2015 Wall Calendar & Expecting Change Brings Stability

Hello and happy holidays to you!

I hope you are having a lovely, cozy holiday season and finding new and familiar things to be grateful for everyday. I enjoyed my first Thanksgiving here in Florida amongst new family and friends who have welcomed me graciously into their lives. Indeed it was sunny and 80! 

In celebration of the holidays and to ring in the new year, I put a little wall calendar together. They are available for purchase online at my shop on Etsy.com. Hurry quick for delivery before Christmas! The calendar includes twelve original nature paintings printed in full color on premium glossy card stock and measures 8.5 x 11". It even includes holidays! 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/214596114/2015-wall-calendar-by-anna-ayres?ref=shop_home_active_1

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I recently listened to a powerful interview from the Diane Rehm show with Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer on mindfulness. Maybe you heard it? Below is the link to listen to the full interview. To me, one of the most powerful phrases that Ellen describes in this interview is this:

"Expecting change brings stability."

Simple, yet not the easiest thing to remember when things get bananas! And sometimes it feels like we're living in a jungle full of bananas! We tend to confuse stability with a sense of control. But life is uncontrollable and unpredictable. Control often times leads more towards suffering and frustration than a sense of stability, confidence or success. Now, let me be honest and admit that I create plenty of stress and frustration due to my rigidity and attempt to control situations and plans. I realize, though, that as I grow older, taking on more responsibility in life and experiencing new joys and hardships along the way, this one simple understanding will become more prevalent and important to remember. And although it is a delightfully simple concept I could elaborate on for days, the challenge is to believe it in the moment. It is up to us how we experience change. Do we confront it rigidly with a stubborn will, bringing on stress and heart ache, impervious to what it might teach us if we were to embrace it warmly? Or do we choose to look it in the eyes armed with flexibility and a willingness to roll with the waves? Change is inevitable and stability is contentedness. It is comfort. If we are to expect that things always change, thus approaching changes with an adaptable, malleable mind and heart, we are more likely going to perceive joy and feel gratitude in all matters from the everyday to the life-altering, from being pooed on by a bird to losing something special to us. Maybe we'll even feel like laughing or dancing or skipping along. I found quite a bit of wisdom in this interview and I am very grateful it was shared with me. I hope you, too, might find something special to take away from it.  

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-12-01/ellen_langer_mindfulness_and_the_power_of_thought

Thank you as always for reading. I hope you like the calendar. I already have yoga workshops penciled in through 2015!  Cheers to all that a new year and its many changes will bring.

Warm wishes, 

Anna