trouble, to remember that love is not only
about relationship, it is also an affair of the soul. ~Thomas Moore

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You can’t control everything. There will always
be circumstances beyond your control. So embrace
your fears, and face them head-on. Don’t be afraid
to stumble. Because you’ll learn valuable life
lessons with each failure that will only serve
to help you grow. ~By Scott Christ

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 By E.C. LaMeaux, GAIAMlife

1. Focus on the now

In order to live in the moment, you need to focus on the now. Focus on what you’re doing. Shut off the TV, turn off the computer, slow down and savor the present.

Jay Dixit, who is the senior editor of Psychology Today, refers to this as mindfulness, or being with your thoughts as they are. According to Dixit, living for the moment by practicing mindfulness reduces stress, boosts your immune system, lowers blood pressure and has other beneficial physical and mental effects. Dixit adds that mindful people are more secure, have higher self-esteem and are happier.

According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., psychologist and educator at the University of California at Riverside and author of The How of Happiness, savoring or relishing life in the moment — whether it’s eating a meal, drinking a cup of coffee or walking to the store — elicits happiness and other positive emotions.

2. Pay attention to the small things

Notice the world around you: the small things. Be thankful for them. Living for the moment and taking notice of the small things will help you cultivate more positive experiences.

Cheryl Rainfield, an artist and writer, recommends you pay attention to the little things that make you happy, like eating ice cream, blowing bubbles or listening to music, as these things can make a huge difference in how you feel.

3. Smile

If you want to know how to live in the moment, you just have to take a look in the mirror and smile. Smile — it can influence how you feel.

Scientific American Mind magazine reports that making an emotional face influences how we feel. The magazine adds that there is an association in our mind between how we feel and how we react. If we feel happy, we smile. If we smile, it makes us feel happy. Our face communicates our state of mind to others and to ourselves. So smile — it will make you happier and help you appreciate life in the moment.
4. Perform random acts of kindness

Random acts of kindness, those selfless acts that help others, help you live for the moment of making others smile, and making you smile as well. Random acts of kindness are just that—random. They are spontaneous, in the moment and a great addition to your daily life.

The next time you see that person walking in the rain, offer them your umbrella. That stranded motorist? Call for help. The elderly lady struggling with her groceries? Carry them for her. One of the easiest lessons for how to live in the moment is to do something for someone else without expecting anything in return. It not only helps you live in the moment, but improves that moment for you and someone else.

5.Give thanks

Be thankful. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But it isn’t always. It doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving for you to feel grateful and express that gratitude.

Every now and then, remember to stop and take stock of just how good you have it. When your friend makes you smile, thank her for being in your life. When your boss gives you a new task, say thanks, remembering that you still have a job and can put food on the table. When you think it or feel it, say it right then. Live in the moment by expressing your gratitude when you feel it.

6. Don’t worry

It’s much harder than it sounds, but try to remember that worrying today won’t change what happens tomorrow. Every second you spend in worry about the future is a second of the present wasted. Because worrying takes you out of this moment and transports you into the realm of future possibilities, it’s impossible to live in the moment and worry at the same time.

Instead, if circumstances are troubling, focus on ways you can solve an existing problem now or otherwise improve the current moment. Spending time focused on what may happen down the line robs you of fully experiencing what is happening now. Life in the moment moves quickly — don’t miss it.

Stay happy by staying grounded in the present

Out of your unhappiness you seek the other; then the relationship is going to be wrong. Seek the other out of happiness, and then the relationship will never be wrong. Seek out of happiness. First meditate, first feel your own being, first pray. First grow into love; otherwise what are you going to do when you have found the lover? Then you don’t know what to do. ~Osho