Download the October 2012 Mandala of the month
Rise and shine, folks! The time is now. Stop the excuses. Waiting for things to be perfect before we put ourselves out there…ain’t gonna cut it any more.
While design-wise this month’s mandala looks rather simplistic, it actually allows you to make it as intricate and detailed as you want it to be. The control of its destiny is in your hands.
Of course you’re always free to color the mandalas of the month any way you please, for this month, I would like to offer a possible suggestion on how to approach the coloring of “Reaching Out.”
Think of this mandala as an expression of how you really want to be in this world. What images or colors would fill the “sun” (heart/soul) area? What’s in the background supporting you? What fears/blocks (things in front of the sun) have kept you from moving forward? What gifts (ribbons) have you yet to fully unveil to the world.
“Reaching Out” encourages us to fully extend ourselves, to grow into the ones we are truly meant to be. Yes, it’s scary and we risk being vulnerable… on the other hand, waiting until things are just right may never happen. It not now…when?
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
Teddy Roosevelt, speaking at the Sorbonne in Paris, April 23, 1910
A great resource for working through our fear of vulnerability, is the work of Dr. Brené Brown. Her new book “Daring Greatly” uses Roosevelt’s quote as inspiration along with the 12 years of research on shame, vulnerability, and more importantly on living a whole-hearted life. I highly recommend her 2 TED talks.
- www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
- www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_listening_to_shame.html
Another perspective on reaching out…people are waiting in the wings, waiting for you to be fully out there so that you can help them, show them how it’s done.
Ponder this as you color this month’s mandala of the month.
Happy Coloring!
joyfully,
Maureen, The Mandala lady
www.facebook.com/TheMandalaLady
Be sure to download Section 10 of the 2012 Mandala of the Year.
Mandala of the Month 
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